Google Home Mini

Google's Home speaker is starting to look a little bit lonely. While Amazon has forged ahead adding numerous smart speakers to its Echo lineup, Google has stuck with just the one speaker, and has seemingly been content to allow third-party companies to bolster the lineup with speakers such as the JBL Link 300.

However, that's all rumored to be changing at Google's upcoming Pixel 2 launch event, where Google is expected to launch the Google Home Mini, a new puck-sized smart speaker in the same vein as Amazon's low cost Amazon Echo Dot.

Although the speaker is yet to be officially announced, the quantity of leaks makes it seem almost inevitable.

Read on for everything we know about the rumored smart speaker.

Cut to the chase

What is it? A smaller version of Google’s smart speaker
When is it out? Latest rumors suggest October 19
What will it cost? Leaks suggest it'll be $49 (around £40, AU$60)

Google Home Mini release date

The latest rumors surrounding the speaker's release date come from a leaked Walmart listing that suggested the speaker will be out on October 19 in the US.

Although this gives us a pretty firm idea of its US release date, we don’t yet have any information about when it will come to the UK.

The Google Home speaker was announced at Google I/O, in May 2016, but it didn’t come to the UK until April 6 2017, which was far later than its November 4 2016 US release.

Given its past performance, we wouldn’t be surprised if the UK didn’t see the Google Home Mini until early 2018.

Then again, now that Google has done the hard work of getting Google Assistant working in the UK, there might not be any cause to delay its newest smart speaker in the territory.

Google Home Mini price

That same Walmart listing suggested that the device will retail for $49 in the US, though again we don’t have any information for other territories just yet.

A straight exchange rate conversion suggests that its price will be £36 in the UK and AU$62 in Australia, but as with all consumer electronics the exact pricing could differ massively.

We won’t know for sure until Google officially announces the speaker.

Google Home Mini rumors

In terms of the functionality of the speaker, we’re expecting it to offer much of the same functionality as the full-size Google Home, albeit with a much smaller (and therefore likely weaker) speaker.

The leaked Walmart listing suggests the speaker will measure in at 4.53 x 4.53 x 4.72 inches (11.5cm x 11.5cm x 12cm), which is just a shade bigger than the Amazon Echo Dot’s 3.3 inch diameter and 1.3 inch height.

The speaker will be available in three colors, Chalk (a slightly off white), Charcoal (a dark gray) or Coral (light pink).

The cord present in the leaked images suggests that the speaker will, like its bigger brother, rely on mains rather than battery power.

Finally, recent screenshots from someone living near the Google campus suggest that the speaker will unsurprisingly be set up in much the same way as the existing Google Home speaker through the Google Home app.

There are also rumors the device might be announced alongside a Google Home 'Max'. Details are scarce on this second device, with rumors ranging from stereo sound to a built-in screen much like the Amazon Echo Show.