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HomePod Early Hands-On Reviews: 'Seamless' Siri Commands and Audio Quality 'Feels Like You're at a Live Performance'

No stereo speaker integration at launch...
No multiple speakers integration at launch...
No multiple user support in music, messages, calendars, etc. (not even announced)...

Next they will tell us that it isn't even humidity resistant...

What a load of crap I have been waiting for...
 
HobeSoundDarryl said:
Is that for sure though or just nay sayer speculation? I'm hungry for defacto answers to those kinds of questions.

From the naysayers, the spin & implications is that this is yet another box of junk, etc.

From the cheerleaders, this thing will cure cancer, etc.

I'm hunting for facts. These early reviews mostly read like press releases, focusing almost entirely on exactly what Apple themselves say about the product. For example "astonishing" is a really big word to assign to a $349 speaker. It may in fact sound astonishing- I don't know (yet)- but an adjective like that doesn't sound very far from one like "magical."

These functional & utility questions about what it can and can't do have been flying around for many days/weeks/months now. I have to believe that reviewers doing a little research would build up such a list and focus in on answering such questions to give their audience the information they want. Still watching for a bunch of such answers.
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Apple says the HomePod supports FLAC. That seems to contradict the idea that it will only play iTunes content.
 
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From the same article:

FOCUS ON PRIVACY
What is unique about the HomePod is Apple’s spotlight on privacy. Siri is listening locally, and then any requests you make are encrypted before it reaches Apple. This data is also anonymized — through the same differential privacy method used on the iPhone — so the requests are not tied to an iCloud account. This is a strong advantage Apple holds over competitors like Amazon and Google if you’re worried about your privacy.
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Seems everyone is missing this point. That's why this will be the first speaker in my house that listens to me even when I forget it is. I don't trust Amazon at all, and Google only marginally...
 
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HobeSoundDarryl said:
Thank you. That does appear to clearly answer that question.

And WOW. I can't hardly believe such a fundamental would not be there in the release. Who does NOT have some ripped music in their iTunes library? iTunes/iPod original started on that very concept (as source of music).
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The HomePod looks to be a great little speaker for those who are extremely entrenched in the Apple purchase ecosystem, where they have music, audio etc and use SIRI for most things.

for overall integration into everything else, and compatibility externally is lacking extremely compared to it's competition.

they're banking on iTunes and Apple Music users wanting a high quality room to room audio experience.

But it's not a replacement for the functionality of Google Home products or Amazon Alexa. The compatibility and functionality just isn't there yet.
 
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Darryl.Jenks said:
" If you close your eyes, it's easy to feel like you're at a live performance."

Stop. Just stop it now.
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I thought the same thing, hyperbole. But it could also be his perception that the sound is coming from a place in the room as opposed to an array of speakers around the room like a normal stereo/multichannel audio system.
 
izyreal said:
These reviews are enough to make the Apple base snap these up.
Based on this article, the following questions have been asked and answered:

Does the HomePod sound better than the competitors? Yes.
Is the Siri integration useful? Yes.
Is the design good? Yes.

The only question left unanswered is, will people buy this? Given Apple's track record, I think that the answer is an easy Yes.
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I have two Sonos one setup. No way would one of these outperform 2 of the Sonos. With 2 Sonos you can have true stereo sound. Plus add a sub if you want for extreme performance. This is expensive, and likely not as good as something else you can get for the money.
Alexa is the best so far maybe Siri will catch up someday. Plus Sonos adding Google assistant (if desired) plus Spotify and many many other ways to stream. Flash breifings etc. Lights. I'm happy skipping this and getting better quality sound that does more for less :)
 
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Diatribe said:
No stereo speaker integration at launch...
No multiple speakers integration at launch...
No multiple user support in music, messages, calendars, etc. (not even announced)...

Next they will tell us that it isn't even humidity resistant...

What a load of crap I have been waiting for...
Click to expand...
those will come with iOS 11.3 in March...so if you order now, you will get the product on 9th February so you will have to wait 1 month...big deal...or wait until March and buy
 
HobeSoundDarryl said:
Thank you. That does appear to clearly answer that question.

And WOW. I can't hardly believe such a fundamental would not be there in the release. Who does NOT have some ripped music in their iTunes library? iTunes/iPod originally started on that very concept (as source of music). I'm pretty sure my first "1000 songs in my pocket" and then "2000 songs in my pocket" were all in iTunes BEFORE there was an iTunes music store.
Click to expand...
The HomePod WILL play ripped CDs etc from iTunes as it will appear as an AirPlay speaker. You can also play ripped CDS that have been synced to e.g. your iPhone, again selecting the HomePod as an AirPlay speaker.
 
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And what about FREQUENCY RESPONSE? It's the most basic speaker specification yet Apple - like other "smart" speaker companies - doesn't say a word about it, unlike ALL other speaker manufacturers. ALL of them. So why Apple keeps that spec secret ? Because it gives you a hint about the HiFi quality of speaker and they are too afraid of disclosing it. Period. So the HomePod is a HiFi speaker? Then it should be good at closely reproducing frequencies. So why Apple doesn't mention the HomePod frequency response from 20 Hz to 20 kHz? And why keeping its power wattage specs secret? When you have nothing to hide...
 
