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Does anyone have experience with the HomePod mini? Likewise, it’s not clear from Apple’s site wether or not a full size HomePod is required to use HomePod minus

Does anyone have experience with the HomePod mini? Likewise, it’s not clear from Apple’s site wether or not a full size HomePod is required to use HomePod minus as part of a full home audio system

beardbound 4y ago
I have a couple. I’ll check. My old HomePod is my hub, but it looks like I could use my HomePod minis or my Apple TV to do it as well. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207057 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207057
rcarr 4y ago
I use two HomePod Minis at the minute which are wirelessly connected as a stereo pair to Apple TV which is connected via HDMI to a projector. Works great. I believe Apple products do some processing magic so that the video and sound are in sync with each other but I don't think the same applies if you're trying to connect them directly to a TV or a streaming stick from another brand but I might be wrong.
tylermac1 4y ago
You do not need the full HomePod to do multi-room audio. I have three HomePod Minis, one 1st gen HomePod, two AppleTVs, and an old Airport Express that I can use in any combination for whole home audio in sync. It works extremely well.
Kirby64 4y ago
The Minis are basically the Google Home Mini/Alexa Dots of the Apple ecosystem. They're all standalone, you don't need any full sized HomePod to do anything. If you want whole home audio, you can just buy the minis. They just operate via Wifi.
dwaite 4y ago
This HomePod (being newer) can be referred to as a larger version of the HomePod mini with more/larger speakers stuffed inside it. Both use home wifi for connectivity, support Siri, and generally will act independently once they are set up from the rest of your devices. Both support the thread mesh protocol and will bridge thread (which is IPv6-based) to your local network so you can IoT it up. Both act as Matter controllers, a new home automation standard which uses wifi and thread. Both apparently have humidity and temperature sensors? Who knew! The SoC is from the Apple Watch, and the HomePod has a newer generation by virtue of being released later. There are more differences compared to the original HomePod, because it didn't have the same sensors or networking hardware and had a higher BoM/retail price. Notably, the wifi is actually 802.11n now rather than 802.11ac - probably because the didn't feel the need to have a watch support 802.11ac. Two HomePod mini set up as a stereo pair likely sound better than a single HomePod, and run at 2/3 the cost. That said, I have some large spaces I'd love to try a stereo pair of these new models in.
- wkat4242 4y ago
  The mini does thread and matter? Really?? That would be great news as I've got 2 of them.

beardbound 4y ago

I have a couple. I’ll check. My old HomePod is my hub, but it looks like I could use my HomePod minis or my Apple TV to do it as well. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207057 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207057

rcarr 4y ago

I use two HomePod Minis at the minute which are wirelessly connected as a stereo pair to Apple TV which is connected via HDMI to a projector. Works great. I believe Apple products do some processing magic so that the video and sound are in sync with each other but I don't think the same applies if you're trying to connect them directly to a TV or a streaming stick from another brand but I might be wrong.

tylermac1 4y ago

You do not need the full HomePod to do multi-room audio. I have three HomePod Minis, one 1st gen HomePod, two AppleTVs, and an old Airport Express that I can use in any combination for whole home audio in sync. It works extremely well.

Kirby64 4y ago

The Minis are basically the Google Home Mini/Alexa Dots of the Apple ecosystem. They're all standalone, you don't need any full sized HomePod to do anything. If you want whole home audio, you can just buy the minis. They just operate via Wifi.

dwaite 4y ago

This HomePod (being newer) can be referred to as a larger version of the HomePod mini with more/larger speakers stuffed inside it. Both use home wifi for connectivity, support Siri, and generally will act independently once they are set up from the rest of your devices. Both support the thread mesh protocol and will bridge thread (which is IPv6-based) to your local network so you can IoT it up. Both act as Matter controllers, a new home automation standard which uses wifi and thread. Both apparently have humidity and temperature sensors? Who knew! The SoC is from the Apple Watch, and the HomePod has a newer generation by virtue of being released later. There are more differences compared to the original HomePod, because it didn't have the same sensors or networking hardware and had a higher BoM/retail price. Notably, the wifi is actually 802.11n now rather than 802.11ac - probably because the didn't feel the need to have a watch support 802.11ac. Two HomePod mini set up as a stereo pair likely sound better than a single HomePod, and run at 2/3 the cost. That said, I have some large spaces I'd love to try a stereo pair of these new models in.

wkat4242 4y ago
The mini does thread and matter? Really?? That would be great news as I've got 2 of them.