If you’re talking about volume when playing video on Apple TV or AirPlay that’s another story - that plays at like 1/3 the volume of music. I would expect a software fix for that soon.
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Consumer Reports: Google Home Max and Sonos One Sound Better Than HomePod
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I just bought a HomePod and my Sonos and Google Home Max arrived last week.
I don’t know how Consumer Reports came to their conclusion.
HomePod >>> Google Home. This isn’t even a contest. Google Home sounds cheap, distorts like crazy, and has a “small” sound. It’s also terribly directional so it sounds bad at a lot of listening positions.
HomePod > > Sonos One, although it’s somewhat closer. Way better bass response from the HomePod and a much more room filling sound. The Sonos has a much clearer sound than the Google, but doesn’t seem as loud or filling as the HomePod. None of them were as clean at high volumes as HomePod. Not close there.
Why you should listen to me at least somewhat: I have $15,000 in home theater audio equipment, so I care about sound quality.
The HomePod is certainly not my home theater (just my sub costs over $3k) but it has good bass, good power, and surprisingly clean sound at any volume. It’s easily better than the Google Max or Sonos One. Easily. The Google is BY FAR the worst of the 3.
I turned my home theater to about half power and I couldn’t even hear the HomePod at full volume.
I don’t know how Consumer Reports came to their conclusion.
HomePod >>> Google Home. This isn’t even a contest. Google Home sounds cheap, distorts like crazy, and has a “small” sound. It’s also terribly directional so it sounds bad at a lot of listening positions.
HomePod > > Sonos One, although it’s somewhat closer. Way better bass response from the HomePod and a much more room filling sound. The Sonos has a much clearer sound than the Google, but doesn’t seem as loud or filling as the HomePod. None of them were as clean at high volumes as HomePod. Not close there.
Why you should listen to me at least somewhat: I have $15,000 in home theater audio equipment, so I care about sound quality.
The HomePod is certainly not my home theater (just my sub costs over $3k) but it has good bass, good power, and surprisingly clean sound at any volume. It’s easily better than the Google Max or Sonos One. Easily. The Google is BY FAR the worst of the 3.
I turned my home theater to about half power and I couldn’t even hear the HomePod at full volume.
Ultimately best to try Home Pod yourself in your own setting if considering buying one. Like many say in terms of sound for any speaker it’s all subjective.
Having one myself plus Sonos speakers I can say the Home Pod is a great sounding speaker and fully recommend.
Having one myself plus Sonos speakers I can say the Home Pod is a great sounding speaker and fully recommend.
Today I did an extensive hearing test against my Sonos 1’s in stereo configuration and the HomePod sounded more fuller and like you said with better bass response. I prefer the HomePod it’s a great sound for the price. It’s a lifestyle speaker and very Wife friendly as well lolI just bought a HomePod and my Sonos and Google Home Max arrived last week.
I don’t know how Consumer Reports came to their conclusion.
HomePod >>> Google Home. This isn’t even a contest. Google Home sounds cheap, distorts like crazy, and has a “small” sound. It’s also terribly directional so it sounds bad at a lot of listening positions.
HomePod > > Sonos One, although it’s somewhat closer. Way better bass response from the HomePod and a much more room filling sound. The Sonos has a much clearer sound than the Google, but doesn’t seem as loud or filling as the HomePod. None of them were as clean at high volumes as HomePod. Not close there.
Why you should listen to me at least somewhat: I have $15,000 in home theater audio equipment, so I care about sound quality.
The HomePod is certainly not my home theater (just my sub costs over $3k) but it has good bass, good power, and surprisingly clean sound at any volume. It’s easily better than the Google Max or Sonos One. Easily. The Google is BY FAR the worst of the 3.
I turned my home theater to about half power and I couldn’t even hear the HomePod at full volume.
I took some time to read some of the other reviews that CR did for other wireless speakers. After reading about twenty or so, I found the reviews to be remarkably unoriginal and unexpectedly similar. Many catch phrases used and non musically oriented descriptions. I was also surprised that many of the reviews commented on the differences between bluetooth playback and wired playback and saw no difference. I would have expected someone with keen ears to notice the difference between a compressed bluetooth playback and a wired uncompressed playback at least some of the time if not most of the time. I came away with the impression that perhaps the CR audio reviewer(s) may not be as talented as we assume.
What embarrassment? I think they were proven correct and forced Apple to respond to fix the problem. They are the consumer's champion.
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I can't speak to their competence in doing the review of the product but they are not biased like it claimed by some.
The MacBook issue for me revealed how artificial a test they were running, kind of amateur hour.
And here, they should simply know better than to test a device in circumstances not resembling a single person's home. It's a device that adjusts based on its surroundings and you put it in a totally artificial, unrealistic environment?
Maybe next time they can test the speakers for underwater performance.
I just bought a HomePod and my Sonos and Google Home Max arrived last week.
