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HomePod Anyone else find the HomePod Mini underwhelming?

tcphoto1

tcphoto1

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 21, 2008
687
3,021
Nashville, TN
I bought a HomePod Mini on Saturday to stream music in a small room, setup was easy but after going through all equalizer profiles I find the sound to be underwhelming. Friends have other small and portable speakers that are impressive so I thought that I'd look for something that I might be overlooking.
 
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I am very happy with my pair of Bose micro link Bluetooth speakers - very good stereo separation when used in "Party Mode"

They are very small and easy to put in a travel bag - great for hotels / presentations or just better sound than my MBP can provide

They may not be audiophile quality but they are as good as I have seen for the small size and portability
 
tcphoto1 said:
I bought a HomePod Mini on Saturday to stream music in a small room, setup was easy but after going through all equalizer profiles I find the sound to be underwhelming. Friends have other small and portable speakers that are impressive so I thought that I'd look for something that I might be overlooking.
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Sound much better in a stereo pair, and you'd be surprised how placement affects audio quality on these things. Some surfaces/locations are better than others.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
It's not loud compared to $30 Alexa's. The sound quality is better, but that's rather irrelevant if you can't hear it, yes?

And then there's the dumpster fire named Siri.
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Max volume have been a curious thing so far in Apple own speakers.

I have a stereo pair of original homepods in the living room (granted, its a big room), and the max volume on them... is not particularly loud. Even rtings said in their review that the OG Homepod does not get very loud. The sound quality is fantastic, that´s true.

With the Mini... its the only speakers of that size and shape (not price) that sound decent (quite decent, in fact), but the volume... is just OK for a kitchen (where I have it), or a small studio or office.
 
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dotme said:
Sound much better in a stereo pair, and you'd be surprised how placement affects audio quality on these things. Some surfaces/locations are better than others.
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Totally agree. For the price buy 2 and set up as stereo pair. Have a pair set up on a tall boy in the bedroom, 90cm apart and can still hear the stereo separation and goes loud Enough for me at least.
 
They are ok and the price is reasonable. But I will be selling my HomePod minis when they bring the HomePod back!!
 
dotme said:
Sound much better in a stereo pair, and you'd be surprised how placement affects audio quality on these things. Some surfaces/locations are better than others.
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Yeah, although since the introduction of the "reduce bass" toggle with IOS 15 the homepods are much more versatile in their placement. Traditionally an unwise location of them have resulted in muddy, boomy bass and drowned mids, and that can be corrected now enabling this setting. Which is of course wonderful.
 
It depends on the room it’s in. For a bedroom it’s fine. However for any other room it needs to be in a stereo pair. However even as a stereo pair it’s not good enough to be in my main room. For that room an OG stereo pair.
 
Shanghaichica said:
It depends on the room it’s in. For a bedroom it’s fine. However for any other room it needs to be in a stereo pair. However even as a stereo pair it’s not good enough to be in my main room. For that room an OG stereo pair.
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And then there are those rooms where even an stereo pair of OG Homepods doesn´t get loud enough. For those rooms, an stereo pair of Sonos Fives. ?
 
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Cassandle said:
Presumably people who say that a stereo pair of OG HomePods doesn't get loud enough must live in enormous houses without neighbours living next door? ?
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I don´t know. Yeah, my house is big, but not that big. After all, dont forget that the original homepod is a self powered smart speaker the size of a small trash can. It could never be very loud. Rtings and other reviews said as much.

Understandable, because it also has to scale its decibel power back in order to never ever distort, which I prefer.

Lower volume, but higher audio quality.

For modern pop/rock music, its fine. But for recordings with high dynamic range or recorded more softly, it just not loud enough.
 
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I have both the original HomePod and the mini. I also have some mega boom portable speakers. The mega boom speakers blow away the HomePod mini. I agree they are underwhelming on their own, and down right bad when compared against some of the competition. My favorite still is the original HomePod, it has superior sound compared with the other two. I guess it’s a bit bass heavy at times.

