Mine was like that on the day I bought it, when the next update or two came out, it was toned way down. Is yours still that way?
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Hands-On Experience of New HomePod Reveals 'Exquisite' Audio Quality
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Where would the battery go and how well could it perform? Have you seen the internals on this thing? It looks like it would have to increase in size substantially.
Spatial Audio wasn't added until much later with Apple TV default speakers. And yes it is very spatial indeed.
This. I don't want a battery powered HomePod and have a monstrosity sitting on my counter. While I wouldn't mind a version that has a battery, make that different product, say, a PatioPod.
That's exactly what it does. It's not one speaker — the original has 7 tweeters (the new one has 5), each being used independently to distribute sound in the room with channel separation. It does this by listening to the sound that comes back with its 6 mics (4 mics in the HomePod 2) and calculating where there are walls and other sound-reflecting objects and making adjustments to which speaker plays which channels so the listeners can hear the separation.
Now, I'm starting to get all the criticism the HomePod received when it was first released. Most critics never actually heard the thing work. HomePod was never meant to be an Alexa Echo competitor. It wasn't a smart speaker, it was an incredibly well engineered speaker with unbelievable sound for its size that also had smart features.
There's no replacement to experiencing it for yourself. Some Apple Stores have HomePod rooms but the real test is when you bring one home, knowing what your old speakers sounded like. Mine was Harman Kardon so no slouch... and I guess you know which one I kept (I got 3 more HomePods after that one).
the most frustrating thing here is that there will most likely never be a way to test paired HomePods 2 in a realistic environment. minis (and the OGs when they were around) are never paired in Apple Stores (edit: @ipedro mentioned “HomePod rooms” that I am not lucky enough to have, but cool to know they at least exist), and Apple Stores are *ahem* not the best environment to test a pair of speakers (let alone one speaker).
whatever. like I said in an earlier thread—pair of OGs till EOL. ✌️
whatever. like I said in an earlier thread—pair of OGs till EOL. ✌️
I wonder how it sounds without spatial audio turned on. I ask because I am definitely not a fan. Makes everything sound like it’s underwater. For now, I think no thanks. I’ll stick with my AirPods Max.
I can’t disagree with your own subjective experience of course, but I completely disagree that this is also a general answer for others.
I had one, you can hear where the speaker is positioned easily. No, stereo is not a misnomer and no it is not only beneficial when watching TV.
Now a general statement of mine not directed at you though: It is incredible how quickly a large part of the population has forgotten what good stereo sound actually sounds like. It has existed for decades and has sounded awesome and immersive for decades.
The original had brilliant sound quality. The problem was it was hideously expensive for what it was and Siri is utter pants. Other home assistants were already in the market cheaper and had better voice recognition. What a lot of people fail to realise is sound quality doesn’t have to be exquisite for much of the market and on other cheaper devices it is ‘good enough’ for those playing music or radio in their kitchen or lounge. The ability to stream Spotify, Amazon on other devices and Apples initial ban on these have meant the ship has already sailed in this market.
I think people realize that. What they don’t remember is that Apple isn’t and won’t ever be the ‘mass market’ choice. Every product they ship assumes a fairly wide swath of “folks we don’t want to sell to”. Once they subtract all those (including “folks who can’t afford $299” and “folks that require a wired connection”) from their product requirements, they put their focus onto making a product for the millions that may find the quality and convenience worth paying for.
The fact that BILLIONS may never own one is actually the point. And, I guess the fact that Amazon is LOSING (10) billions a year is also part of the point.
I wouldn’t say Apple isn’t a mass market choice as the iPhone contradicts that as it’s owned and used by pretty much all demographics throughout the developed world. £299 is not an obscene amount of money and around the same price as the average hi-fi was back in the day, but now you can simply get multiple speakers around your home for the price of a single HomePod. The specialist hi-fi market has always been very niche and I doubt the HomePod really makes a dent in that market due to much better quality alternatives with decades of experience and reputation behind them. Maybe Apple are just going after a few million with this but hey, my opinion is it’s a bit late and the first attempt was lacklustre.
Connectivity is still awful. I love what they are doing in terms sound engineering, but connectivity and interface makes the homepod a non-starter. I wish a manufacturer with a history in audio as opposed to eco-system accessories will make something similar, but with opened up input options, and no Siri.
