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Earlier this year, I bought a HomePod mini mostly out of curiosity. I’d reviewed the original HomePod when it first came out and, like many, thought it had fantastic sound but was overpriced. The mini is a smaller version with surprisingly good sound for such a tiny speaker, and is a reasonable price. For $99, I snatched one up and was pretty impressed with what I heard.
Regular readers know that I recently shopped for and bought a new 4K TV. I did not, however, replace the older LG soundbar I had been using with my previous HD TV, and I knew the Sony Bravia X90J I’d bought could do better, audio-wise. And the 2021 Apple TV 4K, which I use most with my TV, supports Dolby Atmos spatial audio, so long the speaker system attached to it does as well. Unfortunately, decent soundbars can be pricey – really good ones approach the $1,000 mark, and decent cheap models run well over $200.
As an experiment, I linked the HomePod mini to the Apple TV 4K and watched a few shows and a movie. While the one-speaker sound was limited in scope, it sounded pretty good. I was inspired to spring for a second mini, and have been using the pair as the Apple TV’s primary speaker system for about a week.
Setting up the second mini was as easy as the first. After plugging it into a power outlet and holding an iPhone next to it, a series of onscreen prompts walks you through the process. If another HomePod mini is present, you’ll see a screen that asks if you want to create a stereo pair (for this scenario, you do!). The process asks you to name the room where the pair resides; they’ll need to be in the same room in order to act as stereo speakers.
The only annoying part of the process involves making audio play through the Apple TV to the HomePod mini pair. While a pair of the now-discontinued, full-sized HomePods can be set up as the default audio system, a pair of minis must be manually designated as the active speakers each time you fire up the Apple TV. This is getting fixed in the next versions of the tvOS and HomePodOS software. Version 15 is in beta testing now, and should be out this fall.
Once the configuration is set up, though, a HomePod mini pair makes for a decent soundbar replacement. Compared to my LG, voices are clearer, more distinct. Bass is impressive for a speakers the size of an apple (pun intended), but don’t expect a rumblefest – bass from an audio system with a separate subwoofer would sound much beefier while watching, say, “Avengers: Endgame” than via the minis. Highs sound good, but midrange is where the minis struggle most. A HomePod mini pair also is not as loud as some may like – if you want to blast the soundtracks for shows and movies, you may be disappointed. We keep the volume at about 90% and that is comfortable for us.
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Not surprisingly, streaming music sounds even better than movie/TV audio, but it also has gets a lot louder. The minis obviously work great with Apple Music, and now works with other streaming services, including Spotify. And you can control playback by either telling Siri with your voice which songs, albums, genres or playlists to stream, or by starting the process on your iPhone and moving the handset near one of the minis for a handoff.
And also coming with the next version of Apple’s software: The ability to play lossless music through the minis. There’s no sign so far of Dolby Atmos support, sadly.
Of course, this setup would sound a lot better with the full-sized, original HomePods, which make for a fantastic home-theater experience. Since being discontinued, those are hard to find, and they still cost much more than the minis. But for just under $200, it’s a good solution for our household at a very good price.
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July 30, 2021 at 08:23PM
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Got HomePod Minis? Turn Them Into Your TV’s Soundbar - Forbes
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