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.