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Speakers


APPLE HOMEPOD MINI REVIEW

A great smart speaker for iPhone users.
By Sara Carbone

•

Published onOctober 31, 2023



Apple HomePod mini
The bottom line
The Apple HomePod mini is a small smart speaker with surprisingly big sound. It
is only for those already deeply involved in the Apple universe as it requires
an iPhone to use and seamlessly integrates with the iPhone. You can hook up
multiple HomePod minis for multiroom audio and use it to control your smart
home. For only $99, it's worth checking out.


APPLE HOMEPOD MINI

The Apple HomePod mini is a small smart speaker with surprisingly big sound. It
is only for those already deeply involved in the Apple universe as it requires
an iPhone to use and seamlessly integrates with the iPhone. You can hook up
multiple HomePod minis for multiroom audio and use it to control your smart
home. For only $99, it's worth checking out.
Product release date
November 16, 2020
Price
$99
Dimensions
84.3 x 97.9 mm
Weight
345g
Model Number
MY5G2LL/A
Waterproof

What we like
Can distinguish different people's voices
Good sound quality for its size
Intercom feature
Can AirPlay from any Apple device
Microphone reliably hears wake phrase
Seamless setup
What we don't like
Need to have an iPhone or iPad to operate
No mute button
Hand off prompting can be annoying
No direct Spotify integration



Smart home technology is just about everywhere, but if you’re looking to add
some smarts to your home, figuring out a new piece of technology can be
daunting, and may require some research. Luckily, iPhone users have the Apple
HomePod mini as an easy-to-use option. This smart speaker fits perfectly into
any Apple fan’s home thanks to its sleek design and compatibility with Apple
devices.

No speaker is perfect, however, and the HomePod mini certainly has its
drawbacks. You should always consider the pros and cons of a smart speaker,
especially if you plan to invest in several for your home. We spent a few weeks
testing out the Apple HomePod mini, and now we can tell you if it’s worth the
investment.

Editor’s note: this Apple HomePod mini review was updated on October 31, 2023,
to answer an FAQ regarding the new Enhance Dialogue feature with software update
17.1.


Who should get the Apple HomePod mini?

Anyone invested in the Apple ecosystem should consider this compact smart
speaker. It requires an iOS or iPadOS device to operate, and connects to all
your Apple devices. You can also use the HomePod mini to control other Apple
HomeKit accessories. One of the biggest perks of choosing the HomePod Mini over
other smart speakers is getting direct Siri access. Similar to using the AirPods
Pro (2nd generation), all you have to do is say, “Hey, Siri,” and Siri will take
your request — even as the speaker blasts music.




WHAT IS THE APPLE HOMEPOD MINI?

The HomePod mini is small and easily fits anywhere in your home.

The HomePod mini is the smaller sibling of the Apple HomePod (2nd generation)
that replaced the original HomePod. This smart speaker carries out voice
commands via Siri. Siri can answer your questions, set reminders, send messages,
and read the news. It can also control your smart home and execute commands to
control your house’s thermostat.

On top of all that, this advanced ball of technology is also a loudspeaker. It
can stream music from services like Apple Music, or other audio media from your
iPhone. If you have multiple Apple HomePod devices, you can link them together
for stereo playback or multi-room audio to fill your house with synchronized
sound. Once you have a HomePod ecosystem between the rooms of your house, you
can use the speakers or your iPhone to send intercom messages to all the rooms,
or a subset of the rooms, or to specific rooms.

The Apple HomePod mini is roughly the size, shape, and weight of a softball. It
is coated in mesh fabric except for the base and touchpad. My cat knocked the
speaker off the windowsill plenty of times, and the HomePod mini came out
unscathed. While the speaker’s construction is solid, the white fabric stains
easily (but hey, you can get the grey variant instead).

Is the HomePod mini waterproof?

Apple didn’t bother to get this speaker IP certified, but it can withstand a
relative humidity of 5-90% non-condensing. This lack of robust water resistance
is fine since the HomePod mini is a stationary speaker requiring constant power
from the USB-C cable and wall adapter.


