Small is beautiful

Google, whose smart speaker range has matched Amazon's, model for model, has gone ultra-thin in its latest avatar: the Google Nest Mini. This one belts out sound that belies its size: twice as powerful as the earlier Home Mini. And you can smoothly shift music from your phone to speaker.
It does everything that the standard Google does, at a fraction of the asking price. If you say "OK,Google", nicely, it plays your music from any connected device or serves as the oral version of the world's best search engine. And now it does it in English and Hindi.

A recent feature -- Google Duo --works like an intercom, letting you talk from one Google device to another. You can also chrome cast content to a smart TV. Most usefully this small 4-inch disc-shaped speaker weighs just 181 grams and can be hung unobtrusively on the wall. For Rs 4,499, that's a lot of smart speaking!