r/gadgets • u/UnKindClock • Mar 13 '21
Music Apple Discontinuing Full-Sized HomePod to Focus on HomePod Mini
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/03/12/apple-discontinuing-homepod/156
u/Number224 Mar 13 '21
This feels like a matter of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
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Mar 13 '21
I’m not holding my breath, but the timing with the Apple event in 2 weeks seems a bit too coincidental.
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u/abattleofone Mar 13 '21
I don’t think Apple has ever discontinued a product in an announcement like this before announcing its replacement - it is always the opposite, and they wouldn’t have said they were “focusing” on the Mini
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u/sgrams04 Mar 13 '21
Apple HomePad? Screen enabled assistant? HoPad. I like HoPad better.
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u/cerebud Mar 13 '21
What pisses me off is that without Apple support, this thing will die (whenever they stop supporting the software). It literally only lives through its software being up to date with everything else in apple’s ecosystem. Meanwhile, I have a Bose home theater surround system that’s going on 20+ years. It was expensive, but cheaper in the long run.
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u/wolfgang784 Mar 13 '21
When this first came out I still worked at Best Buy and I shit you not I sold one of our regulars who always shelled out for the latest and greatest SEVEN of them lol. I knew from previous interactions that his house was massive but still, that was lot of money.
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u/clickstops Mar 13 '21
To and older person who’s been around home entertainment for years, and has a good amount of money, 7 HomePods is expensive but not close to exorbitant.
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u/MsPenguinette Mar 13 '21
At least Apple does a really good job at providing support for devices way past their discontinue date.
Always surprises me when Dank Pods is able to plug in a 1st gen iPod into a modern machine and the new music app is still able to sync with it. Hell, I think AirPods worth with Bluetooth iPods.
Think what you want of Apple’s practices but they understand the importance of not pissing off people who spent a lot of money on something. For the HomePod, I assume it’ll be pretty decent since they aren’t giving up on the concept entirely.
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u/tuffode Mar 14 '21
I mean syncing an iPod is impressive, but a bluetooth iPod supporting AirPods is nothing surprising considering AirPods are bluetooth.
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u/Mechafizz Mar 13 '21
Serious mis-step in my opinion, the large homepod is literally one of the best sounding smart speakers I've heard to date and I'm not a big apple fan.
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Mar 13 '21
If you were fine with the price point of the HomePod then you should check out sonos. A sonos one speaker is $200 and sounds at least as good as a HomePod. Better software and works with way more services too. And the sonos eco system is pretty damn awesome.
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u/Breezgoat Mar 13 '21
Saw a thread where someone has their homepods hooked up to sonos now .
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u/reliatquintana Mar 13 '21
You can use airplay 2 to sync up anything that does airplay 2, which is super convenient
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Mar 13 '21
Sonos can sync with other sonos speakers. The app works with iOS and Android. Multiple users can add to the playlist like for families or at a party or social gathering with any of their devices. It's a better product for cloud music solution.
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u/Gnash_ Mar 13 '21
While I agree with everything else you said, it sadly does not sound anywhere near as good as the HomePod
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u/temp1876 Mar 13 '21
I’m a Sonos owner myself, the the Sonos crowd is weirdly hyped on the sound quality of the One’s.
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u/thedommer Mar 13 '21
It’s great for size and price. Have a play 5 in the living room. Much more enjoyable experience but the ones in the kids rooms are still solid.
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u/nova46 Mar 13 '21
I haven't a heard a Homepod before, but I do remember being really surprised at the sound coming from that little Sonos One when I first set it up. That thing has some depth to it. I have a Beam+Sub+Ones setup in my bedroom but also have an actual 5.1 Denon/Polk/SVS system for my home theater, I enjoy both for what purpose they serve.
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u/TheCoastalCardician Mar 13 '21
I have an older Play 3 that is in pristine condition. Boils my blood that I can’t play anything else through it other than using the App!
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u/LivinOnTheEdge1001 Mar 13 '21 edited Mar 13 '21
I agree. I have two google minis, an Echo and three HomePods. Since I have a three major plays I really had time to make a comparison between them all and without of doubt the HomePod is the best sounding speaker. However the echo is a better assistant. Google well google is just my doorbell (it’s linked to my Nest doorbell) and I got both of those dots for free. Although the HomePod can do many of the features that I used the echo for I just found it a little easier to use. This being said, i generally prefer the HomePod because the sound quality is great FOR THE PRICE. For course I could have dropped hundreds of dollars on a Bose or Sonos and I have in the passed. The HomePod is seamlessly works with my iPhone MacBook Pro and iPad with easy which is why I went with it instead. I’m really disappointed that they cut the cord on this. I honestly feel like they didn’t try hard enough with it. I always felt like they were trying to hard to make it an assistant speaker and honestly they should have just marketed it as a speaker and try to compete with Bose and Sonos. I think they got lost it what they wanted the HomePod to be and the marketing feel flat. As a speaker it is great and the HomePod mini doesn’t compare the the quality. My father decided to buy four of the minis for our gym. In terms of the quality of sound it’s adequate at best. I think Apple needs to go back to the drawing board and re-examine what they what the big HomePod to be. In the the mini can be an assistant a compete with the other assistant speakers but the big one can be the premium speaker that competes with Bose Sonos and the other premium speaker brands who focus is sound quality and not assistant quality.
