But the reason two HomePod minis are worth considering for this purpose is that they do sound quite good for their size, and they integrate really well with your iPhone and Siri.
#DOLBY ATMOS HOMEPOD UPDATE#
I do hope they eventually update tvOS to allow you to set your HomePod mini stereo pair as your Apple TV 4K’s default audio target. This is probably why Apple doesn’t currently do more to embrace the HomePod mini as a home theater solution. You can buy a sound bar/subwoofer combination that probably costs the same or less than two HomePod mins, so in most cases I wouldn’t recommend the HomePod minis to meet your home theater needs. To their credit, the HomePod minis never sounded like they were straining, but if you really enjoy loud volume while watching a movie, you’ll be disappointed. The volume was adequate, but we had it maxed out. Our family watched Spider-Man: Far From Home over the weekend.
The biggest limitation to using a pair of HomePod minis for home theater is the limited volume headroom.
You’ll definitely get fuller sound with a large sound bar, and you’ll have better bass if you have a real subwoofer. The sound quality is quite good, especially given the size of the HomePod minis. That’s really handy! You can also control the volume level with the Apple TV’s Siri Remote, but since it has infrared also, you’ll likely be adjusting your TV’s speakers also, though unless you tell your Apple TV to output to both your TV’s speakers and your HomePod mini, the infrared won’t actually do anything to the sound you’re hearing.
#DOLBY ATMOS HOMEPOD MOVIE#
While a show or movie is playing on your Apple TV, you can easily control the volume level of the HomePod minis from your iPhone’s Lock Screen or from Control Center. You can adjust HomePod mini's volume right from your iPhone's Lock Screen or Control Center. But they may become disconnected, meaning you may have to set this up again on a regular basis. This isn’t a huge deal, and it even remembers the selection after the Apple TV is woken from sleep.
#DOLBY ATMOS HOMEPOD BLUETOOTH#
This is the same method you use for choosing any bluetooth audio output (like AirPods). Instead, you have to hold down the Home button on your Apple TV’s remote, swipe down to audio, and choose the HomePod mini stereo pair from the list of options. Disappointingly though you can’t set them as the Apple TV’s default audio output. That shouldn’t come as a surprise though given their size and price. First, unlike the bigger, more expensive HomePod, the HomePod mini doesn’t support Dolby Atmos or any kind of surround sound. Once you’ve set them as a pair, they’ll remain that way from that point until you manually unpair them.įor home theater, you’ve got a couple of caveats. As you’re setting up the second one, just choose the same room in the Home app as your first HomePod mini, and you’ll be asked if you want to create a stereo pair. Converting two HomePod minis into a stereo pair is really easy. Add a second HomePod mini though and you do get more sound and a stereo field. If you have larger speakers they’re probably going to be louder and fuller. But it is limited by the physics of small spaces. It’s honestly amazing how much sound, and over what sonic range, you get in that tiny ball. For science!Ī single HomePod mini sounds surprisingly good as a music playback device. And even more curious how well these would work as a sound system for my Apple TV. I put one in our master bedroom, and one in the living room where the kids are (all too often) glued to the TV.īut over time I got more and more curious about how a stereo pair of HomePod minis would sound for music. We have four kids, and being able to get their attention across the house without shouting through walls was very appealing. The $99 price was enticing, and my wife and I were both excited about Intercom, the feature whereby you can send audio messages throughout your house. I bought two HomePod minis at Christmastime. But the question is… can you do something similar with the HomePod mini? You can pair two of them to your Apple TV 4K and they become a Dolby Atmos surround sound system. But since its debut in 2018, the full-sized HomePod has gained the ability to become a pretty impressive speaker for your Apple TV. Sure, they’re vessels for communicating with Siri, but Apple thinks of them above all as music devices. The HomePod, and it’s smaller sibling the HomePod mini, are first and foremost marketed by Apple as devices for playing music. The diminutive smart speakers pack a lot of sound and features in a small package, but are they the right solution for your home theater audio needs? It depends.