Apple Drops HomePod Price to $299, Down From $349

[albebaubles]

I never get why people complain about it. Works perfectly for me but then again I speak correctly

And with the ability to add custom commands with workflow it's fantastic.

My friend has a problem enunciating when he is lit -- he actually called the sheriff's office on us one night asking siri to play something (I shot the sheriff or something)

 

[barmann]

Why so many people on this site want Spotify integration is beyond me.

It's not a usable speaker if you can't feed everything through it , from all sources .
Why anybody buys those things with all it's limitations - that's beyond me .

 

[masterin]

Is there any HomePod owner with an EMF reader out there?

I recently used an app to messure the radiation and HomePod seems to be red hot from every side. Since this isn’t a body attached device I understand it doesn’t have to be strictly rated, but I would be interesied in profesional SAR/EMF radiation number since I have it near a bed...

 

[Cesar Battistini]

What room do you have it in that you don’t talk? People around here talk in every room including the bathrooms, closets, and basement.

HomePod dances around the Echo 2 on sound quality, and the audio tech on that think is worth 1000 USD.

 

[4jasontv]

HomePod dances around the Echo 2 on sound quality, and the audio tech on that think is worth 1000 USD.

Not even remotely related to the question.

 

[steeevo]

You can compre this speaker to a sonos play 3 and then it seems like a bargain.

All the moaners about this product have not got a clue about speakers. Apple can justify the high price tag for the array of speakers and technology inside this little thing.

It is truly impressive what they have done, if you dont know good sound and think the echo is a good speaker you should not be looking at the homepod and moaning about the price tag

 

[albebaubles]

Sorry but everyone who bought one of these will regret it...I give HomePod max 2 years and it will be abandoned as well...and then you'll have to get into a whole new eco system again.

I'm grateful HomePod is not in my country yet so I went all in Sonos and with AirPlay2 they are pretty amazing.

Using Bluetooth Explorer I can see that the HomePod broadcasts it is bluetooth -- might be fun to reverse engineers the calls.
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It doesn't really deal with regional accents too well so you can speak 'perfectly normally' and still get odd results.

I get a kick out of changing the locals and voices and siri rarely misunderstands me. Amazing how often I holler at siri to pause the appletv because I'm at the stove and missing something important in the plot.

 

[Fozziebear71]

Bestbuy is still advertising $70 off at a price of $279. It will be interesting to see if they further reduce it to keep it in line with Apple new price. I have been getting close to purchasing several Homepods and this will definitely hurry that along.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Still hideously overpriced and uncompetitive against Google and Amazon. It’s all iPhones, iPads and MacBooks in my house but I’m not paying 300 quid for a speaker when I can get 3 Echoes and still have change.

 

[TBone67]

I bought one and took it back after 45 min. didn't think the sound was what they said it would be and it's useless as a smart speaker. Jobs would have never released a sub par anything like this. All Apple is good at anymore is gouging the public. I'm about over with Apple products

 

[bandrews]

You get BBC News on demand. The other stations would be an odd thing to include since Apple Music has its own music mixes beyond any traditional radio station.

It's not the same as Radio 4 and Radio

You get BBC News on demand. The other stations would be an odd thing to include since Apple Music has its own music mixes beyond any traditional radio station.

Nothing Apple has come close for my tastes as having Radio 4 and Radio 6 Music. Might be fine for you but I doubt I'm alone in wanting access to other radio stations.

 

[Pipper99]

I bought one and took it back after 45 min. didn't think the sound was what they said it would be and it's useless as a smart speaker. Jobs would have never released a sub par anything like this. All Apple is good at anymore is gouging the public. I'm about over with Apple products

I bought one from Best Buy when it was on sale for $249, and I returned it. It didn't sound anywhere near what I'd hoped, and I couldn't get it to stop firing off an alarm that I'd set on my iPhone at 6 am without unplugging it.

 

[archer75]

It's not a usable speaker if you can't feed everything through it , from all sources .
Why anybody buys those things with all it's limitations - that's beyond me .

