HomePod Hands-On: Unboxing and Overview

[legacyb4]

HomePod seems like a solution in search of a problem to this Baby Boomer......... Millennials may beg to differ.

Not a millennial nor a baby boomer, but the problem has been simply no quality audio hardware up to now from a vendor we like that ticked off several checkboxes (expectation of good sound, reasonable price, cable-free, support for my choice of music provider, direct integration in the platform of choice, etc. etc).

Problem now potentially solved by the HomePod solution!

 

[vidsmart]

So I ended up picking up a HomePod and the one thing that is unclear to me when I play song from my Iphone to the HomePod, if it's streaming directly to the HomePod or streaming from my phone to the HomePod. So my question is, can I select a song from Iphone and have it play directly to the HomePod (i.e. not stream from my phone to the home pod via airplay).

If i understand your question correctly, what you want to do if you use your iPhone is to open the Apple Music app, pick the music and choose HomePod to send to

Edit: disregard, you are already doing what I suggested (reading is fundamental!)

 

[truthertech]

I don't think you're alone on this one, this is one of my pet peeves as well. I don't know how Apple keeps pushing Siri to be a magical, smart assistant when others are blowing it out of the water with theirs. Clearly, they haven't really improved their "assistant" since it was first introduced. And, don't get me started on Siri being an AI learning what you like and what you ask of it more often. It has failed to even give me the most basic information when I used to use it.

It's only good for simple commands, other than that, it's pretty useless that's why I turned it off on all of my devices.

Oh Grasshopper! You made a huge mistake in turning off Siri because you have been missing out on so much. Despite the Internet myths about Siri, the facts are that she is by far the most used personal assistant in the world. No one else even comes close. Over 500 MILLION people use Siri REGULARLY. I am one of them. Siri knows more languages than any other speaker. Siri does terrific with sending/reading messages, directions, setting timers/alarms, making calls, playing music, getting an Uber, fantastic with Apple TV, no one better with sports info, math, etc.

Out of the box, Apple is being conservative with the Homepod, so Siri doesn't do everything on the HP that she is capable of, but it turns out that she is fantastic with everything that most smart speaker owners use their speakers for: listening to music, reading/sending messages, setting a timer, and checking on traffic and weather. Take a gander at this in depth article on smart speaker usage. Then look at the video demonstration of Siri on the Homepod and be prepared to be amazed with Siri.

https://qz.com/1105740/the-majority...e-their-devices-for-a-small-set-of-functions/

 

[artfossil]

. . . iTunes match sounds to me as if they could take my music from me at anytime, just like the do the books I've purchased). Too bad as I have a lot of other Apple products.

iTunes Match doesn’t take your music from you. What it does is take your ripped music and matches it to 256 AAC non-DRM versions in the Cloud. If you choose, and I did, you can then download those versions and store them wherever and however you like. For me, that meant that a few thousand songs of varying quality and with DRM were replaced with uniformly high quality versions. My iTunes library, purchased and Matched, resides on an external drive. (And is, of course, backed up.) It’s not in danger of being “taken.”

 

[neutralguy]

Not a millennial nor a baby boomer, but the problem has been simply no quality audio hardware up to now from a vendor we like that ticked off several checkboxes (expectation of good sound, reasonable price, cable-free, support for my choice of music provider, direct integration in the platform of choice, etc. etc).

Problem now potentially solved by the HomePod solution!

And Sonos didn't solve that problem before?

 

[forrie]

Picked mine up last night!

First impressions, the unit is much smaller than I expected; though, it does have a good weight to it.

The sound is good, good base feel. For a small speaker, it certainly has a larger presence. I haven't yet moved it through rooms to see how it adjusts dynamically. I do note that the music tone could use higher treble, which I'm not sure yet how to adjust for my tastes--to that end, my Bose Wave Radio speaker sounds better. I like crisper sound, this sounds slightly muffled.

I'm not entirely sure how Siri knows how to refer to my music sources, yet. I say "Hey, Siri, please play lounge music" and it seems to be coming from my music collection; that is, on my Macbook that is "supposedly" hibernating...Hmmm. I'm not entirely sure how to get her to stream my favorite URLs, yet, as opposed to relying on music-type labels on my collection.

