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HomePod Now Available to Order in United States, Australia, and United Kingdom

Infinitewisdom said:
A Sonos doesn’t have Siri integration. And yes that’s a big deal for me. I’m looking to use this in a similar way that I’ve used the Echo.
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Sonos now offering TWO play ones with Alexa integration for $349. Far better deal.

Been a sonos guy coming in 7 years, have 8 of them and love.

But...I ordered a HomePod anyway lol. Want to compare the sound. The size is appealing on the HomePod. But sonos is open platform and love I can stream so many services (yes Apple music and from my phone) from one app. We will see...
 
bbplayer5 said:
What does this thing do that warrants a purchase that say an Echo doesn't do? I have no interest in my text messages being read out loud - much faster to just check my phone or computer. What else does this thing do that warrants spending that kinda money?
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For starters, HomePod employs signal processing techniques implementing adaptive beamforming and dynamic self-equalization, which will drive superior audio quality (for a device of it's size and price).
 
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It would be cool if these could be integrated with the TV sound, and also used in stereo, to replace a home entertainment center and still have the functionality of HomePod as advertised.
 
hazeydavey said:
Sonos now offering TWO play ones with Alexa integration for $349. Far better deal.

Been a sonos guy coming in 7 years, have 8 of them and love.

But...I ordered a HomePod anyway lol. Want to compare the sound. The size is appealing on the HomePod. But sonos is open platform and love I can stream so many services (yes Apple music and from my phone) from one app. We will see...
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Anything you can stream to Sonos can be streamed to a HomePod.
 
bbplayer5 said:
What does this thing do that warrants a purchase that say an Echo doesn't do? I have no interest in my text messages being read out loud - much faster to just check my phone or computer. What else does this thing do that warrants spending that kinda money?
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I think this page: https://www.apple.com/homepod/ is meant to bring all that is known now together in one place to try to answer such questions.

However, if you are looking to be sold by this crowd, recent comments imply it can cure cancer, make you walk on water, can be stereo or surround sound in a single tiny box (and in spite of what Apple themselves say), raise the dead, make supermodels want to mate with you, do practically anything*, give you a (Star Trek-like) home holodeck, make you rich, play a "good enough" (but very same) source of audio for supporting the "go bluetooth" argument against the headphone jack last year(s) to now be heard at audiophile levels to justify the price of this product, make you immortal, etc.

All ;)


*after "just one software update"
 
Here's why I won't buy one:

Me: Alexa, <some basic question>
Alexa: <reads me the answer to my question>

Me: Hey, Siri, <same basic question>
Siri: "Here's what I found on the web regarding <same basic question>"

No thank you.
 
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bbplayer5 said:
What does this thing do that warrants a purchase that say an Echo doesn't do? I have no interest in my text messages being read out loud - much faster to just check my phone or computer. What else does this thing do that warrants spending that kinda money?
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It's mostly an Apple Music speaker. If you don't subscribe to Apple Music, yes, it's 100% not worth the cost because it's really just a "dumb" speaker at that point. Apple needs to unshackle it and let Siri work with personal music libraries and other streaming services for it to really be useful as a smart speaker.

As for the smart features of Echo vs HomePod, Echo is clearly miles ahead because Alexa is miles ahead of Siri except when it comes to security. But Apple isn't marketing HomePod as smart speaker (Echo/Google Home) competitor per se. It's going after the smaller Apple Music market. Why? I can't say because Apple Music subscribers is a small sub-set of Apple's device customers.
 
Initial reviews are promising, but will wait to actually hear it in person at local Apple Store or retailers. I’m happy with my current Sonos Play:1’s. Hard to justify the premium $$$, but it is Apple. A price of $259-$279 would have been better IMO.
 
levitynyc said:
Would be interested at 199.

$349 is ridiculous.

You can get a Sonos for $200
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Same here. People are way too much of fanboys here. But in reality you’ll probably get better quality speakers for less going with a competitor. But saying that here is blasphemous lol.
 