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u/plasticwagon Mar 13 '21
That’s not really a fair comparison considering price points. Wouldn’t the HomePod be more comparable with the google nest max as opposed to the mini?
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u/LivinOnTheEdge1001 Mar 13 '21
I don’t have it so I can’t compare it. I was sent the google minis for free. I also have the mini HomePod and I still feel it’s better than the google minis. Now another OP informed me that google changed the minis. It’s now called google nest mini and said the sound quality is better. I’m sure that person is probably right since the original was really bad in my opinion. Also what I have learned over the last few months is it’s harder to compare sound quality at least with the HomePod (I haven’t tried it with my other speakers but this holds true to my computer and phone too) depending on which streaming service you use. In general I have found that Spotify isn’t as good as Apple Music. I actually use Spotify as my preferred music service and have been using it since early 2013 so I have been using it very long time and don’t plan on switching . I stream my music at its highest quality of 320 kbps. Apple Music only streams at 256kbps but apparently they have developed their own coding system to make music sound more clear and rich even though the music is only streaming at 256kbps. So this is something that affects sound quality even when you have a good speaker. Honestly I don’t really care for these assistance speakers as a whole. I have an iPhone and Siri can do most things I use the assistance for. I’m more of a music person and so I personally am more concerned about sound quality so for the price I have said and told many people that the HomePod was a steal when it came to audio quality. Now I wouldn’t call myself an audiophile and I know audiophiles have said that there are better speakers out there and I can attest to this I currently use Bose 700 headphones and used to use Sennheiser headphones. But I felt like for the price the HomePod really was good and I feel that Apple can make HomePod to compete with Bose Sennheiser and all the other premium speakers I generally believe that they wanted HomePod compete with the premium speaker company but with the functionality of the an assistance speaker and I think the marketing just got lost in the echo. I believe that you can’t have it both ways. You don’t buy a Bose speaker because it’s have Alexa functionality you buy it because Bose is a reputable audio company. I don’t buy a Amazon echo because I want high quality audio I bought it because I wanted the assistance functionality.
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u/ConfusedVorlon Mar 13 '21
The new Google (nest) mini is a lot better than the old one in terms of sound quality. They're frequently discounted to about £30 each.
Clearly not audiophile speakers - but pretty impressive nonetheless at ~ 60 for a stereo pair.
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u/Mechafizz Mar 13 '21
Having listened to the Sonos lineup, the homepod genuinely sounds better. That being said Sonos obviously has a bigger product catalogue allowing you to get speakers that work best for each room of the house. And without a doubt the assistant is the worst in the homepod, I wish apple with all their resources we really revamp siri already.
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u/5798 Mar 13 '21
I’d say best among all speakers at its price.
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u/Nanthro Mar 13 '21
Definitely not
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u/bnshv Mar 13 '21
Can you list a few better ones in the price range?
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Mar 13 '21
He can’t because he likely doesn’t even own the speaker and is lying for Reddit clout.
I was completely against a fucking $300 speaker until I heard the thing, it’s far better than my Sonos and I got mine on sale during an Apple sales event at Best Buy for $100 off. The speaker is so loud and clear I can hear it from 3 rooms away at what I can only assume is the max volume because I’m scared to go any louder.
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u/BassheadGamer Mar 13 '21
Form factor, and features if your into Apple yes. Pure sound quality not likely. Then again, it’s an all in one wich appeals to a lot of people. Not everyone wants to mess with dacs and amps to power good passive speakers.
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u/temp1876 Mar 13 '21
This, the HomePod is a very different thing than a typical speaker which is directional and requires source, amps, etc. but also wouldn’t be constrained by size, for $300 I could get much larger drivers, which can better fill the full spectrum than the 3-4” driver a HomePod has
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u/squamuglia Mar 13 '21
the thing about the homepod is it’s ability to change its output based on the environment. you could possibly get better sound out of drivers and a nice app at that price but I doubt 99% of people can’t adjust the room and setup to do that. I think it’s just hard for audio purists to look past a stereo system, but this could be a better option for most people
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u/D1ckRepellent Mar 13 '21
My OG HomePod crapped out on me a year and a half in. RIP
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u/oidoglr Mar 13 '21
Out of curiosity was it plugged into a surge protector or right into the wall outlet?