You CAN disable "Hey, Siri" in the settings on iOS. However, it's not entirely clear to me whether that turns off any local audio monitoring as would be necessary for using Siri to wait for the right verbal terms.

I thought it was interesting then that, presumably, my WIFI credentials from my LAN may have been magically inherited to the HomePod firmware without my setting it up -- if indeed that is happening.

I was only able to set it up using an iPhone. Meh, I should be able to address it from my Macbook, just like Airports.

A technical oversight with regard to the new TouchPad on the Macbooks, you cannot (yet) adjust the central volume of the HomePod via the normal icons/clicks for up and down; that seems like an unusual oversight. I can however control the volume with the slider next to iTunes output/speaker selection modal.

Touching the top of the unit (the "cap") will turn the unit off, but there doesn't appear to be an opposite tap to turn it back on, unless you start playing sound or address Siri verbally.

So far the Siri feature is good; I have not given her/it more challenging questions, yet; as I don't want to hear "I'm sorry, I can't do that." just yet LOL

 

[Baymowe335]

Picked mine up last night!

First impressions, the unit is much smaller than I expected; though, it does have a good weight to it.

The sound is good, good base feel. For a small speaker, it certainly has a larger presence. I haven't yet moved it through rooms to see how it adjusts dynamically. I do note that the music tone could use higher treble, which I'm not sure yet how to adjust for my tastes--to that end, my Bose Wave Radio speaker sounds better. I like crisper sound, this sounds slightly muffled.

I'm not entirely sure how Siri knows how to refer to my music sources, yet. I say "Hey, Siri, please play lounge music" and it seems to be coming from my music collection; that is, on my Macbook that is "supposedly" hibernating...Hmmm. I'm not entirely sure how to get her to stream my favorite URLs, yet, as opposed to relying on music-type labels on my collection.

You CAN disable "Hey, Siri" in the settings on iOS. However, it's not entirely clear to me whether that turns off any local audio monitoring as would be necessary for using Siri to wait for the right verbal terms.

I thought it was interesting then that, presumably, my WIFI credentials from my LAN may have been magically inherited to the HomePod firmware without my setting it up -- if indeed that is happening.

I was only able to set it up using an iPhone. Meh, I should be able to address it from my Macbook, just like Airports.

A technical oversight with regard to the new TouchPad on the Macbooks, you cannot (yet) adjust the central volume of the HomePd via the normal icons/licks for up and down; that seems like an unusual oversight. I can however control the volume with the slider next to iTunes output/speaker selection modal.

Touching the top of the unit (the "cap") will turn the unit off, but there doesn't appear to be an opposite tap to turn it back on, unless you start playing sound or address Siri verbally.

So far the Siri feature is good; I have not given her/it more challenging questions, yet; as I don't want to hear "I'm sorry, I can't do that." just yet LOL

2 red flags you are an audio n00b:

1) "Base"
2) Bose

Excuse me for not taking your "muffled" sound opinion very seriously.

 

[KeithJenner]

Quick question - can you disable Siri so that it is no longer listening and just use it as an airplay speaker? My partner does not like the idea of these devices listening to all the conversations and sending it back to Apple HQ and the CIA for analysis.

Cheers

Keep Siri on and get a new partner.

Seriously though, as stated above, even if you could tell it not to listen then can you trust it not to do so? If you are really concerned about this then don’t let any of this kit in your house. That means phones, tablets, computers, everything.

But also ask yourself, what sort of resources do you think that these places have to monitor the conversations of all the millions of people with these devices. The absolute worst case would be that something is triggered by certain keywords, but I’m going to assume that if you did say those words then a quick listen to the conversation would show you were discussing the news.

 

[tdar]

Just thought this shouldn't be hidden in the middle of a long post. It's not mono. It's not stereo. It's something else.

It's not mono. It's not stereo (and won't ever be even with two of them). It's not mono plus. It's not Stereo plus. It's Apples idea of how music should be played back, no mater how it was recorded, no mater how the people who made it or recorded it felt it should be played back. No mater what they wanted you to hear.

The Verge has it right. The HomePod is the point of no return. Apple has fully drunk their own Kool Aid. Now they get to decide how music should be heard, even though we have had industry standards about that for decades?
Not in my house.

