Deals: Get the HomePod for $199.99 at Best Buy ($99 Off)

[WilliamG]

I don't have any stereo pairs, yet. I currently one in my studio, one in my wife's studio, and one in my wood shop. I'm now thinking of one for either the living room or front porch (assuming I can adequately protect it).

I have a stereo pair in the kitchen and it’s glorious.

 

[citysnaps]

I have a stereo pair in the kitchen and it’s glorious.

I'll have to give it a try - thanx!

 

[Shanghaichica]

I wish The Netherlands would get these kind of products

Add the U.K. to that list.

 

[SDJim]

This is the price at which I bought mine to replace my Echo Dot, and I could not be happier. Such rich sound, and it does a great job at picking up voices, even from the other room. Siri might be ***** at trivia, but she's a great assistant. We use the HomePod to run our lights, check indoor/outdoor temps/weather, manage our shopping lists, set timers with ease, make calls, send texts, and, of course, listen to music. One of the best things about AirPlay is not having the movement limitations of Bluetooth (I can go to the bathroom without having to take my phone out and leave it in the room to avoid interrupting the music). Multi-user support is also great, because my wife and I can manage our stuff separately on the same unit and it confirms vocally who it is responding to.

 

[caligurl]

Holy cow, why so many? I’m genuinely curious what you do with them all. We have one and my wife hates it. I enjoy listening to music off of it though. It’s a very enjoyable experience.

We have 5 and I'm thinking of adding 1 more. 2 in the living room, 1 in hubby's shop room, 1 in his man cave and 1 in the home office. I want to put one in the bedroom but have been resisting..... May take the plunge today.....

 

[Eduardo1971]

At this price I will add a fourth HomePod to our home.

This is a great price for this speaker.

 

[RowellE]

All these discounts make me think a refresh is right around the corner. Even though the homepod is a good product, I'd personally wait at this point.

This is the third or fourth time Best Buy has discounted the HomePod to this price.
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Get a second and you'll see the difference after pairing them - its huge in terms of the achieved sound experience. And if you have equipped more rooms, the same counts fore each one of them

I'm taking your word for it. I'll purchase a second one soon. Hopefully the stereo sound feature with two will make a big difference.

 

[MrJM]

Add the U.K. to that list.

I purchased one from John Lewis for £199 about 2 months ago.

 

[HVDynamo]

See post# 8, above.

I't nice to be able to walk into a room where I spend considerable time and be able to say something like, "Hey Siri, play jazz," or "Hey Siri, Play Johnny Shines." And it just happens. With excellent quality.

Also... The best part is that it's autonomous, not needing to engage another device (computer/phone/tablet).

I think that is great and all, but personally I need a line in option on these. I would pick up a pair tomorrow if I had the option if wiring in audio to them. I've heard they sound great, but I don't like speakers that just go obsolete when they inevitably stop getting updates. So having the ability to plug in a new receiver of sorts down the road is paramount. Would be cool if apple made a removable base that included all the digital electronics so you could "upgrade" it to a new module as they improve things, but even then I still want a line in option or no deal.

 

[Alexis Noel]

I have 2 on my extended desk where my 2018 12.9” iPP is and it’s the best while I work. Paired stereo sound is amazing.

 

[BF1M]

I have 2 on my extended desk where my 2018 12.9” iPP is and it’s the best while I work. Paired stereo sound is amazing.

I tried a similar set up around my iMac and, while it sounded great like the HomePods always do, I could barely make out any separation at that distance.

 

[EchoplexSE]

I have one, have had it for a few years - ever since they were $199 on Black Friday at Best Buy. Color me UNDER whelmed, way, way, way UNDERwhelmed.

Why? You would think I would pair it just ONCE with the AppleTV that sits just 36 inches away. You would be wrong. It disconnects randomly. I bought it to be an "improved TV speaker" for the downstairs 50" Plasma (yeah, old TV but it works just fine). Thing is, there is absolutely no such thing as an EQ settings for movies, music, concerts, news, sports, sci-fi movies or action movies on the Apple HomePod. So, dialog is often WORSE than what I have on the TV. Yeah, worse than that found on a stand alone TV.

