Google has finally launched the Google Home and the Google Home Mini in India. The Google Home is priced at Rs 9,999 while the Mini retails at Rs 4,499. Earlier, Google had teased the smart speakers via the official Twitter handle. The company had also listed both the speakers on Flipkart with the tagline ‘Intelligence meets comfort’. Google has introduced the smart speakers in India nearly two years after first unveiling it in 2016.
On the Home, Google offers a swappable lower bottom so you can choose the one that suits your home décor. The device also doubles up as a full-fledged wireless speaker and lets the users access music from various streaming services. Google Assistant has been amusing so far, the contextual approach and the way it links up with the Google Knowledge graph are laudable. It is capable of comprehending queries like “OK Google, Play that Shakira song from Zootopia” and figure out the title of the song all by itself and play the same. So this means that a single unknown in the equation is not a problem for Google Home.
Google Home will also double up as Chromecast Audio speaker and will support nest, Samsung Smarthings, Philips and IFTTT. Another useful feature is that the device hearing you best will respond when you say “Ok Google” so that it won’t result in sheer chaos. Unlike SIRI, Google Assistant is heavily contextual and it communicates with the app on your behalf instead of just leading you to the app.
The newer version of Google Home Mini which is coming to India replaces the air-freshener look with a flatter pebble-shaped design and features a fabric speaker cover. Although, this time, the exterior is not replaceable. It can project 360-degree sound, but you can also connect it to any Cast-enabled speaker wirelessly. However, there’s no headphone jack like the Amazon Echo Dot. Google Home Max isn’t being launched in India.
The Google Home Mini also features four LEDs on the top for notifying you about stuff. In addition to that, it recognizes taps for playing/pausing music, snoozing reminders and a lot more. Google Home Mini is meant to be your Bluetooth speaker but it’s made for putting a virtual assistant into every room of your house. It will be available in three color options – Choral, Chalk and Charcoal.
Google is offering six months of free subscription to Google Play Music with both the Google Home and the Home Mini. The smart speakers will be available across both online (Flipkart Exclusive) and offline retail channels.
Reliance has partnered with Google, customers purchasing Google Home or Google Chromecast from any of the Reliance Stores will be getting a free JioFi device worth Rs 999. As part of the offer one will also be getting 100GB of additional data spread accross 10 vouchers of 10GB each.