A couple of weeks ago Apple announced the HomePod mini 2. Today, October 30, you can finally buy it and the first units are starting to arrive. With the speaker in stores and the fine print published, it’s time to go over the details that weren’t covered in the announcement: there are clear improvements, a cut I didn’t expect, and one big absence.
Price and colors
The HomePod mini 2 costs $149 in the US and comes in pink, green, blue, white and midnight. You can order it on Apple’s website, and it’s already in Apple Stores.
What’s better
- S10 chip, the same type of chip the Apple Watch uses, faster and more efficient.
- Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 6, for a more stable connection with lower latency.
- Sound Glow, the new top lighting that reacts to sound. Note: it’s also coming to the original HomePod mini and the second-generation HomePod through a software update.
- Four-speaker surround sound with an Apple TV 4K: you can combine several HomePod mini 2 speakers for a simple home theater.
- Mac speaker: you can choose it as the Mac’s default audio output, although the Mac needs Wi-Fi 6E.
- It’s 3% lighter than the previous model.
It also keeps Sound Recognition, which alerts you on your iPhone if it detects a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm at home.
What I’m not sold on
The detail that surprised people most in the specs is that the HomePod mini 2 has three microphones instead of four. Apple says the S10’s processing makes up for the difference, but we’ll have to check that in a noisy room or from a distance.
And most importantly: Siri AI isn’t available at launch. Apple promises it will arrive in a future update, with no date. It’s odd to launch a smart speaker the very week the new Siri reaches more languages on iPhone and Mac and leave it out.
My take
If you already have a HomePod mini, I don’t see a reason to upgrade today: you get Sound Glow anyway, and Siri AI isn’t here yet. If you don’t have one, or you want to set up surround sound with the Apple TV, at $149 it’s still the easiest speaker to recommend in the Apple ecosystem. That said, I’d wait to see how those three microphones perform and when the new Siri arrives before buying several.
Sources: Apple Newsroom, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, La Manzana Mordida.