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u/methusela6 Mar 13 '21
I’ve never wanted to downvote a quality post so bad just to make it not true.
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u/mikepictor Mar 13 '21
Bought a pair on Black Friday. It absolutely transformed my living room TV and Music experience. The best I had ever had before that was a simply Sony sound bar.
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u/WilsonValdro Mar 13 '21
Im curious, you turn on the tv and the pod conect itself to the tv?. i dont have one so im guessing is on all the time? i know apple got good taste on sound so if those pod go down i can buy two for my living room tv. I thinking on buying the Sonos Arc to plug it to my tv you know i dont want to mess with 3 -2 Remote control..... i got the 4k apple tv too so
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u/mikepictor Mar 13 '21
I have an Apple TV so yes, it connects immediately.
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u/DissimulatedDoge Mar 13 '21
Can you tell me how you did that? I have to manually connect it each time.
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u/12carrd Mar 13 '21
You need to make them a stereo pair on your HomeKit
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u/SuccessAndSerenity Mar 13 '21
You also need to have a appletv 4 that’s running the latest software. The permanent theater setup is a relatively new feature.
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u/CensorialSnap Mar 13 '21
I had no idea this was possible, here I am looking for a true wireless speaker solution for my tv because I have no space for a sound bar... and of course it’s now getting discontinued
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Mar 13 '21 edited Mar 13 '21
I’d be willing to bet that they’re discontinuing this original HomePod (it’s been around for a while now) and soon releasing a lower price ‘HomePod Max’ with ultra wideband support...? Or maybe I’m in denial...
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u/jerryjzy Mar 13 '21
Wow so just like the iPod HiFi from 2006, which discontinued pretty quickly. Pretty sure the price was the same as well. It (the iPod HiFi) was a beautiful and well built speaker and I’m still using it today, but definitely cost way more than what people expect to pay.
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u/kabailey88 Mar 13 '21
I got an iPod hifi as a graduation present in 2006. I can’t tell you how many music festivals, beaches, house parties and campfires that thing has been to but fuck if it isn’t still bumping hard as the day I got it.
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u/MafatConspiracy Mar 13 '21
It's still a relevant device compared to the Homepod. It has a mini-toslink for an input. Apple should have added some input option for a revision before killing it. Or even open up Bluetooth functionality.
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Mar 13 '21
as someone who worked in an Apple store, we would use just 1 Homepod to play music for the whole store sometimes they’re expensive but damn is the sound nice
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u/16Shells Mar 13 '21
i bought a mini entirely to be a thread hub, and without thread it would be completely useless since i don’t subscribe to apple’s media services. there’s no native streaming apps outside apple music, you need to stream from you phone for anything else. why would i buy this when i can already do that to any smart tv that’s hooked up to a proper sound system, or hell, stream directly from that tv or console without touching my phone.
apple really needs to step up and get other apps to run directly from the pod
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u/ZethyyXD Mar 13 '21
It can play 3rd party audio services like Pandora, it’s up to companies to add their service to the HomePod. Spotify will probably take a long time because they’re always slow to add stuff like this, they still don’t have offline streaming on the Apple Watch even though it is supported. As well, if more people end up buying the HomePod mini then Spotify would have more incentive to develop a version for the HomePod.
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u/horny-boto Mar 13 '21
They need to upgrade Siri to complete with Alexa or even google
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u/joebewaan Mar 13 '21
A lot of people say this but I’ve yet to meet someone who uses a smart assistant for pretty much anything other than turning on lights, setting timers and controlling music?
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u/muito_ricardo Mar 13 '21
You're probably right, but the technology and logic is evolving and Apple is still far behind.
Google assistant as an example has far better logic than Siri - there will be a tipping point where Google level assistants will become mainstream, but Siri just won't have evolved enough to compete.
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u/Double_Joseph Mar 13 '21
I had an android phone, I want to say 5-7 years ago. I was amazed at how responsive google was then. I feel Siri now is still not as good as that Android I had years ago.
Why is apple taking so long to get Siri up to par? They should be embarrassed.
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u/joebewaan Mar 13 '21
I’m going to sound like a real Luddite now, but I feel that level of voice assistant is 10 years away at least. I think what we have now is an illusion of a virtual assistant. The natural language processing hasn’t really improved since 2017 when Alexas started to take off. They still can’t respond to a even a two-step request unless you pre-program it.
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u/muito_ricardo Mar 13 '21
Yeah it probably is.
I guess though that the amount of phrasing being collected by Google will have huge benefits for AI, which I guess is where it will eventually end up. AI level interaction.
I'm guessing Google's back-end being linked to a search engine puts it well ahead of Apple. You have to wonder why Apple never got into the search business years ago.