 

[anson42]

Audiophiles don't own speakers that "...just don't sound that great." I own Acoustat Model 3's (only one of my speaker sets of course), therefore this little trinket is utter trash in my eyes.

This is the kind of attitude that makes audiophiles look bad. This audiophile (me) is just being brutally honest.

 

[tdar]

Keep Siri on and get a new partner.

Let's ask Phil's partner if they have Facebook's app on their phone. Talk about listening to all of your conversations. They can turn on your microphone any time they want and there is no wake word. There's Facebook control. Oh and looking at (or downloading) all of your pictures. They even have rights to put their own pictures in your photo roll if they want to. And they are worried about this device?

 

[mrpq]

no you don't.

Exactly. I speak normally to my HomePod, no pausing and Siri works great.

 

[doelcm82]

To answer your question, yes I do expect that, if a person claims to be an audiophile. Just because the speakers attached to your computer aren't very good, doesn't mean everyone else has terrible speakers hooked up to their computers.

It’s the No True Audiophile fallacy:

“No audiophile would buy the Apple HomePod!”

“I’m an audiophile and I really like the HomePod I bought, so far.”

“No true audiophile would buy the Apple HomePod.”

 

[nsayer]

You CAN disable "Hey, Siri" in the settings on iOS. However, it's not entirely clear to me whether that turns off any local audio monitoring as would be necessary for using Siri to wait for the right verbal terms.

This smacks me of the "tree falls in the forest" sort of argument.

Is a microphone "listening" if it's not plugged into anything?

If your HomePod isn't sending room audio off-device at all, and Hey Siri is disabled, then what possible meaning does the concept of "local monitoring" have?

 

[prasand]

This audiophile has no problem praising the sound of the HomePod. Something this small sitting alone in the kitchen has no right to sound as good as it does.

The absurdity! Made me actually LOL

Unless you want to have a HomePod on your living room table, non-functional, for decorative purposes, it doesn't really matter whether the power cable can be removed (and re-attached).

A removable cable brings potential to: switching it for longer or shorter cable, or even the possibility of connecting batteries / a dock. It gives way to a potential market for third-party manufacturers to capitalize on.

Ask Siri how many teams are in the NHL. I dare ya.

I did, that was annoying, lol. Tried enunciating it, etc., smh.

Some had it as a 7.1 surround sound speaker in a single little box too. At least one posted a question about it being Dolby Atmos in a single little box. Apparently it's count the tweeters and that is the same as individual speakers.

You're twisting facts to fit your narrative.

First, it's literal fact that a tweeter is an individual speaker. Counting tweeters is to literally count individual speakers. Yes, tweeters can be used in an array, but they are still individual speakers.

Second, I didn't actually claim HomePod was 7.1. I merely played with an idea based on the number of speakers, while also clearly stating that it is highly unlikely to be 7.1. Then others who actually comprehend what a speaker is, clarified that 15 actual speakers would be necessary (7 for the high, 7 for the mid, 1 for the low). Which I readily accepted in my reply, because I never really perceived it to be 7.1 in the first place. In reality, there are many things that I perceive Apple to get wrong, or poorly implement, I spend a lot of professional effort correcting flaws and filling in gaps.

But I understand that your lies amuse you, so, whatever, cast me as someone holding the "Book of Mac" above my head as I walk down the street barefoot like Steve Jobs in his prime, lol.

But as you do that, I'll imagine you to think that a wood enclosure partially constitutes what a speaker is.

 

[BacktoMacNJ]

It sounds nice, but the lack of Bluetooth is disappointing. The non-removable cord is a problem too if for some reason it goes bad or breaks.

 

[chfilm]

Is it possible to create a scene in home, telling it to start playing a certain playlist when you're getting close to your home?

 

[riverfreak]

Yup, a fair summary.

A stunning speaker.
Siri needs work. But software is easily updated.

Simply a must-buy for Apple Music subscribers.

When you say “software is easily updated” you mean “Siri is easily updated?” Because Siri flat out sucks.

I used to think Siri was months behind Alexa. That alone, in ML terms, would be insurmountable. But I don’t even think Siri is playing in the same league. It feels like it’s totally hardcoded and pinned to iOS/OS updates. I mean, it’s astounding just how Apple maps bad it is.

