Apple's HomePod Mini is Kinda Worthless

Apple's HomePod mini collection. Photo credit: Apple

I'm generally a fan of Apple's devices and the associated ecosystem. All of my primary devices are made by Apple - my work computer, my personal laptop, my phone, my tablet, and even my watch. Heck, I won't even consider a vehicle worthy of purchase if it doesn't have CarPlay. If one equates spending dollars with a vote of approval, then I'm definitely a hardline supporter of Apple's. But that support isn't total.

Let's take Apple's audio gear, for example. When they released the HomePod (the "big boy") in 2018, I wanted one. While I'm definitely not an audiophile, I certainly appreciate rich, room-filling sound when playing music... and the HomePod earned high marks for its sound. But, honestly, it was a little pricey... and its lack of native support for Spotify was a deal-breaker.

Because of that, I picked up a Google Home Max. It sounds GREAT! Not only that, but it's able to accept audio input as both a Bluetooth speaker and with an input cable. I use it daily, and it was awesome to have when COVID kept me working from home for a couple of months. It served me well for playing music as well as providing a rich sound when used as a speaker for Teams meetings.

Though there is nothing wrong with my Google Home Max, it doesn't work great as a general-use speaker since it sits desk-left in my home office arrangement. For daily computing, I wanted something a little more front-and-center. Since I'm well-invested in the Apple ecosystem, I thought that the Apple HomePod Mini would be a nice solution.

Though the HomePod Mini doesn't work as a traditional Bluetooth speaker, one CAN use it - via AirPlay - to stream audio from a Mac. I've used AirPlay *many* times for streaming both audio and video... be it on an AppleTV... or on a smart TV with AppleTV built-in... and it works flawlessly. Little-to-no latency and it just works. I expected the same for my HomePod Mini.

Unfortunately, it doesn't "just work." Every application appears to use the AirPlay connection somewhat differently. With some - such as watching a YouTube video via Chrome - there is a 1-2 second delay between playing the video and sound coming through the HomePod. When it does start, there may be a noticeable de-synch between the video and the audio. Annoying.

Ditto with Apple Music. It takes a while to start playing, and I'm not really sure why. It's pretty close (less than 2 feet) from the laptop, so signal strength shouldn't be an issue. Perhaps the "handshake" between the laptop and the speaker is taking a while to negotiate. There's even a noticeable delay - perhaps a couple of tenths of a second - after pressing play/pause. I don't have this issue with the Google Home Max - it does "just work."

I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how Apple can't seem to make their smart speakers work seamlessly, especially in their own ecosystem. Because of the issues I've experienced, I'm not sure I could recommend a HomePod Mini to anyone. There are many better options out there. Oh, and it still doesn't natively work with Spotify. Why, Apple?