Apple HomePod Mini – The $99 Affordable Speaker

These days, Apple seems to be on its competitive front as it is aiming to capture the market demand with its $99 HomePod Mini speakers. These speakers are integrated with Siri voice assistant. This mini speaker will be a great competitor to Google Nest Mini and Amazon Echo Dot speakers. The HomePod Min speaker has some excellent specifications and features that come at a very affordable price and a smaller size. If you already have multiple Apple devices in your home, this speaker should be on your wishlist.Source:https://directory-boom.uk.com/blog/apple-homepod-mini-the-99-affordable-speaker/Like other mini speakers, HomePod Mini also has a smaller and spherical shape design wrapped in an acoustics-friendly mesh fabric that aims to enhance audio quality. You can find only White or Space Grey color variants for this device. It comes with a touch control pad and has LED indicators mounted on the top that looks very similar to the original HomePod speaker. The speaker looks more like a mini apple that fits the aesthetics of the company. It is only 3.3.-inches in size, which is smaller than a coffee mug, so you can place it anywhere in your home to blend it with your house décor.FeaturesBy now, you also know the basic features a smart speaker has to offer, i.e., fetch news updates, weather reports, playing music, answer calls, and more. Most of the features you will find on the HomePod Mini are based on the software and the updates company decides to bring for their users. Still, some unique features might impress and prompt you to purchase the HomePod Mini speakers. Here are some of the things you will find impressive in this speaker:

Intercom

Apple has introduced a unique Intercom feature on both HomePod or HomePod Mini that allows the users to send a voice message to other Apple devices in their home. You can choose to reply with a voice command by saying, “Hey, Siri, reply…” followed by the message you want to send. This feature runs faster, but the speaker also allows you to choose to turn off the Intercom feature in the Home app settings for each device. You can also customize the notification receiving time by choosing “Never,” “When I’m home,” or “Anywhere” options. With Intercom, one can send voice messages to all the Apple devices, including iPhones‌, ‌iPads‌, Apple Watches ‌, and AirPods in the family.

HandoffHandoff feature works to send audio from an iPhone to the smart speaker and vice versa using the Bluetooth connectivity. One has to keep the Bluetooth toggle on, and the speaker and smartphone should be on the same Wi-F network. Then, take your phone closer to the speaker until you see a notification that lets you know that the audio is transferring to the HomePod. This process will work in reverse when you want to insert the audio back into your phone. Due to the U1 ultrawideband chip, the Handoff feature will get better with further updates and improve the visuals, feedback, and audio effects.Audio QualityThe HomePod Mini speaker comes with a full range of driver and dual passive radiators that deepens the bass and offers crisp high frequencies. It has a custom acoustic waveguide for a 360° sound field, and its computational audio allows real-time tuning. The speaker features four-microphones and offers multi-room audio with AirPlay. You can listen to Apple Music, iTunes, iCloud Music Library, Apple Podcasts, etc., or use AirPlay to fetch content from iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or Mac.The Boundary-pushing computational audio creates the full, detailed tones of a much larger speaker and HomePod mini pulls it off without missing your voice commands. If you want to take the amazing sound experience of HomePod mini even further, create a stereo pair with two HomePod mini speakers by pairing them together in the same room. You can create left and right channels for an immersive soundstage.ConclusionOverall, this $99 smart speaker is great to have around your house. It will blend in your house, provide impressive sound, and offer stunningly unique features that stand out among all the competitors. iPhone and Apple TV users can easily set up the HomePod Mini with their devices. Unfortunately, Android users might be disappointed to have this smart speaker as you cannot access the HomeKit.