Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Apple HomePod Mini is a bit of a letdown from a company I’ve come to expect greatness from, especially as I’ve consolidated most of my gear into the Apple ecosystem. I had high hopes of using Siri as my go-to voice interface for home control, but this little speaker doesn’t quite deliver. It can be frustratingly slow and unresponsive at times, and too often, answers to my questions require me to pull out my iPhone to see the details—a clunky experience that feels half-baked. That said, it’s not all bad. The sound quality is solid for its size, making it a decent pick for music, and it handles basic home automation tasks—like controlling lights or locks—well enough. But for a company like Apple, “good enough” feels underwhelming. I can’t help but imagine how they could dominate this space with a HomePod that has a screen and some of that Apple Intelligence magic baked in. Maybe it’s coming soon.

Better than an Alexa. Better sound and better bass. Really great to use on Apple Classics.

Love this mini HomePod. It was very easy to set up and the sound quality is great. I use it when watching tv and films on my iPad. The handoff from iPhone to HomePod is a great feature. A great little gadget.

If your in the Apple ecosystem, this is a great product. I put this in my kitchen so I can just tap my phone on it to listen to music while I cook and/or clean. It just doesn't get anymore simple. A battery would make this a 5 star product. I'd love to be able to move it around my house

I waited nearly a year to purchase the HomePod until it went on sale for a not inexpensive, but much more reasonable price for an innovative and well executed speaker design. I took some time to “burn in” the speaker components with a variety of music styles, something done with higher end speakers in expectation of bringing out audio warmth and fidelity. I even placed it in a bay window enclave to act as a sort of speaker horn enclosure so as to enhance the projected sound. Such were my high hopes for how well the HomePod might perform. After all, it had been hyped and compared to higher end stereo equipment due to its genuine technical advances in speaker design. Its WiFi only input maximized the digital music information the advance computer chip could upscale for the multiple speakers calibrated for each personalized listening area. Well, it turns out not to be the aural renaissance of bookshelf audio systems, an unrealistic expectation Apple perpetrated upon itself for this device. Nonetheless, it is a compact and competent sound system that produces music with enough quality to lose yourself in it, absent of harsh or distracting distortions in the musical reproduction. It is a joy to merely ask for whatever song or album comes to mind from memory or suggestion and then be able to listen effortlessly to faithfully reproduced music. That said, and despite being a fan of the Apple ecosystem who harbored high hopes for how well the HomePod would perform, it is evident that it is not, and never will be a high-end bookshelf speaker system that transforms the music from the mundane into some superlative version. Moreover, it is ironic and frustrating that in trying so hard to be more than it is via strict audio source inputs, it is transformed into less than it could be if only Apple would “jailbreak” the HomePod. For starters, it could at least allow Bluetooth 5 audio connections for input. That would unleash it as a top-notch Bluetooth speaker free from depending upon a WiFi network, freely accessing whatever sound sources were available to the listener. A USB-C input would be a cinch winner also, simultaneously inputting audio and charging the audio input device. Yes, I know that would impinge on the revenue stream from Apple Music that is the real money to be made by Apple with the HomePod, but it would enable a moderately high-end audio system and an ultimate midway audio system. It would likely be the preeminent sound system for small-spaces like apartments, dorms, offices, RV’s, work spaces, sheltered exterior spaces, etc. At the same time, doing so would not prevent it serving as the aspirational sound system Apple envisioned. It would dovetail nicely into maximizing their high-dollar X series phones that now have Bluetooth 5, which seemingly allows virtually lossless digital streaming rather the the garbage in, garbage out hyper-compressed digital formats inherent in previous Bluetooth iterations. As it is, the HomePod has garnered a precious small percentage of the smart speaker market as they have virtually required an Apple Music subscription to make use of their speaker. In pursuit of their version of the perfect sound system, Apple has destroyed the very good, and for most customers of a device like this, good enough is perfect. That still leaves the not-so-smart-speaker problem of poor, dear, simple Siri’s incompetence at summoning anything but Apple Music (or most anything else reliably) that severely limits HomePod's utility as a go-to music and other listening device. That one will not go away until Apple develops the in-house talent to build Siri out as seemingly envisioned originally, or the in-house vision to develop her by building out that talent however those billions of earnings might increase product value. Then Siri might just tell me she does not have access to Willie and Lobo in her music catalogue rather than giving me some random Willie Nelson album.