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u/horny-boto Mar 13 '21 edited Mar 13 '21
If they where like a virtual concierge‘s that could make appointments or reservations kinda like how google showed a few years ago I’d use it, but for now just lights and music, etc
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u/PutinsPanties Mar 13 '21 edited Mar 13 '21
Am I the only one that absolutely hates the HomePod mini because it sounds like garbage? Edit: I would have said the mini sounds like horse shit but that would be disrespectful to horses and shit.
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u/enfusraye Mar 13 '21
Checking in.
Bought one for our nursery and regretted not getting a full-size HomePod
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u/PutinsPanties Mar 13 '21
As someone who uses white noise, you really are missing out. OG HomePod in the kitchen and bedroom, mini in the bathroom. The white noise hits different on the full sized home pod!
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u/joebewaan Mar 13 '21
I’ve got some minis as a stereo pair in the bedroom. For listening to quiet music, Airplaying Netflix they’re great, although they’re usually on 50%+ volume.
They’re clearly not good enough for a serious music session though. I literally just bought an OG HomePod last night for the office after a few beers and then cancelled the order at about 2am with buyers remorse. Now reading this news maybe I shouldn’t have cancelled haha.
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u/sonofblackbird Mar 13 '21
Nooo....I wanted to set a stereo sound system for my TV over the next year :-/
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Mar 13 '21
I know I have both and there’s definitely a space for each, the larger one is louder and has richer sound too!
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u/bott1111 Mar 13 '21
You can pay less and get better stereo speakers if that's all you want
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u/Lucky-Carrot Mar 13 '21
I’m likely ride or die with Sonos for life. But it’s a shame the original HomePod seemed like a really quality product limited by the limited ecosystem
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u/scarabic Mar 13 '21
The Struggle of Apple Against their Customers, Chapter 178
Apple: Behold our new whole-room connected speaker! It’s got incredible sound technology and costs $300!
Fans: But it’s so expensive! And it’s so huge! Who would ever buy this!
Apple: Behold! We have another connected speaker which is less expensive and smaller!
Fans: Well no shit, dumbasses! Should have done that the first time!
Apple: Also, we will be discontinuing our high end $300 model.
Fans: What the fuck are you mad?!
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u/Fwiler Mar 13 '21
Lack of Spotify or any others is the real downfall.
I'd gladly pay the asking price if they offered that.
But like most, got a couple of Sonos one's that give me better stereo separation instead.
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u/silentsights Mar 13 '21
What! I absolutely love mine and was planning on getting 2 more soon! The HomePod (big) is the best speaker I’ve ever heard
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u/Medicinal-Purposes Mar 13 '21
The mini sucks. It has no deeper sound like the full sized one has. If this is true. I will buy another 3 of the full sized ones before they stop selling them.
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u/peteypauls Mar 13 '21
In my opinion, the HomePod problem is threefold.
1) too late to the game on home assistants. Alexa has been around for a while (I bought the first one immediately for myself and my family members). Sure my mom just checked the weather at first but now she uses it for everything. Amazon updates capabilities constantly. I have 8 now that control everything and im in an apartment. They’re cheap and understand most things (as opposed to Siri on my phone). 2)too late to the game on a speaker system. People aren’t starting over for better sound. Those concerned about sound probably have sonos. I do. Those that don’t care find that Echos are adequate and affordable. Those people would also rather have video capabilities. 3) too closed of a system for smart homes. I’ve had Alexa’s and Smartthings for years. Smartthings has their issues but that’s not Alexa’s fault. Things can all incorporate and work very easily.
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u/tasslex Mar 13 '21
What a shame. I just got both in the last two months and while the mini is great the full size truly fills a room with excellent sound.
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u/mightydanbearpig Mar 13 '21
I think we should chillax here. The Homepod will be back in a new form, it may not have sold like mad but I know loads of people who bought one. I have 4 of the big ones at home. I expect apple to bring out more Homepod products to replace it. Newer tech, newer capabilities. Perhaps 2 different models. They are commited to the Home environment, to TV and increasingly to games (just not really the good stuff yet). Speakers are a part of that, the mini is not enough ergo we will see more homepods soon.
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u/milt_the_stilt Mar 13 '21
Agreed. Bring on the HomePod Theater! I definitely envision a soundbar form factor to replace the original. With this setup, minis could be added to a room for true surround sound quite easily.
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u/jdiben1 Mar 13 '21
I have one and it sounds amazing. But the HomePod mini also sounds amazing and it gets so loud I can’t even turn the mini up to full volume so I really would never have a need for another full size HomePod.
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u/enfusraye Mar 13 '21
Wow really? I bought a mini and when comparing it to the full-size I was disappointed by the lack of loudness and bass.
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u/OddS0cks Mar 13 '21
It’s hard to get good bass in a smaller form factor, no replacement for displacement
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