HomePod mini reviews have now been shared by media outlets and YouTubers, providing u.s. with the first impressions of the speaker's sound quality and design. We've rounded up some opinions of the speaker below. For more video reviews, see here.

homepod mini comparison

HomePod mini is equipped with the same S5 chip as the Apple Watch Series 5, which Apple says allows the speaker to "analyze the unique characteristics of the music and use complex tuning models to optimize loudness, accommodate the dynamic range, and control the movement of the commuter and passive radiators in real time."

Sound Quality

TechCrunch'due south Brian Heater said the HomePod mini delivers "remarkably large sound" given its size:

I've used a lot of unlike smart speakers in my twenty-four hour period, and honestly, I'1000 really impressed with the sound the company was able to get out of the iii.three-inch device.

It's full and clear and impressively powerful for its size.

Fast Company'due south Michael Grothaus offered similar accolades:

Nonetheless despite its much lower cost and smaller size, the HomePod Mini sounds astounding compared to other similarly priced speakers I've used. Fifty-fifty with the book at only 40%, the HomePod Mini's sounds fill my large living room richly and evenly.

Indeed, the sound blew me abroad when I starting time started streaming tunes. It didn't audio far off from the quality you hear from the original HomePod, still it sounded twice as good to my ears to the similarly sized sub-$150 wireless speakers I'm used to hearing. After listening to the HomePod Mini for only a few days, when I went back to my old JBL wireless speakers—and even the speakers on my 16" MacBook Pro (which are fantastic speakers for a laptop)—both at present seem tinny in comparison to the quality of the audio from the HomePod Mini.

In his YouTube review, Marques Brownlee likewise said the HomePod mini delivers "large sound":

Not anybody was equally impressed. The Verge's Dan Seifert said that while the HomePod mini sounds skilful, information technology doesn't sound equally good equally similarly priced competitors like the Amazon Echo and Google's Nest Audio:

And then it sounds good, merely I can't say the HomePod mini sounds great. And next to the larger Echo and Nest Audio, both of which cost the same, information technology merely can't proceed up. Information technology doesn't have the presence, volume, or sound stage of either, and it certainly tin't match the Echo'due south bass output. As they say, there'south no replacement for displacement.

Design

Forbes' David Phelan said the HomePod mini has a "absurd, compact design" that is unmistakably HomePod with its mesh covering:

It's still unmistakably a HomePod though, with the familiar mesh covering that'south soft to the impact, not that y'all'll exist touching it all that much. And it comes in the same two colors equally the original: a dark, smokey greyness that's nearly black but softer-looking, called Space Grey, and white. The white isn't really white, because of the slightly darker color backside the mesh, making for a subtle but appealing expect. Both are attractive and more than or less indistinguishable from the HomePod shades.

Reviews confirm that the HomePod mini cable ends with a USB-C port for use with the included 20W power adapter in the box.

The Verge's Dan Seifert found the HomePod mini's touch control surface is harder to see from across a room than the Amazon Echo's glowing ring:

In my testing, I've establish this light-upwardly panel to exist harder to see from across the room than the Echo's glowing ring. Unless you're right next to the HomePod mini, information technology's hard to tell when Siri has heard your voice command and is responding.

Availability

HomePod mini is priced at $99 in the The states. Pre-orders began Friday, Nov 6, with the start deliveries to customers and in-store availability fix to begin Monday, November 16. In addition to the United States, launch twenty-four hours countries include Commonwealth of australia, Canada, France, Deutschland, Hong Kong, Bharat, Nippon, Spain, and the UK.

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