🔴 Check out these videos next 🍿 Top 10 Everyday Uses for the HomePod Mini! - th-cam.com/video/faM1GtiKAWk/w-d-xo.html 🍿 Better TV Sound with HomePods! - th-cam.com/video/0DJoq9w6roQ/w-d-xo.html
I grabbed a pair of 2nd Gen HomePods + an Apple TV 4K back in April. Also grabbed a pair of minis for my desk shortly after. Both pairs get heavily used everyday for work and play. The eArc functionality of the Apple TV 4K that enables the HomePods to be the output speakers of your TV is incredibly clutch. It made me appreciate Final Fantasy 16’s epic soundtrack. These devices are definitely my best purchases this year and worth every penny!
I am glad to hear that both pairs are getting used. That is great. If you use it all the time, it becomes worth the price. Thank you for sharing your experience. That is great for others to hear.
I have homepods wired in stereo and using the eArc connection. Unfortunately, very often during the play one stops playing or one plays louder and the other quieter. I have everything up to date to the latest versions and they are connected in one WiFi network. This is very frustrating and I don't know what the problem could be. Or that one HomePod mini suddenly loses its connection to WiFi.
We are looking good. 🤣 I hope you are as well. The names have to go. I had to control myself and not go Golden shower route.😀 It was there in my mind, but had to be good. Thanks for checking out the video.
**My Experience with HomePod Gen 2*. I will try to be brief as I can. I'm all about Apple Eco System. I got 2 for a stereo pair. AMAZING! I got it as a home theater setup and was well pleased. I upgraded from no "home theater" setup, and i love the minimalism. After a few days of the HomePods not telling me what the humidity was in my living room and just saying it was still calibrating Apple had me swap them for new ones. As of now my new left one is all good and very responsive to my phone and apple tv remote. The right HomePod does not respond to my apple tv remote. When I hit mute it doesn't mute, and when I turn the volume up or down it doesn't do it. Walked through many hard reset's with apple, the whole red spin and wait for 3 beeps thing. Finally, took it to apple and going to be swapping this right one for a new one. Thoroughly disappointed with how many times I've had to contact support and go to the store, but I'm a sucker for Apple so here I am trying to get things situated. Hope this helps or if anyone has encountered the same let me know!
Thank you for sharing your experience. I am sorry to hear they have been that much of a hassle for you. I am glad Apple is making it right. Just a bummer to have to put the time in with it all. They are such a great minimalist theater setup. I hope your new ones work well for you.
I have the HomePod 2. It’s mainly for my bedroom as I spend a lot of my free time in my room, and I listen to a lot of music. A lot and podcast. My room is relatively small but it sounds so good for immersion perspective. It’s actually the first speaker I’ve ever owned.
they’re both awesome. the mini has such a good sound quality and the homepod is another thing. i tried watching tv with the mini and honestly it is really good. the problem comes with the homepod: i got 2 of them to play in stereo and you need an apple tv 4k for that. here’s one homepod is 350 bucks so it means 350x2 homepods is 700 and i spent almost 200 bucks for the apple tv. so you’re at 900 bucks. is it really worth it? i don’t know, the music sounds so good on the new homepods and when u watch a movie or just anything the sound is amazing, it seems to be in a cinema.
It definitely gets expensive for a pair. I really liked having one of the for my TV in the office. One was a big improvement over the TV speakers. I know a HomePod can be hard to justify with its price. But using the Apple TV I was going to use anyways, and the HomePod I wanted for music, made it worth spending the money. Thanks for watching.
I’ve got both types of Home Pods the large ones are much better sounding. It’s not that the mini’s sound bad but they just don’t match the sound of the larger Home Pods.
I stopped it because I already did a review before I got the mini HomePod. They do sound better when you buy them in a pair. But if you guys haven’t mentioned this, I’ll let you know. I got a notification in my Home app. And it was a pain in the butt. It kept dinging dinging notification notification, so I finally looked at it and it said there was an emergency sound going off in your house. So I switched over to the video camcorders and found out the thing was telling me that my fire alarm was going off. I didn’t tell this thing or show it or let it here the smoke carbon monoxide detector. It must’ve been programmed in it that it knew exactly what that sound was when it sent a notification.
IBought a pair of the original HomePods when the price dropped to $199, they are amazingly good, great sound. Definitely worth it, however, at the price we paid for them. They are paired to our AppleTV in the living room. We also have a pair of Mini’s paired to another AppleTV in the Master, honestly not much of a difference unless strictly listening to music… 🤔
Glad to hear you are enjoying yours paired with an Apple TV. I jumped on the $199 sale for my stereo pair. The Minis are a nice step up from most TV speakers. That is a better solution for a bedroom if you're not listening to music. Thanks for watching.
I'm glad you mentioned the Echo Studio. That's the device I bought to pair with my 4K Apple TV, and not just because of the price. I've got two other Echo devices (the Dot and the Show 5) and I'm used to Alexa.
I have both Siri and Alexa echo because I couldn't figure out which I like LOL.. They both work well.. I also have both 1 mini and 2 full size which I have paired with my apple TV.. LOVE IT
I have had three OG HomePods, two have failed. One failed four years ago and was replaced. The second one failed about two months ago while I was in hospital. Yesterday I purchased a pair of Midnight coloured 2nd generation HomePods. These being Apple Refurbished items, they cost approximately 15% less than new ones. I’ve connected them to my Apple TV 4k and the sound is fantastic. The single remaining OG HomePod is now in a bedroom.