Perfect little speaker for my daughter’s room. She loves that it syncs to our family Apple Music account and all her other apple product. Small speaker but lots of sounds. Setup was a breeze.

Easy to work with all apply devices. Size is very appropriate. Sound is perfect.

Great sound from such a small device. It doesn't compare with larger speaker systems or the larger HomePod, but it offers a full sound that can fill our living room. Very happy with the purchase.

Awesome speaker, especially for its size! We have several of these throughout our home. The sound is fantastic!

Bought two of them, at 199 and 185(open box). Sound good individually, great in stereo. Really solid bass for a small unit, won’t go incredibly loud, but plenty for most uses. Siri works pretty well, much better if you have Apple Music. One undersold feature is that because of the Omni characteristics and dsp, music doesn’t sound boxy(you can’t tell where it is coming from, just nicely distributed, kind of like some Linkwitz lxminis that I made some time ago)-really outstanding with orchestral music.

Fantastic little speaker. It integrates very well with the other apple products in my house. The sound quality is very impressive for such a small device. The setup was super easy.

The HomePod is an amazing piece of tech. The A8 chip allows for it to equalize the audio according to the space that it is in allowing a more linear frequency response. The resulting sound is rich and clear regardless of the volume. Initial setup was a breeze thanks to the ease of the Apple ecosystem with my iPhone being in close proximity to the HomePod and then automatically configuring everything. The Hey Siri detection is quite good with it being able to pick up your voice command from across an average sized room even despite the music from the HomePod playing loudly. Siri is useful in terms of navigating throughout the vast musical library of Apple Music and doing basic commands for reminders, notes, weather, directions, store hours and messages/calls. However, in terms of a global search level, Siri can not compete with the superior Google Assistant. The downside to this speaker is that it can only be used with other Apple devices and Apple Music. However as someone who has everything Apple and is deeply invested into the ecosystem, it doesn’t matter to me. If you want to play Spotify or audio from other services, you’ll have to Airplay to the HomePod. In conclusion, this is a well engineered speaker with a fairly capable voice assistant included. Probably the best sounding smart speaker out there!

Fun little smart speaker. Pretty good sound from such a small device. Of course it’s larger sibling sounds much better.

Have several of these in my home, love them. Integrates perfectly with all apple products as speakers and even as tv speakers. If you have apple products this is a no brainer for your home.

I am loving our 2 Apple home pod minis! The sound is amazing, and they enabled us to connect other items in our home. Easy to use and set up. I would highly recommend! I will probably by another!

Works great. Sounds great for a small speaker. Pairs easily throughout the house

Easy to set up. Great sound despite the size. Wish it was a cordless or cord-negative design. Intercom feature is nice although not utilized too much. Just purchased a second unit for surround sound

I purchased this for my kids. We had echo dots, but I couldn’t set it up to only allow music 24/7. The home pods have the same parental controls/downtime I have for their iPads/iPhone so it will allow them to go to bed with music but not allow any other features at downtime.

Five stars but realize these speakers have some limitations. They sound great but volume is somewhat limited. The value is good compared to the larger Apple Home Pods, but less clear when compared with other bluetooth speakers. ie Alexa. They work well with Apple music, but not always with the other streaming services. Check before buy to see if the one(s) you use will work. I wish the cords were detachable so when they wear out you could just buy a new cord. I haven't yet figured out how to use these with my iPad as well as my iPhone. I also have a Samsung Galaxy and haven't been able to figure out if that will work as well. As always the big question is how long with they last.

Having Siri available without having to use my iPhone is wonderful, and music sounds great too with just enough bass to keep you going!