The best description of the HomePods that I’ve seen yet is this: “The original HomePod was a music player first and an intelligent assistant second. The HomePod Mini is an intelligent assistant first and secondarily a music player.” But make no mistake, the HomePod Mini still sounds great.
Of course, at $100 and fitting into a much smaller form, it’s not going to sound half as good as its big brother, HomePod. I bought the original HomePod for my living room, and I was so impressed with the mighty sound that came from its relatively small size that I couldn’t wait to buy another one to place in my home gym. I’ve also enjoyed the HomeKit automations which are possible. I’ve played around with having my HomePods play soft music at low volumes when I come down in the morning for coffee. You can program the type of music, time of day, and volume levels all in HomeKit.
Over the past week as I’ve read various reviews of the HomePod Mini, I keep seeing references to how “large and unwieldy” the original HomePod is. What? Have these writers never seen a decent sound system before? To old people like me who grew up in the 80’s, the HomePod is NOT large. In my college dorm room I had speakers that were darn near the size of small Christmas trees.
Over the past week as I’ve read various reviews of the HomePod Mini, I keep seeing references to how “large and unwieldy” the original HomePod is. What? Have these writers never seen a decent sound system before? To old people like me who grew up in the 80’s, the HomePod is NOT large. In my college dorm room I had speakers that were darn near the size of small Christmas trees.
Where the HomePod Mini Is Better Than the Original
The HomePod Mini is the perfect follow-up device to the first-generation HomePod, even if it did take Apple two and a half years to do it. Apple could’ve chosen to come out with another HomePod that doubled-down on big sound, but they choose to go the other direction.
The HomePod Mini may not have the boom of the original HomePod, but one thing it does have are those amazing microphones. It’s down from 6 microphones to 4, but this little thing never fails to hear me even when it’s playing music or other people are talking. It’s almost like a superpower. Maybe to a fault. If I say something to my wife like “But, seriously…,” my HomePods are like overanxious assistants snapping to attention. “What’s that? I didn’t quite hear you,” they say. But I’d rather them be oversensitive than vice versa.
It also surpasses the original HomePod when it comes to HomeKit due to its inclusion of the latest Thread protocol. This allows for lightning-quick responses from Thread-enabled devices. That means no lag. And then there’s the U1 ultra-wide-band chip. This allows for greater sensitivity to when your iPhone is nearby.
Let’s Talk about Sound Quality
The HomePod Mini meets or exceeds the original HomePod in all areas related to communications or intelligence. The only area where it falls short is sound quality.
First, the Mini sounds great compared to any other speaker that is the same size. In fact, I don’t think there is a speaker in existence which is the same size or smaller than the HomePod Mini that sounds better. It’s that good. Where the complaints come in is when you compare speakers of the same price because you can get bigger speakers for $100.
But I have various portable Bluetooth speakers in my house that are similar in size, and the HomePod Mini absolutely destroys them in terms of volume and sound quality. The HomePod Mini carries a lot more bass oomph than you can get from other small Bluetooth speakers.
If it wasn’t for being spoiled by the music from my big HomePods, I would’ve been ecstatic at the sound quality coming from these Minis. But alas and alack, once you get used to the rich, warm musical qualities from the original HomePod, you are ruined forever.
I mentioned earlier that I bought a second HomePod for my home gym. I actually balked at paying another $350 at first, so instead I purchased a UE Boom 2 because it was on a Black Friday blowout for $100 and I figured it would be “close enough”. I was wrong. Reviewers all said the UE Boom 2 had big sound and amazing quality. Well, after a couple of workout sessions, all I could think of was how the bass was lacking in comparison to my HomePod, and it didn’t sound as good. So I returned it and bought another HomePod.
The HomePod Mini is the perfect follow-up device to the first-generation HomePod, even if it did take Apple two and a half years to do it. Apple could’ve chosen to come out with another HomePod that doubled-down on big sound, but they choose to go the other direction.
The HomePod Mini may not have the boom of the original HomePod, but one thing it does have are those amazing microphones. It’s down from 6 microphones to 4, but this little thing never fails to hear me even when it’s playing music or other people are talking. It’s almost like a superpower. Maybe to a fault. If I say something to my wife like “But, seriously…,” my HomePods are like overanxious assistants snapping to attention. “What’s that? I didn’t quite hear you,” they say. But I’d rather them be oversensitive than vice versa.
It also surpasses the original HomePod when it comes to HomeKit due to its inclusion of the latest Thread protocol. This allows for lightning-quick responses from Thread-enabled devices. That means no lag. And then there’s the U1 ultra-wide-band chip. This allows for greater sensitivity to when your iPhone is nearby.