Great video! The homepod mini is a good product, but i cannot play audio through safari or any other browser on my ipad pro. Is there any solution for that?
Question! I’m wanting to get two HomePod minis for my living room setup and was wondering? 1st: how does volume work if you have it setup to Apple TV? Do you control it through Siri? Or does the controller do the volume? 2nd: if I have them setup as a stereo pair do they no longer function as a smart home device? Or do they still respond to “Siri turn on the lights.”
When paired, the Apple TV remote will control the HomePod mini volume. The HomePod minis continue to do all the same smart home stuff. You can also continue to play music directly from the HomePods. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching.
How is the sound quality? I have 2 HomePod Minis and will be purchasing an Apple TV soon. Hoping to use the HomePods Minis as a stereo pair to avoid buying a soundbar (this is for a condo)
THANK YOU FOR ASKING THIS!! I’m about to post a question about 2 mini functionality, so if you still have questions, maybe my step up to the plate will help you in return.
A comment and a question: First the question -- If you're looking primarily for sound from your TV, would you be better off with a decent sound bar (combined with a subwoofer) or a pair of HomePods? I already have a HomePod Mini in our TV room and don't see how we'd benefit from two additional options to interact with our Apple Home devices. This brings me to my comment: I really wish Apple made a 'dumb' version of the HomePod that could be paired with a HomePod for use as the second speaker in a stereo setup. I'd rather save a few dollars than have an additional device for communicating with my Apple Home devices that is within 4' of my HomePod. Am I missing something?
I have both, a Mini for my bedroom and a regular HomePod for my living room. I like them both - but the big one sounds so much better. Whenever I listen to music on the big one and then switch to the bedroom, I can’t help but feel disappointed by the sound quality. It’s fine when not having a direct comparison, though.
@Tesla I believe you can using handoff. I know Spotify has not implemented certain Apple features. One is utilizing Apples API to put Spotify on the HomePod. Apparently Spotify isn’t on HomePods by their own choice.
I like this video and I respect your take but I buy speakers for sound so it was very easy for me to get the big ones. My only issue is not being able to EQ the sound but I hope that is a software upgrade soon. The minis sound very Blah imo.
In any iPhones iOS settings app there is a music settings tab. In the music settings, you can choose an EQ for the music coming out of your iPhone or an iPad. If you’re using iTunes on some type of Mac, you can also set up equalizers in the music app.
HELP! Original plan was to buy a Bluetooth speaker for my dad for his birthday, because having a tough lil water resistant boomin’ system while you shower is a necessary ingredient for true happiness. I actually have an ECOXGEAR speaker that’s at LEAST 6 years old and sounds perfect in the shower and I wanted my dad to be able to love this experience for himself. I first considered a Beats pill, then the HomePod drew my attention. It’s my understanding that the mini does not have Spatial Audio capabilities, however, I would buy 2 for sound quality/Apple TV compatibility reasons, but I’m not sure if this is a mistake. He already has speakers for listening to music that are worth more than college tuition, so my need is strictly for shower jams and enhanced tv sound experience, should he decide to utilize them in this additional way. Have I got this backwards? Should I just do the one larger HomePod, or not a HomePod? The lack of equalizer stinks, but considering it’s intended use, likely not a huge deal. I assume 2 minis working together make a spacial audio experience anyway? Did I understand that these are corded, because that defeats the entire purpose. I’m looking to you, dear reader and OP, to offer some insights, advice, considerations, and, potentially, a suggestion for the right hardware altogether with the only important caveat being that it must be available for sale through apples site or store. Come with your knowledge and experience, please. Much appreciated!!
This was really useful, looks like the big one is actually the correct choice for me since I’m always listening to music, and am looking to hook it up to my Apple TV. Now to figure out if having them in stereo is worth it or if a single one would be fine. Something tells me you probably have a video answering that question too 🙂
Thank you very much. Glad this was helpful. I do have a video on using HomePods with an Apple TV. One full size sounds better than both TVs I have had in my office. But a pair of HomePods sounds great. Thanks for watching and for your comment. Better TV Sound Using HomePods & AirPods! th-cam.com/video/77ISjdZdFWY/w-d-xo.html
I have 4 small ones concerned in the office now with two iMac and two big ones connected to my Sony turntable as I am really into vintage vinyl do you have any suggestions on what type of turntable you would recommend of this kind of setup
Really good reviews but my humble recommendation is you work on your program audio. Either a Rhode wireless lab or shotgun mic. Will increase the production value greatly. :)
You think nanoleaf bulbs are fast? I’ve never had nothing but problems out of nanoleaf. I have other meross and linkind bulbs and never had trouble out of that, but nanoleaf is constantly not responsive
I am thinking of being a first HomePod user and I was wondering which one is better for me to get I was wondering because I am using mine for music and my phone
Been trying to connect HomePod mini all day. Factory reset, test home on HomeKit, used a hotspot with different Apple ID etc etc. how is it easier to add a third party device to HomeKit that an Apple device. It seems I have a forever configuring little poor sounding UEboom.
Thanks for the video. Can these (the mini, for example) be used in conjunction with a home theater system? My amp has bluetooth, so I'm wondering if the home pods would be compatible with that?
They don't work like bluetooth speakers. The idea is to either use Siri to play media, to play media through an Apple TV streaming box or to receive media via AirPlay from a Mac, iPhone or iPad. Apparently the latest Apple TV can receive audio from the TV via eARC and pass it through to the HomePod(s), so any device attached to your TV can theoretically play audio through the TV -> ATV -> HomePod(s)
The home pod mini used as a stereo pair is not reliable enough. Lost connection so many times I bought a Denon sound bar. I still use a mini for music.
