Verdict
A speaker this sizing just should n’t sound as good as the Apple HomePod Mini does . With poise and balance , this talker can handle everything you make at it , delivering impressive elbow room - fulfil volume , too . It ’s a decent smart speaker , too , controlling anything in your Home app with easiness , while the unexampled Thread hub lets you seize some smart peripheral straight . This speaker is still a little Apple - centric , and it would be prissy to have Spotify better integrated . That said , for the monetary value , this impertinent speaker system is brilliantly priced and sound better than any of its similarly - price rival .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The HomePod Mini is Apple ’s dinky smart home speaker system that sound a lot better than many would expect , especially considering the size .
For a time , the HomePod Mini was the exclusive speaker in Apple ’s line - up . That ’s all changed now , with theHomePod 2offering up a much higher - oddment sound experience at a far higher terms .
With built - in reinforcement for the Thread voguish domicile networking communications protocol andMatter , some updated smart speaker features and excellent sound , the HomePod Mini remains an incredible bit of engineering and a great overbold speaker for Apple home .
Design
The HomePod is still one of the best - wait smart speaker system , and the HomePod Mini builds on that . You get a exchangeable fabric natural covering on the exterior , with the Mini available in White , Space Grey , Blue , Yellow and Orange – no matter what style of interior decoration you have , you ’ll find a HomePod Mini that equal your tastes .
While the HomePod 2 is more elongated , the HomePod Mini is more like a ball , with the top and bottom cut off . It ’s standardised to the newAmazon Echo ( quaternary Generation ) , although Apple ’s speaker is a lot lowly than this ( 84 x 98 x 98 mm ) , and is actually even smaller than the Amazon Echo Dot ( 4th Generation ) . At 345 g , this fresh HomePod is a stack light and easier to place than the original , too .
Most importantly , the little sizing means that you could well station this loudspeaker system anywhere you want , as it just takes up any desk blank .
As with the original , there ’s still a intent overseas telegram ( a annoyance if this is damage , as you ’ll have to send off the full speaker off for repair ) , although the exponent stop terminates in a USB - C connector , which plug into Apple ’s fold briny hoopla . It ’s a neat design that make it easy to throw away the speaker and power adapter into a travelling bag to take travelling with you . Apple removed the captive cable television with the HomePod 2 , so hopefully , we see the same alteration for the inevitable HomePod Mini 2 .
On top , there ’s the same light show as the HomePod 2 : you get a white ignitor when there ’s audio playing , and a multicoloured light show when Siri is activated .
You have to have an iOS equipment to set this loudspeaker system up . If you have , then this is the easiest wise verbaliser to configure out of any that I ’ve tested . Just plug it in , hold your phone close and then tap through the wizard to transfer all the configurations you need , include Wi - Fi point and your Apple ID . All - in , it takes just a few minutes to set up and there ’s no faffing around with having to lumber into multiple accounts .
If you ’ve got a second HomePod Mini , adding it to the same HomeKit room as the first will ask you if you want to make a stereophony pair ( more on this by and by ) , although you’re able to just as easily add multiple HomePod speakers to multiple rooms .
Features
euphony is going to be one of the principal uses of the HomePod , and you could keep in line euphony directly from theApple Musicapp ( iOS or macOS ) . smartly , if you ’ve got music on a telephone that has a U1 chip , you may just harbour it near a speaker and music will be transferred ; do it again , and music comes back the other way . It ’s a brilliant little trick , that quick let you keep listening on any equipment .
Just be careful where you place the HomePod Mini . For initial examination , I had mine on the desk near me , and picking up my phone kept transfer music to and from the speaker .
If you have multiple HomePods in the same family , you’re able to act different tracks on them using the same Apple Music account . However , as soon as you start to play on your phone , then this stops work and you either have to upgrade to a Family account or pick where you require to roleplay your music .
Using the AirPlay menu , you may send the same music to multiple speakers , and they do n’t have to be Apple unity : anyAirPlay 2compatible loudspeaker can be added into the mixture .
There are physical controls on top of the talker . water tap once to play / pause , tap doubly to skip a cart track and dab three times to skip back . scantily highlighted , you could see ‘ + ’ and ‘ - ’ icons for set volume , although it ’s all too easy to leave out these and play your music .
you’re able to , of course , also use your voice , and the HomePod can run anything that you ask of it . Siri has become much in effect at understanding what you ’re asking for , and you’re able to even rap into recommendations , with the the like of , “ Hey Siri , play something I ’d wish ” or , “ Hey Siri , play something I can dance to ” . Siri will then find tracks based on the eccentric of medicine that you care .
you could listen to some radio station , but they ’re not all affirm . need a BBC Radio programme ? You ’re out of luck . Other UK stations are there , but it would be skillful to see everything .
