Google Home and Google Home Mini speakers have got price cuts on Flipkart. These are Google's smart speakers powered by the Google Assistant. The Flipkart discount is for a limited time period and follows the recent price cuts on the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot earlier in the month. While the Google Home got a Rs 1,500 discount, and will cost Rs 8,499, the smaller Home Mini will now retail for Rs 3,699. This is a price drop of Rs 800 from the original price tag for the Mini. Google's speakers can be purchased with 10 per cent cashback benefits for HDFC Debit and Credit card holders, as well as 5 per cent cashback for those who own an Axis Bank Buzz credit card. In addition, users will also receive additional discounts of Rs 1,000 on purchasing two or more Google Home/Home Mini speakers, as well as free membership to Google's Play Music for six months. Both the Google Home and Home Mini were introduced in India in April. Both speakers are available online, via Flipkart, and offline, through offline retail stores. They were launched at Rs 9,999 and Rs 4,499 respectively. Recently, the company had introduced an improvement to the Google Assistant, that brings the continued conversations feature for these speakers. Google Home and Home Mini can be used to control and play content via the Chromecast on television sets or used to control Android TVs as well. Both speakers also come with support for Saavn and Gaana music services. There's also the option to control smart home lighting for some supported devices like the Philips Hue Lighting. On the other hand, Amazon has reduced the price of its Echo series of speakers. While users will be able to get Alexa's service from the Echo Dot at Rs 4,099, Amazon's Echo is now available for Rs 8,999. This means discounts of Rs 400 on the Echo Dot, and Rs 1,000 on the Echo. This price cut, though, was not extended to the company's Echo Plus and Echo Spot. They retain their price tags of Rs 14,999 and Rs 10,999, respectively. Amazon's speakers offer its users the services of an upgraded Alexa, that can also provide answers to questions about the World Cup. It comes with more artificial intelligence (AI) features than its counterpart, the Google Assistant. Recently, the competition between the digital speaker makers intensified, as Google Home's sales were seen beating that of the Echo series for the first time.
