Surprisingly cheap, but also surprisingly good? Apple is sending the HomePod mini into the race. But is it worth buying?
In 2018, Apple's HomePod launched an attack on the smart speaker market that had previously been dominated by Google Home and Amazon Echo. Since then, besides Alexa and Google, Siri has also lived in many of the apartments and houses of technology fans. But the HomePod, which is still around 320 euros today, is not only large, it also has a proud price.
Now the company from Cupertino reacted and – like its competitors for a long time – followed suit: The HomePod mini closes the gap in the Apple range and offers a smaller and cheaper version. The smart speaker, which costs only 96.50 euros, is available in the familiar Apple colors space gray and white and is optically based on its big brother.
The intelligent loudspeaker naturally supports Apple's own voice assistant Siri and can control all smart home modules with voice commands. In the first test by the news agency spot on news, the devices impressed above all with their astonishingly good sound thanks to the built-in 360-degree loudspeakers. In relation to the small size (84.3 mm high, 97.9 mm wide, 345 g heavy), the small devices offer a surprising richness of sound.
Send voice messages thanks to the intercom function
The HomePod minis also support the new intercom function. You can send voice messages to individual rooms or to all connected devices with all Apple devices. A nice gimmick, especially for larger families, if you want to call your child to the table for dinner without having to walk from the kitchen to the children's room if HomePods are in the corresponding rooms. A "Hey Siri Intercom, everyone comes to dinner!" enough…
Conclusion
Thanks to the low price for Apple standards, the HomePod mini is a real alternative to the conventional HomePod. In principle, the mini version is perfectly adequate, especially in small rooms. The link function, i.e. the connection of several HomePod minis as a supplement or stereo pair, is certainly an interesting option for some Apple users.
So if you want to expand your SmartHome or simply want to get a taste of the world of smart speakers, you should deal with the new variant. For non-Apple users, it should be said: Without a suitable iPhone or iPad, the HomePod mini cannot do anything either. The loudspeaker is therefore only available as a gift for iOS users.