If you need to use a unlike app , such as Spotify , then you do n’t get direct control over your HomePod . or else , you either have to AirPlay the audio or agree your phone close to transfer medicine . It ’s nifty that you’re able to practice the latter trick to move music where you require it , although the process of transpose Spotify is slimly ho-hum than with Apple Music .
Apple has improved the underlying tech , too . When I first used a HomePod and sent the music from my phone , switching by from Spotify to another app would send the audio through the HomePod . Now , that does n’t happen .
There are more limitation using a third - party service , such as Spotify , including that you could only wreak one track on the twist ( or group of equipment ) at a time from the same account . Apple has opened up the HomePod and HomePod Mini to third - party control , withAmazon Musicand Pandora confirm ; I ’d make love to see Spotify or Tidal make the cutting off , too .
As with the original , there ’s still no audio stimulation for tie other devices , such as a record deck .
you’re able to use the Apple TV 4 K with the HomePod Mini ( or a brace ) , link up them wirelessly to media waft to enable Dolby Atmos . And , with the update to the Apple TV 4 K ( 2nd generation ) , the media streamer is eARC compatible , so audio can be post from any informant on your boob tube to the HomePod Mini – ready to hand if you ’ve get the speakers within range of your TV .
Siri and Smart Home
Siri has meliorate a lot since the early days , and it ’s now pretty good at agnize what you ’re saying . Siri mostly responded to us , although you could tap and control the top of the speaker to manually trip the voice assistant . In some ways , Siri ’s answer are better than the ace from Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant : Siri tends to formulate things , such as the local weather report , in a nicer means .
With Apple Maps receive well , Siri can now give better directions and local business hunt consequence than Alexa , although the power of Google ’s lookup dick means that its supporter is still slightly in front .
With Siri connected to your Apple ID , it ’s equal to of mystify some personal information , such as adding and reading your calendar . you could append fitting and contacts , but anything considered a personal postulation , such as grow Siri to tell you what your next event is , need assay-mark on your earphone by default . you’re able to turn this option off in the HomePod options , but for privacy , your HomePod will only provide you personal results while your iPhone is on the same wireless internet .
Just as you may do with music , you may also HandOff telephone calls too and from the HomePod just by placing your sound near the top of the speaker . It works tight , too .
Of course , you’re able to do all of the thing that you ’d expect , such as setting reminders , sum up notes and setting consternation . As everything ties into Apple ’s mathematical product , everything is synced across all of your machine .
There are some time when a voice reply is n’t honest enough , say when you want to find pictures of something . Here , Apple has a few path of dealing with things . For some hunting , it can pop up a substance on your phone , taking you to look for results . Try , “ Hey Siri , show me pictures of cats ” to see it in natural action . For other asking , such as getting direction entropy , you ’ll get a Siri suggestion in the relevant app .
fresh home controller has also been improved , since iOS 14 . Now , you get nonpayment Routine suggestion for added gadget . For example , select your HomePod Mini and you could toggle on a Routine that will stop medicine playing when everyone go out your home .
HomeKitand , by extension , the Home App have got a lot good . In term of experience a undivided home for control , for all of your compatible devices , it ’s the best product . And , once smart devices are in HomeKit , you could control them via the app or using your vocalism . Yet , as good as HomeKit is , support still lags far behind the competition and some openhanded names are noticeably not Apple - compliant , including Ring and Nest . If you ’re a bit techier , then the freeHomeBridgetool , which can run on a Raspberry Pi , is a neat way of adding in extra support .
Using HomeBridge , I have my Ring Alarm turn off and my Arlo camera change modality , when my Yale smart lock chamber ( connected via SmartThings ) unlocks .
There ’s one young conjuring trick that the HomePod Mini has : a Thread hub . Thread is a new low - index interlocking networking engineering for link up devices , alike in a way toZigbeeorZ - Wave . With supported devices , you do n’t call for a hub and can just connect them up and use the Home app to control them , topically or remotely . TheNanoleaf Essentialsline was the first to support this engineering , but there has been a great deal of new devices launched with the connector touchstone .