Unfortunately you cannot do anything more than a stereo pair of HomePods or HomePod mini. A full surround system is the best choice. But for a two speaker setup, it is great.
I have 2 homepod on the front and 2 homepod mini on the back. When I sit on the sofa, you can hear clearly the sound from the left and right while only 2 homepod on the front can not do so.
I would rather have bought a Bluetooth speaker from the end cap of a Walmart checkout line that the HomePod mini. I think it’s my worst experience with an Apple product. I don’t even get to enjoy the sound by the time I get it paired, I’m so frustrated with it, I don’t care what it sounds like. I also love that my USB-C charger works for everything but the HomePod. Just for reference, I’ve never owned anything but Apple phones, tables, iPods as well as several Macs and MacBooks and Apple TV.
Very cool. I had been using a single HomePod for years and loved the sound improvement. Two fills a space nicely. I hope you enjoy them. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for sharing your experience. My apologies for not responding to your previous comment. I think 2 minis sound nice. For a larger room and better low end and Spatial Audio, go with the full size.
Great review. I’m just curious since mini has been launched for a couple of years now, will its software be able to stay updated or it will become outdated sooner than the homepod since it’s much newer?
I would not worry as much about the mini becoming outdated. I don't think the Mini needs the extra power since it's not trying to tune the sound in real time for surround sound and overall sound improvement. Other than music, most everything else is a cloud command. My theory is Apple is not going to want to drive anyone away from the smart home by making their HomePod minis obsolete. I also have not seen any rumors of new minis to replace these.
No one talks about the 2 seconds delay when playing and pausing with Mac. No matter how good and quality these are, this kills the whole experience of entertainment with this issue.
Hey Craig, can I pair a pair of Apple home pods mini with an Apple TV paired to a third party Bluetooth speaker to get sound out of all three speakers?
i'm really confused. can you use the homepod 2nd gen as a hub for your aqara p2 door sensor so that you can get door alerts and see the data on your phone's homekit app? or will we need to wait for the aqara hub to come out to use it with their aqara home app to be able to get those remote alerts and data?? i cant seem to find a clear answer. please help its kind of urgent lol
Apple Home requires a hub that is found in Apple TVs and HomePods. Nothing pairs directly to the HomePods. It is a controller. All of Aqaras sensors require an Aqara hub. Other than the Matter Door sensor. One you get the hub and sensors paired in the Aqara app you can add that Aqara hub into HomeKit. After the Aqara hub is paired you can use the Aqara sensors in HomeKit to trigger automations. For more detailed information and more automation features you can go into the Aqara app. Hope that helps.
@@CraigsTechTalk i've recently gathered more info. my question was specifically for the p2. ive heard you can get open/closed door alerts by using the homepod 2nd gen as a hub for that door sensor. haven't gotten a clear answer about whether there will be an events log in homekit/ apple home. I know it will lack some functions like sensor tampering, setting alarms, and those will only become available when the m3 aqara hub comes out which will allow you to connect the p2 sensor to the aqara app. have you tried the p2 sensor yet and seen how it works with homekit?
I prefer Marshall Signature Sound on the Marshall Willen over HomePod Mini and the Willen does lossless music 🎵 audio which HomePod Mini does not have capability to do!
I just want to know how to get the intercom to work. I have one phone that won’t set up home kit. Another phone that has it but won’t push any intercom messages or notifications. Everything is updated. Can’t find any videos on how to set up the intercom to the family.
I don’t know if you tried this yet. If you select any HomePod, go to settings, scroll down to Intercom and see if you have “When I’m Home” or “Anywhere” is selected. See if that works. I am the only one in my house right now. That is because my wife’s devices all need updated to work with the latest Home architecture. I believe once you add kids you have control of devices that intercom will announce over.
@@CraigsTechTalk Thank you for the tips. I dont know how i got it to work, but it is now on devices and even on the aripods. Been a apple usser since the iphone 5, but this was a little harder than i expected. Especially now my Aqara G3 camera. Unable to get the motion tracking to work.
That is great. I have the same thing in my family room. It is great to have an X Box, Oculus and Switch all sharing the HomePods. Thanks for sharing. This is good stuff for other viewers.
I have the new Homepod 2 and strangely enough....it does NOT have the removeable power cord. I called Apple about it and they didn't know why mine is like that either.
@@CraigsTechTalkRight? Its got all the bells and whistles with sensors etc. Apple confirmed the serial number...Homepod 2 and the Applecare on it says the same.
Th big HomePods fail. They go dead after a few years more often than not, in my experience. Likewise, Apple have gone dead on owning the diode problem. Terrible for customers.
I am sorry to hear that. I might have lucked out with my first gen ones. I have 3 that are still going strong. 2 are a stereo pair for one of our main TVs. As for owning a problem, Apple is not good about that. They go quiet. As for the new HomePods, they have only been out a year. We will have to see how they do. Thanks for watching.
I wouldn't get either as it stands presently! I am quite finicky when it comes to sound quality of my music! Thus, lacking the ability to control bass and treble, I will not invest my money! I want that control. My opinion, if Apple were to fix this issue, chances are they would sell a lot more speakers and especially the HomePod 2nd generation!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I can appreciate what you are saying. It is annoying that there is no EQ controls for the fine tuning. I am good with the sound. But it would be great to have. Thanks for watching.