HOW DO YOU SET UP THE APPLE HOMEPOD MINI?

When you first plug the Apple HomePod mini into the wall, a white light swirls
around the touchpad, and the speaker makes a cinematic startup sound. You need
an iPhone or iPad with the latest iOS or iPadOS version to set up the HomePod
mini, which takes just a few moments.

The HomePod mini has Bluetooth for its Handoff feature, but doesn't work as a
Bluetooth speaker.

When you unlock your iPhone near the speaker, a card pops up on the screen with
prompts walking you through the setup process. Clicking the button takes you to
the Home app, and Siri will urge you to test out the different smart commands.





HOW DO YOU CONTROL THE APPLE HOMEPOD MINI?

Bring your iPhone close to the HomePod mini to transfer audio.

The hot word, “Hey, Siri,” is all you need to take control of the Apple HomePod
mini and all its functions. A swirling light show displays on the touchpad when
Siri is activated, and when music plays, it glows white. The speaker houses four
microphones, which work even when media blares at full volume. If you don’t want
to strain your voice to call for Siri, use the touchpad as a control panel.

Here’s a table that covers the Apple HomePod mini controls:

Tap centerPlay/pause music or Siri
Double-tap center

Skip

Triple-tap center

Skip back

Touch and hold center

Siri

Tap or hold + or -

Volume up/down


When an incoming call goes to your iPhone, you say, “Hey, Siri, answer the
phone,” to take the call from the HomePod mini — this doesn’t always work as
expected, though. More often than not, the Siri on my iPhone responds rather
than the Siri on the HomePod mini, and I end up taking calls on my phone anyway.
To sidestep this, you can manually route a call through the speaker by tapping
“Audio” on your phone’s call screen and selecting the HomePod. Alternatively,
hold your phone near the speaker and the call will change hands. To hang up say,
“Hey, Siri, hang up.” The person on the other line will hear this command,
though.




HOW DOES THE APPLE HOMEPOD MINI CONNECT TO YOUR DEVICE?

The touchpad glows in rainbow colors while Siri listens and responds to you.

The Apple HomePod mini operates wirelessly over 802.11n Wi-Fi, so your phone or
laptop needs to be on the same network. The speaker uses the internet to answer
your questions and stream media.

With other Apple devices under the same iCloud account, you can use peer-to-peer
AirPlay, even if your internet is offline. (The products must have been linked
to the same account before going offline.) You can’t send audio directly to the
HomePod mini via Bluetooth, but it does use Bluetooth 5.0 for Apple AirPlay and
Handoff. As your phone plays music, you can hold it close to the HomePod mini to
transfer output devices; the audio will begin to play through the speaker
instead of your phone.

This feature may annoy some listeners because if your phone is just close enough
for the HomePod mini to recognize it (~30cm), but just far enough that a
connection can’t occur, your phone will vibrate and notify you to move it closer
to the speaker for Handoff.




HOW DO YOU STREAM MUSIC TO THE HOMEPOD MINI?

Siri can answer questions such as how long it will take to drive from your home
to any location.

To stream music to the HomePod mini, you need a subscription to a service like
Apple Music or Spotify. Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and even some third-party
services integrate directly into the HomePod mini. You can also play FM radio
using the HomePod mini. With an ecosystem of HomePods in your house, you can
instruct Siri to play music over one HomePod, all the HomePods in your house, or
just a few of them.

To stream audio from Spotify through the speaker, go into the “Devices” page on
the Spotify player and select the HomePod mini. The connection between the
iPhone and the HomePod is generally stable, but I did experience a few playback
glitches. Also, because Spotify cannot be directly integrated with the HomePod,
there was an instance where the speaker suddenly stopped streaming my music
through Spotify and tried to switch to streaming music from Apple Music.


APPLE MUSIC AND SIRI

Normally, when using the HomePod mini to stream music via a streaming service,
you must have a subscription. Apple does offer six months of Apple Music for
free to any new HomePod mini owner, though.




HOW DOES THE APPLE HOMEPOD MINI SOUND?

The touch controls on the Apple HomePod mini are pretty intuitive.

