Apple Homepod Mini Availability

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mobiusnz

457 posts

Ultimate Geek

#280726 6-Jan-2021 15:12

Just been looking at the Homepod Mini. I was seriously looking at getting an Echo Studio or a Sonos One and was going back and forth as the Sonos doesn't seem to support ALL Alexa features. It sounds like they've crippled it a little to encourage use of Sonos services and that made me a little nervous. The Studio is a little expensive so was looking at the Echo 4 Enhance Audio that sounded pretty good except I saw a lot of reports of the Mic being a bit weak and Alexa often wouldn't hear you.

THEN I remembered the Homepod Mini. By all accounts its got amazing sound for what it is (https://www.whathifi.com/au/reviews/apple-homepod-mini)- For me its a dining room thing so it'll be nice to have good quality but I'm no audiophile and it sounds like this will exceed my expectations for audio. The other use is for my wife while cooking - I was thinking with an Alexa she can request radio stations which works pretty well and means I get rid of the old tired Philips mini stereo and she can do timers "Alexa, start a 5 minute rice timer" - I've now found that although Siri on iphone doesn't support multiple named timers Siri on Homepod does so it'll do that. I've got an Echo Dot connected via a cable to my Amp in the lounge for Music using Apple music but the Alexa interface to Apple Music is a little clunky and I have to request some artists with odd names like "alexa - play Lah-de-six for Ladi6" so having real Siri to play apple Music will be a big bonus. Homepod has Tunein radio support so I'll check it has the stations she'd want.

So really its all come round to availability - NZ Post don't do a youshop for Australia so I might wait as Dick Smith / Kogan have them coming soon so I'll see what premium they charge - Has anyone heard anything on the rumour mill of Apple actually launching Homepod in NZ ?? Not really sure why we're still waiting, I think most people who want a Homepod want it for Music more than anything else so the lack of regionalised services I don't think is a biggie??

Has anyone got one in NZ and how do you find it?

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

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1443 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2631245 6-Jan-2021 15:35

You could ask an Apple sales specialist by using chat on their NZ website.

BlinkyBill

1443 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2631247 6-Jan-2021 15:37

To answer your second question, I have a HomePod standard one, and it’s pretty good. Am listening to the Pakistan test match right now.

mobiusnz

457 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2631258 6-Jan-2021 15:51

Thanks Blinky - I did a quick sales chat to Apple and got a typical "Not at the moment". I've seen that before with Apple Watch EKG support in NZ being told we aren't likely to see if for years - Then a few weeks later it was announced with a firmware update that NZ got support.

I've heard the Homepod has amazing audio for its size and price compared to anything else on the market.

The review I read of the Mini sounded amazing but looking at other reviews they talk about it being amazing compared to others of its size but still think the Alexa Studio and even the DOT 4 with Enhanced audio are better. Its all very subjective though as I don't want / need a lot of volume - I just want clarity.

Might just have to wait until they are instore and go and actually hear one to make a true judgement.

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

davidcole

6034 posts

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#2631261 6-Jan-2021 15:56

I bought a jbl music link from NL for $74 (saw them as low as $68). Not as apple as a home pod, but it's got airplay, chromecast and bluetooth. Mike can be disabled for chromecast/google assistant, and it remembers that on start up which is great. I have used it (as a play) as airplay speakers from my apple tv, and it seemed ok.

Another option possibly.

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mobiusnz

457 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2631266 6-Jan-2021 16:00

davidcole:

I bought a jbl music link from NL for $74 (saw them as low as $68). Not as apple as a home pod, but it's got airplay, chromecast and bluetooth. Mike can be disabled for chromecast/google assistant, and it remembers that on start up which is great. I have used it (as a play) as airplay speakers from my apple tv, and it seemed ok.

Another option possibly.

Thanks David - I just quite like with the Homepod my wife can easily set timers while cooking and also she can take phonecalls handfree on it while cooking too and by all accounts they have very good handsfree calling capability.

Its all hard because the Alexa means she can control the lounge from the kitchen but at the end of the day we have a DOT in the lounge for doing the TV, AMP, Music and lights and there really isn't a reason to be able to do it from out of the room. The pro's and con's - I might wait for a special on the Alexia Studio as that will do a lot of what I want really well and the audio should exceed requirements its just the handsfree calling thats missing.

The never ending quest to find the perfect device for purpose ;)

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

alasta

6704 posts

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#2631275 6-Jan-2021 16:21

New Zealand has been waiting three years for HomePod availability so the probability of it suddenly happening in the next few weeks, or even months, seems pretty low. I honestly don't understand why, but I've given up and bought a whole lot of Sonos gear instead.