Let’s Talk about Sound Quality
The HomePod Mini meets or exceeds the original HomePod in all areas related to communications or intelligence. The only area where it falls short is sound quality.
First, the Mini sounds great compared to any other speaker that is the same size. In fact, I don’t think there is a speaker in existence which is the same size or smaller than the HomePod Mini that sounds better. It’s that good. Where the complaints come in is when you compare speakers of the same price because you can get bigger speakers for $100.
But I have various portable Bluetooth speakers in my house that are similar in size, and the HomePod Mini absolutely destroys them in terms of volume and sound quality. The HomePod Mini carries a lot more bass oomph than you can get from other small Bluetooth speakers.
If it wasn’t for being spoiled by the music from my big HomePods, I would’ve been ecstatic at the sound quality coming from these Minis. But alas and alack, once you get used to the rich, warm musical qualities from the original HomePod, you are ruined forever.
I mentioned earlier that I bought a second HomePod for my home gym. I actually balked at paying another $350 at first, so instead I purchased a UE Boom 2 because it was on a Black Friday blowout for $100 and I figured it would be “close enough”. I was wrong. Reviewers all said the UE Boom 2 had big sound and amazing quality. Well, after a couple of workout sessions, all I could think of was how the bass was lacking in comparison to my HomePod, and it didn’t sound as good. So I returned it and bought another HomePod.
Before I bought my 2nd HomePod I tried one of these UE Boom 2 speakers first. Big Mistake
I spent a day of doing side-by-side comparisons of the HomePod Mini next to one of my original HomePods. I played the same song air-played from my iPad to both speakers. The difference is quite noticeable. The big HomePod sounds much fuller. There is both a wider frequency range and a better separation of the instruments. This is due to the full array of separate speakers in the big HomePod. The 7 separate tweeters allows the HomePod to assign different tweeters to different frequencies or instruments so that they don’t intrude on other parts of the song. It’s hard to explain but easy to hear. The Mini only has a single driver. It does an admirable job of playing music, but when compared to an 8-speaker system, there’s no way that it can keep up.
Also, the HomePod Mini isn’t nearly as loud as the big HomePod, meaning if I had my HomePod set at 30% volume, I have to set the Mini at about twice for comparable volume. This problem is fixable by getting a stereo pair. Two HomePod Minis are very close to one big HomePod in terms of overall sound.
But using the Minis in a stereo pair won’t help you with the clarity of the music and missing frequencies. For instance, the Minis have great bass, but it’s not the deep low-end bass that you get from the HomePod. It’s more like the mid-bass, and you don’t get the crisp highs either.
I set my two HomePods next to each other and configured the volume so they were about the same level. Then I asked members of my family to listen to the same song on each for a few seconds and guess which HomePod was which. Without fail, everyone could immediately tell which was the big HomePod because the music sounded richer and more clear. It wasn’t even close.
Be Forewarned on the Bugs
Before anyone goes out and buys multiple HomePods with visions of a whole home sound system, I have to warn you that controlling which HomePods play music is extremely unreliable at this point. You may want music to play in only certain areas, but the HomePods might revert to all of them. Or you may want music on 2 of your 3 HomePods, and only one will play. Or worse yet, you may use your voice to initiate music, and later you try to adjust the volume on your phone. Bang! The HomePods get confused and stop playing.
I hope Apple fixes the inter-connectivity issues with the HomePods, because it’s really my only complaint about them at this point. They are great for playing one at a time and usually on all speakers at once. And they work great for Intercom and Siri access points. But when it comes to targeting only specific HomePods, it’s pretty unreliable.
My Use-Case for the Mini
As good as the big HomePod is, I could never justify the price for my bedroom. I don’t listen to music there very often, and I certainly don’t need window-rattling volume in my room. But once or twice a week when I’m trying to motivate myself to go outside for a run on a cold day, I like to play an upbeat song in my room while I’m putting on my workout gear to help me get in the mood. Yes, it really works.
The HomePod Mini is the perfect nightstand companion. Nightstand real estate is precious these days when you have multiple devices to charge. This is probably the one place the original HomePod is too large for most people. But the Mini is so tiny, there is no problem fitting it on my nightstand next to the Apple Watch and iPhone charger.
It also looks great. The dark fabric is premium looking compared to the cheap plastic bluetooth speakers I own. Although, it did cost twice as much, so I guess that’s to be expected. But I already had a set of chargers from Native Union for my Apple Watch and iPhone that were the same hue of dark grey. The HomePod Mini looks like it completes the set.
Also, the HomePod Mini isn’t nearly as loud as the big HomePod, meaning if I had my HomePod set at 30% volume, I have to set the Mini at about twice for comparable volume. This problem is fixable by getting a stereo pair. Two HomePod Minis are very close to one big HomePod in terms of overall sound.
