Samsung set to launch Galaxy Home Mini 2 smart speaker
You probably didn’t even hear about the Galaxy Home Mini but Samsung is working on a follow-up – another smart speaker you likely won’t be able to buy.
Just when we thought Samsung was done with its troubled journey intosmart speakers, rumours of a Galaxy Home Mini 2 have appeared. The news comes from Max Jambor on Twitter who posted an image with the product name along with the model number ‘SM-V230’.
Galaxy Home Mini 2 (SM-V320) isn’t too far away anymore, I can tell you that😉pic.twitter.com/xtV6z4645Y
Since then, the speaker has been Bluetooth SIG certification as spotted byMySmartPrice. It’s listed as a ‘Samsung SmartThings Home Hub’ and has the same SM-V320 model number posted by Jambor.
As well as indicating that the launch of the speaker might not be far away, it reveals that it has Bluetooth 5.2.
It’s no surprise that Samsung isn’t known for smart speakers as the originalGalaxy Home(below) was announced way back in 2018 alongside theGalaxy Note 9smartphone.
It actually looked pretty good – albeit with a divisive design featuring three short legs – but after numerous delayed and missed released dates, Samsung quietly killed it without ever officially saying why.
TheGalaxy Home Miniwas available in South Korea as a free gift when purchasing aGalaxy S20but never got a proper launch, even in a limited number of markets.
There’s no information about the Galaxy Mini 2 apart from the above model number but Jambor adds that it “isn’t too far away anymore”. So, we could see Samsung unveil it with theGalaxy S22 rangewhich is rumoured to appear at an Unpacked event on8 February 2022.
This might happen on9 February, asevleakshas tweeted the following image showing the Samsung teaser for the event with the words ‘The Epic Standard’.
We can expect it to be similar to the first Galaxy Home Mini (pictured at the top) – a compact smart speaker powered by Bixby with far-field mics, sound by AKG and possibly IR (infrared) again.
A report bySamMobilelast year suggested that it could come with a display. At the time, it also said the speaker could be limited to South Korea.
It would rival devices like theAmazon Echo 4and theGoogle Nest Mini.
Author: Chris Martin, Reviews Editor, Tech Advisor
Chris got his break as a reporter at infamous site The Inquirer and has been at Tech Advisor for more than 12 years. With a BA degree in Music Technology, audio is his specialism, but over the years he has reviewed all kinds of gadgets, from smartwatches to mesh Wi-Fi to coffee machines.
