How to add bluetooth speaker to google home

(Pocket-lint) - There's a feature on Google Home and Google Nest speakers and displays that allows you to pair a Bluetooth speaker to them so music and audio plays through the Bluetooth speaker by default, rather than the Google Home or Nest speaker or display.

The feature, which works on any of the Google Home and Google Nest speakers and smart displays is particularly useful if you own the Home Mini or Nest Mini. They are affordable, compact speakers that support Google Assistant and can process your commands, but they aren't ideal for playing music as they are quite small. Thanks to this feature though, you can essentially amp up the sound by connecting them to another Bluetooth speaker.

"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," Google explained. You can even add multiple Bluetooth speakers to Google Home groups for multi-room audio.

Here's what you need to know.

How to make any Google Home or Nest speaker play music through a Bluetooth speaker

Here's how to get your Google Home or Nest speaker paired up with a Bluetooth speaker and get your music playing through the Bluetooth speaker by default.

Pair and connect a Bluetooth speaker and Google Home or Nest speaker or display

First, pair your Bluetooth speaker with your Google Home or Nest device. You need to open the Google Home app on your mobile device, then head to device settings, and follow the instructions below to make it your default speaker and get the Bluetooth speaker paired up.

1. Turn on your Bluetooth speaker and make sure it's in pairing mode (press the pairing button on your speaker, if possible).
2. Open the Google Home app.
3. Find the Google Home or Nest speaker you want to pair with a Bluetooth speaker in the list of rooms.
4. Tap on the speaker or display and then tap the settings cog in the top right corner
5. Tap on Audio
6. Then Tap on Default music speaker
7. You'll then see Pair Bluetooth Speaker
8. Tap on this and it will start scanning for devices
9. Tap the speaker you want to pair.
10. Tap Done.

If you want to add your Bluetooth speaker to an audio group via the Google Home or Nest speaker device it's connected to, here's how.

Ask Assistant to play music

Now, you can say things like, "Hey Google, shuffle my date night playlist" or "Hey Google, turn down the volume." The music should automatically play on your Bluetooth speaker - without you having to tell Google the name of the device. You'll still need to talk to your Google Home or Nest device, rather than your Bluetooth speakers, to ask Assistant questions, getting weather updates, and using other commands.

Want to know more?

Check out Google's blog post and Help hub for more details.

• How to set up Google Home using your Android or iOS device

Writing by Maggie Tillman and Elyse Betters.

Pairing your Google smart speaker with a Bluetooth speaker is both simple and easy, giving you all the benefits of Assistant but with the potential sound benefits of a regular speaker.

Say, for example, you've got a little Google Nest Mini, but you want a bigger sound from a beefier Bluetooth speaker.

In the steps below, we'll show you how to get your speakers paired up. Once everything is connected and paired, be sure to check out our full Google Assistant guide for more tips and tricks.

Google Home and Bluetooth pairing

To get started, turn on the Bluetooth speaker and stick it in pairing mode - probably via pressing and holding a dedicated button on the top or back of the device - and then follow these steps:

1. Open the Google Home app.

2. Tap the device you want to pair on the main overview screen.

3. Tap the cog icon at the top right.

4. Scroll down and select 'Audio'.

5. From there, tap 'Paired Bluetooth devices'.

You should see the Bluetooth speaker appear on this screen, so just select it to pair.

You can also set the Bluetooth speaker as your default Google Assistant speaker. Go back to the speaker's settings (the cog icon) but this time tap on 'Default speaker', which you'll see under 'Device settings'.

Once they're paired and the speaker you want is set as default, just use any regular Google Assistant command and the audio and music will be played on the Bluetooth speaker instead.

Google Home Bluetooth pairing: How does it work?

The feature works across the Google Home family, all the way from the cute Google Nest Mini to the powerful Google Home Max, as well as with other Assistant-supporting speakers.

Obviously, this feature is probably the most beneficial for Mini owners, as Google's tiny smart speaker doesn't deliver a great performance in sound quality.

Be aware that all your Google Home's audio will route through your Bluetooth speakers if you do this. So, if you ask for the weather, your Bluetooth speakers will play the answer - not your Google Home.

You will still have to actually speak to the Google Home, too, as your Bluetooth speakers can't hear your commands and route them through the Home.

So, while it's not necessary, it makes sense to place them relatively near to each other in the room, as you'll no doubt look towards the speaker you're trying to control.

Can you pair more than one Bluetooth speaker?

Yes - all you have to do is add a second Google Home/Chromecast built in or Chromecast Audio-connected speaker in a group and you'll automatically enable multi-room audio, voice controlled by the Google Home smart speaker.

So, just like a Sonos system, you can walk from room to room and they'll all play the same thing so that you don't miss a melody or word of your podcast.

The tricky thing here is that it's the Google Home smart speaker that you add to the multi-room group, not a Bluetooth speaker. It is possible to connect Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speakers around the house, though.

You might experience a lag though - this isn't the best way of setting up a Google Home multi-room audio setup.

To create a group, simply open the Google Home app and tap 'Add', which you'll see in the control dock at the top of the Home screen.

Then select 'Create speaker group'. You'll be able to select the speakers you want before giving the group a name.

Then you can voice control all speakers with one command. So long as the Bluetooth speaker is paired to the Google Home, it will be added to the group.

Google Home Bluetooth: Correct the group delay

If you're having an issue with latency, you're able to easily troubleshoot the problem.

You might need to adjust for the playback delay on the Bluetooth or Chromecast Audio speaker/s if you hear a substantial delay regularly.

To do this, you need to correct the speaker individually. So, select the offending speaker from the home screen, tap the cog icon, then select 'Group delay correction'.

You need to then play music on the problem speaker and a speaker with no delay, at similar volume then move the slider left and right to correct the delay (Google recommends to always increase the correction for the speaker that plays last not the other way round).

That will then be applied to all the speakers in the group.

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