But using the Minis in a stereo pair won’t help you with the clarity of the music and missing frequencies. For instance, the Minis have great bass, but it’s not the deep low-end bass that you get from the HomePod. It’s more like the mid-bass, and you don’t get the crisp highs either.
I set my two HomePods next to each other and configured the volume so they were about the same level. Then I asked members of my family to listen to the same song on each for a few seconds and guess which HomePod was which. Without fail, everyone could immediately tell which was the big HomePod because the music sounded richer and more clear. It wasn’t even close.
Be Forewarned on the Bugs
Before anyone goes out and buys multiple HomePods with visions of a whole home sound system, I have to warn you that controlling which HomePods play music is extremely unreliable at this point. You may want music to play in only certain areas, but the HomePods might revert to all of them. Or you may want music on 2 of your 3 HomePods, and only one will play. Or worse yet, you may use your voice to initiate music, and later you try to adjust the volume on your phone. Bang! The HomePods get confused and stop playing.
I hope Apple fixes the inter-connectivity issues with the HomePods, because it’s really my only complaint about them at this point. They are great for playing one at a time and usually on all speakers at once. And they work great for Intercom and Siri access points. But when it comes to targeting only specific HomePods, it’s pretty unreliable.
My Use-Case for the Mini
As good as the big HomePod is, I could never justify the price for my bedroom. I don’t listen to music there very often, and I certainly don’t need window-rattling volume in my room. But once or twice a week when I’m trying to motivate myself to go outside for a run on a cold day, I like to play an upbeat song in my room while I’m putting on my workout gear to help me get in the mood. Yes, it really works.
The HomePod Mini is the perfect nightstand companion. Nightstand real estate is precious these days when you have multiple devices to charge. This is probably the one place the original HomePod is too large for most people. But the Mini is so tiny, there is no problem fitting it on my nightstand next to the Apple Watch and iPhone charger.
It also looks great. The dark fabric is premium looking compared to the cheap plastic bluetooth speakers I own. Although, it did cost twice as much, so I guess that’s to be expected. But I already had a set of chargers from Native Union for my Apple Watch and iPhone that were the same hue of dark grey. The HomePod Mini looks like it completes the set.
The HomePod Mini looks great on my nightstand next to my Native Union accessories.
Intercom was a brilliant move by Apple. This alone makes me want to buy more Minis. I have a two-story house, and it’s so nice to broadcast messages to specific rooms. In the past, I might have messaged someone and hoped that they saw the message. Now if I’m up in my room, I can speak to everyone on the main floor all at once. Or they can send me a message upstairs while I’m sitting at my desk.
Apple’s Intercom feels so futuristic and it’s so useful.
Recommendation
I would highly recommend the HomePod Mini. For those who already own the big HomePods, chances are, you wish you had more HomePods but couldn’t justify the $300 price tag for some of the lesser-used rooms. Now at $100, it’s a lot easier to justify. Especially with the new utility of Intercom.
A stereo pair of the HomePod Minis is a more interesting question. If your intent is playing music, then at $200 I would start to wonder if buying a single big HomePod isn’t a better deal. It sounds much better than even a pair of Minis and still gets the intercom feature. And if you can find an original HomePod priced near $200, it’s a no-brainer. Get the original instead.
But if your needs are more aligned with having more intelligent assistants around, then multiple Minis is the better deal. It’s a lot handier having 2 HomePod Minis in different parts of the house than one single HomePod in the living room.
Regardless of which way you go, the quality and utility of these speakers is so way beyond what we used to have to do in the 1990s to get decent sound. Gone are the days when you could barely fit your sound system in your car trunk.
I would highly recommend the HomePod Mini. For those who already own the big HomePods, chances are, you wish you had more HomePods but couldn’t justify the $300 price tag for some of the lesser-used rooms. Now at $100, it’s a lot easier to justify. Especially with the new utility of Intercom.
A stereo pair of the HomePod Minis is a more interesting question. If your intent is playing music, then at $200 I would start to wonder if buying a single big HomePod isn’t a better deal. It sounds much better than even a pair of Minis and still gets the intercom feature. And if you can find an original HomePod priced near $200, it’s a no-brainer. Get the original instead.
But if your needs are more aligned with having more intelligent assistants around, then multiple Minis is the better deal. It’s a lot handier having 2 HomePod Minis in different parts of the house than one single HomePod in the living room.
Regardless of which way you go, the quality and utility of these speakers is so way beyond what we used to have to do in the 1990s to get decent sound. Gone are the days when you could barely fit your sound system in your car trunk.
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