I use HomePod minis, because I already had them, but if not I might consider a low-cost standalone option like the OTBR/esp32-based GL-S20 with PoE from GL-iNet; I use their security appliance and am very happy with it.
It certainly makes a lot of sense to get Thread for “free” as part of a WiFi 6 upgrade, which if you haven’t done yet, is a big improvement in WiFi performance. At least a few seem to have managed to import Eero credentials to make it their preferred Thread network, so that might be a viable option.