The New HomePod Mini: A Powerful and Feature-Rich Speaker

Apple's latest addition to its smart speaker lineup is the HomePod mini, and it's packed with a range of exciting features that make it an attractive option for anyone looking to upgrade their home audio experience. At its core, the HomePod mini is powered by Apple's own custom ultra-wideband chip, which allows it to detect devices with incredible accuracy in space. This means that you can easily track your phone or Apple Watch as you move around your home, and use this information to enhance your smart home experience.

One of the standout features of the HomePod mini is its ability to seamlessly integrate with other Apple devices. For example, if you're using an iPhone or iPad, you can easily transfer podcast audio, music, or even phone calls directly from your device to the speaker. This process works in real-time, giving you a truly seamless and immersive listening experience. But the HomePod mini's capabilities don't stop there - it also supports Thread, a new smart home networking protocol that enables faster and more reliable communication between devices.

Thread is particularly exciting because it has the potential to create a self-healing and mesh network throughout your home, connecting all of your Thread-enabled devices in a way that makes them work together seamlessly. While we're still early days for this technology, it's clear that Apple is committed to making it happen, and we can't wait to see what kind of smart home automation possibilities emerge as a result.

Another feature that sets the HomePod mini apart from its predecessors is its new USBC cable. The speaker comes with a braided USB-C cable that's not only stylish but also durable - it's designed to last, unlike some other cables we've seen on Apple devices. But what really takes this cable to the next level is its portability. Simply plug the HomePod mini into a USB-C battery pack like the Zendoor Supertank Pro, and you can take it anywhere - whether that's to your porch, backyard, or even on the go.

Speaking of portability, we're excited to report that the HomePod mini is capable of running for hours on end, thanks to its power-efficient design. And because it doesn't require Bluetooth connectivity to function, you don't have to worry about dropped calls or poor sound quality - just a smooth, high-quality listening experience wherever you go.

We're also loving the fact that Apple has included a 20-watt USB-C adapter in the box, which makes it easy to charge your HomePod mini on-the-go. And because the device itself is designed to be compact and portable, you can easily take it with you - even if you don't have access to Wi-Fi.