“stop with the cutesy color names” oh so you don’t like fun? a little splash of creativity? realism aside, i dont care if golden dream is literally just yellow… at least they took the time to call it something other than yellow!
🤣 I hate fun. I think where I struggle is when the color isn’t great and there is some cutesy name to it. Make a cool color and call it whatever you want. Some of these really pastel colors get the cutest names. I like more saturated colors. Thanks for watching and exposing my hatred for fun. Have a great day.
I bought a hiome pod mini but I have very little idea HOW to use it AND when I went into the Apple store I had to deal with their clueless door monitors who know absolutely nothing. They will tell you they are there to greet you but that they know NOTHING. There should be NO F*cKING door greeters. I would rather have an app or a screen where I could type in : I am here today because I need help with.,,, It is incredibly annoying. Also, after saying 2 years ago that their automatic door would be fixed for the disabled it still does not work and have to get someone to open the door. This is at the Walnut Creek, Ca. store. Their Genius Bar people usually know what they are doing. The rest of the employees are mostly glorified shill salesmen and saleswomen.
Why do I feel like that the "surround sound" and features are just only to justify the expensive price.... yeah it's wayyyyyyyyy to expensive for a speaker
I wouldn’t say it’s a gimmick to sell more. It definitely has Apple tax pricing. Amazons Echo studio is the only other smart speaker with multiple speakers and capable of Dolby Atmos. The Echo studio does a great virtual surround sound and it’s priced at $199. Thanks for watching. Have a great day.
It's pointless for Apple make a smart speaker when their Siri voice assistant is total garbage compared to Google assistant or Amazon Alex. Siri can't do much at all so these things are basically overpriced Bluetooth speakers.
Thank you Joseph for checking out the video. I hope you are doing well. It has been a while. I agree that Siri is a horrible assistant for the other two. The biggest strength lies in smart home control and adding things to Apple apps. I leave the information to Alexa.
Possibly the most useless piece of Apple kit I have ever bought. I have had the smaller one gathering dust for some time now. It has a habit of switching itself on and playing some awful music that’s nothing like my taste and then when I would like it to play audio from TH-cam it won’t play it. Useless.
Thanks for this. Could a pair of HomePod speakers and Apple TV be a good replacement for my old 5.1 surround sound (through a Panasonic Blu-ray player)?
You are welcome. Thank you. Personally, you can’t beat real speakers for surround sound. My Livingroom was already wired when we moved in, so 5.1 made sense. In my garage / hangout space, it would be too much trouble to go 5.1. The HomePods make more sense, but they will never sound like they are behind me. They can’t replace that separate sub bass. For my primary TV, I am using 15 year old speakers. I updated my amp a year ago to be able to play higher frame rate 4k video through it. But the same speakers are working great. I love the HomePods, but old school 5.1 is hard to beat.
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🔴 Check out these videos next
🍿 Top 10 Everyday Uses for the HomePod Mini! - th-cam.com/video/faM1GtiKAWk/w-d-xo.html
🍿 Better TV Sound with HomePods! - th-cam.com/video/0DJoq9w6roQ/w-d-xo.html
I have a mini in every room, bathrooms and garage. I love the mini.
Nice. The Mini's a great. I have them in pretty much every room too. Thanks for watching.
I grabbed a pair of 2nd Gen HomePods + an Apple TV 4K back in April. Also grabbed a pair of minis for my desk shortly after. Both pairs get heavily used everyday for work and play. The eArc functionality of the Apple TV 4K that enables the HomePods to be the output speakers of your TV is incredibly clutch. It made me appreciate Final Fantasy 16’s epic soundtrack. These devices are definitely my best purchases this year and worth every penny!
I am glad to hear that both pairs are getting used. That is great. If you use it all the time, it becomes worth the price. Thank you for sharing your experience. That is great for others to hear.
Is there any noticeable audio lag/delay when you game on the PS5 and use the Apple TV as pass through?
I have homepods wired in stereo and using the eArc connection. Unfortunately, very often during the play one stops playing or one plays louder and the other quieter. I have everything up to date to the latest versions and they are connected in one WiFi network. This is very frustrating and I don't know what the problem could be. Or that one HomePod mini suddenly loses its connection to WiFi.
@@Secondwind_TVI have PS5 and there is not any audio lag.
@@czesaw6647 I went ahead and got (2) HomePod. There’s definitely a small bit of audio delay when audio outputs from my PS5. 😭
How we lookin? I agree with you about the silly color names, although Golden Shower Yellow does have a ring to it.
We are looking good. 🤣 I hope you are as well. The names have to go. I had to control myself and not go Golden shower route.😀 It was there in my mind, but had to be good. Thanks for checking out the video.
**My Experience with HomePod Gen 2*. I will try to be brief as I can. I'm all about Apple Eco System. I got 2 for a stereo pair. AMAZING! I got it as a home theater setup and was well pleased. I upgraded from no "home theater" setup, and i love the minimalism. After a few days of the HomePods not telling me what the humidity was in my living room and just saying it was still calibrating Apple had me swap them for new ones. As of now my new left one is all good and very responsive to my phone and apple tv remote. The right HomePod does not respond to my apple tv remote. When I hit mute it doesn't mute, and when I turn the volume up or down it doesn't do it. Walked through many hard reset's with apple, the whole red spin and wait for 3 beeps thing. Finally, took it to apple and going to be swapping this right one for a new one. Thoroughly disappointed with how many times I've had to contact support and go to the store, but I'm a sucker for Apple so here I am trying to get things situated. Hope this helps or if anyone has encountered the same let me know!
