Apple named it the homepod mini, not homepod 2. Adjust your expectations accordingly.
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First Impressions From HomePod Mini Customers: 'The Sound Quality is Great'
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Yes, you CAN choose the mini´s from the Apple TV control center (regular airplay 2 casting) , but you can´t make them the default output of the Apple TV. Thats different, and circumvents some of the limitations of regular airplay2 sound casting, like the ability to hear apple tv video games through the Homepods. This functionality is currently limited to the original Homepod only.
Looking forward to listening to the HomePod mini tomorrow afternoon. 
I doubt I will be disappointed.
I doubt I will be disappointed.
This is correct. However, you cant make them the DEFAULT permanent audio output of an ATV, which ROUTES all ATV audio (including menu clicks, video games, and live tv/iptv apps), through the homepods, which is what @erinsarah is aiming for. This is because, for Apple, setting a Homepod as the default output is a pre-requisite to use the Home Theatre audio feature, limited currently to the original Homepod.
I have never owned a speaker system like Homepod or Echo or whatever the Google one is called. I don't know what to expect, which is why I asked the question.
I’m excited for the one mini to deliver this week. It will replace the small Google speaker we have in the kitchen and expect we’ll use the mini every day for morning updates and listening to WBEZ and music while cooking. If it sounds good enough, we’ll order a second to place in the dining room for stereo listening.
Anyone have a Bose Soundlink Mini, original version (silver) to compare the Homepod mini to?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Oh hey, big surprise, it's Mr. Last-Word Guy again, doin' his thang, leaving no straw man un-battled.
Received my 2 mini’s today, I already own 2 original Homepods running as a stereo pair in the living room.
Setup was a breeze, they both updated themselves to 14.2 once setup.
I’ve put one in my small office while working from home, the other is on my bedside unit - short video attached, limited on upload size.
I’m no audiophile but I can’t help but be slightly blown away by how good they sound for the size of them, I’ve got one of the small WonderBoom’s, no comparison. I’ve recently got the new Amazon Echo 4th generation, so while I can’t compare the Homepod mini with a 4th gen Echo dot, of similar size, I can say the full size Echo obviously has more bass due to it’s size, to be fair the new full size Echo has very good sound.
What I would say is, whatever computational audio Apple is doing inside these Mini’s is very impressive - don’t expect them to have as much bass as larger speakers like the new Echo or the bigger Homepod.
It’s personal preference as well but there’s something so crisp and clean the way the Homepod Mini puts out the music - I’ll be ordering more of these for other rooms.
Setup was a breeze, they both updated themselves to 14.2 once setup.
I’ve put one in my small office while working from home, the other is on my bedside unit - short video attached, limited on upload size.
I’m no audiophile but I can’t help but be slightly blown away by how good they sound for the size of them, I’ve got one of the small WonderBoom’s, no comparison. I’ve recently got the new Amazon Echo 4th generation, so while I can’t compare the Homepod mini with a 4th gen Echo dot, of similar size, I can say the full size Echo obviously has more bass due to it’s size, to be fair the new full size Echo has very good sound.
What I would say is, whatever computational audio Apple is doing inside these Mini’s is very impressive - don’t expect them to have as much bass as larger speakers like the new Echo or the bigger Homepod.
It’s personal preference as well but there’s something so crisp and clean the way the Homepod Mini puts out the music - I’ll be ordering more of these for other rooms.
Adding a fitted battery pack made for the homepod mini seems like a viable, and likely inevitable, accessory.
Waterproofing it? That's either going to take a redesign into a different product, or a ziploc bag.
I like the idea of a battery pack/waterproofing accessory. Waterproof would be tough, but a rugged-making, water-resistant thing could be helpful for people that want that.
If you are waiting for apple to offer it, its at least a year away and would likely be at least 79.99.
If you are waiting for apple to offer it, its at least a year away and would likely be at least 79.99.
Honestly it’s because I’m so embedded in the Apple ecosystem. I like that it would improve the sound over the TV alone, and that I could airplay sound directly to it without using the AppleTV as a go-between. And, while I haven’t had any real desire to dive into the smart home world, this is a fairly low cost way of playing around with it. I’m not against a sound bar but I’ve tried a couple and didn’t like them. Frankly it’s mostly curiosity.
Black and white... so much dualism. Add some pizzazz. Yes, I said that with jazz-hands too.
Received mine today! Easy to setup. Sounds much better at higher volumes than lower especially if you want to hear that bass. I love this little guy! Siri works well even with the music loud.
I'm excited to get mine on Wednesday (stupid Best Buy messed up with UPS and just got it picked up for delivery after sitting for two days in a warehouse...). It's going in the bathroom and replacing a Google Mini!
No, but anyone comparing it to a $29 speaker and expecting there to be any sort of competition is equally as daft.
And I suspect that there aren't any comparisons to $100 systems because it wouldn't fair well against them.
OK. I finally understand the point you were trying to make. However, I just went back to the original complaint on page 1 or 2 of this thread and THAT poster complained about not being able to use HomePod mini as “audio output” NOT default audio output. It was that comment that I was responding to.
And, quite frankly, I did not know the nuances of default output that you stated above. I understood it to simply mean that the ATV 4K returned (defaulted) to using the HomePod as output the next time you turned on the ATV 4K regardless of what the ATV 4K or HomePod had been used for in the interval. I did, of course, understand that Home Theater Audio is limited to the OG HomePod but I thought that limitation was solely due to the lack of Spatial Awareness on HP mini unlike the OG HomePod. Live and learn.
Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for that info. But it doesn’t excuse Apple for their shoddy ATV + HomePod integration which has been buggy since the beginning.
Because no one would ac bother pairing the minis with a TV That is what the OG HomePods are for. Mini is to put in a bedroom or kitchen or people who can’t afford a pair of OG HomePods and be done with it
Geez, you are a piece of work.
Geez, you are a piece of work.