Then how can retailers afford to sell at 1/3 less? They don't even get any of the Apple Music or ecosystem revenue.
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Deals Spotlight: Get the HomePod for Just $200 at Target ($100 Off)
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Then how can retailers afford to sell at 1/3 less? They don't even get any of the Apple Music or ecosystem revenue.
I love seeing that a whole bunch of us (myself included) have spontaneously purchased the HomePod after learning of its big price drop.
Hopefully Apple sees a spike in HomePod sales and realize their ish is too expensive and that they can increase their sales by making their stuff a little more affordable.
Hopefully Apple sees a spike in HomePod sales and realize their ish is too expensive and that they can increase their sales by making their stuff a little more affordable.
Stuff like this is why they should just have a dedicated app for the homepod that would allow you to control every aspect of the device and completely bypass siri.
Even if siri worked perfectly I still probably wouldnt use it since I’m not into talking across the room to my stupid speaker
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Thanks for mentioning Best Buy. Local Targets were sold out, but I found a nearby Best Buy with stock and price matched.
I suspect this was a one-time event. In store sales have tapered off and Target's making room for something else. Up until a couple of days ago every Target I shop had at least one HomePod in the locked display cabinet at full price. Today, the nearest store with inventory is Hawaii! Fast clear out and no red tickets. Even Best Buy shifted a bunch.
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Google? No thanks.
If you can’t hear the difference between a Sonos One and a HomePod, you are hearing impaired. Many people are; it’s not an insult.
If you have good hearing, the HomePod is much better than a Sonos One. I just completed a two week evaluation of a Sonos One and our HomePod just blows it away. It’s really no contest. The bass is much more accurate and the balance is way better. In my tests, I let them self adjust. My Apple Music EQ was set to Classic, a setting I highly recommend anyone evaluate.
I like the sonos one. Cause it has the ability to airplay to the speaker. It has either Google Assistant, or Alexa. And the sound quality is good enough for me. I am not picky on that. But at $200. That homepod is a steal.
Blind testing says different.....you are the victim of purchasing bias.....justifying spending a ridiculous amount of money on a subpar product.
I’ve read articles that declare HomePod and articles that declare Sonos. CNET declared a stereo pair the winner over one HomePod due to price. Almost all of them consider the cost difference between the two when they compare. HomePod was $349. If both were $199 in most reviews HomePod would win more often than not. However if you want a bunch throughout your house, that will be difficult because these sales are few and far between.
I don’t have a horse in this race - you should pick the device that you prefer, but I take issue with “blind testing says different”, implying that people should simply trust those tests.
Everything you imputed to me is an unmitigated logic fail. If I were the victim of “purchasing bias”, then why didn’t that bias apply to the Sonos One that I had bought first? According to you I would be justifying that purchase as well because “purchase bias”.
Your next logic fail was when you said “justifying spending a ridiculous amount of money on a subpar product”, since I paid exactly the same amount, to the penny for the HomePod that I paid for the Sonos One; you’re empirically wrong on each and every point that you have imputed to me.
The reality is that I am a statistician (Mu Sigma Rho inductee); don’t lecture me on bias. I am also a musician and singer, and have “young ears” - I hear frequencies that many teenagers cannot. Due to auditory issues with other family members I have spent a lot of time having professional hearing tests performed by otologists. That being said, I trust my ears to tell me what I like, as should you, not some online reviewer.
Simply put, audio tastes are subjective. Some people may favor the Sonos One. More power to them. My goal was simply to share my experience and opinion. People with similar backgrounds and music tastes might be interested to go have a listen, rather than making a purchasing decision based on a review such as David Pogue’s.
Here’s more detail on what informed my decision as I tested both devices in my home. Hopefully it encourages people to try out all their options rather than trusting a review alone (or a forum post
).I first bought the Sonos One, installed it, and followed the Trueplay steps in the Sonos app. What I observed was that at default product settings, and using the Classical EQ setting (Settings, Music, EQ) the Sonos One had more mid bass than bass, harsh ringing mids and excessive treble for my tastes. After trying it for 2 weeks, I saw this sale announcement and bought a HomePod, price-matched at BestBuy. I was instantly blown away by the higher quality sound. The HomePod has more bass, less mid bass, clear mids - a much more pleasing overall balance of frequencies to me.
I also tried tuning the two sliders for bass and treble within the Sonos app and was unable to get the sound anywhere close to that of the HomePod’s quality.
The songs I used to test the two were:
Lovers, by Jackie Evancho
Heartache, by Hollie Stell
Requiem, by Three Graces
Du Hast, by Rammstein
The Other Side, by Evanescence
Aqua Drop, by TriBoss
Basshead, by Bass Nectar
Hopefully this is helpful for someone. If not, I lost a little time typing on a Sunday trying to be helpful ☺️
A suggestion would be to try out your options in the location and with the music you listen to, then buy what you like and can afford.
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Pogue’s was one of the examples where the material hiding the speaker prevents the HomePod from accurately characterizing the room (it uses active testing to measure the room’s audio characteristics). In his tests, he also did not ensure the volume was identical (a real problem for Subjective Audio Assessment - even slightly louder “sounds better”).
Apple wisely put in a powerful A8 processor, so they keep rolling out great upgrades. Individual voice recognition is coming out with the new betas.
Anyone got a link that will show the target price at $199, now they are out of stock so BB will price match?
Oh wow, I wish I had seen this Friday. My sister wants one, this would have been a great chance to pick one up for her.
There may be a new one on the way. Had a guy in store checking stock and he said “are you looking for HomePod 2 or just the regular?” And showed me on screen it said “HomePod 2 Shell” for $299.99. I guess it was a placeholder. Didn’t have any specs.
I agree about the price but hope they don't sell a bunch because it still overpriced, that would get their attention even more
Target is heading into the weekend with an all-new sale on Apple's HomePod smart speaker, now priced at $199.99, down from the original price of $299.99. At $100 off, this sale is the lowest we've ever seen on a brand new HomePod, and the best deal on the speaker so far in 2019.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Target. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
You can purchase the HomePod in either White or Space Gray on Target.com, and ship the speaker to your home or pick it up in-store. Additionally, Target RedCard holders have a chance to save an extra 5 percent on the HomePod.
Apple dropped the price of the HomePod from $349 to $299 back in April, hoping to boost sales for the speaker after some blowback to the steep cost of the device. You can find sales like this one and many more in our full Deals Roundup.
Article Link: Deals Spotlight: Get the HomePod for Just $200 at Target ($100 Off)
Hard to justify this price when I recently got a Echo Show on sale for $45 through Woot...it has a 7" screen and has excellnt sound... and you can use it with android or iPhone...I highly doubt the Homepod is worth 4x the price
I would have picked up my third and fourth. It's a steal at that price.
Woodbridge VA, same here - even on the TARGET desktop site - tried to buy online - but item shows out of stock
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cant even buy at store...