 

[thefourthpope]

Huh. Sounded just like the normal audio from my iPhone speakers, tbh.

 

[deanthedev]

To answer your question, yes I do expect that, if a person claims to be an audiophile. Just because the speakers attached to your computer aren't very good, doesn't mean everyone else has terrible speakers hooked up to their computers.

Ridiculous.

I enjoy dining in fine restaurants and drinking Scotch. Does that mean every single meal I eat is prepared by a chef and I’m hammered 24/7 from all the Scotch I consume? I have several expensive suits for formal occasions. Does that mean I wear expensive clothes every day? I have a home theatre and am a very serious movie buff. Does that mean I can’t watch video on my iPhone or iPad because it’s not “theatre quality”?

The idea that someone who likes something is ONLY satisfied by that thing (and nothing else) is asinine.

It’s the No True Audiophile fallacy:

“No audiophile would buy the Apple HomePod!”

“I’m an audiophile and I really like the HomePod I bought, so far.”

“No true audiophile would buy the Apple HomePod.”

Brilliant. I bet if I listed some whiskeys I liked he’d tell me “No true whiskey connoisseur would ever drink a blended Scotch.”

 

[IJ Reilly]

Well I’ve just asked it to play radio 1

And it said playing radio 1 playlist. So not sure if that’s just a playlist they play or live. Likely just a stored playlist

That's interesting. I'm not in the UK so maybe my test isn't relevant, but I tried asking Siri on my iPhone to "play radio 1" and it came back with a list of options (none of which were BBC). Tried asking it to play a couple of NPR stations and Siri responded that they could not be found in my music library. Then I asked "play NPR" and was sent directly the NPR hourly headlines. I believe the latter is what will happen on the HomePod. Could someone test this?

 

[justme1]

I’ve given my impressions in many other threads so I won’t repeat them here.

Obviously doesn’t sound as good as my EVENT BAS 20/20 v2s, but as you can see from the pictures I live in an acoustically challenging place. Neither my monitors nor the HomePod can be placed in optimal spots. (FTR, the monitors are angled down on custom stands).

What the HomePod (and soon it’s second sibling) does solve for me is having consistent audio throughout an apartment that’s both open, and separated into compartmental zones. We even get great sound out on the balcony now. The EVENTs can make you feel like you are in an open field concert without breaking a sweat, but you need to be in that sweet spot, sitting in the couch.

The HomePod creates a consistent wide open soundstage pretty much wherever you are. However, due to my limited positioning abilities it does sound too directional for TV use just having one to the side of the TV. I can’t wait for pairing to become available (fingers crossed for a beta shortly) so I can get another. That way my monitors can migrate permanently to my studio.

View attachment 750622 View attachment 750623


In short, they sound amazing for what they are with a pleasing sound signature for most ears. Siri controls most everything in our home, is fast and can hear you over 100% volume while speaking at a regular volume. She has some odd shortcomings however - especially being tuned for sound control now. “Hey Siri, skip five songs” does not work. Played the same song over the first time and skipped a single track the next time. “Hey Siri play the fifth track of my HomePod playlist” still plays the first track. Very odd. She also needs way more integration with AppleTV and HomeKit scenes. All low hanging fruit.

EDIT: It appears pairing is available right now in the latest iOS beta. I thought the HomePod OS would need an update, but apparently not. Getting a second one today maybe. HomePod Unboxing & Review! Both Colors Thanks for the heads up @ersan191!

I love how your place looks. I want to live there.

 

[derekaw]

The background music playing during the start of the video, what is that please?

 

[Big Fat Lies!]

I bought 2 HomePods and discovered that they have different OS versions. One is 11.2.5 (15D59) and the other is 11.2.5 (15D61). Anyone else run into this?

 

[ChinaRye]

I seem to have that problem, although I only had 30minutes to test it. Strangely, it didn’t have a problem with my wife and son, so looks like an issue with my voice.

I was thinking it is my voice as well. I have a low, deep voice. I do find if I try and raise my pitch, it is able to hear me better. I wonder if it will get better over time the more I use it? My impression thus far has been underwhelming. I might return it and go for a pair of Sonos Ones. I know Alexa can hear my just fine.