Stereo pairing finally arriving on Google Home and Home Mini

A feature that I have long wanted for the original Google Home and Home Mini is finally starting to roll out – the ability to pair speakers to create a stereo group. The feature has been available for the Home Max and on the new Nest Mini but has not available for the original Home or Home Mini. Now, as discovered by Android Police, the stereo speaker pairing feature is now available for both older speakers.

A feature that was originally introduced with the powerful Home Max, stereo pairing allows you to create a more immersive listening experience in your home or office. But honestly, the Home Max is an expensive speaker and creates a really clear, loud soundscape on its own, so buying two of them to pair in your house would be overkill and would only make sense for something like a DJ at a party (as was demonstrated in this advertising video.)

Stereo pairing actually makes more sense with smaller speakers that on their own are not very loud but when paired can create room-filling sound. If you were able to snag a couple of Home Minis from all the promos over the past year, you can now test out this feature in your home or office. 

Setting up a stereo pair requires only a few simple steps in the Google Home app. First of all, make sure you have the latest update of the app and then tap on one of the speakers you want to pair, select the settings in the top right, then scroll down to “Speaker pair.” The app will then walk you through the process to pair the speakers and then you are ready to go. To test your setup cast a song with clear left and right separation, like Such Great Heights by The Postal Service.

After everything is set up, the music controls will be synced and Google Assistant will still work but only the left speaker will hear your “Hey Google” commands. Also, the speaker can be paired with a larger group of speakers. The feature is still rolling out to users and, unfortunately, has not appeared on any of our devices so we are eagerly checking the app for updates.