Google Home Mini vs. Echo Dot
I've had the Echo Dot lying around for quite a while, got my 2 free Google Home Mini's (one for each of the 2 Pixel 2's I bought) today. And I figured I would go over how I feel about each of the devices. Keep in mind, I use an Android phone, so some of what I might say could be colored by that. Also, this is by extension a partial review of Alexa vs. Google Assistant. Though, I don't really want to dive that deep formally, so let's just ignore that I noticed that.
Also note: The "free"-ness of the Mini isn't winning it any bonus points as I got the Echo free as well. And both work in Canada as of writing this.
So, moving on. I guess I'll start at build quality. I find the Dot looks like it is better built, but the mini feels better built. At the end of the day, I think the Mini wins out, but many may still prefer the Dot thanks to a more modern design and the fact that it doesn't use fabric. As such, the Dot may be more at home in a kitchen, whereas I'd take the Mini any day in a room where it isn't likely to be abused.
Sound quality is the next area I'll try and tackle. At the end of the day, these are speakers. Sound should matter. That being said, it is hard to call this one. The Mini is MUCH louder than the Dot. I had the Dot maxed in the kitchen and thought it was loud. Plugged in the Mini and it was louder. And then I realized the Mini was only at 50% volume. The Mini has some minor control for Bass and Treble and at 50% the quality is very good.
Now, I could be crazy, but at lower levels, like 10-20% volume, it sounds like my Mini is occasionally fading in and out.
The Dot I think offers better quality sound all around, but is very weak overall. So, I think it is a tie of sorts, but as I did with quality, I can qualify scenarios where I'd take one over the other. Since we're talking audio quality if I'm looking for the best room for each device, the Echo would win in a smaller room, like a bed room or a small home office maybe. In a larger room, even a decent sized master bedroom I'd take the Mini. At the end of the day, both sound decent for their size, but if the speaker isn't loud enough it doesn't matter how good a job it does at producing a sound you like.
To put it in perspective, I'm listening to Spotify on the Mini on my desk in my office at 30% and I feel it is maybe a touch too loud. I never felt that way about the Dot until I hit 60-70% or higher. That's a mad difference in volume output. I also find the sound from the Dot diffuses much more quickly. My office isn't big, but if I walk to the wall furthest from the speaker is sounds roughly the same volume as it does right beside it. The Dot on the other hand I find trails off rather rapidly. Anyway, enough on that.
Up next, connectivity. I'm on Android. I can cast over WiFi from my phone, from an app directly, I can connect via BT, or I can simply ask the speaker to play what I want directly. None of my apps can send anything directly to the Dot and I need Bluetooth which is actually less ideal than the other approaches, aside from maybe having the speaker start playing something directly. For me, the Mini wins here.
To explain why I hate Bluetooth so much, a story from this past weekend can help illustrate. I was listening to music in our front sitting area on the Dot. It required me to manually connect. Which is fine. Streaming over BT drains my battery reasonably fast, but again, not a huge deal. When friends arrived I stopped my music, but was still connected to the speaker. So after a while I started noticing notifications and the likes going to the speaker as well as spoken responses to my queries to Google Assistant. Eventually I manually disconnected. Then later, it reconnected, presumably because I left and re-entered it's range. And it has done this a few times now. Spontaneously my audio is going through a random speaker in my house. Turning off Bluetooth isn't really an option since I use it for my smart devices, headphones and various other things.
In short, I prefer to use Bluetooth with devices which I tend to shut off when I'm done with them. I don't unplug my Dot when I'm done with it. Which is the cause of the issue.
By contrast, when I use the Spotify app for example, I simply choose the target device to play on and it plays there. I can still use voice to control playback from either the phone or the Mini. I can also use a computer or phone to control playback when I don't want to look or sound like a complete tool. And when I'm done I can just close the Spotify app, or pause the stream, or whatever. My notifications and everything else are still going to my device and I don't need to fret about whether or not I remembered to turn off anything. And of course, supporting both Google Cast for audio and Bluetooth automatically means that the Mini has more ways to connect. If I wanted the sorts of headaches the Dot affords me, I could still choose to subject myself to them.
The mute button is another big one in favor of the Mini for me. Both devices have buttons to mute the mic. The Dots is easier to find, but if the device restarts due to an update, or the device gets mad that you turn it's mic off, it just comes back on. THAT'S RIGHT!!! One day I was just sitting there and out of nowhere, at full volume in my tiny office in my last house the Dot just started singing some song complaining about being muted, and then ... unmuted itself. Mini has an analog mic mute button. I can stop that thing for as short or as long as I want with no worries. EASY win for the Mini in my mind.
One place both fall flat on their face though is... wall mounting. If you want these things in every room you need to ship them with some sort of wall mounting solution. Even something like the Tradfri light switches with some 3M tape on the back of a magnetic holder would be great. I have some rooms where I have tables or other surfaces where I wouldn't mind putting one of these. But I have MANY more rooms where the only ideal place is on a wall.
Also, would it hurt to sell a rechargeable battery accessory? Another easy gripe is not just wall mounting, but finding outlets for all of these. Again, if you're serious about getting one of these in every house... prove it. A lot of times I could probably do without the wall mount if I wasn't constrained by outlets as well. And the house I'm in now has a CRAZY amounts of outlets compared to my prior one.
