Apple HomePod (1st generation) vs Apple HomePod mini
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleHomePod (1st generation) | AppleHomePod mini | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | February 2018 | November 2020 |
| Sound | ||
| Type | Speaker | Speaker |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | No |
| Drivers | High-excursion woofer; seven horn-loaded tweeters | Full-range driver and dual passive radiators, with a custom acoustic waveguide for a 360° sound field |
| Amplifiers | Custom amplifier for the woofer and a separate custom amplifier for each tweeter | – |
| Audio formats | Dolby Atmos home cinema with Apple TV 4K was added in software 14.2; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos and Apple Music lossless playback were added in 15.1 | – |
| Room tuning | Direct and ambient audio beamforming; computational audio for real-time tuning; internal low-frequency calibration microphone for automatic bass correction; Apple A8 processor | Computational audio for real-time tuning |
| Connections | ||
| Wi-Fi | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth | No | No |
| AirPlay | Yes | Yes |
| Voice assistants | Siri | Siri |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11ac with MIMO | 802.11n Wi-Fi; Thread; Ultra Wideband chip for device proximity |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 radio; no Bluetooth audio streaming (TechRadar) | Bluetooth 5.0 (RTINGS found no Bluetooth audio playback) |
| Ports | Mains power cable; no analogue audio input (TechRadar) | Power only (20 W adapter included) |
| Streaming | Apple Music, iTunes purchases, iCloud Music Library with an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription, supported third-party services, radio and podcasts; AirPlay from iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV or Mac | AirPlay from iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac; Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, third-party music services, TuneIn and UK radio stations by voice |
| Multi-room | AirPlay 2 multi-room audio and stereo pairing with another original HomePod were added in iOS 11.4 after launch | Multi-room audio with AirPlay; stereo pair with a second HomePod mini |
| App | Home app; initial setup requires a compatible Apple mobile device and Wi-Fi internet access | Home app on iPhone or iPad |
| Design | ||
| Weight | 2.5 kg | 0.345 kg (better) |
| Controls | Tap to play or pause, double-tap to skip, triple-tap to skip back; touch and hold for Siri; tap or hold + or – for volume | Backlit touch surface (tap to play or pause, double-tap to skip, triple-tap to skip back, touch and hold for Siri, + and – for volume) |
| Microphones | Six-microphone array for far-field Siri; separate internal low-frequency calibration microphone | Four-microphone design for far-field Siri |
| Size | 172 mm high, 142 mm wide | 84.3 mm high, 97.9 mm wide |
| Colours | Space Grey, White | White, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Midnight |
| In the box | HomePod, documentation | HomePod mini, 20 W power adapter, documentation |
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