Canadian adds 3.5mm jack to Google Home Mini speaker

A Canadian tinkerer has added a 3.5mm jack to the Google Home Mini speaker. This allows him to connect it to a larger speaker set. Adding the jack turned out to be quite a task, in which he first placed the Home Mini in a hot pan.

The Canadian, co-owner of smart home start-up SnekTek, wanted to use the hot pan to loosen the glue at the bottom of the Home Mini. Then the speaker could open. Right next to the micro-USB port, there was room to add the 3.5mm jack.

In order for the jack to work properly, it had to reduce the voltage from 3.6V to less than 1V with a voltage divider. Then he glued the jack in place and reassembled the speaker. It is not clear how long the job took approximately.

The connection can be used as a line-out, to be able to connect a larger speaker to the Home Mini. Sending music or commands to the Home Mini is still done wirelessly after the mod.

It’s not the first time that someone has added a 3.5mm jack to a device, at a time when electronics manufacturers want to remove it. An American technician previously put a 3.5mm jack in an iPhone 7.