Apple HomePod Mini 2 Review: Still Small, But With Much Larger SoundApple’s HomePod Mini 2 Is Just as Tiny, but My Tests Found Powerful Upgrades

Apple’s extensive October announcements featured a new push into the smart home, heralded not only with new security equipment and the first-ever HomeView smart display, but also a long-awaited update to the HomePod smart speaker line, the HomePod Mini 2 ($150).

It’s a bit more expensive than the old HomePod Mini ($129) and significantly more expensive than Google’s new Home speaker ($100), but price is only part of the story. This new HomePod model looks and acts so much like the original Mini, it can be hard to tell if you need an upgrade.

Now I’ve just finished testing out the little speaker and its capabilities: The trick is that Apple’s description of the speaker is nearly identical to the old model, but performance shows major differences, and not just with Siri.

If you really want an audio upgrade from your old Mini, Apple delivered in a big way, though it still won’t compete with the original HomePod. I’m less sold on other features, which can seem like upgrades for the sake of upgrading with limited value, but if you’ve been waiting for a powerful home speaker that fits right into the Apple ecosystem and all Siri AI’s latest tricks, this is a worthy upgrade.

Design and setup: Once more with feeling (and lights)

Anyone could be forgiven for mistaking the 2026 HomePod Mini for its 2021 counterpart. They’re the same size and shape, though the Mini 2 comes in new color options.

Inside, Apple also describes both speakers as having a “full-range driver and dual passive radiators” with no other details, something I’ll talk about below. What has changed is invisible, but it includes an extra microphone for Siri conversations and a new Apple S10 chip to manage the latest computational audio and various upcoming Siri AI features.

Oh, there is one visible change. The top control panel on the HomePod Mini used to glow only during activation or handoffs. Now there’s a new Sound Glow mode that lights up and sort of pulses to the song being played. It’s not impressive. Maybe I’m jaded by my testing of the latest music syncing smart lamps from Govee, Lepro and Philips Hue, but this seems like just an on light to me, one you can shut off if you listen to the speaker while trying to sleep.

Setup will be familiar to Apple users. Once you’ve downloaded the latest iOS or iPadOS updates, your Apple device will automatically detect the nearby Mini 2 and set it up for you, transferring your old settings over in under a minute.

Audio playback: Packed with more power

So the HomePod Mini 2 looks the same and has audio hardware with the exact same description, but does it sound the same? To test, I set up the HomePod Mini 2, the HomePod Mini and the big ol’ second-gen HomePod next to each. The results surprised me more than I expected.

Playing the same audio at the same volume on each speaker, I repeatedly switched between them while streaming Apple Lossless audio via Apple Music. The results were always the same: The new Mini 2 had significantly greater range and louder, clearer audio than the first HomePod Mini. It wasn’t just noticeable: It was a big enough difference to completely change my mind about a speaker that didn’t seem worth it on paper. If you want sound that can actually fill a room without losing quality, the HomePod Mini 2 is by far the preferable pick.

On a side note, the best audio results were from the original HomePod gen 2. The sheer driver size and design means it handles volume and particularly bass far better than the small Minis. However, the second-gen HomePod costs a steep $349, so it’s not easy on the wallet.

In addition to switching streaming sources on the control panel, I also tried handing off music from my iPhone to the HomePod Mini 2. Handoffs work just as they did with the original HomePod Mini, and swapping music back and forth from the iPhone is especially speedy, taking only a moment. Note that you can set up other streaming services to work with HomePods, but streamers that work with AirPlay or access to third-party app connections with Siri.

App controls, Apple Intelligence and Siri AI

Most HomePod Mini 2 settings are in the Apple Home app after setup. Spend a little time here to adjust how the speaker responds. Some settings are basic toggles, like turning Sound Glow on or off, locking physical controls or turning off the bass for a quieter sound (which is something you might actually need this time around). You can also pair the speaker with another model for stereo sound.

Other settings require more knowledge of what they do and if you want them, such as the intercom, which lets you talk through the speaker from your Apple device (like a “come down for dinner” situation), or sound recognition, which can listen for smoke alarms when you’re not home — a small but useful security feature most smart speakers have these days. Something no other smart speakers have is the Apple Intelligence report, which sends you a list of Apple’s communications to its servers, a feature smart home users concerned about privacy should take advantage of.

These settings work with any HomePod if you have the latest software updates. But a major selling point for the HomePod Mini 2 are the new Siri AI features only this model will support. Apple says it’s still rolling out Siri AI features for the HomePod Mini 2: I tried natural conversations, referencing information from apps on my device with Siri AI enabled and other tricks, but nothing has worked yet.

While I’ll have to continue testing Siri AI as the speaker is updated, one obvious change is that the new chip has made Siri extremely fast. Siri was already one of the fastest voice assistants compared to Gemini for Home and Alexa Plus, and now the latency is lower than ever, making responses instant.

I’m not convinced Siri AI abilities are worth paying more for a new speaker, at least not yet. But you should be getting at least some of the capabilities for free, while advanced use requires an iCloud+ subscription, a topic Apple remains quiet about.

Final thoughts on the HomePod Mini 2

Instead of asking “Do I need a HomePod upgrade?” I suggest asking, “Do I need an audio upgrade?” The HomePod Mini 2 looks the same, and upcoming Siri AI features have yet to prove themselves (although the voice assistant is blazingly fast now). So the real question is the sound. In a side-by-side comparison using Apple Music, I found the Mini 2 has massive audio improvements compared to the Mini, although neither will quite compare to the power of the second-gen HomePod.

If the audio is worth switching to a model that’s $20 more than the previous Mini, it’s probably a good buy for dedicated Apple users. Otherwise, I’d wait. For alternatives, I suggest the Google Home Speaker with similar sound at $100 or splurging a bit more for the advanced audio of the 2026 Amazon Echo Studio ($220) if not all the way for the over-$300 HomePod.

Tyler Lacoma

Senior Editor / Home Security and Smart Home

Tyler has worked on, lived with and tested all types of smart home and security technology for over a dozen years, explaining the latest features, privacy tricks and top recommendations.

With degrees in business management, literature and technical writing, Tyler takes every opportunity to play with the latest AI technology, push smart devices to their limits and occasionally throw cameras off his roof, all to find the best devices to trust in your life. He always checks with the renters (and pets) in his life to see what smart products can work for everyone, in every living situation.

Living in beautiful Bend, Oregon, gives Tyler plenty of opportunities to test the latest tech in every kind of weather and temperature. But when not at work, he can be found hiking the trails, trying out a new food recipe for his loved ones, keeping up on his favorite reading or gaming with good friends.

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