The Google Home Mini admittedly doesn’t have much of a footprint, but what if you want to separate the smart speaker from the clutter on your desktop or kitchen counter and give it its own place … like on the wall.
Thanks to Google’s launch this week of a wall mount, now you can.
Costing a reasonable $15, the Mountain View, California, company has produced the Home Mini mount in partnership with tech accessories outfit Incipio. Available now via the Google Store, the white-colored mount fits snugly around your Google smart speaker and comes with screws and drywall anchors for easy fitting. In the box you’ll also find a roll of 3M tape if you’d prefer not to drill holes in your wall.
Google describes the lightweight accessory as a “sleek, durable wall mount [that] makes it easy to put Google Home Mini right where you want it — plus, free up precious counter and tabletop surfaces.”
Securing the Mini in a permanent spot on the wall will also help to keep it out of the way of curious littl’uns who might want to use it for a game of living-room hockey or some other leisurely pursuit, though the mount is designed in a way that lets you easily flip the speaker out if necessary.
The only point to consider when it comes to fitting the mount is the location of your power outlets, as the speaker has no integrated battery.
Voice-activated smart speakers were reportedly a big hit over the holiday season. Google, with the Home, Home Mini and Home Max speakers, and Amazon, with its growing range of Alexa-powered Echo devices, are leading the pack, though companies are entering the market all the time with their own take on the product.
Apple, too, is gearing up to take them all on with the HomePod. Unveiled last year, the Cupertino, California-based company had been hoping to have it ready for the holiday season but design issues caused them to push the launch date to 2018.
The Google Home Mini is the smallest of Google’s three smart speakers, and retails for $50. Like any smart speaker worth its salt, it lets you perform an array of functions such as playing tracks from your music library, answering queries, making calls, offering traffic and weather reports, and controlling a growing range of smart-home devices.
It can also scare the bejeezus out of unsuspecting grannies.
