Hands-On Experience of New HomePod Reveals 'Exquisite' Audio Quality

[Sooby]

It's such a niche product but they must be Ok with selling to only that niche. For someone to buy one they need to be looking for a wifi only speaker whose voice control functionality for music and services is mostly locked to Apple Music/Podcasts/Audiobooks and they're willing to spend a fair amount of money on such a speaker. That target market seems really small to me, but it seems they think its worth pursuing.

If I was looking at smart speakers around this price point I'd much rather go with a pair of Sonos Ones (or 1 Sonos One and 1 Sonos One SL) when they go on sale. You get access to 3 different voice assistants and a greater range of music/podcast services compatible with the smart functionality (including Apple Music), you get the option to expand upon them by adding a Sub mini to them down the line (or add them to a sound bar set up) and you get Airplay. You also get similar room correction functionality with trueplay and some basic EQ settings. Imo the Sonos Ones have a superior midrange compared to the original HomePods and a stereo pair will be much better than a single HomePod.

 

[Lounge Deluxe]

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.

support.apple.com

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.

Thanks a lot, very informative and I've just ordered the new HomePod.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

It's such a niche product but they must be Ok with selling to only that niche. For someone to buy one they need to be looking for a wifi only speaker whose voice control functionality for music and services is mostly locked to Apple Music/Podcasts/Audiobooks and they're willing to spend a fair amount of money on such a speaker.

They’ve currently got 88 million subscribers of Apple Music. Even if only 4% of them want/can afford this, that’s 3.5 million sales (and that’s only if they buy one). They can likely do better than 4%. In addition, Apple One subscribers ALSO have Apple Music in addition to AppleTV+… and, surprising to me when I looked it up, Apple One has 900. Million. Paid subscribers.

It’s a pretty decent sized market after all.

 

[_Spinn_]

This is very good to hear though I would like to hear them myself before buying.

 

[The Game 161]

These speakers are obviously billed as smart assistant speakers but the strength is all related to the sound, ecosystem and the ties to Apple Music, podcasts and smart home accessories. The fact they all talk to each other helps a lot. The minis for one you can have a ton all round the house of need be and won’t exactly break the bank

 

[macsound1]

These speakers are obviously billed as smart assistant speakers but the strength is all related to the sound, ecosystem and the ties to Apple Music, podcasts and smart home accessories. The fact they all talk to each other helps a lot. The minis for one you can have a ton all round the house of need be and won’t exactly break the bank

Exactly. People are really stuck on the "smart" of the speaker, when in reality, that's the free addition to the really good sounding speaker.
Compared to Sonos products, the new Home Pod (alongside the mini) fit really well into the existing competition's offering.

 

[Allyance]

My kitten loves the original Homepod, she regularly turns it on when she plays in the kitchen window! Not fussy about what music is playing.

 

[tomtad]

Apple One has 900. Million. Paid subscribers.

Sorry I don't believe you. What's the source for this?

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Sorry I don't believe you. What's the source for this?

https://***************.com/?q=number+of+apple+one+subscribers

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Those subscribers do make up people like me and each of my family that pay £2.49 a month for a bit more iCloud storage though. There’s no other services Apple provide that interest me and certainly not ‘Apple One’ which is £23 a month. Those subscribers are much fewer than 900 million as that figure is total subscribers across all types of service, otherwise Apple would be making £20.7b a month purely on that subscription package.

 

[winofigments]

If you have an acoustically sweet space get studio monitors and amp/preamp/subwoofer. If you have a smallish acoustically lousy space get the 7" HPs.

Appreciate the reply. I have an odd space--not a controlled studio environment, just a 15 x 30 home studio with an alcove for my workstation. If I go with monitors they will be active. My days of needing separate components are over since I only use my Mac as the source of music. A good DAC helps too. One thing that kills the homepod for me is the lack of a wired input. I don't subscribe to streaming services and my local music as mentioned is all from one Mac not a local network.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Those subscribers do make up people like me and each of my family that pay £2.49 a month for a bit more iCloud storage though. There’s no other services Apple provide that interest me and certainly not ‘Apple One’ which is £23 a month. Those subscribers are much fewer than 900 million as that figure is total subscribers across all types of service, otherwise Apple would be making £20.7b a month purely on that subscription package.

Ah, yeah, you’re right. It includes iCloud storage, Apple Music, Apple TV+, the Apple One Bundle, etc. So, Apple One, alone, does NOT have 900 subscribers. Still though, even if only 1% of that number is subscribed to Apple One, that’s another 9 million in sales potential in addition to the 88 million ONLY Apple Music subscribers.

 

[Shifts]

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?

Sorry for replying a bit slow, but I sold mine. The bass was bloated through all updates I did on that one. I saw others say their bass disappeared, and I wish, but nope.

 

[compwiz1202]

I’d say it depends on your vocabulary, but it’s non an especially unused word. I hear it regularly. But rarely in conversation, because, frankly how many things in daily life are exquisite? I wish there were more occasions to use this word in daily life, but alas, that’s not my lived experience.

And to me it's doesn't seem like the right adjective for sound. To me it would be a sight thing, like a spectacular dress or figurine etc

 

[compwiz1202]

View attachment 2146939
My kitten loves the original Homepod, she regularly turns it on when she plays in the kitchen window! Not fussy about what music is playing.

What's up pussycat? Whooaaaoooaaaoooaaaaooooooo

 

[Unregistered 4U]

This just means it used to be quisite, but isn’t any longer.