How to Set Up Google Nest Mini

This is the newly rebranded Nest Mini by Google. I've got the Nest Mini second generation here. And in today's video, We’ll walk you through the setup process for the Nest Mini, and we’ll show you some demos on our Nest Mini (2nd Gen). And we'll cover some of the key features of this device so you know what to expect.

The items in this box are pretty simple. You'll get a Nest Mini and a power cable. That's pretty much it.

Let's take a closer look at the Nest Mini. The Nest Mini has a puck-like design with cloth on the top and plastic on the bottom. Our version (the 2nd Gen) has a mount on the bottom so you can hang it up on a wall if you want.

On the back, there’s a mute switch for the microphone. If we don't want our Google listening to us, we can always mute it. And, of course, the power adapter is in the back.

Getting your Nest Mini up and running is pretty simple, but we’ll demonstrate each step so you know you’re on track.

Because the Nest Mini is part of the Google ecosystem, you’ll need a Google Gmail account. If you don’t have one, you’ll have to create one first. Then you’ll download the Google Home app and open it up.

Tap on the Get Started tab to, well, get started. And since we’re adding a new hub device to our Google ecosystem, we’ll then tap on New Devices, and what we need to do is create a home. We're going to select Create Another Home since we haven’t set one up yet. Name your home and click Done. After you've set up your first device, adding more Google Nest devices will be a breeze.

The app will ask you to put in your address. This is optional, but if you add an address, you’ll have a more customized experience with your Nest Mini. You’ll be able to do things like ask about the weather, ask for travel directions, and get local traffic info.

If you haven’t plugged in your Nest Mini yet, do that now. Once it’s on, you’ll see pulsing lights on the top.

The app should be ready to find a new device. Tap Speaker, and it will look for a new speaker (aka your Nest Mini). Once it finds and connects to the device, the app will move to the next step. The light on the Nest Mini should now be blue.

Now we're going through the setup process. The app will ask if you heard a sound, and the Nest Mini will chime. If you heard it, tap “Yes.” If you didn’t, it means your device isn’t connected, and you’ll need to do the connection process again. You’ll also use the app to connect your Nest Mini to your Wi-Fi.

Next, choose the room you’ll be putting your Nest Mini in. It's important to select the actual room your device will be in. This allows your devices to communicate to each other properly. Say you get a Chromecast. If both the Chromecast and the Nest Mini are listed as being in the same room, you can just ask the Mini to display something. You won’t have to specify the Chromecast’s name because the devices know they're in the same room together.

Google Assistant is the brains of the whole operation, so you’ll want to customize it to your needs.

First, it will ask if you want to connect your Google Assistant to your contacts and web activity. If you’re not comfortable with that, you can deny sharing that info.

Next, you’ll have the option to teach your assistant to recognize your voice. If you have multiple people using your Google devices, you might want to turn on the custom voice assistant. This allows Google to recognize your voice and give you custom things like your reminders, calendar events, emails, and phone calls. If you're the only one using it, you probably don't need to set this up.

The Nest Mini doesn’t have pressable buttons. Instead, you control your device by tapping on its surface. a tap in the middle will play or pause music. Tapping on the right side will turn the volume up, while tapping on the left will turn the volume down.

There is a switch on the back of the Mini that disables the microphone. The top lights will glow red when the mic is off so you know at a glance if Google can hear you or not.

The Nest Mini can connect with several music streaming platforms, including favorites like YouTube Music, Spotify, and Apple Music.

If you have a Chromecast, you can also connect the Mini to your video streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount, Sling, Starz, and YouTube Kids. You can then ask your mini to play your favorite show, and it will pull it up on your Chromecast.

You can also explore other media options. Our favorites are radio, live TV, and podcasts.

Congratulations on getting your Google Nest Mini set up and getting familiar with some of the features!