Apple launches Home Pod mini at $99

Apple HomePod was always a superb speaker if not the brightest smart speaker. If you were using it for listening to music, there were few speakers better than the HomePod at that price point. However the major drawback was that you could play only Apple Music on them.

That changes with the HomePod mini. Now you can listen to Apple Music, Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Radio.com, TuneIn, Pandora and Amazon Music. This has to be the biggest change for anyone looking to enter the HomePod ecosystem.

Other notable features:

• Priced at $99
• Available in Space Grey and White color
• Backlit touch surface with controls for volume, play/pause and glows when Siri is invoked.
• Can opt out of voice recording storage
• Can broadcast audio messages through the house, and through iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and CarPlay.
• Can send messages from one HomePod to another through the new "Intercom" feature
• Can recognise voices of multiple members of the household
• When your iPhone is nearby, you'll get visual and haptic feedback so it feels like your devices are physically connected.
• Can sync multiple HomePod Mini speakers around the house. If two are in the same room they will intelligently become a stereo pair.
• Apple S5 chip on-board
• Full-range dynamic driver and two passive radiators for bass response.
• Acoustic waveguide to send 360-degree sound.

 

[booo]

i might get it. never trusted amazon or google for a smart speaker.

 

[renegade]

I have the first gen Echo show and everytime I look at it I keep thinking I should just unplug and keep it aside. However my two year old loves the damn thing coz it plays songs and he can control the playback and lights. Nevertheless I wish to replace it with the iPod mini soon. Will let some reviews come out for the sound quality.