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What are peoples thoughts on the HomePod mini?

By Tristan Bowen, 19 April, 2022

Forum
Hardware and Accessories

Hi all, I'm interested in buying the Homepod Miny. What do you all think about it's accessability, and it's features? Also I don't have Apple Music, and instead use Spotify. I've heard that Spotify hasn't added support for the Homepod Miny yet. Can you use airplay to play Spotify songs? Also is it wirth buying the Homepod Miny even though spotify isn't supported? Any advice would be appreciated.

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It's fine in terms of accessibility

By Siobhan

3 months 4 weeks ago

I don't have a homepod, but it has voice over built in like everything else. Personally, I wouldn't waste your money on it seeing as the onboard assistant Siri is as dumb as a bag of rocks. apple's just trying to compete with Google and alexa. I'd go for a Google Home Max. More expensive sure, but a lot richer and better sound. Good luck.

My 2 cents

By Cobbler

3 months 4 weeks ago

If your use case mostly consists of Apple Music and HomeKit, then the HomePod mini is an okay choice for smaller rooms when compared to what else is available at the same price point.

I have used it with Spotify in the past. My recollection is that it mostly worked okay, but was a clunkier experience than Apple Music. Apple Music essentially provides a more ā€˜native’ experience when controlled with Siri.

For a larger room, such as a living room, I find that using two as a stereo pair is necessary to get acceptable audio performance.

Where things fall down is as soon as you attempt to have the HomePod do anything close to ā€˜smart’, as this will typically highlight just how dumb Siri is.

I am so tired of hearing ā€œjust a momentā€ and ā€œworking on itā€ when I have asked Siri to do even the most basic of tasks.

I am so tired of having a command work on one occasion, and then not work the next time.

I am so tired of asking Siri to play a certain track, album or playlist, to find it play something which is nowhere close to what I asked for.

On the plus for the HonePod, is AirPlay and transferring playback by simply bringing your iPhone close. If only nearly everything else about this so-called smart speaker wasn't so dumb.

This is why each of my HomePod minis has an Amazon Echo speaker just a few inches away from it.

Only if you had apple music

By Oliver Kennett

3 months 4 weeks ago

Siri is very good in a handful of use cases, setting reminders, interacting with iPhone and apple music. I get the dislike of Siri when compared with the abilities of google and Alexa, however where it does win out is with integration.

If you are using Spotify, I'd suggest you look elsewhere or give the $5 a month Siri only apple music a spin. connecting each time with airplay if listening to music is your main use case, then I think there are probably some better options such as JBL and alike, even the ikea sonos options.

I really like my minis, have two set up in my living area for when I'm messing about. I use them a lot for timers, asking the time, getting info that occurs to me, it sends the results to my iPhone most of the time... And the music control is pretty good.

If you want more control, I think Alexa based devices will be your best bet though there isn't any way, not without jumping through a lot of "if this then that" setups, to integrate apple services such as iCloud.

The HomePod mini is designed for someone, some sucker maybe, like myself, who is completely within their walled garden and it does the most used stuff well. Fringe case stuff, not so well, but you could argue that is what apple does, defines how we use our products rather than giving overwhelming options. Not a fan boy by any means, as you can tell from my many rants on here, but I like simplicity and am willing to pay for that privilege... As long as it works...

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