JaySoul said:
Not convinced it will be anything more than a niche product.
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I’m perfectly content owning quality products that only appeal to a small market.


Ordered one this morning because having quality sound at low volume in a small apartment with thin walls and neighbors has been a challenge.
 
gnrh11 said:
I have two Sonos one setup. No way would one of these outperform 2 of the Sonos. With 2 Sonos you can have true stereo sound. Plus add a sub if you want for extreme performance. This is expensive, and likely not as good as something else you can get for the money.
Alexa is the best so far maybe Siri will catch up someday. Plus Sonos adding Google assistant (if desired) plus Spotify and many many other ways to stream. Flash breifings etc. Lights. I'm happy skipping this and getting better quality sound that does more for less :)
Click to expand...
depends what sonos you have...but easily 2 homePODS will outperform a lot of systems around 500-1500$ (depends how old)
 
Baymowe335 said:
Here's the thing. I have a $15k audiophile (semi) setup and agree with you. HOWEVER, you have to remember most people don't know or appreciate audiophile level equipment. People literally think Beats are the best headphones on the market. Most people listen to music with EarPods. People think Bose is amazing quality.

The broader consumer (Apple's Market) doesn't have the interest or money to spend thousands of dollars on great audio equipment. They like that they can plug this in and it "sounds good" without any tweaking. People buy soundbars and think they have movie theater quality sound (lol).

So while I agree that the hyperbole describing the sound is a little LOL, people really don't have much to compare and really think it's great. For what it is, it probably is very good. I always tell people, with speakers...it's physics. How much air can you move? Bigger is almost always better.
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Honestly... Good sound is good sound. Like you said, the average consumer like me does think Bose and Beats sound good. I also know what BAD sound is. If the vocals are crisp and the bass is rich and I can hear the instruments clearly, that’s good for me.

I feel like some audiophiles don’t even enjoy the music because some are too busy trying to hear someone’s breathing on a song or a specific guitar pluck. Seems a little obsessive at times.

It’s possible to have great sound and not spend thousands of dollars.

Same thing with food and clothing. I love Red Lobster, but know there is much better out there.
 
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Diatribe said:
No stereo speaker integration at launch...
No multiple speakers integration at launch...
No multiple user support in music, messages, calendars, etc. (not even announced)...

Next they will tell us that it isn't even humidity resistant...

What a load of crap I have been waiting for...
Click to expand...

Sounds like you need a hug...a big ol’ hug.
 
I disagree with the reviewer who thinks its all about smart. Smart exists in your hand for Siri - Amazon has no phones os they need to emphasize that. I think Apple will do fine. Not a big seller - but I love music more than I need a novelty device in my home that duplicates the iPhone. I am interested.
 
fokmik said:
those will come with iOS 11.3 in March...so if you order now, you will get the product on 9th February so you will have to wait 1 month...big deal...or wait until March and buy
Click to expand...
The third is a deal breaker at least for me and there is no announcement whether they will ever add that. I do not live alone and this is just silly. The fourth would just be unfortunate.
 
smr said:
The HomePod WILL play ripped CDs etc from iTunes as it will appear as an AirPlay speaker. You can also play ripped CDS that have been synced to e.g. your iPhone, again selecting the HomePod as an AirPlay speaker.
Click to expand...

I think the point though is that it cannot be played using SIRI's built in integration

YOu cannot tell the homepod via SIRI to play non iTunes purchased content (yet). You will be able to still stream to the HomePod any content you want via Airplay. how much of an impact that difference causes you as the user is up to you as the user.

But it's disingenuous to say that it's fully integrated with your entire iTunes music collection if it has such a limitation. FOr many of us, we have hundreds of CD's imported into iTunes. Do I really want to come up to my computer in a different room everytime I want to control it?
 
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asdavis10 said:
Even at its price, I think people will try it because the other smart speakers sound so bad.
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Davis has spoken everyone. Tell all Apple competitors to pack it in even before the Homepod is in any real customers hands. Sorry Sonos, we'll let you save face and exit the back door.
 
i will write a list of those reviewers (as I did with other products before) and will compare my personal impressions with theirs. And their name will go on the left side (reliable source) or right side (unreliable reviewers). Just as I used to do with music critics a long time ago. A thing I have found to be very useful.
Of course it should be mentioned that both troll/naysayers and Apple's shills/cheerleaders will have a special place at the bottom of the list.
 
sofila said:
i will write a list of those reviewers (as I did with other products before) and will compare my personal impressions with theirs. And their name will go on the left side (reliable source) or right side (unreliable reviewers). Just as I used to do with music critics a long time ago. A thing I have found to be very useful.
Of course it should be mentioned that both troll/naysayers and Apple's shills/cheerleaders will have a special place at the bottom of the list.
Click to expand...

I'm curious to hear your opinions and see that list of reviewers when you're done :)
 
Diatribe said:
This is a family device though whereas everything else is a single user device first. I cannot believe they did not think about that.
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So an iPad is a single user device? Do you have a family because I don't think you do.
 
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