If the app supports airplay you can feed it to it. Yes, spotify and others can connect just fine.

 

[realtuner]

Is there any HomePod owner with an EMF reader out there?

I recently used an app to messure the radiation and HomePod seems to be red hot from every side. Since this isn’t a body attached device I understand it doesn’t have to be strictly rated, but I would be interesied in profesional SAR/EMF radiation number since I have it near a bed...

You used an App to measure radiation? Please go on....
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Still hideously overpriced and uncompetitive against Google and Amazon. It’s all iPhones, iPads and MacBooks in my house but I’m not paying 300 quid for a speaker when I can get 3 Echoes and still have change.

Echos sound like complete garbage compared to the HomePod. The competition is Bose and Sonos, not the Echo or Home Mini.

I have 2 HomePods in my house and they work great for what they do - play music and provide quality sound. I don’t know how anyone could listen to music through an Echo. Might as well go back to AM radio.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I can’t believe that question took so long to come up. If you. Ought them 14 days or less ago yes. Otherwise no and nor should you.

YOU'RE NOT MY REAL DAD. You're not even the real Rick Grimes.

 

[yakapo]

Lemme know when it’s $99.

 

[coolfactor]

Once again, you write your article as if everyone lives in the United States. So annoying.

Let's do some quick checks.

Price in Canada is $399.00 CAD. When checking today's currency exchange rate, this translates to $298.68 USD, so perfectly on par! Good work, Apple!

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Echos sound like complete garbage compared to the HomePod. The competition is Bose and Sonos, not the Echo or Home Mini.

I have 2 HomePods in my house and they work great for what they do - play music and provide quality sound. I don’t know how anyone could listen to music through an Echo. Might as well go back to AM radio.

The Echo is not that bad, I have 3 in my home and it’s good enough for listening to music. I’m happy with the price too.

 

[coolfactor]

No thanks. Not even interested at $99. I don't need "smart speakers" in my home, especially ones that rely on Siri which is absolutely horrendous.

Whoever is in charge of Siri development needs a damn good shoeing.

Please validate your situation. There are many factors that may influence Siri's performance on an individual basis. Internet connectivity. Background noise. Accent of speaker.

Can you share a bit more details on your experience? We all know that "Siri on HomePod" is lacking, but where is Siri failing for you on other devices?

 

[goobot]

Open up Bluetooth...
Who would buy a speaker that only works with iPhones? Pure Apple ignorance.

 

[FyerFyer]

This has to be up there with the worst Apple product I’ve ever seen. $249? For that?

Apple looks like it could see a huge fall from grace. Even this forum used to be full of fan boys, but now it seems to have got to the point that the tables are now 80/20 negative whereas before it may have possibly been the other way around.

Seriously, did anyone actually buy this??

 

[Ian4Mac]

It looks like the "low cost" HomePod is itself.

 

[Pennypac]

Apple needs to bundle $199 HomePod with free 2yr Apple Music subscription. No compelling reason to buy otherwise

 

[Moonlight]

No offense but -$50 from Apple is like Ramen giving you a free noodle with every package purchased haha!

So 350 divided by 50 is 7... So are you saying that Ramen only has 6 noodles and its like getting a 7th free? Because that would be accurate except Ramen has many more noodles. Your attempt to minimize the value of the savings doesn't work.

 

[sofila]

You can compre this speaker to a sonos play 3 and then it seems like a bargain.

All the moaners about this product have not got a clue about speakers. Apple can justify the high price tag for the array of speakers and technology inside this little thing.

It is truly impressive what they have done, if you dont know good sound and think the echo is a good speaker you should not be looking at the homepod and moaning about the price tag

It is not difficult to believe that they are fantastic. So impressive that some people here have praised the audio quality months before its release and without a chance to actually listen to the speaker itself. Obviously very difficult that now they show a change of judgment in this regard.
My personal test turned out to be very disappointing, perhaps too high expectations. Add that I consider it too closed ... conclusion: not worth the price. Small detail: it's not for sale in my country (Europe) yet. Yet...if it ever happens