The odd thing is, Apple could have made this a way more appealing product with basically no effort. They just can’t control their desire to lock users in, even when it ends up costing them.
The odd thing is, Apple could have made this a way more appealing product with basically no effort. They just can’t control their desire to lock users in, even when it ends up costing them.
I have 2 of the old HomePods, one acts as a sound bar and has a Sonos play 5 next to it under the tv which I also use in conjunction with the HomePod to act as a sound bar. The HomePod sounds ok but isn’t a patch on the play 5 and I personally think a Sonos play 1 sounds as good if not better than the gen 1 HomePod.
I doubt the new HomePod will sound any better than the original but fully expect all the usual reviewers to say it sounds amazing etc.
These products are primarily about convenience and integration and not about ultimate sound quality, good enough is good enough for most consumers, but a decent amplifier, a CD player and a good pair of speakers will always be light years ahead of an all-in-one unit connected to Wi-Fi. We have all (mostly) chosen convenience over quality in most aspects of our lives including audio.
I doubt the new HomePod will sound any better than the original but fully expect all the usual reviewers to say it sounds amazing etc.
These products are primarily about convenience and integration and not about ultimate sound quality, good enough is good enough for most consumers, but a decent amplifier, a CD player and a good pair of speakers will always be light years ahead of an all-in-one unit connected to Wi-Fi. We have all (mostly) chosen convenience over quality in most aspects of our lives including audio.
Just wondering, would I be able to connect my iPad Pro to this new HomePod through AirPlay without wifi available (assuming I can power the HomePod with 12V)?
Would be great to use this new HomePod in my car.
Would be great to use this new HomePod in my car.
I used to think that, but worldwide, Android phones of all types sell more than the iPhone. iPhone makes the lions share of the profit by selling far fewer phones because they focus on selling expensive phones to the few hundred million that have the money to afford them and find the value worth the money. There are billions of folks that don’t find the value worth the money, but that’s ok because there’s still around 150 million a year that do.
You say it’s not an obscene amount of money, but then go on to say that it’s an obscene amount of money for ONE speaker. And, as I mentioned, Apple is not gunning for “folks that think 299 is too much for one speaker only”.
And, the specialist hi-fi market very likely use cables. Which is another market Apple isn’t concerned with providing a product for. People outside of Apple’s target market won’t understand “what it’s for”, and people that put either “cheap” or “cabled” devices high on their priority lists are definitely outside Apple’s target market. And that’s fine because Apple doesn’t have to sell a HomePod to EVERYONE in the world in order to make a profit… they could just sell them to, say, a tiny 5% sliver of folks that buy iPhones every year (not impossible) and that’d be 7.5 million, more than enough to make a profit on.
Your iPad can be a personal wifi hotspot. So, as long as you’ve got the power, yes. (I’ve done the same with a HomePod mini using a battery pack and iPhone to use it away from outlets).
UPDATE: I reset my HomePod mini away from my home network to see if I remembered correctly and, the FIRST time you set it up, you’ll need your device that you’ll use to set it up and a network. For me, that’s using my iPhone for the setup and using the iPad for the network. Once it’s set up, though, you just need to set Allow Speaker and TV access to “Everyone” in order to avoid having the wifi hotspot on. (You can set it to require a password if you need to as well).
Play audio on HomePod using iPhone or iPad
You can hand off audio by bringing your iPhone near your HomePod. HomePod can also play audio sent from an iPhone or iPad using AirPlay and Siri.
Also, for me, I set up a new “Home” in the home app and put it there because I didn’t want my other speakers in my home to have the same password requirement.
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It is my understanding, that those invited were only allowed to listen to specific snippets of music selected by Apple for a very brief time. If that is the case, this article is meaningless for average users in the real world. I think the truth is much more exquisite.
Well, this is a bit disappointing and while I waited, I'll move on to something else given this doesn't check the boxes for me. Shame.
So who is Apple’s target market’? I understand it’s a niche, but who exactly is the HomePod aimed at? Not interested in what people think is Apples profit strategy as that’s dull as ditch water, just looking at this from a consumers point of view.