HomePod Mini 2 review: faster Siri, better colors and one AirPlay letdown

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy of The Verge says Apple’s HomePod Mini 2 feels more compelling after using a pair at home, despite arriving six years after the original with no speaker hardware upgrade. It costs $149, compared with $99 for the first model.

The review credits the S10 chip, up from S5, and Wi-Fi 6E, up from Wi-Fi 4, for faster responses. Siri often replied in under three seconds, while some tasks took under two seconds. On the first-generation Mini, similar requests could take up to 10 seconds. Apple says Siri AI will arrive in a software update “later”; harder questions still prompt Siri to offer web results on an iPhone.

Tuohy praises the new deep green finish and says the speaker sounds good for its size, though Apple did not update its speakers. Two Mini 2 units used as a stereo pair cost $300 and filled her office with sound. A Home app setting can now lock the top controls on all HomePods, old and new. The Sound Glow lighting effect, which matches LEDs to album art, also works on the first-generation HomePod Mini and second-generation HomePod, but only with Apple Music and Podcasts.

The review’s main disappointment is the Mac speaker feature: Apple’s “responsive and persistent AirPlay connection” is meant to make the Mini 2 a Mac’s default speaker. The supplied article text ends before explaining the reviewer’s experience with that feature.