October 8, 2024

Tullio Corradini

Trusted Legal Source

Review: balolo Real Wood TriPod for HomePod Mini

Review: balolo Real Wood TriPod for HomePod Mini

TriPodI’ve been using a pair of HomePod mini speakers for almost two years, and I love them.  For a while, I had them in two different rooms downstairs in my house, and it was fun to have the music flow from room to room.  But since I use them in our living room / family room so much more often than anywhere else, I eventually decided to put both of them in that room and create a stereo pair to make the music even richer.  However, my left HomePod mini is located on a table behind a couch, and because the table is just a little bit lower than the back of the couch, it seemed to me that the HomePod should be elevated just a little bit.  I was surprised to find that there are many products on sale for this very purpose.  The one that I purchased on Amazon, the balolo Real Wood TriPod for HomePod Mini, is exactly what I was looking for: a little elevation in a form factor that looks nice.

What it is

The TriPod, which is handmade in Germany, consists of three legs made of walnut wood attached to a 1.5mm powder-coated steel circular base.

IMG_8317

The feet have cork on the bottom to protect the table and absorb vibration.

IMG_8320

Elevated sound

Using the TriPod couldn’t be easier.  Just place the TriPod in a location and sit your HomePod mini on top of it.  That’s it.  Nothing to attach or anything like that.

The product raises the height of the HomePod mini about 1.25 inches.  For me, that was just enough to get it a little higher behind my couch, which is what I was looking for.

IMG_8323

Does this make a noticeable difference in sound?  To be honest, I cannot say yes using any objective scale, but I feel like it is better.  On the one hand, it makes more sense to me for my HomePod to be a little higher because of the edge of my couch.  On the other hand, Apple clearly designed the acoustics of the HomePod mini to sit on a flat surface and bounce sound off of that surface, and I’m cognizant of the fact that using a stand changes that.

My other HomePod mini is on a shelf, so I didn’t see any reason to raise it even higher.  But for this HomePod mini, the slight elevation seems to make sense to me.

Elegance

The primary reason that I’m a fan of this stand is that it looks great.  I have a lot of wood in my living room, and having wooden feet on this HomePod mini makes it fit into the decor even better. 

IMG_8324

The walnut version that I selected pairs well with a black HomePod mini.  If you have a white HomePod mini, you might want to get the oak version because the wood is a lighter color.

Conclusion

This is a simple product, but it looks great and it does exactly what I wanted.  And unlike many of the other HomePod mini stands that you can find on Amazon that are made of plastic and look cheap, I think that this one looks nice and improves the overall look of the HomePod mini.

Click here to get the balolo Real Wood Tripod for HomePod Mini on Amazon ($29.90).