Siri is unaware of multiple instances - so when I tell my watch to set a time for the BBQ grill off the deck, the HomePod used to chime in (cancelling my watch's instance of Siri) and announce that it had no timer. Now, it sets a time without saying anything else - still cancels my watch's timer. And this is the awesome part - when the HomePod timer goes off, no amount of "Siri, Stop Timer", "Siri, Stop that", "Siri, Be Quiet", or "Siri, Cancel Timer" works. The timer goes off chiming constantly without a chance to stop it. Touching the top just has Siri say "Stop Timer", and the chiming continues. So - yank the cord.

The HomePod is a joke. Not a funny, ha-ha joke. An irritating, expensive speaker that barely does what it's designed to do, doesn't play well with your Apple devices (2 Macs, 2 Watch's, 4 AppleTV's , 2 iPads and 2 iPhones) type of joke. It cannot tell when you are talking to your watch, phone or if you are addressing it. It seems blissfully unaware of the networked Music Library of MY SONGS that I like to listen to - I mean, I have tens of thousands of songs on my home network - so when it plays music - and I have songs from the 1960's through today - it plays RAP. And I can assure you I own exactly ZERO Rap. So, it doesn't even recognize the music collection associated with my AppleID, on the network it's associated, with the iPhone it's tied to.

Spend your money on a Google or Amazon device. Sure, they may record you having sex; but at least their products work as advertized.

you should have bought a sound bar, the HomePod is primarily for listening to music. There are no EQ settings because it tries to automatically set the EQ for the specific songs/music you're listening to. Sometimes it does a great job and other times not so much (Eminem songs don't have any low end punch but that's just my preference). I have 4 of them in my house, I have a stereo pair in my living room, one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom. I would say my only complaint really with the device is Apple Music needs to be better. "Hey Siri, play Weezer radio". proceeds to play the same 5 Nirvana and Green Day songs with no deep cuts for Weezer...etc.

 

[MacManTexas56]

I have one, have had it for a few years - ever since they were $199 on Black Friday at Best Buy. Color me UNDER whelmed, way, way, way UNDERwhelmed.

Why? You would think I would pair it just ONCE with the AppleTV that sits just 36 inches away. You would be wrong. It disconnects randomly. I bought it to be an "improved TV speaker" for the downstairs 50" Plasma (yeah, old TV but it works just fine). Thing is, there is absolutely no such thing as an EQ settings for movies, music, concerts, news, sports, sci-fi movies or action movies on the Apple HomePod. So, dialog is often WORSE than what I have on the TV. Yeah, worse than that found on a stand alone TV.

Siri is unaware of multiple instances - so when I tell my watch to set a time for the BBQ grill off the deck, the HomePod used to chime in (cancelling my watch's instance of Siri) and announce that it had no timer. Now, it sets a time without saying anything else - still cancels my watch's timer. And this is the awesome part - when the HomePod timer goes off, no amount of "Siri, Stop Timer", "Siri, Stop that", "Siri, Be Quiet", or "Siri, Cancel Timer" works. The timer goes off chiming constantly without a chance to stop it. Touching the top just has Siri say "Stop Timer", and the chiming continues. So - yank the cord.

The HomePod is a joke. Not a funny, ha-ha joke. An irritating, expensive speaker that barely does what it's designed to do, doesn't play well with your Apple devices (2 Macs, 2 Watch's, 4 AppleTV's , 2 iPads and 2 iPhones) type of joke. It cannot tell when you are talking to your watch, phone or if you are addressing it. It seems blissfully unaware of the networked Music Library of MY SONGS that I like to listen to - I mean, I have tens of thousands of songs on my home network - so when it plays music - and I have songs from the 1960's through today - it plays RAP. And I can assure you I own exactly ZERO Rap. So, it doesn't even recognize the music collection associated with my AppleID, on the network it's associated, with the iPhone it's tied to.

Spend your money on a Google or Amazon device. Sure, they may record you having sex; but at least their products work as advertized.

now this sounds like total user error. i have NINE of these bad boys around the house and have no problems like you're talking about.
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Holy cow, why so many? I’m genuinely curious what you do with them all. We have one and my wife hates it. I enjoy listening to music off of it though. It’s a very enjoyable experience.

i have 9 of them around the house. almost every single room has one for whole home music. they are great!

 

[currentinterest]

I have 5 HomePods and love them. Near flawless operation, Siri is fun and useful (and controls my lights). When paired in stereo they are even better. Both my sons have stereo configured HomePods and since their TV watching flows through Apple TV 4Ks they are used for both music and TV. They rave about them as well. I paid $700 for my first pair, $200 each for the subsequent 3. Worth every penny, one of my best Apple purchases.

