Samsung confirms a Galaxy Home Mini smart speaker is coming

By Shubham Agarwal August 29, 2019

Samsung has quietly confirmed it will soon launch a new and smaller smart speaker, the Galaxy Home Mini, to take on the Google Home Mini and Amazon Echo Dot. The manufacturer has invited Galaxy smartphone users in its home country of South Korea to sign up for beta-testing of the forthcoming device.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Through September 1, Samsung Galaxy smartphone owners in South Korea will be able to apply for the beta program. Samsung will send selected candidates the new speaker, who will provide feedback before the public launch.

We’re not sure whether Samsung will expand the beta program to Galaxy owners in other countries. The company hasn’t shared a whole lot of details just yet, but it says the Galaxy Home Mini will be compatible with the company’s own smart home platform, called SmartThings. The speaker, of course, will be powered by Samsung’s homegrown digital assistant, Bixby, and allow users to operate appliances with their voice. Another tidbit we know right now is that the Galaxy Home Mini’s speakers will feature an AKG-branded audio technology.

Samsung has shared product images that reveal a familiar fabric exterior and a compact form factor. The device also sports a standard set of quick buttons for adjusting the volume and muting the mic, as well as a fourth key with a function that is unknown at this point.

Oddly, none of the shots show a cable, which might possibly indicate that the Galaxy Home Mini will run on battery. The feature could enable the speaker to stand out among the Google Home Mini and Amazon Echo Dot, which need to be plugged in at all times.

Since the early adopter program has just begun, it could be a few weeks before Samsung officially unveils the Galaxy Home Mini. It hasn’t specified when the beta program will end.

Samsung joined the smart speaker race more than a year ago with the Galaxy Home. However, the flagship smart speaker missed its original release date and faced a series of delays as the company struggles with production. When questioned, a spokesperson said Samsung is “working to refine and enhance it.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Tech News

Shubham Agarwal

Journalist

Shubham Agarwal is a freelance technology journalist from Ahmedabad, India. His work has previously appeared in Firstpost…

Smart Home

Kohler reveals luxurious smart home products that turn your bathroom into a spa

The Kohler Anthem+ on a white table.

Kohler showed off a bevy of new products at CES 2024, including a luxurious lineup of new smart home gadgets, all of which are designed to transform your bathroom into a "personal sanctuary." Along with updates to the Numi 2.0 smart toilet and high-end Stillness Bath, Kohler showed off a new fan, sink, and bidet, as well as smart valves and more.

The Anthem+ Digital Control was one of the most intriguing items at the Kohler booth, as can power nearly all aspects of your bathroom from a single control panel. Via its touch display, it allows you to control water, light, sound, and steam. All told, it can connect to 12 water outlets to power a variety of sprayers, showerheads, and body sprays.

Smart Home

Segway expands its smart home footprint with robot lawn mowers at CES 2024

The Segway i Series being set up.

Segway -- the company responsible for Paul Blart's preferred mode of transportation -- already has a surprisingly robust smart home lineup. The company expanded its catalog at CES 2024, revealing a new series of robot lawn mowers (Navimow i Series) and a new portable power station (Segway Cube Series).

The upcoming Navimow i Series makes a few big improvements over Segway's existing H Series. Along with the ability to work without wires (which are typically used to set boundaries for the robot), the i Series employs a technology known as the Exact Fusion Locating System (EFLS). Segway says this will let the robot lawn mower better track its location and ensure it's cutting your lawn as close to specifications as possible.

Smart Home

Samsung SmartThings learns a bunch of useful new tricks at CES 2024

A person sitting on a couch with SmartThings products in the foreground.

Samsung SmartThings -- an application designed to connect and control your smart home devices -- doesn't quite get the same attention as platforms like Google Home or Apple HomeKit. However, it made some big announcements at CES 2024, and it's shaping up to be a big year for Samsung's first-party platform. Along with enhanced support for TVs and new uses for QR codes, SmartThings is rolling out a brilliant Map View feature, which creates a digital map of your home and shows you exactly where all your connected devices are located.

Here's how it works. Instead of scrolling through a list of all your devices or jumping between groups in your smartphone app, Map View lets you see a 3D representation of your home on your smartphone. Inside this map, you'll find icons for all your smart home gadgets corresponding to their actual physical location. That means you can quickly find exactly which device you want to control without needing to scroll through a long list.