All three major tech companies, Amazon, Apple and Google are fighting for your home. Not to be outdone by Apple or Amazon, Google released two new smart speakers to its lineup today: the Google Max and the Google Home Mini. This was a major release among many other new products today. Google went from a mostly all software company just five years ago into a true hardware player that can compete against the best.
All three companies are fighting for your home as it’s a way to interact with smart home products, deliver news, play music, control what’s on your TV and keep you locked into their respective ecosystems. Amazon was the first major company to open the smart speaker market with its Echo, but with Google latest two additions, the competition is only getting stiffer.
Google Max
If you own a smart speaker, you most likely use it to play music. That’s the number one category people use their smart speakers for and Google might have released the best sounding speaker in the Max. It’s certainly the biggest of any of the smart speakers measuring in at 13.2 in • 7.4 in • 6.0 in, while weighing a hefty 11.7 pounds. It’s not portable, so you’ll have to find a spot in your home for this beefy speaker. Dual 4.5 in drivers output the lows, while two 0.7 in custom tweeters deliver the details. The Max might be the smartest speaker you can get too – it can even calibrate itself to its surroundings for optimal sound. It connects over WiFi and Bluetooth, can connect to other Chromecast enabled speakers or it can also be paired to another Max for true stereo sound. It keeps a minimalist look by coming in two colors: Black and White.
The Max doesn’t come cheap at $399, and currently is waitlisted for orders at the Google Store.
Google Home Mini
If you want all the smarts of Google Home without the price, Google released the Home Mini for you. It’s a slimmed down version of the Home, similar to the Amazon Dot to the Echo, but still maintains all of the brains. Just like the Home and Max, the Mini Home can act as an alarm, answer questions, play the news or playlists, help you with your scheduling with your calendar and even make calls. These are great to add around the home if you have multiple rooms and don’t like yelling to your one Home. Oh and if you need a laugh, it can tell you jokes too.
It’s the cheapest of the bunch at $49 and comes in three colors: Charcoal, Chalk and Coral which is an exclusive Google Store color.