I don’t know how Consumer Reports came to their conclusion.
HomePod >>> Google Home. This isn’t even a contest. Google Home sounds cheap, distorts like crazy, and has a “small” sound. It’s also terribly directional so it sounds bad at a lot of listening positions.
HomePod > > Sonos One, although it’s somewhat closer. Way better bass response from the HomePod and a much more room filling sound. The Sonos has a much clearer sound than the Google, but doesn’t seem as loud or filling as the HomePod. None of them were as clean at high volumes as HomePod. Not close there.
Why you should listen to me at least somewhat: I have $15,000 in home theater audio equipment, so I care about sound quality.
The HomePod is certainly not my home theater (just my sub costs over $3k) but it has good bass, good power, and surprisingly clean sound at any volume. It’s easily better than the Google Max or Sonos One. Easily. The Google is BY FAR the worst of the 3.
I turned my home theater to about half power and I couldn’t even hear the HomePod at full volume.
I havnt heard HomePod, but as a sonos owner, ive been very very happy at the price point of 150sh for sonos ones. Got a few around the house. At double the price or whatever HomePod is, I'd hope its better. I dont like google or products from them so I cant put an opinion there. I'd like to hear a HomePod eventually but havnt the sonos 1's around the house and being pretty seamless with pandora, dont even use the sonos app anymore unless I want to update it.
More products=more competition and encourages them to R&D better products. I didn't like Bose attempted speakers, I cant remember what they was though, but heard one of them (think it was Bose) and was utter crap to sonos
I just bought a HomePod and my Sonos and Google Home Max arrived last week.
I don’t know how Consumer Reports came to their conclusion.
HomePod >>> Google Home. This isn’t even a contest. Google Home sounds cheap, distorts like crazy, and has a “small” sound. It’s also terribly directional so it sounds bad at a lot of listening positions.
HomePod > > Sonos One, although it’s somewhat closer. Way better bass response from the HomePod and a much more room filling sound. The Sonos has a much clearer sound than the Google, but doesn’t seem as loud or filling as the HomePod. None of them were as clean at high volumes as HomePod. Not close there.
Why you should listen to me at least somewhat: I have $15,000 in home theater audio equipment, so I care about sound quality.
The HomePod is certainly not my home theater (just my sub costs over $3k) but it has good bass, good power, and surprisingly clean sound at any volume. It’s easily better than the Google Max or Sonos One. Easily. The Google is BY FAR the worst of the 3.
I turned my home theater to about half power and I couldn’t even hear the HomePod at full volume.
Funny how a blind test didn't pick the homepod as best though right?
Confirmation bias seems to be a factor.
Like this guy:
who clearly picks the Google Home Max, even after cues from the presenter and then just goes all confirmation bias after he takes his blindfold off. He said 3 and then squirms as he realizes his folly....
I don't believe you have tested them all, you may have, I don't know for sure but you also claimed to have kept and used a crappy phone for years even though you had better newer models. (Why would anyone consciously do that to themselves?)
I'm guessing you might be a tiny wee bit liberal with the truth and I'd never take someone's word for something just because the can afford something semi expensive.
Money doesn't make someone an expert, look at Donald for a perfect example.
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Yeah, I'm referring to AppleTV output. They need to fix that issue and the AppleTV not defaulting back to the HomePod once someone else streams to the HomePod. Once those two issues are fixed I'll pick one back up again.
For many years, I enjoyed my Sonos 1 speakers, but I knew I had to get the HomePods when they came out because I was no longer able to play my Audible audiobooks on the Sonos app. I bought 3 HomePods. I loved the richness of the sound, but even at 100%, the sound was simply too low. I wanted to love them because I love all of my Apple products, but they were too quiet, even at about 80%. I started reading reviews from reputable sources before I took the HomePods back to the Apple Store. I found this great review: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-homepod-vs-google-home-max-2018-2 Needless to say, I bought a few Google Home Max speakers so I could compare them all myself. I put all three speakers (Sonos, Google Home Max, and Apple HomePod) in a room and listened to the differences in the sound. The Homepod's have a richer sound and I love the bass, but they didn't compare to the Home Max and Sonos speakers in regards to the volume. The sound quality of the Home Max is very close to the Apple HomePods, but the bass isn't as deep for the Google speakers. I actually like that. Honestly, the Google Home Max sound was better to me than the Sonos. The Sonos speaker gets really loud (not louder than the Home Max), but the sound isn't as clear at such high volumes. So, the Google Home Max definitely won me over with the amazing sound, the great assistant that can do what Siri can't, the ability to pair speakers and put them in groups in my home (HomePods can't do that now), and for a myriad of other reasons. I wanted to love the HomePods, but they were lacking in so many areas. The Google Home Max speakers actually cost more than the HomePods, but they were worth the price. So, back to the Apple Store the HomePods went and the Sonos speakers will be given away since there are many limitations to both. One thing I want to note is that I did all of this buying on the day the speakers dropped, and guess what? Apple had tons of speakers (that was a bad sign) and we didn't even see any major images around the store of HomePods on walls or in front of the store. That was odd that it didn't get the huge Apple rollout treatment. When I went to take the speakers back, the sales guy wasn't surprised because others had done the same. Many took them back because there is no stereo pairing at this time and you cannot group the speakers. I love Apple, but not enough to waste all of that money on speakers. I encourage you all to buy both the Google Home Max and a HomePod. Put them both in a room, and listen to them. You will hear what I heard: a clear winner.
