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HomePod First Listen Impressions: 'Incredible' Audio With Bass-Heavy Sound That Easily Beats Echo

KazKam said:
I predict this thing is going to be slightly more successful than the Nexus Q. That is to say, not successful at all.

By Apple's own numbers yesterday, 500 million unique Apple IDs connect to the App Store every week. So, confirmation that there are over half a billion active Apple IDs. Of those, 27 million subscribe to Apple Music, allegedly. That's slightly over 5% (Um, what about the other 473 million of us Apple? Don't we get a cool new way to access OUR music libraries?). Of those I'd guess most already have bluetooth speakers, Sonos speakers, Echo/Home, or a home hi-fi connected to airplay or a good old fashioned audio jack.

Methinks the potential potential market for these is very, very small. And within that market, the people who will actually cough-up $350 for a one-trick pony is miniscule.

I really have no idea why Apple even came to market with this product and they stopped making useful things like routers.
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I predict that by the 3rd generation it will have everything that was allegedly missing, which people are now complaining about.

Anybody with a stereo and lots of wires knows that once you put everything in your house/apartment it will only move when you do, dust bunnies and all.

This - very elegant and simple - loudspeaker with just one cable ( I dislike anything with batteries, but will survive if they MUST be) should at least be checked out for those in the market for smart loudspeakers.
Based on Apple history about 3 months after it's released we'll see the first fine-tuning.

As for Siri addressable, they will first have to convince me that Siri is now worth using.
So far, for me SIRI = DOA
 
Keane16 said:
Are these far better speakers free? Otherwise you're comparing apples to oranges.
That's why I said the real headline is that the HomePod sounds better than a comparatively priced Sonos PLAY:3. On top of the PLAY:3 it also has assistant side of things.
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My point is given the competition, the market for the HomePod is fairly narrow. Apple may wish they were only competing with Sonos, but it's not like Apple is creating a new market category here like they did with the iPad. Loudspeaker technology is over 100 years old and most people who like music already own decent speakers. Consider the consumer types:

Already own good speakers: Echo Dot is a better solution than HomePod, regardless of price.
Own Sonos: Waiting for Alexa integration makes more sense than replacing lots of already excellent hardware
Own bad speakers and don't care much about sound quality: Echo, Google Home, and BT speakers are better priced.
Don't own speakers: Probably not a big music listener. Not about to drop $350 on a HomePod
New consumer (young adult): With a high risk of spilled-beer damage, a $50 BT speaker make more sense.
Own bad speakers have desire and funds to upgrade: HomePod, but it competes with Sonos, as well as the Echo Dot and Chromecast Audio + decent speakers
​
 
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ReneR said:
after a month or two this will be the most ugly, dusty thing ever :-/
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What does ugly have to do with the sound performance of the Home Pod? If this device can put out exceptional sound and integrate with HomeKit and other ecosystem features, that's all I could ask for.
 
Leonard1818 said:
But I've already got SO MANY sonos speakers...
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I do too.

From the Sonos sub, to several 3s as rear speakers to the Connect in the basement and the 1s in my bedroom.

I had read that Sonos was building an API for the "smart" speakers - Google, Amazon and eventually Apple to connect to an existing Sonos network of speakers. Clearly Apple's play to have fewer speakers and no dedicated soundbar or sub. Will Apple take a scorched Earth approach or do you think they enable their speaker to integrate into Sonos with Siri voice commands?
 
It's twice the price of an Echo ... it blooming well should be twice as good.

Hmmm....that Apple badge is a winner isn't it? I've ordered a couple.

I'm Sticking one on my car in the hope that when I sell it I'll get double the price. Yes!
 