Verdict, for me, I think it varies a bit. But overall, I think I prefer the Mini. Yes, part of that is buy-in into the ecosystem. I've had the Dot for much longer though and I don't really feel it does anything I need it to do which the Mini can't. And while each of have strengths, in terms of assistant usage I still find Google wins in more of the cases where I care.
Also note: The "free"-ness of the Mini isn't winning it any bonus points as I got the Echo free as well. And both work in Canada as of writing this.
So, moving on. I guess I'll start at build quality. I find the Dot looks like it is better built, but the mini feels better built. At the end of the day, I think the Mini wins out, but many may still prefer the Dot thanks to a more modern design and the fact that it doesn't use fabric. As such, the Dot may be more at home in a kitchen, whereas I'd take the Mini any day in a room where it isn't likely to be abused.
Sound quality is the next area I'll try and tackle. At the end of the day, these are speakers. Sound should matter. That being said, it is hard to call this one. The Mini is MUCH louder than the Dot. I had the Dot maxed in the kitchen and thought it was loud. Plugged in the Mini and it was louder. And then I realized the Mini was only at 50% volume. The Mini has some minor control for Bass and Treble and at 50% the quality is very good.
Now, I could be crazy, but at lower levels, like 10-20% volume, it sounds like my Mini is occasionally fading in and out.
The Dot I think offers better quality sound all around, but is very weak overall. So, I think it is a tie of sorts, but as I did with quality, I can qualify scenarios where I'd take one over the other. Since we're talking audio quality if I'm looking for the best room for each device, the Echo would win in a smaller room, like a bed room or a small home office maybe. In a larger room, even a decent sized master bedroom I'd take the Mini. At the end of the day, both sound decent for their size, but if the speaker isn't loud enough it doesn't matter how good a job it does at producing a sound you like.
To put it in perspective, I'm listening to Spotify on the Mini on my desk in my office at 30% and I feel it is maybe a touch too loud. I never felt that way about the Dot until I hit 60-70% or higher. That's a mad difference in volume output. I also find the sound from the Dot diffuses much more quickly. My office isn't big, but if I walk to the wall furthest from the speaker is sounds roughly the same volume as it does right beside it. The Dot on the other hand I find trails off rather rapidly. Anyway, enough on that.
Up next, connectivity. I'm on Android. I can cast over WiFi from my phone, from an app directly, I can connect via BT, or I can simply ask the speaker to play what I want directly. None of my apps can send anything directly to the Dot and I need Bluetooth which is actually less ideal than the other approaches, aside from maybe having the speaker start playing something directly. For me, the Mini wins here.
To explain why I hate Bluetooth so much, a story from this past weekend can help illustrate. I was listening to music in our front sitting area on the Dot. It required me to manually connect. Which is fine. Streaming over BT drains my battery reasonably fast, but again, not a huge deal. When friends arrived I stopped my music, but was still connected to the speaker. So after a while I started noticing notifications and the likes going to the speaker as well as spoken responses to my queries to Google Assistant. Eventually I manually disconnected. Then later, it reconnected, presumably because I left and re-entered it's range. And it has done this a few times now. Spontaneously my audio is going through a random speaker in my house. Turning off Bluetooth isn't really an option since I use it for my smart devices, headphones and various other things.
In short, I prefer to use Bluetooth with devices which I tend to shut off when I'm done with them. I don't unplug my Dot when I'm done with it. Which is the cause of the issue.
By contrast, when I use the Spotify app for example, I simply choose the target device to play on and it plays there. I can still use voice to control playback from either the phone or the Mini. I can also use a computer or phone to control playback when I don't want to look or sound like a complete tool. And when I'm done I can just close the Spotify app, or pause the stream, or whatever. My notifications and everything else are still going to my device and I don't need to fret about whether or not I remembered to turn off anything. And of course, supporting both Google Cast for audio and Bluetooth automatically means that the Mini has more ways to connect. If I wanted the sorts of headaches the Dot affords me, I could still choose to subject myself to them.
The mute button is another big one in favor of the Mini for me. Both devices have buttons to mute the mic. The Dots is easier to find, but if the device restarts due to an update, or the device gets mad that you turn it's mic off, it just comes back on. THAT'S RIGHT!!! One day I was just sitting there and out of nowhere, at full volume in my tiny office in my last house the Dot just started singing some song complaining about being muted, and then ... unmuted itself. Mini has an analog mic mute button. I can stop that thing for as short or as long as I want with no worries. EASY win for the Mini in my mind.
One place both fall flat on their face though is... wall mounting. If you want these things in every room you need to ship them with some sort of wall mounting solution. Even something like the Tradfri light switches with some 3M tape on the back of a magnetic holder would be great. I have some rooms where I have tables or other surfaces where I wouldn't mind putting one of these. But I have MANY more rooms where the only ideal place is on a wall.
Also, would it hurt to sell a rechargeable battery accessory? Another easy gripe is not just wall mounting, but finding outlets for all of these. Again, if you're serious about getting one of these in every house... prove it. A lot of times I could probably do without the wall mount if I wasn't constrained by outlets as well. And the house I'm in now has a CRAZY amounts of outlets compared to my prior one.
Verdict, for me, I think it varies a bit. But overall, I think I prefer the Mini. Yes, part of that is buy-in into the ecosystem. I've had the Dot for much longer though and I don't really feel it does anything I need it to do which the Mini can't. And while each of have strengths, in terms of assistant usage I still find Google wins in more of the cases where I care.
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