Thank you for sharing your experience. I am sorry to hear they have been that much of a hassle for you. I am glad Apple is making it right. Just a bummer to have to put the time in with it all. They are such a great minimalist theater setup. I hope your new ones work well for you.
I have the HomePod 2. It’s mainly for my bedroom as I spend a lot of my free time in my room, and I listen to a lot of music. A lot and podcast. My room is relatively small but it sounds so good for immersion perspective. It’s actually the first speaker I’ve ever owned.
they’re both awesome. the mini has such a good sound quality and the homepod is another thing. i tried watching tv with the mini and honestly it is really good. the problem comes with the homepod: i got 2 of them to play in stereo and you need an apple tv 4k for that. here’s one homepod is 350 bucks so it means 350x2 homepods is 700 and i spent almost 200 bucks for the apple tv. so you’re at 900 bucks. is it really worth it? i don’t know, the music sounds so good on the new homepods and when u watch a movie or just anything the sound is amazing, it seems to be in a cinema.
It definitely gets expensive for a pair. I really liked having one of the for my TV in the office. One was a big improvement over the TV speakers. I know a HomePod can be hard to justify with its price. But using the Apple TV I was going to use anyways, and the HomePod I wanted for music, made it worth spending the money. Thanks for watching.
I’ve got both types of Home Pods the large ones are much better sounding. It’s not that the mini’s sound bad but they just don’t match the sound of the larger Home Pods.
I have 6 HomePod mini’s and 2 HomePod 2nd generation! They go great with my 2 Apple TV 4’s!
Thanks for the video. Are you able to connect more than two to the Apple TV?
I stopped it because I already did a review before I got the mini HomePod. They do sound better when you buy them in a pair.
But if you guys haven’t mentioned this, I’ll let you know. I got a notification in my Home app. And it was a pain in the butt. It kept dinging dinging notification notification, so I finally looked at it and it said there was an emergency sound going off in your house. So I switched over to the video camcorders and found out the thing was telling me that my fire alarm was going off. I didn’t tell this thing or show it or let it here the smoke carbon monoxide detector. It must’ve been programmed in it that it knew exactly what that sound was when it sent a notification.
IBought a pair of the original HomePods when the price dropped to $199, they are amazingly good, great sound. Definitely worth it, however, at the price we paid for them. They are paired to our AppleTV in the living room. We also have a pair of Mini’s paired to another AppleTV in the Master, honestly not much of a difference unless strictly listening to music…
🤔
Glad to hear you are enjoying yours paired with an Apple TV. I jumped on the $199 sale for my stereo pair. The Minis are a nice step up from most TV speakers. That is a better solution for a bedroom if you're not listening to music. Thanks for watching.
I'm glad you mentioned the Echo Studio. That's the device I bought to pair with my 4K Apple TV, and not just because of the price. I've got two other Echo devices (the Dot and the Show 5) and I'm used to Alexa.
I can appreciate the Echo route. The Studio is a great sounding device. It does Dolby Atmos well. Thanks for watching.
I have both Siri and Alexa echo because I couldn't figure out which I like LOL.. They both work well.. I also have both 1 mini and 2 full size which I have paired with my apple TV.. LOVE IT
I have had three OG HomePods, two have failed. One failed four years ago and was replaced. The second one failed about two months ago while I was in hospital. Yesterday I purchased a pair of Midnight coloured 2nd generation HomePods. These being Apple Refurbished items, they cost approximately 15% less than new ones. I’ve connected them to my Apple TV 4k and the sound is fantastic. The single remaining OG HomePod is now in a bedroom.
Great video! The homepod mini is a good product, but i cannot play audio through safari or any other browser on my ipad pro. Is there any solution for that?
Question! I’m wanting to get two HomePod minis for my living room setup and was wondering? 1st: how does volume work if you have it setup to Apple TV? Do you control it through Siri? Or does the controller do the volume? 2nd: if I have them setup as a stereo pair do they no longer function as a smart home device? Or do they still respond to “Siri turn on the lights.”
When paired, the Apple TV remote will control the HomePod mini volume. The HomePod minis continue to do all the same smart home stuff. You can also continue to play music directly from the HomePods. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching.
@@CraigsTechTalk thank you for the quick response! Your videos have been super awesome and helpful being a new smart home adventurer!
How is the sound quality? I have 2 HomePod Minis and will be purchasing an Apple TV soon. Hoping to use the HomePods Minis as a stereo pair to avoid buying a soundbar (this is for a condo)
THANK YOU FOR ASKING THIS!! I’m about to post a question about 2 mini functionality, so if you still have questions, maybe my step up to the plate will help you in return.
A comment and a question: First the question -- If you're looking primarily for sound from your TV, would you be better off with a decent sound bar (combined with a subwoofer) or a pair of HomePods? I already have a HomePod Mini in our TV room and don't see how we'd benefit from two additional options to interact with our Apple Home devices.
This brings me to my comment: I really wish Apple made a 'dumb' version of the HomePod that could be paired with a HomePod for use as the second speaker in a stereo setup. I'd rather save a few dollars than have an additional device for communicating with my Apple Home devices that is within 4' of my HomePod. Am I missing something?
I have both, a Mini for my bedroom and a regular HomePod for my living room. I like them both - but the big one sounds so much better. Whenever I listen to music on the big one and then switch to the bedroom, I can’t help but feel disappointed by the sound quality. It’s fine when not having a direct comparison, though.
