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HomePod First Listen Impressions: 'Incredible' Audio With Bass-Heavy Sound That Easily Beats Echo
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Martin Logan floor standing electrostatic speakers are for the very wealthy. Look at the prices....
No matter how Apple may like to spin this product, at the end of the day it's very much just a very expensive blue tooth speaker. Apple knows that Siri can't cut the mustard with Echo, Google Home or Cortana for that matter. Therefore first and foremost they're advertising this as a music device rather than a digital home assistant.
Lots of people will fall for the hype, but me nah! I'll stick with my Sonos thank you very much.
Lots of people will fall for the hype, but me nah! I'll stick with my Sonos thank you very much.
It should work for most things. I was testing it out on YouTube and it worked but had a 4 or 5 second delay. It's not a great solution but it works.
The idea that we need a cheap device in each room to use Siri is stupid. Anyone with an iPhone 6S already has, "Hey, Siri." I know that's not much help for folks with older iPhones, but there you go. If you want to talk to Siri, get an iPhone released in within the last 18 months (or just hold the little home button for a second).
swingerofbirch
macrumors 68040
Sonos is great stuff and the HomePod isn't designed to destroy such companies.
I have no idea why you think Siri is not up to the challenge.
That's the beauty of Sonos. You can buy whatever speaks you want, connect them to a high quality receiver, and get a Sonos device and connect it to the receiver. Voila, legit high quality audio. Sure, speaker systems like HomePod and Sonos Play have their place, but if you want amazing sound and a multi-room setup, the best way to go is still a dedicated receiver and high quality speakers. Plus when you go that route you can go in-wall or in-ceiling.
I wish Apple had followed Sonos's lead and offered a speakerless HomePod for connecting to dedicated receivers with a little wireless bluetooth microphone.
Thank you. The reason why Apple users don't need Echo Dots everywhere is because Apple has a viable phone and tablet platform and Amazon's is an afterthought.
When the next hardware refresh of the Apple Watch comes my wife and I will have them on our wrists
Did you read how I corrected what I said? Bluetooth audio is not premium enough for Apple.
Well, there is ripping CDs, ripping LPs, buying from Amazon, downloading from all kinds of free sources, you can use GarageBand to create your own music, and there are 100 times more free audiobooks that you can download than would fit on your phones.
Exactly. In some people's imagination it only works with Apple Music. Which would make it a very hard sell.
Here here. I've got Carver AL-III Ribbons with custom active crossovers (no need for a sub; already goes to 27Hz) in my upstairs listening room (with Klipsch surrounds for the occasional movie or TV show in that room) and a PSB 6.1 channel system (with a powered 15" sub) in my home theater room. I've already got Klipsch ProMedia speakers in the den/computer room and bedrooms. WTF do I need another speaker for, let alone a tiny POS?
Besides, what if you want to use it with your FireTV device you ALSO have in a given room? Too damn bad. That's what you get when you buy into any single ecosystem. With a real preamp, I can use AppleTV, FireTV and even a Roku and PS4 all in the same room with the same speaker system. Oddly, my FireTV 4K already has Alexa on it with a push of a button on the remote (no I would NOT *EVER* want that thing listening 24/7 recording everything I say; FRACK THAT).
Call this and that Echo anything you want, but they are prime spy devices. Imagine these being hacked and pirates/thieves listening to every private conversation you ever have in your house. Imagine Microsoft Windows 10 watching every single thing you ever type or look at on your Windows 10 machine.... the HORROR I say! All because people are too damn lazy to pick up their phone or turn on the stereo (these do use power in standby, after all). Yeah, real smart. Hook my fridge and thermostat up to the net so hackers can turn my heat to 90 and my fridge to deep freeze. Don't tell me it can't happen. These 'gadget' devices are the #1 hacked items in the world for things like denial of service attacks. That web cam you installed to keep an eye on your house? The thieves love using it to see if you're home or not because they can see through those cameras too!
Not to be outdone by "if it doesn't have a metal case and support 4K, then it's not real tech"
Wow you really enjoy attacking me, don't you? Ripping CDs and LPs to get them on your iPhone requires going through iTunes, BTW, so you can take that out of your rebuttal. Hmm that leaves 3 ways you can get music on your phone. I'd call that "not many."
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You can only voice control Apple Music, which is the whole point of the product. A major disappointment.
Apple sells $800 cellphones and $2000 laptops.... you are surprised by the cost of this?!??
On another note... quality sound systems are in this price point and higher.
It really depends on the use case. I have a bunch of dots and you can speak to one at normal speaking volume from most places in my house. They are always ready to operate lights, play music or online radio, adjust the temperature, and give a traffic or weather report. My iPhone is not nearly as good at picking up commands from across the room, especially if I forgot it on the couch or it's plugged in charging on another floor. A single iPhone or HomePod might work to run a smart studio apartment, but for a voice-controlled smart home, multiple fixed controllers are a must.
Amazon's tablets are certainly no iPads, but again use case matters. Showing a video to a rambunctious toddler on a $40 Fire tablet is a much better idea than on a $900 iPad pro.