Love mine, use them everyday from music to podcasts to telling Siri to do things. $250 (Black Friday prices) is a much more acceptable price. $199 and they would sell so well.
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Apple Now Selling Refurbished HomePod for $299
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Huh?? None of this is true in the U.S.
MEH! I guarantee all of you that you'll be able to buy a brand new one from most stores for $300 on Black Friday weekend. Best Buy, B&H, most of them. It already saw a sale earlier in the year so I would expect a sale soon. Or $50 store credit if they can't discount the HomePod itself.
For $149 I would pick one up for fun. I really don't need one since I listen to music at home through my 5.1 receiver. It's like the Watch. I didn't need one but when I saw the Series 1 42mm for $229 at Best Buy in January of last year, I said what the heck. If I didn't like it, I would've just given it to a relative.
I have a HomePod and an echo dot. I think the HomePod is way better in sound for music and podcasts. I agree that it may not be 7 times better. 5x seems about right with an apple premium for me. With a refurb coming in at 6x I don't think I'll ever be willing to pay the $350 again.
If there's a black Friday sale I may be tempted to pick another one up to see how well it sounds as a pair.
If there's a black Friday sale I may be tempted to pick another one up to see how well it sounds as a pair.
Isn't Siri supposed to be the primary way of interacting with the HomePod?
Fidelity wise, I’m sold.
The lone thing preventing me from pulling the trigger is the option for this baby to run sans power cable - which likely isn’t going to happen any time soon. I need portable audio.
Likely, as soon a I get a Bose something-of-another, HomePod will come out with this ability.
The lone thing preventing me from pulling the trigger is the option for this baby to run sans power cable - which likely isn’t going to happen any time soon. I need portable audio.
Likely, as soon a I get a Bose something-of-another, HomePod will come out with this ability.
I’ll stick with my Google Home setup. Several around the house. Can play Google Play Music... can have them all play simultaneously.... can tell it to cast TV channels from YouTube TV to my Chromecasts.
I absolutely love our Echo Dot for how well Alexa works and how well it does everything where Siri simply falls flat on its face.
You can ask it nearly anything and it'll do its best to get you the right answer. Siri... simply doesn't know.
Still too much considering the average quality speakers and sound it produces, and the "virtual assistant". As long as it's got Siri it'll continue to be a shadow of what Alexa and Google Home can do.
Not really shocked at some of the snark comments about the HomePod in this thread. The reality is, Apple intended the HomePod to be one thing first and only, and that was to be a music player. And it does exactly that. It really was meant to be more about the sound than anything else, is it priced high? Yes, but given that the sound quality it puts out, you can pay a lot more for speakers that don’t compare to the HomePod on this level. The fact that it’s being discounted, makes even more enticing for those who were waiting.
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Have you actually tested the HomePod? The sound compared to other ‘Smart speakers’ is by far above average. It’s fairly impressive with the bass and treble, but more balanced where the sounds travels without sounding ‘distorted’.
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Have you actually tested the HomePod? The sound compared to other ‘Smart speakers’ is by far above average. It’s fairly impressive with the bass and treble, but more balanced where the sounds travels without sounding ‘distorted’.
Yes I have. It's a good speaker. But for the price point its not. The speaker is a ~$150 level, tops. The "Smart" part is not worth that much extra at all, ESPECIALLY with Siri, which if anything devalues it.
I really like the HomePod but the price should be closer to $199 for a refurbished unit given that you have to have an Apple Music subscription to really get the most out of it. New units shouldn’t cost more than $249.
My wife and I don’t have kids, don’t drive expensive cars and live in a modestly sized condo so as a result I’ve got the disposable income to shell out for Apple’s more expensive products and while I don’t regret the purchase if I had mouths to feed, a college fund for the kids, etc there’s no way I’d buy it either new or refurbished at the current price point.
My wife and I don’t have kids, don’t drive expensive cars and live in a modestly sized condo so as a result I’ve got the disposable income to shell out for Apple’s more expensive products and while I don’t regret the purchase if I had mouths to feed, a college fund for the kids, etc there’s no way I’d buy it either new or refurbished at the current price point.
And this is where I think you don’t understand the value of the HomePod, it’s not about Siri or being a smart speaker, it’s a music player first. If you revisit Apples marketing for the HomePod, it was all about boasting it’s audio experience and Siri was really not existent in terms of what Apple wanted the HomePod to be.
FTR, Siri actually works fairly well the HomePod, and even surprisingly, the microphone picks up the voice from a decent distance when attempting to issue commands.
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Just got mine in the mail last night. $230 refurb off of Ebay from Blinq that turned out to be sent from Best Buy and looks like it was a customer return essentially. Perfect shape though.
A bit skeptical but I kind of like it.
Easily play my collection from my Mac to the thing using my phone. Or play music on my Phone. It will recognize music on my phone by voice but probably because that music is from itunes.
Also have tested it out as an Apple TV speaker and surprisingly works great there.
Sound is pretty good and pretty loud.
If I get Apple Music I think this thing will really shine. It's basically an Apple Music accessory.
A bit skeptical but I kind of like it.
Easily play my collection from my Mac to the thing using my phone. Or play music on my Phone. It will recognize music on my phone by voice but probably because that music is from itunes.
Also have tested it out as an Apple TV speaker and surprisingly works great there.
Sound is pretty good and pretty loud.
If I get Apple Music I think this thing will really shine. It's basically an Apple Music accessory.
Bought one first week they were out knowing it was not full featured but did not expect Apple to give this thing so little attention for 9 months. I reject the notion they’re trying to figure out what it can be. Amazon is showing what it can be. Now it’s up to Apple to do it better. There have been no significant feature upgrades IMO. Airplay2 should have been with launch so that doesn’t count. Nor is it that much of an upgrade for my use from Airplay1. It sounds good, but it’s clearly not a replacement for a real stereo system. My brother in laws Sonos provides a far richer experience with an actual sub. Can’t do that w HomePod. Anyway high hopes apple was going to give this thing love after launch but no such luck. It’s been absent from all media and marketing.
I really don't think that Siri on HomePod is as dumb as people think. I have used Amazon's Alexa for a couple years now, and recently purchased a HomePod and I believe Siri is generally comparable. It can tell me the news, sports scores, traffic, weather, etc. And with the new update you can set multiple timers as well as make and answer phone calls, which is super helpful if your phone is in the other room and someone calls you (I don't wear my Apple Watch while at home). Sure, you can't play games with it nor can you order Domino's or call an Uber, but who actually uses a smart speaker to do that? Most Alexa skills are useless anyway.
Maybe if it worked as a Bluetooth speaker and I could use my Spotify or any other streaming services. But until then they can keep it, especially at that price.