Might be a daft question but can you play Spotify through them?
@@Teslaspaceandmore I don’t know, I use Apple Music. But I’d guess so.
I can totally appreciate what you are saying. They both sound good, but you can’t go right from the full size to the mini. Thanks for watching.
@Tesla I believe you can using handoff. I know Spotify has not implemented certain Apple features. One is utilizing Apples API to put Spotify on the HomePod. Apparently Spotify isn’t on HomePods by their own choice.
@@CraigsTechTalk thank you for that.
I like this video and I respect your take but I buy speakers for sound so it was very easy for me to get the big ones. My only issue is not being able to EQ the sound but I hope that is a software upgrade soon. The minis sound very Blah imo.
In any iPhones iOS settings app there is a music settings tab. In the music settings, you can choose an EQ for the music coming out of your iPhone or an iPad. If you’re using iTunes on some type of Mac, you can also set up equalizers in the music app.
I bought a mint HomePod 1 and it has a great sound, I'll get a second one as soon as I find an appropriate price
HELP! Original plan was to buy a Bluetooth speaker for my dad for his birthday, because having a tough lil water resistant boomin’ system while you shower is a necessary ingredient for true happiness. I actually have an ECOXGEAR speaker that’s at LEAST 6 years old and sounds perfect in the shower and I wanted my dad to be able to love this experience for himself. I first considered a Beats pill, then the HomePod drew my attention. It’s my understanding that the mini does not have Spatial Audio capabilities, however, I would buy 2 for sound quality/Apple TV compatibility reasons, but I’m not sure if this is a mistake. He already has speakers for listening to music that are worth more than college tuition, so my need is strictly for shower jams and enhanced tv sound experience, should he decide to utilize them in this additional way. Have I got this backwards? Should I just do the one larger HomePod, or not a HomePod? The lack of equalizer stinks, but considering it’s intended use, likely not a huge deal. I assume 2 minis working together make a spacial audio experience anyway? Did I understand that these are corded, because that defeats the entire purpose. I’m looking to you, dear reader and OP, to offer some insights, advice, considerations, and, potentially, a suggestion for the right hardware altogether with the only important caveat being that it must be available for sale through apples site or store.
Come with your knowledge and experience, please. Much appreciated!!
This was really useful, looks like the big one is actually the correct choice for me since I’m always listening to music, and am looking to hook it up to my Apple TV. Now to figure out if having them in stereo is worth it or if a single one would be fine. Something tells me you probably have a video answering that question too 🙂
Thank you very much. Glad this was helpful. I do have a video on using HomePods with an Apple TV. One full size sounds better than both TVs I have had in my office. But a pair of HomePods sounds great. Thanks for watching and for your comment. Better TV Sound Using HomePods & AirPods!
th-cam.com/video/77ISjdZdFWY/w-d-xo.html
if apple tv and movies is it worth the price? the new homepod i use apple tv a lot and watching movies on my ipad a lot
I wanted to upgrade my Beats Pill+ ive had from 2016 so this video will help out a lot.
I have 4 small ones concerned in the office now with two iMac and two big ones connected to my Sony turntable as I am really into vintage vinyl do you have any suggestions on what type of turntable you would recommend of this kind of setup
Really good reviews but my humble recommendation is you work on your program audio. Either a Rhode wireless lab or shotgun mic. Will increase the production value greatly. :)
You think nanoleaf bulbs are fast?
I’ve never had nothing but problems out of nanoleaf. I have other meross and linkind bulbs and never had trouble out of that, but nanoleaf is constantly not responsive
I am thinking of being a first HomePod user and I was wondering which one is better for me to get I was wondering because I am using mine for music and my phone
Been trying to connect HomePod mini all day. Factory reset, test home on HomeKit, used a hotspot with different Apple ID etc etc. how is it easier to add a third party device to HomeKit that an Apple device. It seems I have a forever configuring little poor sounding UEboom.
Thanks for the video. Can these (the mini, for example) be used in conjunction with a home theater system? My amp has bluetooth, so I'm wondering if the home pods would be compatible with that?
They don't work like bluetooth speakers. The idea is to either use Siri to play media, to play media through an Apple TV streaming box or to receive media via AirPlay from a Mac, iPhone or iPad.
Apparently the latest Apple TV can receive audio from the TV via eARC and pass it through to the HomePod(s), so any device attached to your TV can theoretically play audio through the TV -> ATV -> HomePod(s)
@@locust76 Ok, thanks for clarifying.
Awesome video. I was looking for 10 great reasons to replace Amazon Echo with Homepod Mini.
Thank you. I will make sure to make that video next. It’s a good idea. People should learn the reasons.😀 Have a great day.
How do you still have local control if you lose internet? 4:07
The home pod mini used as a stereo pair is not reliable enough. Lost connection so many times I bought a Denon sound bar. I still use a mini for music.
Does ANYONE think they’ll add the HomePod minis to the Atmos set up of two HomePods to create better surround sound?
How about using 2 Homepods and 2 HPmini for a home cinema 🎦 experience or these two HomePods enough ?
Unfortunately you cannot do anything more than a stereo pair of HomePods or HomePod mini. A full surround system is the best choice. But for a two speaker setup, it is great.
@@CraigsTechTalk thank you 🙏
I have 2 homepod on the front and 2 homepod mini on the back. When I sit on the sofa, you can hear clearly the sound from the left and right while only 2 homepod on the front can not do so.
you can use equalizer on homepod wiyh your phone.
How do these compare to their Google variants?
