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HomePod As the 14 day window closes who’s returning their HomePod this week?
- Thread starter MiamiC70
- Start date
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I just returned mine. Siri is dysfunctional and failed on about half the commands I gave it. The sound quality was fine, but I thought my pair of AudioEngine A5s sounded better. I moved the HomePod into my bedroom and used it to listen to podcasts at night (helps me sleep), but ultimately my iPhone is just fine for that and I don't need a $350 smart speaker for 10 minutes of sound each night.
On the plus side, all this ****ing around with audio motivated me to get a Toslink -> 3.5 mm amplifier so I could hook the A5s to my Apple TV, and I'm loving that setup!
I ordered another. Thanks to returns, they are a few bucks off open box at Best Buy.
Still not sure what to do. The main focus for me getting the homepod is sound and i have simply not used it like i thought to take advantage of the sound. I'm thinking would replacing the homepod with an amazon echo for lounge and the dot for my room be a better option. As at the moment i'm using it more to control my lights and general tasks. hard decision and got a few more days to decide.
I just got mine, so I have like 12 days left 
I'm enjoying the speaker, its one of those odd products that doesn't do much, but what it does, is very good.
I'm enjoying the speaker, its one of those odd products that doesn't do much, but what it does, is very good.
I'm keeping mine. I bought one specifically for music (it's stated design), and have been pleasantly surprised by how well it works as an audio out for my Apple TV as well. Now, before all the home theater people jump on me, I KNOW this speaker does not replace a good quality, discreet 5.1/7.1 setup. That's now why I bought it. I had hoped that I could use it to improve the sound over my TV speakers in my small apartment and that is exactly what it has done.
So, for me, HomePod has met all my expectations and I will be keeping it for a good long time.
So, for me, HomePod has met all my expectations and I will be keeping it for a good long time.
Purchasing a second one ASAP......
Sound is awesome and Siri works great for what I need it for.......my wife can do the rest.
Couldn't agree more!
Sound is awesome and Siri works great for what I need it for.......my wife can do the rest.
Couldn't agree more!
I am on the fence. Sound wise it's "OK" but i have better sounding computer speakers and a full blown home theater setup if I want more than that. Siri, just SUCKS! I am frustrated with the limitations of the software and limitations imposed by Apple. Also, the fact that there are no release date for software updates, feature updates is a bit disconcerting. \
The ONE saving grace is i am using it as a Homekit hub and for that it works "OK" but honestly not much better than my Apple TV4. So counting down myself trying to convince myself I need this thing.
The ONE saving grace is i am using it as a Homekit hub and for that it works "OK" but honestly not much better than my Apple TV4. So counting down myself trying to convince myself I need this thing.
Will purchase a 2nd for the bedroom for true stereo once available. Didn’t have a bedroom music option so it was a perfect fit. Looking forward to additional software updates, more media source options, possible multiple iPhone pairings, etc... Hardware is solid enough for many software enhancements. Reminds me of the early days of the iPod, Apple TV and iPhone.
Only wish it had a battery for portability between rooms, even if it only lasted a couple hours.
Only wish it had a battery for portability between rooms, even if it only lasted a couple hours.
Bought 2 a few days ago, will be returning both.
I switch between rooms a lot, in theory using AirPlay. My listening habits are 60/40 podcasts/music.
Airplay however is absolute #### for moving between rooms I find, it works, or doesn’t work, it works again. Sometimes it connects to my macs, sometimes doesn’t.
Will stick to using my Echo Plus’s for casual use and my hifi for serious listening for now. Pity.
If I learn Airplay 2 is a massive improvement in this regard I’ll try again. But I’m not hopeful tbh. I love Apple hardware but have always found any Apple services/connectivity/cloud/handoff/continuity related stuff utterly unreliable and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon unfortunately.
I’ve no issue with the limitations (currently) of Siri, it’s the unreliability of simple connectivity that annoys the hell out of me.
I switch between rooms a lot, in theory using AirPlay. My listening habits are 60/40 podcasts/music.
Airplay however is absolute #### for moving between rooms I find, it works, or doesn’t work, it works again. Sometimes it connects to my macs, sometimes doesn’t.
Will stick to using my Echo Plus’s for casual use and my hifi for serious listening for now. Pity.
If I learn Airplay 2 is a massive improvement in this regard I’ll try again. But I’m not hopeful tbh. I love Apple hardware but have always found any Apple services/connectivity/cloud/handoff/continuity related stuff utterly unreliable and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon unfortunately.
