“It may well have Siri’s smarts, but Apple wants you to know that the new HomePod speaker is all about great sound quality. It’s also about the promise of spatially-aware sound-projecting speakers,” Scott Stein writes for CNET. “That was my quick takeaway after getting to hear a quick demo of Apple’s new speaker in a controlled environment versus the $180 Amazon Echo (£150, US price converts to AU$240) and the $300 Sonos Play:3 (£300, AU$450).”
“HomePod puts vocals in a direct center channel, and beams ambient sounds around for what Apple says is a more omnidirectional music experience. I walked around, and it sounded good from multiple parts of the room,” Stein writes. “I also got try two HomePods at once, set up like stereo speakers. The HomePods combined to give a more surround-feel music experience. According to Apple, HomePod is aware of other HomePods in the room, and can dynamically adjust music accordingly for the best spatial sound.”
“HomePod came off as bolder and more vivid than Sonos Play:3 in the experience I tried, and a lot better than Amazon Echo. I’d also say the music sounded consistently vivid and crisp in a quiet space, more so than the Sonos and Amazon comparisons on-hand,” Stein writes. “The HomePod is a big step up from Apple’s last speaker product (remember 2006’s Apple Hi-Fi?).”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Superior.
Once they finally get something shipping in quantity, it’ll be fun to watch how quickly Apple takes the top end of the market away from Amazon’s Echo since Apple’s solution will certainly have unique advantages within Apple’s ecosystem that makes it the obvious choice for Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch users. — MacDailyNews, May 10, 2017
More verdicts:
https://twitter.com/BenBajarin/status/871840225357463552
https://twitter.com/reneritchie/status/871871773926711302
HomePod is ridiculously under-priced for the reference-grade sound quality it produces. Like AirPods, Apple is looking for marketshare. pic.twitter.com/IImm7tvuqN
— Brian Roemmele (@BrianRoemmele) June 5, 2017
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s new HomePod sounds incredible! – June 6, 2017
Apple HomePod takes on Amazon Echo – June 6, 2017
Apple reveals HomePod smart home music speaker – June 5, 2017
Newsflash: Apple sells premium products at premium prices to premium customers – October 23, 2012
Can the HomePod be treated as an Internet radio as well?? So you can get like I Heart Radio type stations? I would suppose it’s not just about Apple Music.
Obviously, you don’t have Apple Music.
Some of us don’t *want* Apple Music, and if this device is intended to draw people into a music subscription it should be priced far lower. At the very least, I’d expect this device to accept my Airplay stream, whether it’s Pandora or my albums.
Crapple Musik streams at 128k AAC which is a lossy format, so the pretense that it is in any way High Fidelity is just Bullshit plain and simple. Of course, if you have been listening to rap on a Beats headset you might think it is.
The Bass driver is reported to be 4 inches and the production of solid Bass involves the movement of significant amounts of air as lower frequencies behave much differently than higher ones. The original Klipschorn actually uses the walls of the room as an extension of the folded horn that produces Bass. The human ear also perceives Bass differently- something Bose famously used with the Acoustimass Speaker Line well before most anyone else. Also factor in the case is small, which means the unit is either ported (sloppy bottom end) or sealed (tighter Bass but limited by the air in the enclosure). Either way, the quality of the Bass is not likely very high quality.
The other reason to call Bullshit is that others writing on the subject said the display models were not fully functioning, so I would seriously doubt it is that highly representative of what ships.
I had the 3 month trial. I guess I’m a bit of a Luddite musically speaking. But at my age that’s to be expected. 😉
It’s a Bluetooth speaker. With AirPlay 2. Any music/radio app can play to it wirelessly.
You sure about that?
Hey! I think you’re on to something… Sorry, it’s something Captain Obvious wouldn’t have missed.
Why the fuck would you want to listen to anything from iHeartDogShitRadio?
I listen to a local AM radio station sometimes and the reception DOES sound like DogShitRadio without WiFi streaming the signal.
So…I showed this to my wife and she says, “That sounds awesome. But……..I’m not putting a roll of toilet paper in my living room.” AND NOW THAT’S ALL I CAN SEE.
Get the Space Gray one and STFU.
or the brown one
You just got Zuned!
Then find a new wife who appreciates Apple products. /jk
Good one, Jeff. You’re wife is right 🙂
‘You are wife is right?’
Don’t want to see a roll of toilet paper?
Marshmallow.
you’re welcome
With my medical issues, that could be quite convenient… : )
It reminds me of a roll of twine.
Can the Homepods function as a home theater system? like receiving the signal from apple TV while playing a 5.1 concert or movie?
Doubtful, there will probably be some latency. Unless there is a optical input (like on the Sonos playbar) or hdmi input/output to be compatible with the newer Apple TV. Very unlikely.
The issue here, yet again, is for those who want an “assistant” Siri is dumber than shit. Siri is absolutely horrible
PEBKAC
Yes I’ve owned one of them thar “HomePods” for years in my backyard shed.