I would rather have bought a Bluetooth speaker from the end cap of a Walmart checkout line that the HomePod mini. I think it’s my worst experience with an Apple product. I don’t even get to enjoy the sound by the time I get it paired, I’m so frustrated with it, I don’t care what it sounds like. I also love that my USB-C charger works for everything but the HomePod.
Just for reference, I’ve never owned anything but Apple phones, tables, iPods as well as several Macs and MacBooks and Apple TV.
Thank you very much for the explanation of the two !
Thank you. 🙏 I am glad to help. Thanks for watching.
@@CraigsTechTalk you’re welcome!
so if my plan to coonect my apple tv go with the homepod 2 or pair of them.
Very cool. I had been using a single HomePod for years and loved the sound improvement. Two fills a space nicely. I hope you enjoy them. Thanks for watching.
Didnt now they can measure temperature that’s awesome for Automations 🤩
I'm looking to buy one of them...my question is, ONE Homepod, or TWO Minis for the TV? (I'm not going to spend $600 for TV speakers.)
I’ve been looking for an answer to this one for the same reason haha
@@MichaelPorcayo I went with 2 mini's. Works great. If you go with one, you don't get stereo sound. 2 paired together sound great.
Thanks for sharing your experience. My apologies for not responding to your previous comment. I think 2 minis sound nice. For a larger room and better low end and Spatial Audio, go with the full size.
@@CraigsTechTalk Spatial Audio, but not true stereo, correct?
Great review. I’m just curious since mini has been launched for a couple of years now, will its software be able to stay updated or it will become outdated sooner than the homepod since it’s much newer?
I would not worry as much about the mini becoming outdated. I don't think the Mini needs the extra power since it's not trying to tune the sound in real time for surround sound and overall sound improvement. Other than music, most everything else is a cloud command. My theory is Apple is not going to want to drive anyone away from the smart home by making their HomePod minis obsolete. I also have not seen any rumors of new minis to replace these.
Can homepod connect any other android devices?
I don’t think so I think it’s just to iPhone iPad iPod Apple TV as HomePod is a iOS device itself
No one talks about the 2 seconds delay when playing and pausing with Mac. No matter how good and quality these are, this kills the whole experience of entertainment with this issue.
Hey Craig, can I pair a pair of Apple home pods mini with an Apple TV paired to a third party Bluetooth speaker to get sound out of all three speakers?
So, I have an iphone and want the mini. Can I just buy one?
Yes you can. You will use your iPhone and iCloud account to set it up. Nothing else is needed.
soo true. I cant even make the 2nd gen homepod my default macbook speaker because of the "we dont know why" delay and glitches "feature". God.
i'm really confused. can you use the homepod 2nd gen as a hub for your aqara p2 door sensor so that you can get door alerts and see the data on your phone's homekit app? or will we need to wait for the aqara hub to come out to use it with their aqara home app to be able to get those remote alerts and data?? i cant seem to find a clear answer. please help its kind of urgent lol
Apple Home requires a hub that is found in Apple TVs and HomePods. Nothing pairs directly to the HomePods. It is a controller. All of Aqaras sensors require an Aqara hub. Other than the Matter Door sensor.
One you get the hub and sensors paired in the Aqara app you can add that Aqara hub into HomeKit. After the Aqara hub is paired you can use the Aqara sensors in HomeKit to trigger automations. For more detailed information and more automation features you can go into the Aqara app. Hope that helps.
@@CraigsTechTalk i've recently gathered more info. my question was specifically for the p2. ive heard you can get open/closed door alerts by using the homepod 2nd gen as a hub for that door sensor. haven't gotten a clear answer about whether there will be an events log in homekit/ apple home. I know it will lack some functions like sensor tampering, setting alarms, and those will only become available when the m3 aqara hub comes out which will allow you to connect the p2 sensor to the aqara app. have you tried the p2 sensor yet and seen how it works with homekit?
I prefer Marshall Signature Sound on the Marshall Willen over HomePod Mini and the Willen does lossless music 🎵 audio which HomePod Mini does not have capability to do!
That is nice it does lossless audio. I will have to check it out. Thanks for watching.
I just want to know how to get the intercom to work. I have one phone that won’t set up home kit. Another phone that has it but won’t push any intercom messages or notifications. Everything is updated. Can’t find any videos on how to set up the intercom to the family.
I don’t know if you tried this yet. If you select any HomePod, go to settings, scroll down to Intercom and see if you have “When I’m Home” or “Anywhere” is selected. See if that works. I am the only one in my house right now. That is because my wife’s devices all need updated to work with the latest Home architecture. I believe once you add kids you have control of devices that intercom will announce over.
@@CraigsTechTalk Thank you for the tips. I dont know how i got it to work, but it is now on devices and even on the aripods. Been a apple usser since the iphone 5, but this was a little harder than i expected. Especially now my Aqara G3 camera. Unable to get the motion tracking to work.
Great video Craig I’ve 4 minis and I love them 🇮🇪😎👏
Thank you Mary🙏 The minis are great. Glad you are enjoying yours. Have a great day.
@@CraigsTechTalk Thanks 😊
I've got gen 1 HomePods in stereo with my Apple TV, it's the best, and with eARC it can handle my ps5 audio too
That is great. I have the same thing in my family room. It is great to have an X Box, Oculus and Switch all sharing the HomePods. Thanks for sharing. This is good stuff for other viewers.
