The HomePod mini was my favorite cheap wireless speaker — but Apple’s price hike has now handed that honor to the Sonos Era 100 SL

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More connectivity, better sound, better futureproofing

The HomePod Mini on the left, and the Sonos Era 100 SL on the right
(Image credit: Future)

Apple has just announced major price rises on a huge range of its products, and among them are its two HomePod models. The price of the HomePod mini is rising from $99 / £99 to $129 / £129, which is a 30% increase.

The full-size HomePod 2 is also getting a price change, but it's a more palatable 17%, meaning that it's changing from costing $299 / £299 to now $349 / £349.

I think the HomePod 2 can take that price rise, even though I'd obviously rather we were still in an era when products came down in price over time; the big HomePod is already a more premium product, and still sounds very good for the price.

But I think this change is devastating to the HomePod mini. I reviewed it when it came out, and I was so impressed by the dynamic range of its sound and its detail, bearing in mind not only the price, but the size. For ages, I had a pair as my desktop speakers out of choice, even though, as an audio editor, I can get my hands on pretty much any stereo setup I want to try.

As a result, I've been strongly recommending the HomePod mini since it came out, and advocating for its position as the best 'cheap' option in our list of the best wireless speakers. Being a HomePod, it's very limited as to who it's ideal for (all-Apple households, basically), but it's been in a totally different league to anything else when it comes to value since it's launch, in my opinion — yes, even five years later.

Well, until today.

The problem is that the gap has very suddenly closed between it and the next-best cheaper wireless speaker, which is the freshly released Sonos Era 100 SL.

The Sonos speaker has much bigger sound, Android and iOS support for all streaming services, Bluetooth as well as AirPlay and direct app control, and the ability to connect analog devices via an adapter — it's way more capable, but it was fair enough that the HomePod doesn't do all that considering its lower price.

At the start of this week, there was $90 / £70 between them. Today, the gap between them is $30 / £12.

Today's best Sonos Era 100 SL prices

Sonos Era 100 SL
Sonos Era 100 SL: was $189 now $159 at Best Buy

We gave this speaker 4.5 stars in our Sonos Era 100 SL review, based largely on it being a great low price while having impressive audio and connectivity. And now it's even cheaper — it's my top pick for a small wireless speaker.

View Deal
Sonos Era 100 SL
Sonos Era 100 SL: was £169 now £141.55 at Amazon

The Era 100 SL is an even better deal in the UK — for just £12 more than the HomePod mini, you're getting something that's way more futureproof. There's no contest between them any more.

View Deal

Now, that's a slightly unfair comparison — I'm comparing full price to the Sonos' discounted price — but it's a very practical one, because it's the real choice most people will face when they buy.

The biggest sales for something like the Sonos Era 100 SL happen during sales events. Right now, it's Amazon Prime Day. Soon, it will be the July 4th sales. And obviously Black Friday is huge for selling this stuff — the Era 100 SL will be discounted to this kind of level at all these times, and more besides.

The HomePod mini was very rarely discounted, by comparison, and usually only by a couple of bucks. So once this price rise settles in, and at the times most people are actually thinking about which one to buy, the comparison of the $129 / £129 very limited HomePod mini vs the $159 / £141 chad Sonos Era 100 SL is going to be the choice people will actually face.

And despite being the HomePod mini's strongest advocate since its launch, I'm just not going to be able to recommend it any more.

More Prime Day deals in the US

More Prime Day deals in the UK

Matt Bolton
Matt Bolton
Managing Editor, Entertainment

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Entertainment, meaning he's in charge of persuading our team of writers and reviewers to watch the latest TV shows and movies on gorgeous TVs and listen to fantastic speakers and headphones. It's a tough task, as you can imagine. Matt has over a decade of experience in tech publishing, and previously ran the TV & audio coverage for our colleagues at T3.com, and before that he edited T3 magazine. During his career, he's also contributed to places as varied as Creative Bloq, PC Gamer, PetsRadar, MacLife, and Edge. TV and movie nerdism is his speciality, and he goes to the cinema three times a week. He's always happy to explain the virtues of Dolby Vision over a drink, but he might need to use props, like he's explaining the offside rule.

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