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Just ordered. I've been wanting a smart speaker for the house and would love to eventually have several of them. I held out for the HomePod b/c there is absolutely no way I'm letting an always-listening device from Amazon or Google into the house.
 
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HobeSoundDarryl said:
What accounts?

Apple Marketing has said it sounds great. What else would they say? They also said "you're holding it wrong" and tried to spin secret throttling code as "for our customers."

Hand-picked invitees to the big reveal event got to listen for a little while to Apple-selected audio in an Apple-controlled environment. Plus, they know that future invitations are at risk if they say anything very bad.

Some of the usual players around here have claimed is sounds better than <any speaker>, even before actually getting to hear it or compare head-to-head.

Best I know, that is "all accounts" reporting so far: the seller, those who know better than to conflict with the seller message pre-launch and then the fans who will crown ANYTHING Apple would put in a box as king, before even seeing or hearing it themselves.

It may indeed be great. It may sound great. It may even be the King of speakers for only $349. But at this point, the entire wall of endorsement comes from the singlular "accounts" that made the thing and wants to sell a ton of them. Those circumstances for ANYTHING else from anyone else should come with at least a caveat emptor.
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From 9to5 Mac:

https://9to5mac.com/2018/01/25/homepod-hands-on-sound-quality-siri/
 
hazeydavey said:
Sonos now offering TWO play ones with Alexa integration for $349. Far better deal.

Been a sonos guy coming in 7 years, have 8 of them and love.

But...I ordered a HomePod anyway lol. Want to compare the sound. The size is appealing on the HomePod. But sonos is open platform and love I can stream so many services (yes Apple music and from my phone) from one app. We will see...
Click to expand...

I haven't got to hear the latter- so granted this could be entirely wrong- but I suspect you got this particular question right the first 8 times. Sonos makes some great speakers. They are focused on one thing. They tend to make their stuff work with everything instead of playing "walled garden." Etc.

I hope this can sound as good- or even better- but you probably already got this right.
 
mattburley7 said:
if I wouldn't have bought the iPhone X earlier this month I probably would have jumped at this. spending another $350 I just don't know.
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Don't forget sales tax unless you live in a no sales tax state. Out the door it's more like $370-380. Without any reviews seems pricey. I would love to see some reviews by known audio reviewers who know how to properly put speakers though their paces. All the reviews I've seen so far are by tech, not audio people, and seemingly under severe time conditions.
 
zed said:
Just ordered. I've been wanting a smart speaker for the house and would love to eventually have several of them. I held out for the HomePod b/c there is absolutely no way I'm letting an always-listening device from Amazon or Google into the house.
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If you're looking for a smart speaker, you've likely chosen poorly. It uses Siri. Siri rides the short bus.
 
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lsutigerfan1976 said:
Same here. People are way too much of fanboys here. But in reality you’ll probably get better quality speakers for less going with a competitor. But saying that here is blasphemous lol.
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i know the closest competitor is Google at $400. if you can find me a cheaper speaker with 7 tweeters, 22inch subwoofer and automatic self equalising and tailoring id be very intrigued. However at a hardware standpoint, Sonos one isn't more for less, Neither is Sonos 3 for that matter.

Btw? have you actually come to MACRUMORS and called us fanboys. LOL check your web address again and think
 
I wonder if the Apple Stores will open at 8am like other launches or normal time of 10am
 
cardfan said:
Nope. This is very limited. Can't even be a BT speaker. Can't use as a speaker from Mac. Apple TV can't use it. Can't be turned into a sound system with more of them. The integration kind of blows.

This is basically apple music on a speaker with a bit of siri thrown in...tied to one icloud acct so screw the rest of the household.
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Really? Wow, I thought about replacing my Deftech Cube, but 100% of the use is BT from Spotify. I know they wanna sell Apple Music, but how many people won't buy this if they can't Spotify to it?
 
I ordered one but now I'm thinking about if I should I get get a Sonos Play 3. I don't know if I will use the Siri features just want a nice single speaker for my home office which has good sound for my coding and photo editing sessions.
 
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