Don’t Waste $900 On Apple’s Immersive HomePod Audio Experience

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

One thing that’s always been missing from the otherwise great Apple HomePod and HomePod Mini speakers is true surround sound. The computational audio and software-based replication of surround sound are certainly good enough to get by, but no amount of audio processing can truly replicate the feeling of having more speakers physically around you. Apple is finally introducing four-speaker surround sound with the HomePod Mini 2, but is it worth it?

To get surround sound using Apple devices, you’ll need the latest-generation Apple TV and HomePod Mini 2 (or HomePod Gen 2) speakers — older models aren’t supported. With the Apple TV 4K priced at $299 and four HomePod Mini 2 speakers costing $596 ($149 each), you’re looking at almost $900 for a surround sound system with no subwoofer or center channel. 

The Amazon Echo Dot Max is a great, affordable HomePod alternative if you value compactness, versatility, and ease of setup. Each Echo Dot Max comes with a built-in woofer and tweeter, which gives it an edge over the HomePod Mini’s single full-range driver design. They’re also about $30 cheaper at $120 each on Amazon, and you can pair five of them, with the last one serving as a center channel. Furthermore, you don’t need a top-end Amazon media player, as Alexa Home Theater even works with the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K. Alexa is also considered by many a better, smarter home assistant than Siri, though the new Siri AI might change that. A setup similar to Apple’s will cost roughly $550, which gives you enough budget to add a fifth center channel speaker and a $130 Echo Sub as a dedicated subwoofer for a 5.1 setup that costs $800 — much cheaper than Apple’s four-speaker, no-subwoofer, no-center-channel setup.

This $900 price tag is the minimum for Apple’s new true surround sound. Full-size HomePods still can’t replace a dedicated subwoofer, but they feature built-in woofers and provide louder, fuller sound. A 2-2 configuration with two HomePods and two HomePod Minis comes to about $1,300, while a four-HomePod setup puts you at $1,700.

For a little more than the $900 minimum, you can often find a Samsung HW-Q990F soundbar on sale for $1,199. It’s the best soundbar you can buy in 2026 with an 11.1.4 setup that features 11 ear-level channels, four up-firing height channels for vertical immersion, and a dedicated subwoofer. This greatly outperforms Apple’s $1,700 setup while being closer in price to its cheapest configuration. A great alternative is pairing a Sonos Beam Ultra for $699 with two Era 100 speakers at $189 each for a total of $1,077. This, again, provides a better experience than Apple’s $1,700 package despite being $600 cheaper. You can even add a $499 Sonos Sub Mini and still save $100 compared to getting four HomePods and a new 2026 Apple TV 4K.

At this price, you can also upgrade your home theater experience by getting a genuine surround sound system with more speakers. For instance, you can get a decent Klipsch Dolby Atmos 5.1.4 setup for $749 and pair it with a compatible AV receiver like a $749 Onkyo TX-NR7100. This gets you four Dolby Atmos speakers (two front, two rear) that house up-firing drivers, a dedicated center channel speaker for vocals and dialogue, and a Klipsch R-100SW subwoofer to handle bass and lower frequencies. Between getting all of this for $1,500 and getting four HomePods for $1,700, the former is an easy choice.

Compared with Apple, there are numerous cheaper options that offer the same results, and similarly priced ones that provide a significantly better surround sound experience. This takes away a lot of value from Apple’s immersive spatial audio. However, the HomePod and HomePod Mini are still great devices, and there are certain cases where it might be worth getting them.

If you’re already planning on getting a 2026 Apple TV 4K, that reduces all Apple totals above by $299. Similarly, if you already own two HomePods, you can get two HomePod Mini 2 speakers and have your Apple home theater setup ready with just $300 spent. Another advantage of getting a HomePod or a HomePod Mini is versatility. HomePods aren’t purely TV accessories; you can use them as compact speakers to AirPlay music from your iPhone or connect them to your MacBook or iMac. Their small form factor and light weight also make it easy to move them around the house, something that isn’t possible with speakers in a traditional home theater setup.

In general, the ability to use your HomePods and HomePod Mini 2s as a surround sound system is great if you have other uses for the devices. However, if you’re planning on getting speakers specifically for a TV surround sound system, it’s hard to recommend Apple over other options on the market.