We tried homepod mini for you, is it worth giving (if) it for Christmas?

Stereo sound, if you have two in a room - ideally the living room, but not only - and multiroom support: when you speak to Siri, you are sure that only the closest homepod will answer you without overlapping and overlapped answers, as often happens with theSmart speakers and vocal assistants of other producers.Apple also brought the latest home of the Homepod family to Italy: a compact spherical Smart Speaker, colorful, with valuable materials (beautiful and resistant the tint -colored fabric cable) and just 8.3 centimeters high.

The acoustics is really detailed and difficult to find in a 99 euro device: it uses the Apple S5 chip to analyze the characteristics of the reproduction content (it does it about 180 times per second) and apply complex tuning models to optimize the volume,Adjust the dynamic range and check in real time the movement of the full-risen driver and the pair of force-challenging passive radiators.The sound is directed towards the lower part to allow users to place it where you want: the quality will remain constant wherever you are in the room, also thanks to a series of three microphones - we tried: you can also whisper something to Siri - while aFourth microphone facing the interior is used to isolate the sound coming from the speaker itself to improve the vocal detection even when there is a nice fracasso.

Homepod can be used to reproduce the signal that comes from the Apple TV - if they are two in stereo and you can obviously choose the contents simply with the item - as well as from any other via Airplay application.Native support - that is, the use without always having the smartphone or other device - is instead reserved for now for Apple Music, Deezer and some other platforms such as Pandora and in the coming months Amazon Music but also in Podcast and radio stations from Iheartradio, Radio.com and Tunein.

The set up is as always very fast: by approaching the iPhone to the speaker, this is detected automatically and you are guided in an setting procedure in a few steps to train Siri to the recognition of a specific voice stamp and to import all extremes and theAccess to the applications supported with a visual and sound synchronization that gives Apple's gadgets always a touch of magic.The colors are five: to the classic white and sidereal gray, seen already in the debut markets, they have recently added yellow, orange and blue.The coating is in a very resistant and almost completely recycled fabric: just spot the color and the speaker is able to integrate perfectly into any furniture.The base is also of the same color while at the top there is a panel with the controls that is activated at Siri's call.

Just the experience with Siri, who has become more natural and spontaneous with a less robotic vocal stamp, completes the work: Siri can identify those who are speaking up to six different voices, if the option is enabled - by the way: HomepodIt is managed through the home application - to customize requests and responses, subject the commitments of the day or make a phone call.As always, the possibilities are infinite - there is an example of the whole home automation available, exactly as you can already do iPhone - everything is to the user's habits.Among other things, when you listen to music on iPhone, simply bring the device closer to homepod mini to instantly transfer streaming to the speaker without losing even a note - and soon you can also do with visual effects, sound and aptics to reportThis uninterrupted "flow" to and from the small speaker of Cupertino.

Then there is a new function, exclusive of the homepods, which is called intercom: it allows the whole family to communicate with other people in the house.How?By sending a message from one homepod to another to different rooms or in several rooms, as in a kind of notice to the entire family.It can be done from iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods and Carplay (the functionality must always be enabled in the home app settings).His background (from the rain to the fireplace to the stream) and the rapid commands created on telephone or tabet and also available on the speaker are also wonderful.The effect can be a disturbing thread but then you get used to it and if the house is large it is very useful.In an office it could be even more.

As always from Apple maximum attention to the environment and privacy.On the first front, Homepod Mini uses 99% of recycled rare lands and the speaker neodimium magnet uses 100% recycled rare lands.The network fabric - very resistant - is made with more than 90% of recycled plastic and all the wooden fibers of the packaging are obtained from forests managed in a sustainable way or by recycled sources.Homepod Mini is also free of mercury, brominous flame delayers, PVCs and beryllium.It also uses low energy consumption components and software that can deactivate them intelligently when it is not active.

On the second, however, personal information is tried locally, without communications with the Apple servers.Homepod recognizes, when on stand by, only the "Hey Siri" command and the recordings are not sent continuously to a server and in any case they are never stored anywhere.Each request is linked to a unique identifier and not to the Apple ID, to which it is not associated.The data that the devices of the house exchange with Apple devices are encrypted.Homepod Mini is compatible with iPhone SE, iPhone 6s or subsequent models and iPod touch (seventh generation) with iOS 14;Or with iPad Pro, iPad (fifth generation or subsequent models), iPad Air 2 or subsequent models and IPAD Mini 4 or subsequent models with iPados 14.