Friday 15 February 2019

Google Home

Google Home

On the June 2018 PC Show, I bought the Google Home and Google Home Mini at a bundle price of SGD189. But it was only recently that I have installed it as I got the TP Link Smart Bulbs and Smart Plugs to go with it.

The specifications of the Google Home:


Dimensions
Diameter: 3.79 in (96.4 mm)
Height: 5.62 in (142.8 mm)
Power cable: 70.8 in (1.8 m)


Weight
Device: 1.05 lbs (477 g)
Power adapter: 4.58 oz (130 g)


Colors
Body: White
Base: Standard base is slate fabric.


Supported Audio Formats
HE-AAC
LC-AAC
MP3
Vorbis
WAV (LPCM)
Opus
FLAC with support for high-resolution streams (24-bit/96KHz)


Wireless network
802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz/5Ghz) Wi-Fi for high-performance streaming
Note: WPA2-Enterprise is not supported.
Bluetooth® 4.1
Supported bluetooth profiles
AVRCP controller
AVRCP target
A2DP sink
A2DP source
GATT server
GAP


Speaker
High excursion speaker with 2" driver + dual 2" passive radiators delivers clear highs and rich bass
Far-field voice recognition supports hands-free use


Power
Required 16.5V, 2A included


Power Adapter
100-240V-1.1A 50-60Hz


Ports & Connectors
DC power jack
Micro-USB port (for service only)


At first I was skeptical on the usage of Google Home. As a standalone device, it is quite useless. I do not need it to get info when I can get it from my mobile phone. But when I hook it up to the smart bulbs and smart plugs, that is when it's usage is very powerful. My living room lights turned on at 7pm every night and turn off at 12 midnight. More details on my next blog

Here are the unboxing photos:



Box-Front



Box-Side




Box-Side



Box-Side






Ohhh yeah baby...




Most importantly, is the UK plug. Instructions manual quite
minimal as the set-up is very easy.



Set-up is done via the Google Home app.


If you are just getting the Google Home for fun, I would advise you do not waste your money as the novelty would wear off very fast. However, if you intend to automate your home with some basic stuff, then that is where the Google Home is most effective. It is able support a lot of 3rd party apps on the devices section of the app, and that list is growing.