HomePod mini Review – MacRumors



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The HomePod mini reviews have now been shared by the media and YouTubers, providing us with first impressions of the sound quality and design of the speaker. We have put together some of the speaker’s opinions below. For more video reviews, click here.

Image: Matthew Moniz

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 music and apply complex tuning patterns to optimize the volume. , adjust the dynamic range and control the movement of the driver and the passive radiators in real time. ”

Sound quality

TechCrunchBrian Heater said the HomePod mini delivers “remarkably powerful sound” given its size:

I’ve used a lot of different smart speakers in my day, and honestly I’m really impressed with the sound the company has been able to get from the 3.3in device.

It’s full and clear and incredibly powerful for its size.

Fast companyMichael Grothaus offered similar distinctions:

Yet despite its much lower cost and smaller size, the HomePod Mini looks phenomenal compared to other similarly priced speakers I’ve used. Even at just 40% volume, the sounds from the HomePod Mini fill my large living room richly and evenly.

Indeed, the sound blew me away when I started playing songs. It didn’t sound far removed from the quality you hear from the original HomePod, but it sounded twice as good to my ears as the similarly sized under $ 150 wireless speakers I’m used to hearing. . After listening to the HomePod Mini for just a few days, when I went back to my old JBL wireless speakers – and even my 16 “MacBook Pro speakers (which are fantastic speakers for a laptop) – both now look slim. compared to the sound quality of the HomePod Mini.

In his YouTube review, Marques Brownlee also said that the HomePod mini offers “big sound”:

Not everyone was equally impressed. The edgeDan Seifert said that while the HomePod mini sounds great, it doesn’t sound as good as similarly priced competitors like the Amazon Echo and Google’s Nest Audio:

So that sounds good, but I can’t say the HomePod mini sounds good. And next to the bigger Echo and Nest Audio, both of which cost the same, it just can’t keep up. It doesn’t have presence, volume, or soundstage, and it certainly can’t match the bass output of the Echo. As they say, nothing replaces displacement.

Design

ForbesDavid Phelan said the HomePod mini has a “cool, compact design” that’s unmistakably the HomePod with its mesh cover:

However, it’s still a HomePod, with the familiar mesh cover that’s soft to the touch, not that you’ll touch it that much. And it’s available in the same two colors as the original – an almost black but softer dark and smoky gray called Space Gray, and white. White is not really white, due to the slightly darker color behind the mesh, which gives a subtle yet attractive look. Both are attractive and more or less indistinguishable from HomePod shades.

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

The edgeDan Seifert found the HomePod mini’s tactile control surface to be harder to see from across a room than the Amazon Echo’s ring of light:

In my testing, I found this light panel to be harder to see from across the room than the Echo’s ring of light. Unless you’re right next to the HomePod mini, it’s hard to tell when Siri has heard your voice command and is responding.

Availability

HomePod mini is priced at $ 99 in the US. Pre-orders began on Friday, November 6, with first deliveries to customers and in-store availability scheduled to begin on Monday, November 16. In addition to the United States, launch day countries include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Spain and United Kingdom.

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