Apple HomePod mini goes colourful as it prepares a bargain music offering
Apple’s colourful HomePod mini is now available, but the news could be its partnership with a cheap Music Voice Plan.
Apple’s colourful HomePod mini is now available in Apple stores and online, but the news could be its partnership with the company’s cheap Apple Music Voice Plan.
HomePod mini is a ritzy looking device that’s spherical and wrapped in a mesh fabric that Apple says is designed for its acoustic quality. The controls for volume and play/pause are at the top, which lights up when you chat with Siri.
It offers a relatively inexpensive way to stream music at home. You don’t have to break the bank if you buy several HomePod mini units and place them around your home.
Instead of coming in just space grey and white, this speaker come personal assistant is now available in blue, yellow and orange. At $149 HomePod mini is competitively priced, and you can pair two in the same room as a stereo set offering left and right channels.
At $149, HomePod mini is more affordable than the much larger HomePod priced at $469 which has been discontinued after disappointing sales.
While it’s a relatively small speaker, the mini packs a punch audio wise and offers the same Siri capability. For example, you can use your voice to command Siri to find your iPhone, which can be a timesaver if the phone is hidden under a cushion or you absent-mindedly placed it in a drawer.
HomePod minis also pair with Apple TV. You can direct Apple TV audio output through the minis. You can ask Siri on a HomePod mini to play content on Apple TV. You can use voice to pause, rewind and fast-forward Apple TV content or say “skip back ten minutes”.
Apple offers a hand-off experience when you bring your iPhone close to a HomePod mini. You can transfer calls from the phone to a mini and use it as a speakerphone, and you can transfer currently playing music and podcasts from one device to another.
You can ask Siri on HomePod mini to find your keys if they are registered with the Find My app using an AirTag and use voice commands to control your smart home. With HomePod mini, uttering voice commands is a hands free operation without a need to have your iPhone nearby.
HomePod mini has other capabilities. You can use a series of them at home as an intercom system and family members can send messages from one HomePod mini to another in a different room.
The intercom system also works with iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods and CarPlay, which means you can send intercom messages to home when you are out and about.
Perhaps the mini’s biggest use will be as a music speaker at home, playing tracks and albums from Apple Music’s upcoming Voice Plan costing $5.99 per month. That’s half the price of the Apple Music individual plan which is $11.99 monthly.
You can play the same 90 million songs with the voice plan as with other plans, but you have to use voice commands to select tracks and albums. You don’t use the Apple Music app.
Apple says the voice plan lets you command Siri to play any of the tens of thousands of available music playlists including mood and activity playlists and Apple Music Radio.
The voice plan doesn’t support spatial audio, lossless music or Dolby Atmos, nor does it support Apple Music third-party output, for example through Samsung TVs. It’s a plan for individual users.
You can buy a family plan for six users offering a full Apple Music experience for $17.99 per month. The family plan therefore works out cheaper than individual voice plans for four or more people. There is also a $5.99 student plan and regular individual plan for $11.99.
Spotify similarly is $11.99 per month, while regular Deezer costs you $12.99. However both do offer free subscriptions – the cheapest options of all – but with advertising and other limitations.
The Apple Music Voice Plan works with a myriad of Apple devices – iPhone, iPad, AirPods, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Mac as well as HomePod mini. It is expected to go live soon.
The downside is that Apple has not released a HomePod device with a screen for smart home control. The rivals in this space, Amazon and Google, offer cheap touch screens you can press to control your lights and switches with as well as voice. It is something Apple should consider.
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