Review: Hands-On With The Apple HomePod mini

A few weeks back, I posted my review of Apple’s second generation HomePod smart speaker. This time around, I’m going hands-on with the HomePod’s smaller, more affordable and more colorful sibling: the $99 HomePod mini.

A bit of background here. Despite a rather extensive collection of powered and portable speakers, I decided to look to Apple when it came time to deploy a series of smart speakers around our house. While there are Windows laptops and a few Android phones kicking around, for the most part we are an Apple household, so the decision to go with HomePods for this whole-home audio project was a fairly easy one. Two second generation HomePods were intended to be the showcase speakers in key areas, but I also bought four HomePod minis to scatter around. Let’s face it, Apple’s mini smart speaker is a little hard to resist. It’s compact, costs just $99 and in 2021 Apple introduced three colors (yellow, orange and blue) to complement the standard black and white options.

But, does performance live up to the looks?

Unboxing and Setup

The HomePod mini is a spherical speaker just over 3-inches high, with a woven cloth covering (acoustically transparent), a touch control top surface, Apple Music integration, Siri onboard and AirPlay support. I wanted a pop of color, so I chose two in blue, one in orange and one in yellow. Each of the colors is bright and the finish is perfect – no rough edges or loose threads. They are powered by an integrated (non-removable) USB-C cable that is covered in braided cloth that’s color-coded to the speaker. Apple also includes a 20W USB-C power adapter in the box.

Setup is via an iOS device. Plug in the HomePod mini, bring your iPhone or iPad in the vicinity and setup instructions automatically launch on the iOS device. The basic setup is straightforward, but you do have the option of drilling deeper into the Home app to customize configuration of the speaker, including HomeKit smart home integration, the ability to pair two HomePod minis as a stereo set, use them as intercoms, etc.

Once connected to Wi-Fi, the HomePod mini is ready to go. You can use Siri to interact with it for streaming from Apple Music (there are four integrated mics for far-field Siri voice recognition), or select it as an AirPlay speaker to stream audio from pretty much any Apple device. You can use voice control for actions like adjusting volume or skipping tracks, control it from your iPhone, or use the integrated touch controls. There are no physical audio inputs and although it is equipped with Bluetooth, this feature is not user-accessible. There is also no battery – this is a speaker that’s meant to be placed and more or less remain there.

I was curious about the USB-C power. It turns out that third party chargers of 20W or more work fine with the HomePod mini (should you lose the one Apple supplies), but if you try to plug the speaker into a charger or port that puts out less than 20W, the touch surface glows orange and that’s about all you’ll get out of it.

Apple HomePod mini Key Specs

• Full-range driver and dual passive radiators with 360º sound and real-time, computational audio
• Apple S5 chip, Four mics for far-field Siri voice control
• Touch controls with Siri illumination
• 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, Thread, Ultra Wideband chip
• AirPlay connectivity
• Supports whole-home audio and stereo pairing
• Spatial Audio compatibility
• Temperature and humidity sensors, sound recognition for smoke and CO alarms
• Acoustically transparent fabric available in black, white, yellow, orange and blue
• Includes 20W USB-C charger
• 3.3-inches high, 3.9-inches wide, weighs 12.2 ounces
• MSRP $99

Audio Performance

While I found the Apple HomePod to be capable, Apple’s full-sized smart speaker didn’t blow me away with its audio performance. That’s probably because I test a lot of portable speakers in that size and price range, and there are some very strong performers that also offer multiple drivers, computational audio and support for formats like Spatial Audio. The HomePod was a solid performer, but it didn’t leap out at me as anything extraordinary.

The HomePod mini, on the other hand, was an eye opener.

This is a tiny speaker that costs just $99. That doesn’t mean that Apple skimped on the specs, though. It’s equipped with a very capable, downward-firing, full-range driver and a pair of passive radiators that pump out some impressively energetic audio, complete with a satisfying bass thump. I’m not certain what the official power output of this speaker is, but I could turn the HomePod mini up loud enough to make it impossible to have a conversation in my office. Without noticeable distortion. Adding to the performance are the driver configuration’s true 360-degree configuration and real-time computational audio.

There’s also the ability to pair two HomePod minis as a stereo set – something I will be exploring in a separate post.

All of this is not to say that the HomePod mini is in the same class as the HomePod with its tweeter array and a 4-inch woofer that has a larger footprint than the entire HomePod mini. However, for a $99 speaker? Apple has done an impressive job. I have tried out very few speakers in this class that can approach the HomePod mini’s performance.

Siri and Apple Music

Like the HomePod, Apple has done a solid job of integrating both Siri voice control and Apple music into the HomePod mini. The speaker’s four built-in mics pick up on voice commands, even from across the room and with music playing. Rather than repeat the entire exercise, I’ll point you to the section in my HomePod review – the HomePod mini experience is identical

Apple HomePod mini Recommendation

If you are invested in the Apple ecosystem and looking for an inexpensive smart speaker – or a collection of smart speakers for a whole-home audio setup – the Apple HomePod mini is as close as it gets to a no-brainer. Even if you’re not sure if this diminutive sphere will provide the oomph you’re looking for, at $99 (or under $200 for a stereo pair), there’s not a lot to lose in trying it out.