The Apple HomePod mini is a smart speaker that emits sound in a 360-degree field
around it, and the sound is pretty good from all angles. Apple packed a
full-range driver and dual passive bass radiators into this little sphere.
Despite its pint-sized footprint, a single speaker gets sufficiently loud that
one is sufficient for providing background music in most small domestic rooms.

The iconic bassline of the song “Come Down” by Anderson .Paak comes through with
a decent thump thanks to those passive bass radiators, which enhance the bass
response. It’s typically challenging to get a speaker as small as the HomePod
mini to have any bass response at all, and while its bass can’t come close to
that of the JBL Charge 5, it should exceed most listeners’ expectations.

The high frequencies are amplified a bit, but they don’t come through as loudly
as bass notes. Sound like this bodes well for popular genres of music. Even with
an instrumentally busy song like “Rites of Spring” by Tiger Really, the vocals,
drums, bass guitar, and guitar parts are all clearly reproduced with the Apple
HomePod mini.


HOLD UP! SOMETHING’S MISSING:

This section is typically where we display a frequency response chart to show
you exactly where the audio output shines and where its deficiencies lie.
Unfortunately, we’ve hit a technical snag in our testing, but we will update
this review (and many others!) once we’re able with improved sound quality
measurements and performance plots.

Thank you for bearing with us, and we hope to see you again once we’ve sorted
everything out.




DOES THE APPLE HOMEPOD MINI COLLECT YOUR DATA?

You can add multiple people to your home and allow them to control the HomePod
mini from their iPhones.

It seems like everybody and their mother is harvesting personal data from
technology users these days. A lot of people are hesitant to buy a smart speaker
because of this fear, and tech companies like Apple are keenly aware of this.

Apple assures users that the HomePod mini only listens after hearing the wake
phrase, and you can disable Siri by saying, “Hey Siri, stop listening.” You can
later re-enable Siri in the Home app. You can also disable the HomePod’s
location services. Your verbal requests are associated with a random identifier
rather than your Apple ID when they are sent to Apple to be processed, which
prevents Apple from storing this information about you. When you ask Siri to
read your messages or notes aloud, the HomePod mini doesn’t send that
information to Apple. Still, rather the communication occurs directly between
the HomePod and your iPhone.

Unlike many smart speakers, the HomePod mini has no microphone mute button.
Other speakers often include these to reassure users that the device is not
recording them when they don’t want it to.




SHOULD YOU BUY THE APPLE HOMEPOD MINI?

The Apple HomePod mini is an excellent entry-level smart speaker. Anyone
comfortable with an iPhone should have no problem setting up and controlling it.
Spotify streaming isn’t yet perfect with the HomePod, but this is unsurprising
given how Apple makes its products for its products. Only die-hard Apple fans
who listen to Apple Music, check the time on an Apple Watch, and take phone
calls on their AirPods Pro should get this speaker.

Apple HomePod Mini


Apple HomePod Mini
Recognizes multiple voices • Best HomeKit speaker • Lots of fun colors

MSRP: $99.99

Apple's smart speaker gets a little smaller
If you're an Apple HomeKit user, you will definitely want a smart speaker for
your 'Hey Siri' commands. The Apple HomePod Mini is worth a look in this regard,
as it carries the features you need for a robust smart home experience.
See price at Best Buy
See price at Walmart
See price at Costco


Because the speaker integrates so well with the iPhone, if you switch from a
basic home to a smart home and invest in a few HomePod minis, it’s easy to
adjust your setup to carry out daily tasks. You and your housemates can send
intercom messages, stream music throughout the house, and access Siri to address
all of your curiosities.




WHAT SHOULD YOU GET INSTEAD OF THE HOMEPOD MINI?

And I thought the Google Nest Audio was round.

If the Apple HomePod mini’s lack of a mute button upsets you, consider a few
alternatives. The Amazon Echo (Gen. 4) ($99 at Amazon) uses the Alexa assistant
and takes a similar form factor to the HomePod mini. It has a microphone mute
button placed conveniently on the top of the speaker, and an LED ring light on
the bottom of the speaker glows red when muted. The speaker is a bit larger than
the HomePod mini, and it houses two tweeters and one woofer for louder output.
The Alexa assistant isn’t all that different from Siri except that it is more
compatible with Amazon products and services like the Amazon Firestick and
Amazon Music than Apple ones.