MrX8503 said:
Early reviews are saying that it sounds better than the Play:3
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The only access reviewers had to the device to compare it with the others was in a setting controlled by Apple. Who knows how they tweaked that Homepod and if that's really what they'll be shipping to consumers, and as I said previously I doubt they tuned the Sonos speaker so it'd be at its best. So we'll just have to wait until December to see how it really is.
 
raccoontail said:
My point is given the competition, the market for the HomePod is fairly narrow. Apple may wish they were only competing with Sonos, but it's not like Apple is creating a new market category here like they did with the iPad. Loudspeaker technology is over 100 years old and most people who like music already own decent speakers. Consider the consumer types:

Already own good speakers: Echo Dot is a better solution than HomePod, regardless of price.
Own Sonos: Waiting for Alexa integration makes more sense than replacing lots of already excellent hardware
Own bad speakers and don't care much about sound quality: Echo, Google Home, and BT speakers are better priced.
Don't own speakers: Probably not a big music listener. Not about to drop $350 on a HomePod
New consumer (young adult): With a high risk of spilled-beer damage, a $50 BT speaker make more sense.
Own bad speakers have desire and funds to upgrade: HomePod, but it competes with Sonos, as well as the Echo Dot and Chromecast Audio + decent speakers
​
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Here, drink this Koolaid and try again...

Already own good speakers: Throw them in the trash because Apple makes speakers now (again). All non-Apple speakers are obsolete audio abominations that "99% don't want" (anymore). Only Apple speakers can be good speakers. I don't even own one of these yet but already know that my music will sound 509% better when played through these than any other speakers available at any price. Resistance is futile.
Own Sonos: See above. And Alexa will be far inferior in every way after a minor Siri software upgrade "coming soon."
Own bad speakers and don't care much about sound quality: only this Apple speaker will do. Or maybe Beats. Unless Beats is the bad speakers to which you refer... and then "how dare you!"... but you should buy this Apple speaker anyway.
Don't own speakers: A perfect candidate for Homepod and an Apple Music subscription at the same time. In fact, this type should buy many Homepods to try to catch up on all that they've been missing. $350? So what. If they are poor, here's a Barclay card application. Owning Apple tech is too important to not go into debt if necessary.
New consumer (young adult): How dare anyone risk spilling beer on Apple technology. Execute any such youngsters. And then load up their credit cards with Homepod orders anyway. Else, for those not executed, take their credit cards (and beer) away until they own several.
Own bad speakers have desire and funds to upgrade: HomePod
​
Well, you got that last one right, even without a drink.

All ;)
 
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I stopped using speakers because I just can't be bothered to charge them. Plus war on wires. Have a bunch of them somewhere.

This is first Apple product where I'm thinking I'm definitely not getting one of those, but I might just get one for a family member for Christmas. Also Siri seems incapable of following the simplest of instructions, especially music related ones. And pairing speakers is like getting a mac to recognise a printer circa 1995. A tedious task you find yourself doing literally hundreds of times over the life of the product.

I do use wireless noise cancelling headphones however - far from perfect but worth the hassle.
 
Tapiture said:
The only access reviewers had to the device to compare it with the others was in a setting controlled by Apple. Who knows how they tweaked that Homepod and if that's really what they'll be shipping to consumers, and as I said previously I doubt they tuned the Sonos speaker so it'd be at its best. So we'll just have to wait until December to see how it really is.
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Reviewers are also saying Sonos had true play setup.
 
Am I missing something Echo Dot cost £40 plays numerous streaming services and it can be connected to any external speaker or amplifier producing a far superior sound rather than a bass heavy mono £200 earbud that Apple have produced. Most importantly its open to developers. Absolutely missing the mark.
 
Scottsoapbox said:
A $350 speaker sounds better than a $130 speaker?

Practically Magic.
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I think you missed the point... HomePod is first and foremost, a great home speaker for the masses that requires no setup. It sounds great wherever you are. That's the magic; there's no waving of the speaker or using a smartphone to help set things up.

The "smart" in these smart speakers is still extremely limited (and frustrating) so you can spend $130, which for many, have become a very expensive alarm clock, or you can spend $350 on a great sounding speaker that you can enjoy for a decade or more. Over that time, the "smart" feature will get better in the background and maybe in 10 years it'll truly feel somewhat intelligent whereas the $130 speaker will still sound like crap in comparison.
 
