This shop uses 20 Nest Mini as its speaker system, and it works surprisingly well
You can mostly find Google’s smart home devices in the home, but there is no rule carved in stone that limits these products to households. A business in Vancouver used a bunch of Nest Mini speakers, combined them as a single speaker group, and turned them into a sound system for its shop.
The system has been spotted by Redditor u/Pufferfish1223, who says that there are about 20 such speakers spread out throughout the whole shop. While Nest Minis aren’t exactly known for their great sound quality, the Redditor says that the end result was surprisingly good. The devices were synced perfectly, and the sound was as good as Nest speakers can get.
The shop in question is called MAKE Vancouver, and customer images on Google Maps confirm that the business does indeed use Nest Mini speakers in the fashion described and shown by the Redditor. It’s likely that the devices have their microphones disabled, and it’s possible that they have a dedicated Wi-Fi network to avoid outside interference. The business probably wouldn’t like customers changing the music with voice commands or connecting to the speakers with their phones to play their own audio.
Combining multiple Nest speakers to create a single synced group isn't a groundbreaking feat, either. Google has offered this option in the Home app forever, which you can access in individual devices' settings. Here, you can create groups or add the device to an existing one, syncing up the sound experience throughout your home. It’s quite surprising that this works so well with more than a dozen Nest Minis, though. Another Redditor chimed in, saying that they are perfectly syncing 16 Nest devices throughout their home. It may not be usual to have this many speakers, but Google certainly accommodates large groups like this — even with the restrictions in mind that stem from its legal spate with Sonos.
If the business bought the Nest Minis on its wall at full price, the solution isn't as cheap as you might think it is, either. With a single Nest Mini going for 50 US dollars, this would come in at about $1,000 if you have 20 of them. This might still be significantly cheaper than a full-scale sound system, and it definitely requires less wiring — you just need outlets and a router nearby the Nest Minis to make it work.
Source: Android Police