As of HomePod version 16.1 , the HomePod Mini officially support Matter , the new interconnection standard that will admit corking interoperability between devices . subject will see more devices work with the Home app , greatly lucubrate Apple ’s fresh home credentials . Another recent pinch is the enabling of the old dormant temperature and humidity sensors , allowing you build this information into automation .
Intercom is a new dick , to give you broadcast content . Audio messages are record in your articulation and automatically fiddle on allAirPodsand HomePods , although you’re able to target a individual machine . Intercom subject matter are also sent as a notice to iPhones and Apple Watches , where you may wiretap a clit to send a response back .
you could configure how you want Intercom to work , pick out who father messages , and whether or not to receive them when you ’re out of the sign . This floor of customisation pushes Intercom above the feature film available on the Echo and Google Assistant saucy loudspeaker .
Sound Quality
Small speakers have historically not been the best . Typically , they suffer from poor basso and they can easy garble . Not so with the HomePod Mini , which is not only well - vocalize than theEcho Dot , but well sounding than the Echo .
Apple has put in a full - reach driver , two bass radiators and an acoustical waveguide that sits at the bottom of the downwards - liberation speaker unit . The system is designed to produce 360 - arcdegree sound , not because you ’ll have the speaker in the middle of the room , but because we run to move around . With a traditional talker , impudent or not , guiding sound stand for that there ’s a sweet smirch you have to sit in to get the best strait ; with 360 - degree sound recording , there ’s not .
There ’s also an S5 chip that monitors the audio output , and finetunes it on the tent-fly , mechanically tuning the HomePod Mini for the best - quality yield no matter what you ’re listening to or where the speaker is placed .
The resolution are staggeringly impressive . While larger speaker , such as the Echo or theSonos One , can produce more bass , through virtue of bigger speaker , what you get with the HomePod is good bass voice , balanced with the rest of the music .
I ’ve verbalise about the sweet spot in terms of positioning , but it ’s fair to say that diminished talker loosely have a dulcet situation for volume : too grim and basso is killed ; too high and you get straining . Not so , here , and the HomePod sounds as good through its entire range .
Put on a basso - heavy track , such as Rage Against the Machine ’s Bombtrack , and you get that hit of the intro bass riff . You do n’t quite get the ground - shaking hit that you do from the larger HomePod , but there ’s plenty of presence here .
None of this is at the loss of subtly . Play Hurt by Johnny Cash and the twang of the raw guitar is there . Frank Sinatra ’s That ’s Life balances the bass tune brightly against the gap organ , with ol’ Blue Eyes ’ vocals shining through .
mass is impressive , too . At full loudness , the HomePod Mini is arguably too loud for most room ; but it ’s still clear .
Sure , you get slightly less detail and reach than with the larger HomePod , but you ’re not going to be upset with the timbre of audio you get here . The HomePod Mini is n’t just telling for a smaller speaker , it ’s impressive full stop .
Put two speakers together into a stereo duet , and the quality is even better . First , you get proper stereophonic system breakup . Listen to Pink Floyd ’s Wish You Were Here and the opening vortex around you . There is more attack and poise , with the speaker portion out the load , too . You get more detail , clean phone and everything go more vivacious . It ’s really very impressive , and two HomePod Minis be less than a individual Sonos One , but sound well .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
The Apple HomePod Mini is a great - sounding and surprisingly affordable wireless smart speaker
It remain a loudspeaker system best suited for those in the iOS ecosystem to take vantage of
Final Thoughts
in the end , the fact that the Apple HomePod Mini is for Apple house only will immediately cut out anyone run a different operating organization . For Apple menage , the HomePod Mini is hugely telling . As a music speaker unit alone , it ’s the best - sound overbold speaker for the Mary Leontyne Price , outdoing all of its confining competition . And , put two together and they surmount much of the more expensive competition , too .
Siri has got skilful , and the integrations with your iPhone and Mac wed neatly together . Apple products work out brightly together , and the HomePod mini continues this . WithThreadand Matter support available now , the HomePod Mini could be an essential part of your smart base , too .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every wireless loudspeaker we brush up thoroughly over an extended geological period of time . We use diligence received tests to compare feature properly . We ’ll always tell you what we happen . We never , ever , accept money to review a ware .
Find out more about how we screen in ourethics policy .
FAQs
This feature film , available through the Home app ( tap Home configurations ) , defend a ordered bulk level for music and podcasts .
you may pair two .
