Is HomePod mini the Best Smart Speaker Under Rs. 10,000?

The HomePod mini has been reviewed and audio expert Ali Pardiwala joins host Pranay Parab to talk about this smart speaker. The device is a bit polarising due to the fact that it caters to a niche, and is not compatible with the vast majority of audio sources out there, and we begin this episode by talking about that. Is Apple missing a trick here by not supporting standards other than AirPlay? Some similar devices from competitors have reportedly become obsolete due to similar issues, and we talk about that at length. A smart speaker is something you'd like to keep for 10 years or more, just like TVs, and are older AirPlay devices likely to be supported that long? We discuss that too.

Next we talk about the HomePod mini's sound quality and discuss whether it can give its competitors a run for the money. Many people claim that HomePods are best used as a stereo pair, so do you really need to buy two HomePod minis or can you manage with just one of these? We try to answer that question too. We also discuss some quirks of the HomePod mini and what you need to do to make the most of this speaker. Then we get to the elephant in the room — Siri — and whether it works fine in India. Finally, we conclude the episode by talking about our wish list of features we'd like to see on the HomePod mini.

That's all for this week's episode of Orbital, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.