When it comes to voice controlled smart speakers, two of the best options would be the Apple HomePod Mini and the Google Home Mini. The Home Mini is one of Google’s most popular smart speakers out there, but the HomePod mini’s seamless integration and superb sound quality make it a worthy contender against the Home Mini. Both the devices are essentially the slimmed down versions of their respective full-sized smart speakers, and they basically perform the same tasks. While the basic functionality is same, that’s where the similarities end.

What Is HomePod Mini?

HomePod Mini is the smaller, cheaper version of the original HomePod with a tiny, woven plant pot like design that looks pretty nice. This is about as good as a compact smart speaker can look without a real functional display. It has mesh fabric all the way around and the circular colorful display at the top is pretty neat. It really feels premium when you touch it. Overall, it’s a great device if you’re deep inside the Apple ecosystem.

What is Google Home Mini?

At just $49, the Google Home Mini is probably the cheapest way to get into the Google’s smart home ecosystem and is easily the most budget-friendly smart speaker out there, which is all that matters. It looks like a fabric pebble with lights and it can easily blend into any room, thanks to its compact form factor. The single upward-firing speaker, however, doesn’t sound so good and go as loud as the three-speaker setup of the original Google Home.

Difference between HomePod Mini and Google Home Mini

Design 

– In terms of design, the Google Home Mini features a cute puck-like circular design with a material covering and LED lights at the top, which light up when you summon Google Assistant. The HomePod mini looks much like a tiny, woven plant pot but looks beautiful; it’s pretty and unobtrusive, and will happily fit into any room. The Google Home Mini, however, comes with a mic mute button which gives you better control over when the speaker is listening to your commands. The HomePod mini has no way to physically turn off the microphones, which is kind of odd. Also, the power cord is attached to the device which is an off design choice.

Sound

 – Sound is the first and the foremost thing we focus on the most when looking to buy smart speakers. While the Google Home mini doesn’t disappoint when it comes to audio quality, it’s not a match against the HomePod mini, inside of which are a set of dual passive radiators and one full-range drivers that just fills any room with adequate sound. The vocals are crisp and clean, and the sound comes from all directions. It can also be stereo paired to get a richer and fuller sound. The Google Home Mini and its single 40-mm driver don’t even get close to the power of the HomePod mini.

Music Streaming 

– Another clear distinction point between the two devices is the music services they support. The Google Home Mini allows you to set your default music service to YouTube Music, Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer. The HomePod mini, however, just has the ability to set Apple Music as the default music service. Apple, however, has opened up support for other third party music streaming services through Siri, including Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, and more. Also, the Google Home Mini supports more than one podcast service whereas HomePod mini supports Apple Podcasts.

HomePod mini vs. Google Home Mini: Comparison Chart

Summary

Both the HomePod mini and Google Home Mini are great voice-controlled smart speakers that are evenly matched when it comes to basic features like playing music, setting alarms and reminders, getting weather updates, controlling smart home devices, and more. One great advantage with the HomePod mini is that it can make outbound phone calls and take incoming calls, and send text messages. Both the speakers also allow you to broadcast to other speakers and can recognize multiple people. The Google Home Mini can control more smart home devices with Google Assistant than the HomePod mini which in turns only supports the Apple ecosystem.

Is HomePod mini better than Google?

While the HomePod mini is definitely a worthy contender in the smart speaker race, it has its fair share of strengths and weaknesses, same as with the Google Home Mini.

Is Apple HomePod better than Google?

Apple discontinued the HomePad to focus its efforts on the new and cheaper HomePod Mini. Google doesn’t sound as good as the HomePod; however, it plays well with both Android and iOS devices.

Does HomePod mini work with Google?

The HomePod mini comes built-in with Siri, which is Apple’s own voice assistant. It works only with the devices within the HomeKit ecosystem.

Is the HomePod the same as Google Home?

HomePod is the Apple’s voice-enabled smart speaker whereas the Google Home is the Google’s smart speaker. Both the devices come from different ecosystems, so they are not the same. The Google comes with a mic mute switch, something which the Apple doesn’t have.

Can you play Spotify on HomePod mini?

Apple has started opening up support for third party music streaming services on the HomePod Mini through Siri.

How good is the HomePod mini?

While the HomePod Mini doesn’t sound as good as the original full-sized HomePod, it is a fantastic, feature-rich smart speaker, and in many ways, better than the original. Overall, it delivers impressive music in a smaller package. 

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