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HomePod Mini vs. HomePod Buyer's Guide

As the first addition to the famous HomePod line-up, with a new spherical design and the S5 chip, Apple unveiled the HomePod mini this month. With a more competitive price tag of just $99, a much more accessible and flexible HomePod in a compact style is the HomePod mini.

Apple continues to sell the original "HomePod" for $299. Should you still choose the bigger, original HomePod at over three times the price of the HomePod mini or select the latest HomePod mini? Our guide explains the distinctions between the two HomePods and tries to address the question of how to determine which one is better for you.

HomePod and HomePod mini contrast

A variety of main features, such as multi-room audio and Siri, are shared between the HomePod and the HomePod mini. The following features of the HomePod and the HomePod mini are described by Apple:

Similarities

• Multiroom audio
• Stereo pair capable
• ‌Siri‌ and upward-facing display
• Audio-conductive fabric
• Seamless audio handoff
• Smart home hub
• Intercom, Find My, ‌Siri‌ Shortcuts, Ambient sounds, and Music alarms
• Available in White and Space Gray

The breakdown of Apple reveals that a variety of substantial features are shared by the two HomePods. Nevertheless, there are substantial discrepancies between the HomePod and HomePod mini, explaining the price gap of $200, including architecture, audio technologies, and spatial perception.

Differences

HomePod

• Large, capsule design
• A8 chip
• High-excursion woofer and seven tweeters
• Six-microphone array
• Spatial awareness
• Home theater with Apple TV 4K

HomePod mini

• Compact, spherical design
• S5 chip
• Full-range driver and dual passive radiators
• Three-microphone array
• U1 chip

Read on to see what exactly the two HomePods have to say for a closer look at both of these aspects.

Design

The HomePod mini is much smaller at just 3.3-inches tall than the original HomePod, which is just under seven inches tall. The HomePod mini also has a lightweight spherical design, while the original HomePod has a capsule-like design that is bulkier. To fit more internal components for a fuller audio experience, the HomePod is bigger than the HomePod mini.

In Apple's audio-conductive mesh material, both devices are covered. The' HomePod' and' HomePod mini' both share the' Siri' waveform that appears on the top display to demonstrate when' Siri' is engaged, and integrated volume touch controls. Both HomePods rely on a wired power cable as well, meaning neither is portable.

The lightweight spherical design of the HomePod mini is more discreet than its bigger brother, and will be the preferred device for tables and surfaces where you have limited space or do not want to stand out. Likewise, for TV units and areas with more rooms, the larger HomePod would be more suitable.

Audio Technology

The most significant area of differentiation between the two HomePods is audio hardware. The HomePod mini provides a single full-range driver powered by a neodymium magnet and a pair of passive force-cancelling radiators, allowing deep bass and crisp high frequencies.

On the other hand, HomePod features a big, Apple-designed woofer for low, clean bass and a custom set of seven beam-forming tweeters, each with its own amplifier and directional power, offering pure high-frequency acoustics.

For an immersive 360-degree audio experience, both devices use an Apple-designed acoustic waveguide to direct the flow of sound down and out towards the bottom of the speaker. This enables users to position the HomePod in a room almost anywhere and hear clear sound.

The larger scale of the original HomePod, however, enables it to achieve a broader, more roomy soundstage. Compared to the HomePod mini, the 'HomePod' can have a richer, fuller sound. The HomePod mini is still likely to produce clean and functional sound, but there is no question that the additional size and audio hardware in the larger HomePod greatly overshadows it.

Microphones

"HomePod mini" uses a three-microphone array to listen to "Hey Siri" and a fourth inward-facing microphone to separate sound from the speaker while playing music to enhance voice recognition. For the same purpose, the bigger HomePod uses an array of six microphones.

These microphones help cancel echoes and allow Siri to understand individuals whether they are close to the unit or standing across the room, even when playing loud music. It is uncertain, however, if the additional microphones on the HomePod are to offset its louder, wider sound profile, while the HomePod mini actually does not need a six-microphone array because of its smaller size, or when it comes to sound isolation, whether it is a point of material disparity between the two versions.

Processor and Software

The HomePod uses the iPhone 6, iPad mini 4, and Apple TV HD's A8 chip, while the HomePod mini uses the Apple Watch Series 5 and Apple Watch SE's S5 chip.

For real-time acoustic modelling, audio beam-forming, and echo cancellation, the processor of the HomePod enables it to use advanced software.

