Apple HomeView vs HomePod mini 2 vs Apple TV 4K vs HomePod

Check what you were going to buy anyway

All four are home hubs, and all four have Thread networking technology. So the hub job does not decide this. What decides it is what else you want the device to be.

If you were already going to buy an Apple TV for the television, or a HomePod for music, buy that and you have your hub. If you only want a hub, the HomePod mini 2 at £149 does the job for half the price of the next one.

Our guide to which Apple home hub you need explains what a hub does and what older devices can still do. This page is the decision between the four current ones.

What each one gives up

HomePod mini 2 (£149). The cheapest, with Thread, a temperature and humidity sensor and listening for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Apple says Siri AI will come to it “via a future software update”.

Apple HomeView (£299). The one with a display: a 7-inch Multi-Touch screen, a Home Camera face that streams up to nine camera feeds at once, and an ambient light sensor as well as temperature and humidity. Siri AI is available at launch in UK English, as a beta. There are two models at £299 each, and the Wall Mounted one comes without a power adapter or cable; the mount, cable and adapter (20W minimum) are each sold separately, with Schneider’s Home Power Mount from £54.95. Setup needs an iPhone on iOS 27.2 or later, or an iPad on iPadOS 27.2 or later.

Apple TV 4K (4th generation) (£299). The only one of the four that Apple lists with Gigabit Ethernet, and it has Wi-Fi 7. Siri AI is available at launch in UK English, as a beta. With a compatible doorbell, notifications appear on the TV, and you can see who is there and unlock the door without stopping what you are watching. Apple does not list sensors or alarm listening for it, and the HDMI cable is sold separately. It is the box that Apple’s four-speaker HomePod surround set-up needs.

HomePod (2nd generation) (£349). As a hub it matches the mini: Thread, a temperature and humidity sensor and alarm listening. It is the oldest of the four, from 2023, and Apple lists 802.11n Wi-Fi rather than Wi-Fi 6E. The extra £200 over the mini is for a much bigger speaker: 2.3 kg against 335 grams. Apple’s Certified Refurbished store had it at £299 when we checked.

Which to buy

Buy the HomePod mini 2 if you want a hub and nothing more. It has Thread, the temperature and humidity sensor and alarm listening, at £149.

Buy Apple HomeView if you want to run the house by touch: a screen on the worktop or the wall, with camera feeds on it. Price the Wall Mounted model with its mount and power before you choose it.

Buy the Apple TV 4K (4th generation) if one was going under the television anyway, and especially if you can plug it into the router by Ethernet. Do not buy one only as a hub; the mini does that for half the price. If you already own a 3rd-generation box, read our Apple TV 4K 4th versus 3rd generation comparison first.

Buy the HomePod (2nd generation) if music is the reason. For home cinema, Apple’s surround set-up is four HomePod (2nd generation) or HomePod mini 2 speakers in matching front and rear pairs, with an Apple TV 4K (4th generation).