HomePod mini
£99.99/$99.99
Key features Six-microphone array • seven beamforming tweeters
Learn more apple.com/uk/homepod
Available from apple.com
APPLE IS FINALLY BACK IN THE SMART SPEAKER GAME, shrinking down its behemothic HomePod and bringing us a new, more compact version. The HomePod mini is one of the cheapest devices Apple has ever put out and the combo of Siri and excellent sound quality it delivers makes it far preferable to the Amazon Echo Dot or Google Nest Mini.
A mini marvel
The first thing that impresses is the setup process. You can simply hold your iPhone or iPad near the HomePod mini and connection is instant. All Wi-Fi passwords and accounts are synced and if you’re setting up multiple HomePods then they’ll pair together. It only takes a minute or two to get up and running. The HomePod mini is a very nice-looking speaker too, with a small spherical design that takes up far less space than the original HomePod. The latticed fabric shell blends nicely into the background and the top glows with a pleasing light – although we do wish there was an option to dim it or turn it off when you’re listening to calming music while drifting off to sleep.