I still want a homepod mini but. I have a echo dot in my bedroom
Privacy issues recording microphones on these speakers
I have the new Homepod 2 and strangely enough....it does NOT have the removeable power cord. I called Apple about it and they didn't know why mine is like that either.
That is strange. WOW, I had never heard that. That fact Apple couldn’t explain is crazy.
@@CraigsTechTalkRight? Its got all the bells and whistles with sensors etc. Apple confirmed the serial number...Homepod 2 and the Applecare on it says the same.
So w/the removable power cord does that mean that it can be used as a portable speaker as well?
Seeing passing off Use Your Illusion 1 can sell anything to me 😂🙌🏻
Glad you enjoyed that one. Guns N Roses are awesome. I have been on a kick of their greatest hits. Thanks for watching.
@@CraigsTechTalk Grew up on GnR. Thanks for your content 🙌🏻🍻
Great video bro!!!
Thank you my friend. I enjoyed your last video. EAD all day! I can appreciate it.
Thanks Craig.
Thank you Ron. Have a great day.
Thank god for this video
Th big HomePods fail. They go dead after a few years more often than not, in my experience. Likewise, Apple have gone dead on owning the diode problem. Terrible for customers.
I am sorry to hear that. I might have lucked out with my first gen ones. I have 3 that are still going strong. 2 are a stereo pair for one of our main TVs. As for owning a problem, Apple is not good about that. They go quiet. As for the new HomePods, they have only been out a year. We will have to see how they do. Thanks for watching.
I agree. My gen 1 HomePod died this week.
I have gen 1 HomePod still going strong. Sorry for your issues.
My just died last week for no reason ( Homepod gen 1 ) does they fix the issue with the gen 2?
I wouldn't get either as it stands presently! I am quite finicky when it comes to sound quality of my music! Thus, lacking the ability to control bass and treble, I will not invest my money! I want that control. My opinion, if Apple were to fix this issue, chances are they would sell a lot more speakers and especially the HomePod 2nd generation!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I can appreciate what you are saying. It is annoying that there is no EQ controls for the fine tuning. I am good with the sound. But it would be great to have. Thanks for watching.
great review!!!!!
Thank you Curtis. I appreciate you checking it out. Have a great day.
This was a good video
Thank you very much 🙏 I appreciate you saying that and am glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching.
Mini is cute but not worth the 99$ for me 😢
“stop with the cutesy color names” oh so you don’t like fun? a little splash of creativity? realism aside, i dont care if golden dream is literally just yellow… at least they took the time to call it something other than yellow!
🤣 I hate fun. I think where I struggle is when the color isn’t great and there is some cutesy name to it. Make a cool color and call it whatever you want. Some of these really pastel colors get the cutest names. I like more saturated colors. Thanks for watching and exposing my hatred for fun. Have a great day.
I bought a hiome pod mini but I have very little idea HOW to use it AND when I went into the Apple store I had to deal with their clueless door monitors who know absolutely nothing. They will tell you they are there to greet you but that they know NOTHING. There should be NO F*cKING door greeters.
I would rather have an app or a screen where I could type in :
I am here today because I need help with.,,,
It is incredibly annoying.
Also, after saying 2 years ago that their automatic door would be fixed for the disabled it still does not work and have to get someone to open the door.
This is at the Walnut Creek, Ca. store.
Their Genius Bar people usually know what they are doing.
The rest of the employees are mostly glorified shill salesmen and saleswomen.
“More better” 😂
HomePod mini
Why do I feel like that the "surround sound" and features are just only to justify the expensive price.... yeah it's wayyyyyyyyy to expensive for a speaker
I wouldn’t say it’s a gimmick to sell more. It definitely has Apple tax pricing. Amazons Echo studio is the only other smart speaker with multiple speakers and capable of Dolby Atmos. The Echo studio does a great virtual surround sound and it’s priced at $199. Thanks for watching. Have a great day.
Homepod
Nice. Thanks for watching.
I would only buy HomePod if I was rich I got the mini I’m not rich 😢
The HomePod is expensive. I am they make the mini with most of the same features.
The volume on the mini is so low. 🙄
Sponsored by amazon
I love Apple but neither, they’re both crap
It's pointless for Apple make a smart speaker when their Siri voice assistant is total garbage compared to Google assistant or Amazon Alex. Siri can't do much at all so these things are basically overpriced Bluetooth speakers.
Thank you Joseph for checking out the video. I hope you are doing well. It has been a while. I agree that Siri is a horrible assistant for the other two. The biggest strength lies in smart home control and adding things to Apple apps. I leave the information to Alexa.
Don’t buy any of these devices throw them out
Possibly the most useless piece of Apple kit I have ever bought. I have had the smaller one gathering dust for some time now. It has a habit of switching itself on and playing some awful music that’s nothing like my taste and then when I would like it to play audio from TH-cam it won’t play it. Useless.
I can understand not getting the use out of it. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for this. Could a pair of HomePod speakers and Apple TV be a good replacement for my old 5.1 surround sound (through a Panasonic Blu-ray player)?
You are welcome. Thank you. Personally, you can’t beat real speakers for surround sound. My Livingroom was already wired when we moved in, so 5.1 made sense. In my garage / hangout space, it would be too much trouble to go 5.1. The HomePods make more sense, but they will never sound like they are behind me. They can’t replace that separate sub bass. For my primary TV, I am using 15 year old speakers. I updated my amp a year ago to be able to play higher frame rate 4k video through it. But the same speakers are working great. I love the HomePods, but old school 5.1 is hard to beat.
So helpful - thanks for sharing 🙏