I’ve no issue with the limitations (currently) of Siri, it’s the unreliability of simple connectivity that annoys the hell out of me.
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Keeping mine, haven't considered for a second that I would return them. I'm even happy so far with Apple Music, hadn't had any interest in it before getting the HomePod but decided to try it and now appreciate the access to music I don't already have. We'll see how long my subscription lasts, but the speakers will stay, regardless.
I am looking forward to Airplay and other software improvements, naturally. The 'stereo' capability will be very interesting to experience, given how good the sound quality of the HomePod is already. And I will really appreciate any other improvements that Apple might/will introduce in how the speakers can be controlled, how I can stream different music to different speakers and control it all from iPhone or iPad, etc.
And finally I expect to begin trying out some home automation gadgets now that I have other equipment that can take advantage of it. There are a couple of things that I can see myself adding over the next 6 months or so, step by step.
I am looking forward to Airplay and other software improvements, naturally. The 'stereo' capability will be very interesting to experience, given how good the sound quality of the HomePod is already. And I will really appreciate any other improvements that Apple might/will introduce in how the speakers can be controlled, how I can stream different music to different speakers and control it all from iPhone or iPad, etc.
And finally I expect to begin trying out some home automation gadgets now that I have other equipment that can take advantage of it. There are a couple of things that I can see myself adding over the next 6 months or so, step by step.
It's been exciting to see so many happy buyers locally selling their Sonos gear.
This is finally going to allow me to get a complete Sonos Soundbar + rear Speakers setup for a good deal. Everyone wins!
This is finally going to allow me to get a complete Sonos Soundbar + rear Speakers setup for a good deal. Everyone wins!
I returned mine yesterday. I agree with reviewers and everyone that the HomePod sounds amazing, but the software side of things seems half-baked. Siri is still not that reliable in my experience and the interconnectivitiy with the Iphone seems clunky. For example, I can hand off a phone call to the HomePod, but I can't make a phone directly from the HomePod. That seems like a very strange design decision, especially given I can make calls with my Amazon Echo, which is not at an Apple product. For posters reading this, please save your comments that Apple didn't advertise this as a smart speaker. Whether you like it or not, this thing is competing against and will be compared to Amazon Echo and Google Home. It should provide basic functionality like phones calls. I have not closed the door on the HomePod and will consider it again once the software improves, but I will stick with Amazon for now.
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I'm still on the fence about buying one, so threads like this are helpful. I actually was planning on pulling the trigger this weekend but one thing stopped me- finding out that while you can set alarms, you cannot customize the alarm sound. You only get the default tone. It's extraordinary to me that they made a music smart speaker that cannot have a song or playlist function as an alarm clock. It's such a basic feature and the thing IS FOR MUSIC! Hahaha!
This is the kind of very odd features-hobbling that Apple seems to do with first-gen products that has me thinking I should wait for the eventual Homepod 2. I might weaken and get it anyway now because the sound quality is the most important selling point to me, but my goodness for such an expensive premium music speaker, you'd think you could do something as basic as wake up to music.
This is the kind of very odd features-hobbling that Apple seems to do with first-gen products that has me thinking I should wait for the eventual Homepod 2. I might weaken and get it anyway now because the sound quality is the most important selling point to me, but my goodness for such an expensive premium music speaker, you'd think you could do something as basic as wake up to music.
There's so many more issues that I would at least wait for a major firmware revision before you jump on this train. You'll get a good open box deal at this rate.
Which Sonos are you selling?
[doublepost=1519136647][/doublepost]
Which Sonos?
The linked video seems to be only that Siri is unable to make out the songs being requested.
What other issues are there?
For the first cut it does, but then it gets to recognizing artists and not playing (see the second cut and last cut). That alone, knowing what I want, telling me that it's coming, and not providing it, is probably the worst part. That makes you feel like you're "fighting with a stupid robot".
In HomeKit I just discovered that the AppleTV and HomePod fight over who is active to the point of both of them going Standby and I have to go to my AppleTV and force it as active again, meanwhile all my automations go to the wayside. This only happens when HomePod is plugged in after some time (happened twice in the last week so far).
Genius doesn't work at all, at least on iTunes Match, which is strange because Genius results come from the cloud.
I've had multiple instances of Airplay pausing for no discernible reason and it doesn't happen on AppleTV.
I feel it might be fair to do a much longer video with the HomePod bugs.