Apple HomePod mini 2

The cheapest way to give Apple Home a Thread hub

In Apple Home, the home hub runs automations, sends accessory notifications and lets you control the house when you are away. Matter-over-Thread locks, sensors and plugs also need a Thread radio on the network, and Apple builds one into every hub it currently sells. HomePod mini 2 is the least expensive device Apple sells that covers both. It becomes a home hub automatically when you set it up with an iPhone or iPad, and its Thread radio works with HomeKit and Matter Thread accessories.

Price is the argument for it. Apple TV 4K and HomeView, the other two Thread hubs Apple announced in October, cost about twice as much and arrive on November 13. The second-generation HomePod costs more than twice as much. For an iPhone household adding its first Thread accessories, or one whose only Apple TV is the 64 GB third-generation model without Thread, HomePod mini 2 is the obvious hub. A small speaker is also easier to place near the middle of a home than a TV box, which can help when the hub has to reach locks and sensors at both ends of the house.

Same hub, new speaker features

Apple's changes are on the audio and wireless side. HomePod mini 2 has an S10 chip, Wi-Fi 6E in place of the original's 802.11n, Bluetooth 6 and the same temperature and humidity sensors. It can act as the default speaker for a Mac with Wi-Fi 6E, and Sound Glow turns the top panel into a light display that follows the music.

Pairing is where the generations split. A stereo pair needs two HomePod mini 2 speakers, so a new one cannot pair with an original. Four of them can form Apple's new surround setup with the fourth-generation Apple TV 4K, at about $900 in the US for the speakers and the box together, roughly half the cost of the same setup with four full-size HomePods. That setup has to wait for the new Apple TV on November 13.

None of this changes the smart home role. Apple announced no Matter or Thread feature that only the new model gets, and it publishes no Thread or Matter version for either generation. An original mini runs the same accessories, automations and remote access. If yours does the hub job, keep it, and replace it only if the Wi-Fi, pairing or surround changes are worth the full price to you.

Siri AI comes later, and skips the EU for now

Apple leads its marketing with Siri AI, and HomePod mini 2 ships without it. Apple says the feature arrives in a later software update, in English only, in the US, Canada, the UK and five other countries, and the home's owner needs an Apple Intelligence iPhone or iPad. It will not be in iOS in the EU at first, and no EU country is on the HomePod list. Until the update lands, voice control of accessories and scenes works as it does on earlier HomePods.

That weighs most in the EU. A German buyer pays €30 more than Apple charged for the original in September, for a speaker whose biggest software upgrade has no EU date. A clearly discounted original covers the same hub job there, and HomePod mini 2 earns its premium only through the Wi-Fi, pairing and surround changes. In any region, buy it for what it does at launch and treat Siri AI as a possible extra.

When to buy something else

A leftover original HomePod mini is worth buying only at a clear discount, for a bedroom or office where Siri and a small speaker are enough and it will never need to pair with a new mini.

If the TV also needs a streaming box, the new Apple TV 4K is a hub too and can connect to your router over Gigabit Ethernet. Our third-generation Apple TV 4K review covers the box the new one replaced and what to check on leftover stock. The second-generation HomePod adds a woofer, five tweeters and room sensing for listening at more than twice the price, with the same hub role. HomeView, sold in the US, Canada and UK but not the EU, puts Apple Home on a shared touchscreen; our report on Apple's October launches compares all three new devices.

Skip HomePod mini 2 if nobody in the house has an iPhone or iPad. Setup needs one, and only Apple Home can use the speaker as a hub, so a Google Home or Alexa household should buy that ecosystem's hub instead.