All in all, we're incredibly excited about the new HomePod mini, and we think it has the potential to revolutionize your smart home experience. With its impressive features, durable design, and seamless integration with other Apple devices, this speaker is sure to be a hit with anyone looking to upgrade their audio setup.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwelcome everyone to apple insider hey my little homepod mini what are your best features good question andrew let's go over them together enough said let's go ahead and dive into it the best features of the homepod mini starting off with its new incredible size when we got our hands on the new homepod mini it was actually smaller than we even anticipated we of course had seen apple's videos and looked at tech specs but it's nothing until you're actually holding a homepod mini in your hand it is very small smaller than a softball more akin to the size of a baseball if just not a tiny bit larger thanks to that new tiny size it makes it even more possible to move this thing throughout your house got a crowded desk this thing should still fit put it on a bookshelf hide it in the kitchen anywhere where you didn't need such a giant home pod before the homepod mini fits perfectly we absolutely love the size of this thing and just think that is probably one of its best features the next feature though has to be the sound quality this does not move nearly as much air as the full size homepod but for its size it still puts out incredible sound when comparing side by side you definitely notice the lack of bass that the homepod mini has but for a lot of things the homepod mini is just perfect you don't always need the biggest loudest most expensive speaker and a lot of times you just want a good simple speaker that sounds solid for as small as it is plus the homepod mini can be set up in a stereo pair pair two these things together to get even more sound out of them so there's another option especially if one just isn't enough u1 chip is also baked into the new homepod mini with the u1 chip apple's own custom ultra wideband chip it's able to detect devices very accurately in space that could be your phone it could be your apple watch really anything even if you have those devices on you it can track you as you move around the home apple is using it right now basically for an improved handoff experience because it's able to track your phone so accurately as you bring your phone closer it's able to combine the u1 with bluetooth and just give you a really nice seamless handoff experience transfer podcast audio music a phone call directly to the homepod mini bring it back again and the homepod menu will pass it right back to your phone it is very cool and in the future we could see it used for smart home applications to run automations as you move throughout your house and speaking of home automation the new homepod mini includes thread right now thread is limited to a few different smart home devices including the new nanoleaf essentials line look how fast and responsive that light bulb turned on and off we saw a little bit of a lag when we tried to change the colors as we're doing a lot of commands at once but overall this thing changes almost instantly just if it was connected by your real power switch whereas if we look at other smart bulbs like this hue bulb here i go and tap on that and you can see there's a one to two second delay before that bulb ever responds and sometimes it's even worse and that doesn't include bluetooth devices or wi-fi devices thread really is incredibly fast and the future of smart home devices it creates a self-healing and mesh network throughout your house of all of your thread-enabled devices which hopefully will be growing in number in the future making your smart home far more reliable our last favorite feature and this one should not be overlooked is the new usbc cable so the new non-removable usb-c cable is pretty great one it's usbc which is a nice open standard two it is a nice cable in and of itself it's a fancy braided cable that definitely has a better look to it than a normal you know rubbery plasticky cable it definitely elevates the homepod experience and is somewhat similar to the power cable on the larger homepod which is also a braided cable we really appreciate that apple went that extra mile to include a better cable with the homepod mini especially since it cannot be replaced that also means you can use pretty much any usbc adapter apple includes its own usbc 20 watt adapter in the box but you can use any 20 watt or other usb c adapter you have in your house it's probably going to have to be 20 watts or higher but you can use any one that you have and that includes battery packs which makes this the first really portable home pod simply plug this thing into a usbc battery pack like my zendoor supertank pro i love this battery one of my go-to's here and you can see even our power output once the homepod mini wakes up there's the power outfit going right there to the mini homepod mini does not work over bluetooth so you can't just take this to the beach and expect to still be able to stream music but if you are around your house and you still got wi-fi this thing is going to work take it out to your porch take it to your backyard anywhere that you want to just drag your homepod mini you can do it as long as you have wi-fi and you can run for a very long time whether you're on a super tank or super tank pro or something bigger like this aki power station the aki power studio has 100 watt output just like those usb-c batteries from xendura we looked at so it's perfect to power up your homepod mini let us know what you guys think we are very excited about the new homepod mini there's so much you can do we really focused on kind of the new features specific to homepod mini in this video but has a ton of potential and i'm sure apple is going to continue to update it with new features down the line let me know over on twitter at andrew underscore osu what your favorite new homepod mini feature is and if you picked one up also what color did you go for the space gray or this pretty awesome white let me know and i'll check you guys in the next video hey everyone did you guys like that video be sure to click on that like button so we can create content that we know that you guys want to see and follow apple insider on all social media channels if you want the best prices on any apple gear check out the apple insider price guide that is updated daily and until next time we'll see you laterwelcome everyone to apple insider hey my little homepod mini what are your best features good question andrew let's go over them together enough said let's go ahead and dive into it the best features of the homepod mini starting off with its new incredible size when we got our hands on the new homepod mini it was actually smaller than we even anticipated we of course had seen apple's videos and looked at tech specs but it's nothing until you're actually holding a homepod mini in your hand it is very small smaller than a softball more akin to the size of a baseball if just not a tiny bit larger thanks to that new tiny size it makes it even more possible to move this thing throughout your house got a crowded desk this thing should still fit put it on a bookshelf hide it in the kitchen anywhere where you didn't need such a giant home pod before the homepod mini fits perfectly we absolutely love the size of this thing and just think that is probably one of its best features the next feature though has to be the sound quality this does not move nearly as much air as the full size homepod but for its size it still puts out incredible sound when comparing side by side you definitely notice the lack of bass that the homepod mini has but for a lot of things the homepod mini is just perfect you don't always need the biggest loudest most expensive speaker and a lot of times you just want a good simple speaker that sounds solid for as small as it is plus the homepod mini can be set up in a stereo pair pair two these things together to get even more sound out of them so there's another option especially if one just isn't enough u1 chip is also baked into the new homepod mini with the u1 chip apple's own custom ultra wideband chip it's able to detect devices very accurately in space that could be your phone it could be your apple watch really anything even if you have those devices on you it can track you as you move around the home apple is using it right now basically for an improved handoff experience because it's able to track your phone so accurately as you bring your phone closer it's able to combine the u1 with bluetooth and just give you a really nice seamless handoff experience transfer podcast audio music a phone call directly to the homepod mini bring it back again and the homepod menu will pass it right back to your phone it is very cool and in the future we could see it used for smart home applications to run automations as you move throughout your house and speaking of home automation the new homepod mini includes thread right now thread is limited to a few different smart home devices including the new nanoleaf essentials line look how fast and responsive that light bulb turned on and off we saw a little bit of a lag when we tried to change the colors as we're doing a lot of commands at once but overall this thing changes almost instantly just if it was connected by your real power switch whereas if we look at other smart bulbs like this hue bulb here i go and tap on that and you can see there's a one to two second delay before that bulb ever responds and sometimes it's even worse and that doesn't include bluetooth devices or wi-fi devices thread really is incredibly fast and the future of smart home devices it creates a self-healing and mesh network throughout your house of all of your thread-enabled devices which hopefully will be growing in number in the future making your smart home far more reliable our last favorite feature and this one should not be overlooked is the new usbc cable so the new non-removable usb-c cable is pretty great one it's usbc which is a nice open standard two it is a nice cable in and of itself it's a fancy braided cable that definitely has a better look to it than a normal you know rubbery plasticky cable it definitely elevates the homepod experience and is somewhat similar to the power cable on the larger homepod which is also a braided cable we really appreciate that apple went that extra mile to include a better cable with the homepod mini especially since it cannot be replaced that also means you can use pretty much any usbc adapter apple includes its own usbc 20 watt adapter in the box but you can use any 20 watt or other usb c adapter you have in your house it's probably going to have to be 20 watts or higher but you can use any one that you have and that includes battery packs which makes this the first really portable home pod simply plug this thing into a usbc battery pack like my zendoor supertank pro i love this battery one of my go-to's here and you can see even our power output once the homepod mini wakes up there's the power outfit going right there to the mini homepod mini does not work over bluetooth so you can't just take this to the beach and expect to still be able to stream music but if you are around your house and you still got wi-fi this thing is going to work take it out to your porch take it to your backyard anywhere that you want to just drag your homepod mini you can do it as long as you have wi-fi and you can run for a very long time whether you're on a super tank or super tank pro or something bigger like this aki power station the aki power studio has 100 watt output just like those usb-c batteries from xendura we looked at so it's perfect to power up your homepod mini let us know what you guys think we are very excited about the new homepod mini there's so much you can do we really focused on kind of the new features specific to homepod mini in this video but has a ton of potential and i'm sure apple is going to continue to update it with new features down the line let me know over on twitter at andrew underscore osu what your favorite new homepod mini feature is and if you picked one up also what color did you go for the space gray or this pretty awesome white let me know and i'll check you guys in the next video hey everyone did you guys like that video be sure to click on that like button so we can create content that we know that you guys want to see and follow apple insider on all social media channels if you want the best prices on any apple gear check out the apple insider price guide that is updated daily and until next time we'll see you later\n"