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Google Home can now play music through your other Bluetooth speakers

Google Home can now play music through your other Bluetooth speakers

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Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

Google’s Home, Home Mini, and Home Max speakers can now play music and other audio on the other Bluetooth speakers you might have around the house. This is particularly useful for people who own the Home Mini. The company’s affordable, compact speaker is perfect for querying Google Assistant, but lacks oomph and depth when it comes to playing music. Amazon already offers this option for its Alexa speakers.

“We brought this feature to life after hearing how much you wanted to amp up the sound with your Google Home Mini,” the company said in a blog announcement. “Now any of your Google Home devices can connect to other Bluetooth speakers so you can control your entertainment experience simply using the sound of your voice.” You can also add your existing Bluetooth speakers to Google Home groups for multi-room audio, which is where this might prove handy for Home Max users.

You can pair a Bluetooth speaker with Google Home in the device settings section of the Home app. Just set it as your default speaker. Your Home device will still listen for your commands, but will route all audio through the connected Bluetooth speaker. This doesn’t magically give those paired speakers Google Assistant’s smarts, though. “You’ll still need to talk to your Google Home device — not the connected Bluetooth speakers — for queries like asking questions, getting weather updates, and using smart home commands.”