It’s the same with the Google Nest Audio ($99.99 at Best Buy) — if you want
direct YouTube Music integration or access to proprietary features like
Chromecast, you should go with the Google speaker. The Nest Audio also has a
microphone mute button, and the speaker verbally confirms that it is muted each
time you press it. There are a few special features included in the Nest Audio,
such as Ambient IQ, which automatically adjusts the volume of your audio
depending on the environmental noise level. You also get Media EQ which adjusts
the sound signature of playback depending on the type of media streaming. These
features help the Nest Audio stand out as a speaker that prioritizes sound
quality.

All three speakers perform pretty much the same functions. The biggest
difference between the products lies in their respective smart assistants, which
will likely be what you base most of your buying decision on. If you’re
interested in a larger and more substantial speaker then the Apple HomePod (2nd
generation) ($299 at Adorama) might be a better fit.




FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE APPLE HOMEPOD MINI

Does Apple HomePod mini work as a Bluetooth apple tv speaker?

Yes, you can use the Apple TV to play audio throughout your house to various
headphones. This also works with speakers like the HomePod and other AirPlay 2
products on the same Wi-Fi as your Apple TV.

Does the HomePod mini have battery?

No, the HomePod mini must be connected to a wall outlet.

How do you create different voice profiles on the HomePod mini?
With Personal Requests enabled, you can ask Siri to send a message and it will
send it from your phone number rather than from someone else's phone number in
your home.The setup process for the HomePod mini is very easy thanks to Apple's
compatibility with its own products.

The Apple HomePod mini can save up to six people’s voices and create a unique
experience for each person. For example, each time you ask Siri to play music,
it will play different music than if your partner asks Siri to play music. Also,
if you ask Siri to text your mother, it will send the message from your phone
number to your mother, rather than from your partner’s phone number to their
mother. Siri effectively differentiates between my roommate’s voice and my
voice.

In the Home app, you can set control customizations, including the option to set
a password requirement if someone requests to play audio through your HomePod.
You can also toggle who is allowed to control audio, and whether or not someone
has to be a designated member of your home to do so. This will set who can add
songs or episodes to the communal queue in the Music app or Podcasts app, and
who can use the Handoff feature.

How do you turn the Apple HomePod mini on and off?

You don’t need to “turn on” the HomePod mini to use it. Rather, once you plug it
in, it is always turned on waiting to hear the wake phrase, “Hey, Siri.”
Similarly, the only way to “turn off” the HomePod mini is to unplug it, but you
can also mute the microphone so that it is not actively listening for the wake
phrase.

How does the Apple HomePod mini compare to the Sonos One (Gen 2)?

Another brand to look into is Sonos, and we recommend starting with the Sonos
One (Gen 2). This speaker is quite a bit larger than the Apple HomePod mini and
it is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, but not Siri. The Sonos
One (Gen 2) has some extra features that you won’t find in a cheaper speaker
like Apple’s HomePod mini — for one, it has Sonos Trueplay, a technology that
optimizes the speaker’s sound signature to the specific room you place it in.
The Sonos One (Gen 2) prioritizes sound quality in a way that the HomePod mini
does not — Apple chose to tradeoff great sound quality for a compact form
factor. A notable drawback of the Sonos One (Gen 2) compared to the HomePod mini
is that the Sonos speaker is very complicated to set up. If you’re an iPhone
owner and want something user-friendly that leaves no room for confusion, stick
with the HomePod mini.

What is Enhance Dialogue for the Apple HomePod mini?

Homepod 17.1 software update brought a new feature to the mini and full-size
HomePod. It’s called Enhance Dialogue, and it works to amplify spoken voices
over music and sound effects in a movie or tv show when paired to an Apple TV
4K. You can enable Enhance Dialogue by going to Settings > Video and Audio >
Enhance Dialogue on your Apple TV.


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