BlinkyBill

1443 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2631278 6-Jan-2021 16:34

I thought Apple might say that. I bought my HomePod in Sydney and brought it over here. Acting as a hub, I open / close the garage door, turn some lights on/off, all that Homekit stuff. Hand free calling is excellent as it has really good microphones. Music playback is good quality (I believe Spotify is natively supported now?). I had a Sonos Play:5 and sound quality is easily as good (have since sold the Sonos).

Overall I would recommend. I haven’t heard the mini myself, but should be easy if you know anyone resident in AU to pick one up and post it your way. I doubt it’ll be bad.

By the way, the Mini is the first Apple device that implements Thread, which FYI is a wifi-independent mesh networking protocol for IoT devices that Apple joined in approx 2018. So that’s another point to consider.

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mobiusnz

457 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2631291 6-Jan-2021 17:19

alasta:

New Zealand has been waiting three years for HomePod availability so the probability of it suddenly happening in the next few weeks, or even months, seems pretty low. I honestly don't understand why, but I've given up and bought a whole lot of Sonos gear instead.

Did you get a sonos smart speaker with Alexa functionality or just the usual Sonos speakers?? It sounds like the Alexa functionality has been improved with software updates but there was a lot of talk of it having only partial Alexa capabilities - IE it didn't or doesn't support Alexa Routines and these are really handy for automating a bunch of devices into one command ie I say Alexa watch TV and that turns on the TV, turns on my Home theatre receiver and sets the right input and turns on the lights in the lounge. With a Sonos smart speaker I'd have to say Alexa turn on the TV, Alexa turn on the receiver, alexa set the receiver to TV etc etc etc

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

mobiusnz

457 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2631296 6-Jan-2021 17:27

alasta:

New Zealand has been waiting three years for HomePod availability so the probability of it suddenly happening in the next few weeks, or even months, seems pretty low. I honestly don't understand why, but I've given up and bought a whole lot of Sonos gear instead.

Agreed - They are generally reviewed as pretty weak for siri smart functionality anyway so I don't think we'd miss much here. Just to be able to play Apple music reliably with good audio quality and set the odd time and maybe start putting in some homekit automation would be brilliant.

As I said above, everything and everyone you spoke to doubted we'd get the ECG functionality on Apple watches for years as it was assumed we'd get it once Australia got it and their Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) was blocking them and then completely unannounced suddenly amongst a software update for the watch NZ was added to the supported countries. So at some point along with a product refresh NZ might just quietly be added to the regions its available.

I've been wanting a Homepod for years but can't really justify it based on the real frequency I listen to music and the Wife appreciate features weren't there. Which reminds me, one of the good features of Alexa is you can say "Alexa - Add milk to my shopping list" while fluffing in the kitchen and it'll just add it to the add shopping list on your phone. Currently we run a shared shopping list but its manual keying to add things and its based on dropbox and every time a software update installs on my wifes watch it breaks the dropbox link because she never runs it and logs it back in.

Here I go again around in circles going back round to another alexa device......

EDIT: Just searched and Apple / Siri has a shopping list feature linking to the reminder app and it can be shared via Icloud so the family can add things.

EDIT 2: Just created an icloud list in Reminders called "Shopping list" shared it with all members of the family and it works like a dream. I even said "add nivea shaving cream to my shopping list" and it got it and spelt it right which is what I like about Siri - They do a lot of work on the recognition. So I now have a very functional siri shared family shopping list that will work perfectly on Homepod.... The plot thickens.

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

sir1963

3260 posts

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#2631305 6-Jan-2021 17:55

mobiusnz:

Thanks Blinky - I did a quick sales chat to Apple and got a typical "Not at the moment". I've seen that before with Apple Watch EKG support in NZ being told we aren't likely to see if for years - Then a few weeks later it was announced with a firmware update that NZ got support.

I've heard the Homepod has amazing audio for its size and price compared to anything else on the market.

The review I read of the Mini sounded amazing but looking at other reviews they talk about it being amazing compared to others of its size but still think the Alexa Studio and even the DOT 4 with Enhanced audio are better. Its all very subjective though as I don't want / need a lot of volume - I just want clarity.

Might just have to wait until they are instore and go and actually hear one to make a true judgement.

Come February the HomePod will have been available for 3 years.

But the crap thing is, they are available in Australia. The NZ/AU regulations are pretty much the same.

The Australian online store/warehouse is the same building as the NZ online Store/warehouse.

The likes of parallel import are effectively putting a 100% markup on them to sell them in NZ.

I am using an airport express hooked into my Stereo .

