Hands-on with Apple’s fresh new HomePod mini colors

First off, the packaging for the new HomePod minis is exquisite. I can’t remember Apple ever shipping products in yellow, orange, or blue boxes. But here we are. Each of the new HomePod minis come in a matching box.

They’re absolutely gorgeous and the colors are eye popping. Each box has a unique “mini” word mark with a different sound-related effect applied to it. The top of each box shows off the colors that appear on the top of the new HomePod minis as well.

After opening the new HomePod minis it became instantly clear that yellow is my personal favorite. It has matching yellow volume buttons on the white glass top plate that really pop. In fact, each of the new HomePod minis have white top plates instead of matching ones.

The HomePod mini has had an unremovable braided USB-C cable since it was introduced, but the new models have matching colored ones. The yellow HomePod mini has a subtle yellow braided cable. It looks just like the yellow braided cables that come with the yellow M1 iMac. The same applies to the orange HomePod mini, which has a light orange cable.

I particularly love the orange HomePod mini. Its really punchy and will stand out in just about any space you put it in. The yellow HomePod mini is quite bright as well, but orange is extra saturated. The blue HomePod mini is much darker but still noticeably blue. If you want a new color that really stands out and feels fresh, get the yellow or orange models. I fear that some folks will mistake the blue HomePod mini for space gray in certain lighting, although it has a white top as well.

The new HomePod minis appear on your iPhone or iPad in the proper color. When you go to set up any of the new HomePod minis for the first time you’ll see the same wonderful pairing animation but with the colorful models.

Unsurprisingly, the HomePod minis don’t function any differently than the white or space gray models. But their newfound personality did get me to give them fun names. I’ve nicknamed my orange HomePod mini “Fireball” and my yellow one “PAC-MAN.”

The new HomePod minis ship with HomePod software 15.0 so you’ll be required to update them to the latest 15.1 out of the box. HomePod software 15.1 adds a major new feature to HomePod mini: the ability to play lossless music from Apple Music.