Wall-mount your Google Home Mini or Nest Mini: Better sound, cleaner look – CNET

What’s small, round, smart and works better when you stick it on a wall? Your Google Home Mini or Nest Mini ($35 at Walmart). Most people unbox a new Google smart speaker and immediately place it flat on a tabletop or counter, but if you mount it on the wall it’ll sound better, most likely hear you better and, as a bonus, it probably won’t collect as much dust and grime now that it’s not cluttering your kitchen, end table or night stand.

I spent a week drilling, snapping and in one case even duct taping five Google Home and Nest Minis to the wall to figure out which techniques are the easiest, sturdiest and, of course, best-looking ways to mount your Mini on the wall.

The Nest Mini has a built-in notch, which makes Google’s latest entry-level smart speaker easier to hang than the previous-gen Google Home Mini, but there are still a bunch of good, bad and most definitely ugly ways to do it.

CNET Associate Editor Molly Price has a terrific guide to wall mounting the Nest Mini, which served as my starting point. From there I let imagination and good-old-fashioned DIY spirit lead the way. Read on to see how you should absolutely not try to mount your Mini to the wall, as well as what worked great for me, including some aftermarket adapters you can get for $15 or less. 

Absolutely do not mount your Google Home Mini or Nest Mini like this

No matter which version of the Mini you’ve got, there are some wall-mounting methods that seem obvious and easy, but which failed when I tried them. Save yourself the grief of a falling speaker and a useless hole in the wall and don’t try any of these.

Thumbtack: Yes, it’ll technically work, but after an annoying afternoon of closing doors extra gently and not playing my music loudly enough to enjoy it for the fear of the Mini vibrating off the wall, I took it down. Plus the Mini just sort of dangles from the wall, all shabby and no chic.

Nail: Same deal as with a thumbtack, only it leaves a bigger hole. If you’re going to put real hardware in your wall, go with one of the methods detailed below.

Command Hooks: Although Command Hooks ($7 for eight hooks with 1-pound maximum capacity on Amazon) technically do the trick, they’re a little clumsy and the speaker doesn’t really feel secure on them. The base of the hook sticks out above the speaker and the hook pushes the Mini so far away from the wall it doesn’t even touch. 

Double-sided foam tape: I actually thought this would be the best hack for wall mounting a Mini on my kitchen’s tiled backsplash, but the 3M mounting tape I used simply refused to stick to the Minis’ nonslip base. I even tried covering the entire base in tape, hoping extra surface area would solve the problem, but no dice.

Duct tape: Unless you’re going for a sort of post-apocalyptic survivalist aesthetic, heavy-duty black Gorilla duct tape ($8 at Amazon) simply looks hideous, no matter how you stick it. Check out the photo above if you’re not convinced.

The most secure and best-looking ways to mount your Google Home Mini speaker

Google included a built-in notch for wall mounting the Nest Mini, so you won’t need any extra hardware if you’ve got Google’s latest generation smart speaker. The upside to this method is that you can get it done in under five minutes. The downside is it’s difficult to hide the rather obvious power cord that protrudes from the bottom. Google’s official instructions for wall mounting your Mini break it down into three basic steps:

1. Choose a location close to a power outlet.

2. Drill a screw into the wall, using a wall anchor if necessary.

3. Hang it up.

You can avoid using a wall anchor by locating a wooden stud behind the drywall and drilling a screw directly into it. I used the CH Hanson Magnetic Stud Finder ($7 on Amazon) to hang my new sky blue Nest Mini in my living room, with the back of my couch covering most of the power cord. 

Buy brackets, wall mounts or other types of aftermarket accessories

There are dozens of third-party accessories you can use to wall mount your notch-less Google Home Mini (as well as the Nest Mini, if you want an alternative to the included notch), costing anywhere from about $5 to $15. The Google Store has just one option for $15, the Incipio Wall Mount for Google Home Mini, but Amazon is littered with choices, as is eBay. Most mounts fit into one of three categories:

Clip-on brackets: These are small plastic brackets that attaches to the wall with screws and grip the Mini to hold it in place. The Incipio Wall Mount ($15 at the Google Store) is one example of this type of mount. Same pros and cons as mounting with Nest Mini’s notch.

Outlet adapters: My favorite outlet adapter is the Dot Genie Google Home Mini Backpack ($13 on Amazon). Unlike other similar products that wind the Mini speaker’s regular power cable into an unsightly spool, the Dot Genie comes with it’s own adapter, allowing the speaker to sit more flush against the wall. That means no cable in view.

Wall mounts with cable management: Basically you’ll be running the power cable behind the drywall, bringing it out again beside an outlet. The Mount Genie ($14 at Amazon) is a perfect example of this type of mount. I rent my home, so I didn’t try this method because my landlord would have my hide, but if you own your home and aren’t afraid of performing some minor surgery, this is the cleanest, most professional way to go — especially if you don’t want to use a couch or other furniture to hide the cord.

Now that you know how to mount your speakers, you can put them in every room and create a whole-house audio system with Google Home. Or, if you’re still new to Google Home, learn how to get the most out of it with these 32 Google Home tips and tricks. Ready to take the next step in your personal smart home adventure? Adding a Nest Hub or Nest Hub Max smart display to your Google Home setup might be your next best move.