HomePod Mini 2 first look: Three things I love and one disappointment

<figure> <img alt="" data-caption="Apple’s second-generation HomePod Mini is a nice upgrade, but the biggest improvement hasn’t arrived yet. | Photo: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge" data-portal-copyright="Photo: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/268839_HomePod_mini_2_JTuohy_0009.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,6.1688463882248,80.59453125,89.629916092439" /> <figcaption> Apple’s second-generation HomePod Mini is a nice upgrade, but the biggest improvement hasn’t arrived yet. | Photo: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge </figcaption> </figure> <p class="has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph">When I first heard about the new <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1009672/homepod-mini-2-announced-apple-siri-ai">$149 HomePod Mini 2</a> at <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1008782/apple-welcome-home-event-news-announcements">Apple's Welcome Home event</a> last month, I was disappointed. It's been six years since Apple launched its entry-level smart speaker, and all it got in the second gen was a chip bump, some color glowy stuff, and better AirPlay? For $50 more than the original, which launched at $99, Apple didn't even upgrade the sound system. It felt like the company phoned this one in.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Now that I've got my hands on a couple and set them up in my home office, I'm more enthused. The Mini 2 is so much faster than the first-gen Mini, playing music in a few seconds and responding to smart home commands just as …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1024108/homepod-mini-2-hands-on-siri-smart-home-mac-speaker">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>