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Sound awesome, no. "for it's size", yes. Which isn't that much considering how tiny it is. There are plenty of decent sounding tiny speakers around and all of them are probably better than what crap most people have in their rooms, so I'm not the least bit surprised so many are awed by the HomePod sound. Maybe they should've invested that $350 to a single speaker earlier.
I can't consider myself as a homepod hater. It's just one more useless gadget people love to buy like AppleTV. The only reason for me to use AppleTV is to stream a movie I can't find anywhere else easily. The last one was Paddington. It was available for free on NetFlix, but only in Finnish. It was in SF Anytime, but only in Swedish. Had to go find my old AppleTV from the closet, hook it up to the tv to watch it from iTunes. The previous time I used it was maybe year-two ago? Same goes with HomePod with it's Apple Music and Siri. Both so meh. You love them? Go ahead and buy as many as you like. I keep enjoying slightly better sound quality without Apple Music and Siri.
Had the HomePod had Spotify Connect I might've considered it as a secondary / tertiary speaker for some locations where it's enough to get some noise out of some speaker. Especially if I can make sure Siri is disabled completely. Now I don't see the point. Wanking around with AirPlay is not for me.
Not sure if you are aware, but the Google Home speakers have equalizers you can control from your phone through the Home app... the equalizers are only for bass and treble. There are no equalizer options yet for HomePod that I'm aware of :-/
HomePod does that on the fly and if you play something using iTunes on Mac you can use integrated equalizer.
I have a google home, and saw those settings a while ago.
To be honest, they don't make a ton of difference.
I really wish they would make something in-between the home and the max
Just add another few dollars and make the speaker better.
Speaker can be done Sooooooooooooooo cheaply. just having one small one, is not great
Really hadn’t been following this thread, but out of the blue got an e-mail update for about three posts above. Seems interesting to me that this long after release:
1. People still claim not loud enough. I can’t really listen past 80 in any room in my house without being blasted out...and most would call me a rocker. Anyone needing louder than homepod should really visitban audiologist before it’s too late.
2. People are still comparing apples to oranges. When I can place a Google Max or Sonis Play:5 and get same field behind it or to either side, get back to me (and good luck with your privacy).
3. People still think we should all care they spent $15k plus on stereo equipment (doesn’t matter to me they did it, I’m just not sure how that’s relevant to me).
4. People still seem to not understand that if they don’t like HomePod, they don’t have to buy one (or more).
5. The Apple (as a company) hating force remains strong on this site.
6. Folks don’t seem to realize CR has become irrelevant since the digital age of reviewing. Used to be CRs opinion was all you could get, which is why people subscribed. Now that you can get actual experts in a field to review things, it’s much better. Do people really think CR employs experts in every field of every product they “review”?
1. People still claim not loud enough. I can’t really listen past 80 in any room in my house without being blasted out...and most would call me a rocker. Anyone needing louder than homepod should really visitban audiologist before it’s too late.
2. People are still comparing apples to oranges. When I can place a Google Max or Sonis Play:5 and get same field behind it or to either side, get back to me (and good luck with your privacy).
3. People still think we should all care they spent $15k plus on stereo equipment (doesn’t matter to me they did it, I’m just not sure how that’s relevant to me).
4. People still seem to not understand that if they don’t like HomePod, they don’t have to buy one (or more).
5. The Apple (as a company) hating force remains strong on this site.
6. Folks don’t seem to realize CR has become irrelevant since the digital age of reviewing. Used to be CRs opinion was all you could get, which is why people subscribed. Now that you can get actual experts in a field to review things, it’s much better. Do people really think CR employs experts in every field of every product they “review”?
Don't we always have this thought process with expensive items? However, the mid-tier consumer electronic products (from hundreds of dollars through thousands of dollars) are all commodities and they can be change/exchanged for a nominal cost if one doesn't like it.
Lol, not sure where you get that. “Seems interesting” does not equal irrelevant. In fact, I would argue quite the opposite since I find those other opinions interesting, as I clearly stated. Must have hit a nerve with my observations?
Nice. That must be a new feature since the last time I checked. My Google Home has been sitting in storage for a while but I might dig it out and try again. Too much bass was my biggest complaint with it.