Now available in additional colours

Apple now offers the HomePod mini in five colors, including yellow, orange, blue and  the white and grey of the original.

What Apple said

“HomePod mini sounds incredible, and with access to more than 90 million songs in the global Apple Music catalogue and deep integration with your Apple devices, it’s the must-have smart speaker for iPhone users,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With new vibrant colours, HomePod mini fits in even more places and delivers amazing sound, the power of Siri, and simple and secure smart home controls, all while protecting your privacy.”

What you get

HomePod mini hasn’t changed too much. It is still 3.3-inches tall, supports Siri and everything else the product has ever done.

There’s some neat attention to detail in the new colors, with colour-matched details throughout, including the tinted touch surface, mesh fabric, volume icons, and woven power cable. The new speakers will be available in November and cost from $99.

How they sound

HomePod mini uses computational audio to provide a rich and detailed acoustic experience and deliver peak performance.

To improve music playback, the Apple S5 chip analyses the unique characteristics of the music and applies various tweaks, such as adjusting the dynamic range or controlling the movement of the driver and passive radiators in real time.

[Also read: 100+ (useful) tasks Siri does for you on HomePod, HomePod mini]

A three-microphone array listens for “Hey Siri,” and a fourth inward-facing microphone helps cancel out sound coming from the speaker to improve Siri’s ability to hear voice requests when music is playing.

What are they like to use?

I reviewed the first-generation devices and was impressed. In use you can expect deep bass, crisp high frequencies and an immersive 360-degree sound experience. Like all HomePods, you can play music in every room, create pairs of stereo speakers for even better sound, and send Intercom messages to others in the home.

You can also use AirPlay to beam music from your Mac, iPhone, iPad or Apple TV through these speakers.

When listening to music or podcasts, or taking a phone call, you can seamlessly hand off the audio without missing a beat by bringing their iPhone close to HomePod mini. Siri can recognise the voices of up to six different household members, tailor music and podcasts to their preferences, and respond to personal requests, like reading their messages, reminders, notes, and calendar appointments, or making and answering phone calls.

Starting later this year, Siri is expanding support for multi-user voice recognition to all regions where HomePod mini is available so everyone in the home can enjoy music tailored to their taste profile, access their own playlists, use Personal Requests, and more.

HomePod mini will be available in yellow, orange, and blue, in addition to white and space grey, for $99.

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