Google Home Mini + Bluetooth speakers = multi-room audio

• You can now pair your Google Home hardware with compatible Bluetooth speakers you already own.
• After pairing, you can ask Google Assistant to play music, and it will automatically come out of your Bluetooth speaker.
• You can also pair multiple speakers in a Home group, enabling multi-room audio.

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One of the chief complaints of the Google Home Mini is its poor audio. While the Google Home and especially the Google Home Max offer superior audio capabilities, the Mini was designed to be a cheap entryway into the smart home world, not as a high-end way to listen to tunes.

But Google announced a new workaround today that can help your high-end audio experience dreams come true. Starting now, you can pair any number of compatible Bluetooth speakers with your Google Home devices, enabling you to have a multi-room audio experience.

Let's say you have a Google Home Mini in the kitchen. You can pair a Bluetooth speaker located in the living room with the Mini, and have audio play from both at the same time. Depending on the size of your home and the number of smart speakers and Bluetooth speakers you already own, you could have the same song play throughout all areas of your house.

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To get started with your multi-room audio set up, make sure your Bluetooth speaker is powered on and in pairing mode. Open the Google Home app on your smartphone and head to Device Settings by tapping the icon in the upper right-hand corner. You should see your Bluetooth speaker there (assuming its compatible, Google did not give a list of compatible devices), and can follow the instructions to set it as your default speaker.

Now, when you ask Google Assistant to play music, it will automatically come out of the Bluetooth speaker, without you have to tell Google which speaker you prefer.

Repeat these steps to add more speakers, but instead of setting each new one as the default, add them to a group and name it "House Speakers." Tell Google Assistant to play music to house speakers, and you'll hear the same song playing from each connected unit.

Of course, to operate Google Assistant functions you won't be able to talk to your Bluetooth speakers, you'll still have to be within audible range of the Google Home hardware. But this is a great way to experience multi-room audio without having to buy expensive smart speakers for each room.

Next: Best Bluetooth speakers of 2018

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