I'm testing the Apple HomePod mini 2, and this lighting feature is quickly making it my favourite smart speaker

The Apple HomePod mini 2 was launched in October 2026, alongside other smart home devices as announced at Apple’s ‘Welcome Home’ event. I’ve been covering smart home on T3 for years, and have been waiting equally as long for a new HomePod so, as you can imagine, I was elated to hear that we were finally getting one.

Having now got my hands on, not one but two, HomePod mini 2’s, this small yet mighty smart speaker has quickly become a staple in my home. I have a green one in my living room, and a pink one in my bedroom, both of which I use constantly for music, timers, questions and more.

But the feature that I’ve been loving the most is something that recently arrived on the HomePod mini 2 – as well as Apple’s older HomePod devices – following a HomePod and iPhone 27.2 software upgrade. And that is the Sound Glow feature.

Sound Glow is a visual lighting feature that makes the top of the HomePod mini 2 light up and pulse with colour. It does this in sync to the songs, podcasts and Apple’s ambient music that you’re playing, so it becomes a ‘visual canvas’ in your home.

The top of the HomePod mini 2 – which also happens to have its touch controls – is quite a small area of space, but it emits a surprising amount of lights and colours. It has 19 RGB LEDs underneath the top cap which glow brightly and change in real time.

The Sound Glow feature draws from the album artwork of the song it's playing to choose the colours and lighting patterns. For Apple’s ambient music, the HomePod mini 2 can produce bespoke animations for a more immersive experience.

I was very excited to try Sound Glow when I installed my HomePod mini 2 speakers, and let me tell you, it doesn’t disappoint. I have the one in my living room quite close to a wall, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the colours almost bounce off the wall, making it feel like an actual lighting experience rather than a ‘gimmicky’ add-on feature.

Where Sound Glow really excelled was with Apple ambient music. To wind down for bed, I asked the HomePod mini 2 to play rain sounds. Not only were the sounds extremely relaxing, but I could see my HomePod mini 2 faintly glowing and flickering in white and blue which really looked like it was mimicking the rain.

While the Sound Glow feature produces colours similar to album artwork, I noticed how well the lighting matched the actual colour of the HomePod mini 2. The pink model looked great next to white, pink, purple and red shades, while the green version better suited darker colours.

The Apple HomePod mini 2 has quickly become my favourite smart speaker to test – my review is coming soon so stay tuned – and the Sound Glow feature is one of the reasons. What’s better is if you have an older HomePod or HomePod mini, you can use this feature too if you update it to the HomePod 27.2 software.