I refuse to buy into any of Apples subscription based services because in NZ they are pretty poor compared to other offerings.

mobiusnz

457 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2631315 6-Jan-2021 18:13

sir1963:

Come February the HomePod will have been available for 3 years.

But the crap thing is, they are available in Australia. The NZ/AU regulations are pretty much the same.

The Australian online store/warehouse is the same building as the NZ online Store/warehouse.

The likes of parallel import are effectively putting a 100% markup on them to sell them in NZ.

I am using an airport express hooked into my Stereo .

I refuse to buy into any of Apples subscription based services because in NZ they are pretty poor compared to other offerings.

I pay for Apple Music as a family subscription so we all use it - Both my daughters get a lot of use - Me and my wife less so but I do binge on newly discovered artists from time to time. I also pay $5 a month for the family to have 200GB of icloud storage as its so easy an effortless to backup and restore devices. I don't need it as I use my Onedrive to backup all my photos and anything else important is in my 365 email account or onenote via Onedrive but its still nice to know I'll get all my game achievements back without remembering to plug into Itunes regularly.

Based on those two I'm seriously considering Apple ONE as then I'll get TV and the Game subscription bundled with the two I already pay for without much of a price increase. Although I don't think there is much on Apple TV I want and the game subscriptions were all stunning looking games but not the kind of games I like to play. We'll see.

As I said earlier - I'm using an Echo Dot plugged in via stereo RCA to my Home theatre receiver to play apple music and its good but not amazing. Playlist support works most of the time but initially it didn't work at all and pronunciation of artist names is pretty hit and miss. Try saying "play supalonely by benee" and it won't find the song at all but will play glitter by benee - Ask siri the same and it works it out perfectly. The annoying thing is I can't pick music on my phone and then airplay to the Echo Dot - In theory I think there is a way to search and queue music from the Alexa app to the device but its a P.I.T.A and not as easy and just browsing music on the phone and then sending it to an Airplay device. Still the Echo dot was like $80 and it works well enough - Some would say the analogue RCA connections will lower the quality but I don't think there are many people over 40 who would be able to tell the difference between a digital connection and an analogue one on an otherwise identical system. Some audiophiles are just insane.

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

corksta

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#2631328 6-Jan-2021 19:26

I’ve got two HomePods that I bought in Sydney connected as a stereo pair in our lounge, they sound amazing and are great hubs for all our HomeKit devices.

I’ll be picking up a couple minis once we’re allowed to travel again.

mobiusnz

457 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2631329 6-Jan-2021 19:29

corksta:

I’ve got two HomePods that I bought in Sydney connected as a stereo pair in our lounge, they sound amazing and are great hubs for all our HomeKit devices.

I’ll be picking up a couple minis once we’re allowed to travel again.

Good to hear. I’m yet to see anyone say they brought one and aren’t happy with it.

my feeling has always been that Apple are a bit slower to adopt new tech and standards but what they do they do well. Looks like the new premium headphones have a pretty major design flaw it’s hard to believe they missed during design though. Still I’d never pay that much for a set of cans so I’m safe.

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

alasta

6704 posts

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#2631330 6-Jan-2021 19:32

mobiusnz:

alasta:

New Zealand has been waiting three years for HomePod availability so the probability of it suddenly happening in the next few weeks, or even months, seems pretty low. I honestly don't understand why, but I've given up and bought a whole lot of Sonos gear instead.

Did you get a sonos smart speaker with Alexa functionality or just the usual Sonos speakers?? It sounds like the Alexa functionality has been improved with software updates but there was a lot of talk of it having only partial Alexa capabilities - IE it didn't or doesn't support Alexa Routines and these are really handy for automating a bunch of devices into one command ie I say Alexa watch TV and that turns on the TV, turns on my Home theatre receiver and sets the right input and turns on the lights in the lounge. With a Sonos smart speaker I'd have to say Alexa turn on the TV, Alexa turn on the receiver, alexa set the receiver to TV etc etc etc

I'm probably the wrong person to ask about that to be honest. I am old fashioned when it comes to technology so I'm fussy about sound quality but really not interested in 'smart' features.

For what it's worth, the sonic performance of Sonos products is very good in my view.

davidcole

6034 posts

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#2631350 6-Jan-2021 20:30

I use two Apple TV’s as homekit hubs. Generally if I want to yell at something my phone is generally close enough and that controls any homekit devices (which are predominantly exposed from openHAB CIA homebridge).

I don’t tend to trust any of these companies enough to buy into their platforms exclusively. Happy with chromecasts for Audio and the JBL, Apple TV’s for video and/or airplay speaker. But for things like Spotify chromecast (via Spotify connect) is a much better experience than airplay (IMO)

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