Tapiture said:
Can you link it?
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In the controlled demo environment, What HiFi? noted the HomePod's strong bass and crisp vocals on Sia's "The Greatest," which made the Echo "almost pedestrian" in comparison. Even with TruePlay calibration on Sonos Play:3, the Sonos speakers "appeared uncharacteristically flat" versus HomePod. The site did note that throughout the session songs felt more bass-heavy than some of the other speakers in comparison, and it remains unclear if Apple will allow users to tweak audio playback in some way.
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Karma*Police said:
so you can spend $130, which for many, have become a very expensive alarm clock, or you can spend $350 on a great sounding speaker that you can enjoy for a decade or more.
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What are you talking about? Home and Echo are great products.
 
One reason I never bought into Sonos was there was no easy way (afaik) of getting random audio from my computer, say from an embedded YouTube video, or playing some Logic Pro tracks (or FCP audio), wirelessly to a Sonos speaker.

Is that still true? I imagine that won't be a problem with HomePod. That alone, for me, is huge.
 
Well I hope Sonos can improve their Trueplay technology to complete. Seeing that, I am quite impressed with what Apple has done. It's too bad they'll lock it down to Apple Music so you won't be able to use music on your computer or other music services though.
 
citysnaps said:
One reason I never bought into Sonos was there was no easy way (afaik) of getting random audio from my computer, say from an embedded YouTube video, or playing some Logic Pro tracks, wirelessly to a Sonos speaker.

Is that still true? I imagine that won't be a problem with HomePod. That alone, for me, is huge.
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If you have a Sonos playbar or Play 5 you can use a line-in connection to play audio directly from your device. Another thing that works which I have done is created a folder on my desktop that I added to the Sonos app as a music library where I can drop audio files and play them on the Sonos system.

It probably will be a problem with Homepod. Although I haven't read a ton about i,t I think Apple is planning for it to work only with Apple Music library, meaning it will be even more locked-down than Sonos.
EDIT: To quote Mashable, "There is, though, an instant limit with the Apple HomePod: It's designed for Apple Music users. The app will stream content from your Apple Music library (which is in the cloud), but the app doesn't support any other music services. If you want to stream anything else, you can use another device and stream it to the speaker via AirPlay 2, which will arrive this fall in iOS 11. "
 
raccoontail said:
My point is given the competition, the market for the HomePod is fairly narrow. Apple may wish they were only competing with Sonos, but it's not like Apple is creating a new market category here like they did with the iPad. Loudspeaker technology is over 100 years old and most people who like music already own decent speakers. Consider the consumer types:

Already own good speakers: Echo Dot is a better solution than HomePod, regardless of price.
Own Sonos: Waiting for Alexa integration makes more sense than replacing lots of already excellent hardware
Own bad speakers and don't care much about sound quality: Echo, Google Home, and BT speakers are better priced.
Don't own speakers: Probably not a big music listener. Not about to drop $350 on a HomePod
New consumer (young adult): With a high risk of spilled-beer damage, a $50 BT speaker make more sense.
Own bad speakers have desire and funds to upgrade: HomePod, but it competes with Sonos, as well as the Echo Dot and Chromecast Audio + decent speakers
​
Click to expand...

Now imagine there are more countries in the world than just US. Wow, shocking, I know.

For the rest of us, Siri is the only one who knows more languages. Doesn't look like Echo is going to learn them anytime soon. So for non-US market, that speaker is actually pretty cool. I also don't find it expensive at all.

And whatever you want to trow at us, echo dot, google chromecast, sony-samsung-nokia-microsoft whatever you can come up with third party mess not compatible with apple world. Really? I have everything from Apple and a Sony TV with Android OS, which is a nightmare. And don't get me wrong, I can play movies from my Mac through VLC, but you have to have sharing on and you have to spend ten hours finding that movie in your folders. I can share screen through Chromecast, my only still photos, since I have never seen something so laggy in my life and so on.

I want the convenience of clicking AirPlay button and watch unrivalled smoothness?

That's what HomePod is all about. Take it out of the box and you can enjoy decent music and also have your lights turned off at your command. That's the beauty.

I don't want to have one assistant in my TV, second in my phone and third in my Thermostat. And sync them with my fourth assistant.

Siri everywhere or nothing.

Also, I'm a big music listener and don't own any speakers, you know why? Cause I don't want to connect them to god knows what, calibrate them with million dolar callibration device and not be able to play my Apple Music through them (when I'm already paying for that).
 
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