How do you end a call on the Google Home Mini without the awkwardness?

The Google Home Mini is brilliant for making free phone calls to UK landlines or mobiles – particularly if you live in a mobile dead spot. But ending a call is, well, awkward.

Reaching the end of a call and having to say “OK Google, end call” is oddly embarrassing, especially if you don’t know the person on the other end of the line. You often hear the other person saying “sorry?”, thinking you’re still talking to them, just as the line drops. One person even rang me back to check they hadn’t missed something important. That’s 30 excruciating seconds neither of us is getting back.

So how do you end a call on the Google Home Mini more gracefully?

How to end a call on the Google Home Mini

It’s not very well flagged by Google, but the easiest way to end a call on the Google Home Mini is by tapping and holding on one of the sides. But what are the sides of a circular puck?

If you imagine the power cord is at nine o’clock, you have to hold the side at either 12 o’clock or six o’clock. It takes a little practice and the first few times you’ll probably end up merely turning the volume up or down, but you’ll soon get the hang of it. See the picture below. (I am available for hand-modelling jobs. Call me.)

If you have a full-blown Google Home speaker, by the way, you can merely tap the top of the device to end a call. Why it can’t be that easy on a Mini, only Google knows.

Now read this: how do I pair a Google Home Mini with a Bluetooth speaker?