Not sure why the mini is so underwhelming. Seems like. Cheap cop out product compared to apples normally high precision and quality items.
 
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thejadedmonkey said:
It's not loud compared to $30 Alexa's. The sound quality is better, but that's rather irrelevant if you can't hear it, yes?

And then there's the dumpster fire named Siri.
Click to expand...
I bought some of the echo dots during Black Friday. I’ve had them before but, you know they were on sale and I wanted to wait until the orange HomePod became available which isn’t until January in my country. So I thought I’d use the echo dots in the bedrooms to tide me over until I could get the orange mini and you know for curiosity to see how the platform has evolved since I last used them. Well they just don’t compare the sound quality of the HomePod mini They sound muffled and yes they do get louder than a single HomePod mini but after about 70% volume they get blown out and are not pleasant to listen to. I bought another on to try and use as a stereo pair. The experience is better but not up to the standard of a single HomePod. I’ll admit I’m not audiophile and perhaps I’m bias to Apple’s sound profile due to repeated exposure but I find the mini to be better than the echo dot, google nest mini and the 2nd gen echo.
 
It all depends what you expect from the Mini and what you're comparing it to.

Its never going to sound as good as an original HomePod due to the size, so if you're looking for that sound, you'll be disappointed. But they're more than loud enough and will give you a well defined sound when playing music. A stereo pair make a good setup for a desk setup for example.
 
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ascender said:
It all depends what you expect from the Mini and what you're comparing it to.

Its never going to sound as good as an original HomePod due to the size, so if you're looking for that sound, you'll be disappointed. But they're more than loud enough and will give you a well defined sound when playing music. A stereo pair make a good setup for a desk setup for example.
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Size really does matter. You can only do so much with software.

I’m surprised Apple hasn’t come out with something larger by now.
 
Just got two HomePod minis for Christmas. I haven’t tried pairing them for stereo yet, but individually they sound okay. Better than my echo dot, but not as nice as my Alexa cylindrical whatever it is called. HomeKit accessories are really the reason I wanted them, I like having switches in control center. Everything feels like they work together smoother than my Alexa items.
 
tcphoto1 said:
I bought a HomePod Mini on Saturday to stream music in a small room, setup was easy but after going through all equalizer profiles I find the sound to be underwhelming. Friends have other small and portable speakers that are impressive so I thought that I'd look for something that I might be overlooking.
Click to expand...
Hmmm I just got mine today. There’s a definite difference between regular and lossless audio. Try Turning it on and see what you think. I’m very impressed this thing sounds so good for it’s size. I wish apple brings back a larger one which I most likely will buy. Over I think it sounds excellent. Not sure how much more you were expecting…
 
Siri is more underwhelming than the sound! I asked her “what is 19 and a half divided by two” and got a strange answer. Eventually figured out that she prefers decimals rather than fractions.
 
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I have two OGs as a stereo pair. Can I add two minis in another room, make them a stereo pair, and the play audio through all four at the same time with both pairs playing in stereo?
 
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HomePod mini’s are okay. Good for a home office bedroom or maybe a small kitchen but that’s it. Og HomePods are the real deal if you are in search for a good sound system.
 
TonyC28 said:
I have two OGs as a stereo pair. Can I add two minis in another room, make them a stereo pair, and the play audio through all four at the same time with both pairs playing in stereo?
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Yes you can i do it all the time.
 
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I’m really on the fence on whether or not to get a pair of HomePod minis.

The reviews are so mixed. Add to that, there are so few rumours that I think I’ll be waiting a long time for a new larger HomePod.

I get the vocal minority generally makes the loudest noise and there’s no shortage here on MacRumors. But the sense I’m getting is they are decent, ’good enough’ as computer speakers or for a small room.
Certainly not overwhelming praise often attributed to Apple products.

I need to listen to a pair in person, but with Covid restrictions in my city, it’s a bit more of a hassle.
 
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