Using its processor to improve the performance of its less capable audio hardware, HomePod mini. The Apple S5 chip in HomePod mini works with advanced software to analyse the specific features of the music and apply complex tuning models to maximise loudness, change the dynamic range, and monitor the movement of the driver and passive radiators in real time in an attempt to achieve broad sound out of a compact design.

The A8 chip also performs some specific functions in the larger HomePod, such as bass control by real-time software modelling that ensures that the speaker provides the deepest and cleanest possible bass, with low distortion.

Finally, when it comes to deciding between the two versions, the processor of the 'HomePod' is not a very significant factor. Although the S5 is a newer but less powerful processor, the A8 is an older but more powerful chip. Both chips run the same operating system and provide a comparable level of performance with sufficient computational audio.

Spatial Awareness

To sense its position in the room, the larger original HomePod uses spatial awareness. This enables the audio to be balanced and calibrated dynamically depending on its position in the room for enhanced sound quality. The HomePod can sense walls and corners and uses this information to deliver sound equally around the room with its directional tweeters, thus reducing distortion and echo.

Only the original ‌HomePod‌ has spatial awareness, and the ‌HomePod mini‌ does not have this feature.

U1 Chip

The' HomePod mini' has one element that is missing from the original' HomePod': the U1 chip. The U1 chip created by Apple is an ultra-wideband chip that performs directional and proximity-based activities.

The 'HomePod mini' uses the U1 chip to identify when other U1 devices are nearby, such as the iPhone 12. This enables audio to be handed off more easily and communicate with nearby devices, as well as to display relevant information on devices close to the HomePod mini.

However, the full potential of U1 in 'HomePod mini' does not yet seem to have been realised beyond this. U1 may enable close-range data transfer in the future, enhance AR interactions, and monitor the position of a user inside the home. With the chip appearing in the iPhone 12 lineup and the Apple Watch Series 6, Apple now seems to be adding the U1 chip to all of its new products.

Stereo Sound

It allows stereo sound to create a wider soundstage for richer, more enveloping sound by adding a second HomePod to your setup. Each HomePod may play its own left or right sound channel, thus separating both the ambient and the direct energy. Using both direct and reflected audio, both devices can conduct automatic detection and balance of two speakers. Although the two speakers function as one, each HomePod interacts with each other so that only one speaker responds to Siri request.

Both HomePods support multiroom audio and can be mixed together using that functionality, but not to achieve stereo sound.

Although both the HomePod and the HomePod mini support this stereo pair capability, a HomePod mini and an original HomePod can not be paired together. Rather, as stereo speakers, you can only pair two initial HomePods or two 'HomePod' minis.

Home Theater with Apple TV 4K

Home Theater with Apple TV 4 K is also supported by the original HomePod. This enables the HomePod to provide a more immersive home theatre experience by providing surround sound and Dolby Atmos when combined with an Apple TV 4K.

The function depends on the directional and spatially aware capabilities of the original HomePod, so on the HomePod mini, it is not available. Two HomePod minis will nevertheless still have Apple TV stereo sound, but not the original HomePod 's full home theatre experience.

There is no question that the original HomePod can have a much better audio experience if you wish to use the HomePod or a pair of HomePods as TV speakers with an Apple TV 4K.

Final Thoughts

Overall , it is clear that devices that have different functions are the HomePod and the HomePod mini. For outstanding sound quality, the HomePod is a more comprehensive high-end speaker, whereas the HomePod mini is intended to be more flexible.

This is echoed in the more affordable price of the HomePod mini. The HomePod mini may be best suited to areas such as hallways or kitchens, whereas the original HomePod tends to be more suited to larger rooms where audio content, such as living rooms, is consumed more frequently.

The key reason for purchasing the larger HomePod is because of its enhanced audio fidelity. If you want to use your HomePods with an Apple TV 4 K, the larger HomePod is the preferred choice, as an extension of this. With its directional audio and spatial awareness, the original HomePod is the device for places where sound quality is the focus, in addition to its abundance of high-end audio hardware.

The HomePod mini seems to be the better choice in places where the computer can be used more for Siri than for music. If something more discreet is needed or if it is in an environment where it will be more used in passing, the HomePod mini would be better. In multi-room audio mode, the HomePod mini can still perform well and its more affordable price tag helps users to gain more for use around the home.

In general, if you want a HomePod to achieve the highest possible quality and volume of sound, get the original HomePod. Otherwise, for your needs, the' HomePod mini' would be more than enough.