 

[krfr]

Great price! Should’ve been their starting price point to begin with.

 

[Seanm87]

Got mine for 200. I like it but I don’t care about smartness I just wanted a voice controlled speaker with great sound. So for me it’s perfect and the right cost in my opinion. It was too expensive when released.

 

[CarlJ]

It's a SPEAKER. In this Market Segment, it should do the job of a SPEAKER - you know, like SONOS, BOSE, JBL, Amazon, Google, Sony, LG and everyone else who somehow - manages to do all this, and do it reasonably well. At the price point it's at, it should provide similar capabilities - you know, seperate EQ's for Movies, TV, Sports, Concerts, spoken word - just like the competition.

You're using this as an argument in support of the notion that the HomePod ought to work for TV, but in the case of Sonos, one of the product lines you cite - the only reasonable way to get TV sound out of a Sonos speaker is to buy one of the TV-specific models (which also work for music). It's moderately difficult and disappointing to get TV sound out of a Sonos speaker that's not specifically designed for use with a TV.

Apple hasn't made a truly TV-compatible HomePod. Not yet, anyway.

 

[Alexis Noel]

I tried a similar set up around my iMac and, while it sounded great like the HomePods always do, I could barely make out any separation at that distance.

I usually play LoFi beats on my HomePods when I'm in close proximity, however when I'm at my other desk I change it to something more rich for a better experience. They sound great both ways, and I haven't had any issues some of the other people on this thread, or threads, have had.

 

[V_Man]

I’m hoping that Apple decides to use HomePods as home theater speakers. 5 HomePods would work great for a simple home theater. Waiting for the SubPod too

 

[windrider42]

i wish canada would get these kind of deals.

We can get it here at
https://shop.openbox.ca/apple-homepod-smart-speaker-space-gray-mqhw2c-a.html?utm_source=shopbot for $289.99

 

[thomamon]

I've been wanting more for other rooms, now you have me wanting more to try having it in stereo.

 

[gigapocket1]

I think they are great speakers but Siri is underwhelming. She’s great at times. But when she fails. She fails greatly. And then theirs some things.. that Apple just have locked down too much.. such as not able to open the garage... lol

 

[BF1M]

I think they are great speakers but Siri is underwhelming. She’s great at times. But when she fails. She fails greatly. And then theirs some things.. that Apple just have locked down too much.. such as not able to open the garage... lol

I agree there, I wish we could opt out of those sort of things. I hate having to confirm on my phone to unlock a door. But to play devils advocate, someone could stand outside your house and potentially scream at Siri to open your door. That’s where voice recognition comes into play..

 

[ErikGrim]

Not meant to be a TV speaker. Plain and simple.

It’s not that it’s not meant to be a TV speaker, it’s that the AirPlay 2 protocol is fundamentally flawed in this use case scenario. Every time you connect with another device - or in the case of HomePods use them standalone for Siri or Music, you disconnect from the last device you were connected to. The old device (in this case the AppleTV) has to manually reconnect to the AP2 device to use them again.

This is the case for HomePods and AirPods, Apple TV and iPhones.

A much better user experience for ALL AirPlay devices would allow the disconnected device to attempt to reconnect to the last connected device automatically when you try playing again. That would cover AppleTV to HomePod connection as well as switching between listening on AirPods on your phone and Mac and vice versa.

 

[albebaubles]

Figures. Just bought two from OWC....

You may love them. The sound is great. I have a Sonos attached to my appletv and HomePods in kitchen and living room and the three together pair beautifully to fill my home with sound. HomePods were not made to be your appletv sound system. Anyone bitching about it being poor at that has unrealistic expectations.
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It’s not that it’s not meant to be a TV speaker, it’s that the AirPlay 2 protocol is fundamentally flawed in this use case scenario. Every time you connect with another device - or in the case of HomePods use them standalone for Siri or Music, you disconnect from the last device you were connected to. The old device (in this case the AppleTV) has to manually reconnect to the AP2 device to use them again.

This is the case for HomePods and AirPods, Apple TV and iPhones.

A much better user experience for ALL AirPlay devices would allow the disconnected device to attempt to reconnect to the last connected device automatically when you try playing again. That would cover AppleTV to HomePod connection as well as switching between listening on AirPods on your phone and Mac and vice versa.

This hasn't been my experience. I'll often airplay from my appletv to my Sonos and two HomePods so I can hear dialog throughout the house.