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Apple
After months of rumors and speculation, Apple announced Tuesday a new smaller smart speaker called the HomePod Mini at its iPhone-centric event.
Apple’s HomePod debuted in 2018 with a price tag of $ 349, great sound, and the risk of putting white rings on the table. Since then, despite some helpful iterations on the HomePod’s features through regular software updates, Apple hasn’t made much progress on the smart home, even as Amazon and Google continue to expand their audiences for Alexa and Google Assistant products across all. the scopes. That changed today with the reveal of a smaller, smarter speaker.
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How big is the HomePod Mini?
The HomePod Mini is significantly smaller than its predecessor. Wrapped in mesh fabric, it measures 3.3 inches tall and 3.9 inches wide (84 by 98 mm) and weighs 0.76 pounds (345 grams). In comparison, the new fourth generation of Amazon, equally spherical Echo Dot Measures 3.5 inches tall and the shape of a Google disk Nest Mini Measures 1.65 inches tall.
Like the original HomePod, the Mini features a backlit touch pad for volume and Siri controls. It will be available in white and space gray, priced at $ 99 (£ 99, AU $ 149). That is the same price as the newest (also spherical) Amazon Echo and the new Google brand Nest Audio, both larger than the HomePod Mini.
How does the HomePod Mini sound?
A smaller speaker probably means that the sound quality will be less impressive than the stellar original. HomePod (we will test it in our next review). However, Apple equipped the HomePod Mini with what it calls computational audio. That means it can readjust itself more than 180 times per second to optimize volume and dynamic range. Google’s Nest Audio and Nest Minis perform similar real-time audio tuning, thanks to their machine learning chip.
Apple
Streaming services for the HomePod Mini will include Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Radio.com, and TuneIn at launch. Pandora and Amazon Music are scheduled for a future update, though Spotify was conspicuously absent from Apple’s presentation. The two companies are involved in an antitrust investigation in Europe, sparked by a Spotify complaint filed last year.
Other notable sound features include support for multi-room audio and stereo pairing for two HomePod Minis, which is common for other smart speakers. Two HomePod Minis can also be paired with your Apple TV for immersive sound, similar to pairing two. Echo studio speakers and a Fire TV.
What does HomePod Mini add to HomeKit?
HomePod Mini brings some new smart home features to HomeKit. Apple announced an intercom feature that, like Enter a moment on Amazon and To transmit on Google smart speakers, allows you to send a voice message from one speaker to another or to multiple rooms. Other household members can also ask Siri to send a reply to the broadcast.
What’s impressive about Apple’s intercom system is the variety of devices it can reach. Intercom messages also work with iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, CarPlay, and AirPods. While you can use Google streaming from a phone, you can’t stream to one and Amazon is completely out of the game without an Alexa-based phone.
HomePod Mini in space gray.
Apple / Screenshot by Mike Sorrentino / CNET
CarPlay and HomePod Mini work together to complete things like navigation based on your latest voice searches. The HomePod Mini also works with your iPhone to give you an update on all your apps with a voice command.
When it comes to privacy, Apple promises that nothing you say will be sent outside of your home until you touch Siri or communicate with your voice. You can also choose whether Apple saves your audio recordings. Personal requests will only work when your iPhone is at home with you, and requests are saved with an anonymous ID.
Ultra broadband
Apple continues to focus on convincing consumers that its products will respect the privacy of their owners. Apple added a U1 chip last year iPhone 11, and today we have seen better what that chip means for intelligence and security in your home.
The U1 chip enables ultra-wideband communication between equipped devices, including the new HomePod Mini. UWB measures the distance between two devices by calculating the time it takes for a radio wave to pass between them. This method is much more accurate than Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
The ultra-wide band can not only accurately locate items, but can also communicate data. What that means for HomeKit is still unclear, as Apple had nothing to say about UWB and smart home devices. In addition to the U1 chip, the HomePod Mini also works with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 4, and Thread, a network protocol for low-power IoT devices.
Apple
Still siri
Even with a new design, better pricing, and smarter software, the Siri problem as an assistant remains. Compared to the nice and ever-evolving voice assistants from Google and Amazon, Siri falls short.
The interactions just feel less natural, and simple requests are often not as easily handled as Google or Alexa. Apple has improved Siri over the years, but still, we spent hours with all three and found that there are some things that Siri just can’t do.
The HomePod Mini will be available to order beginning November 6, with availability beginning the week of November 16. Stay tuned to CNET for a full review of Apple’s latest smart speaker, comparisons to its competitors, and more in the coming days.
