HomePod Reviews: Outstanding Sound Quality, but Siri 'Struggles at Smart'

[kruegdude]

I just did a google search for HomePod reviews in the last 24 hours. Nearly every headline included the word “but”. I’m confused why Apple chose to release this product without more smarts or SiriKit domains. Even just bitting the bullet and giving Siri a music domain would have stunted a lot of the criticism. This isn’t about prioritizing sound over smarts. I doubt the people working on HomePod’s audio quality are the same group working on Siri. Make both best in class and you will get people on the fence to spend the money.

Well what do you expect when it’s Google you’re asking?
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I've never used Alexa, but have used Siri and Google Home. The Google Home is getting really good with being context aware, and easily programmable.

Right now I can say "Hey Google, Neflix and chill". Goole Home switches my TV over to the chrome cast (it would turn on the TV if I had a newer model), starts netflix, and plays "The Office" (a background show I often have on).

Later, I can just say "Hey Google, pause". Since the Google Home is in the family room with the chromecast it figures out that I probably mean pause the show on the TV.

My Apple TV is older, so maybe on the newer ones Siri is doing things like this just fine, but based on using Siri on my phone, I doubt it.

Why didn’t it turn down your AC?
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Somebody explained it to me like this. Apple can improve Siri over time. But a bad speaker will always be a bad speaker, you can’t fix that.

Lol, I’m a big Apple fan, including SIRI but that had me thinking of the phrase “you can’t fix stupid”.

 

[Mtmspa]

HomeKit is awesome with Siri personally. Got my lounge, bedroom and hall way set up and works flawlessly every time as do all the main tasks I use it for. Should it be better than it is? For sure but for tasks people will use HomePod for I fail to see the issue.

Same for me. Use Siri for my lights, thermostat and window shades. Works with my Apple Watch, iPhone X, Apple TV and in my truck with CarPlay. Love it.

I just say I am on the way home and the temp rises, shades go up and lights come on. Sweetness.

 

[The Game 161]

Same for me. Use Siri for my lights, thermostat and window shades. Works with my Apple Watch, iPhone X and In my truck with CarPlay. Love it.

I just say I am on the way home and the temp rises, shades go up and lights come on. Sweetest.

Agreed

Couldn’t do without these smart features now

 

[kruegdude]

That's *exactly* part of the problem with Apple gear these days - nothing is consistent.

With software that’s The limits are open ended.
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Same for me. Use Siri for my lights, thermostat and window shades. Works with my Apple Watch, iPhone X, Apple TV and in my truck with CarPlay. Love it.

I just say I am on the way home and the temp rises, shades go up and lights come on. Sweetness.

I really want some homekit enabled shades. Too many windows though.

 

[Mtmspa]

except by this analogy there are other iphones already in the market, which can do more and are cheaper.

This Homepod does not innovate, seems to be too late, too little, too walled-in and too expensive.

If its a success, then great, I just cant see it becoming market leader with so much stacked against it.

Exactly the reasons I will buy it.
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With software that’s The limits are open ended.
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I really want some homekit enabled shades. Too many windows though.

Serena Shades are awesome. Luckily I only six windows. Last house had 27.

 

[Richard28]

And I and many others have no trouble at all. Anyway, that was not the question. The question was what Alexa can do that Siri cannot. Concrete, real-world examples, please. I‘m geniously curious as I have never owned an Alexa device. What are all those amazing „skills“?

uhhh... what I just said in my post for a start, to repeat....

Alexa tells me things as she should do ... siri tells me to unlock my iphone and have a look!

 

[kruegdude]

Exactly the reasons I will buy it.
[doublepost=1517951992][/doublepost]Serena Shades are awesome. Luckily I only six windows. Last house had 27.

Thanks, I’ll check them out. Maybe I could start small and wait on the iMac Pro

 

[Richard28]

Exactly the reasons I will buy it.

wow, sarcasm??, or when you go shopping do you think.... "now, lets get something with no innovation, late to market, doesn't do as much as its peers and has limited third party capability, but I'll only buy it if its too expensive!!"??

thats very weird if you think like this!

 

[deanthedev]

Nobody paid them but with Apple there is always an implied threat of not getting the next device for early review. Notice how all these reviewers never reviewed real speakers before. These are hi-tech sites not HiFi sites. If HomePod was a SMART speaker this would even make sense but when Apple markets it as a music first speaker I prefer to read the reviews from someone who knows a thing or too about HiFi. They will even measure and tell us the frequency response. Speaker reviews have been a fixture for many decades. It is customary for them to provide frequency response measurements. Exceptions are made only for cheap speakers where this would be a waste of efforts.

What good is frequency response going to tell you? Two speakers with the same response can sound completely different. And how do measure on and off axis response on a speaker where the sound can come from multiple drivers? How do you measure muddy vs tight bass? Shrill vs clean highs?

While speaker reviews might perform various measurements the actual rating of the speaker is based on nothing more than how the person “thinks” it sounds - their opinion.

BTW, the TechCrunch reviewer sold audiophile gear for 7 years. Is that not good enough for you?

 

[Abazigal]

wow, sarcasm??, or when you go shopping do you think.... "now, lets get something with no innovation, late to market, doesn't do as much as its peers and has limited third party capability, but I'll only buy it if its too expensive!!"??

thats very weird if you think like this!

So going by your reasoning, basically every Apple product ever?

Notice how well this has turned out for Apple and how badly it has progressed for the rest of the competition?

 

[Doomtomb]

On a side note: Every review I've seen blasting the HomePod for not allowing Spotify to work with it. Does anyone blast Amazon or Google for not being able to use iTunes? I'm firmly tranched in the Apple ecosystem and it sounds like the HomePod would work for me just fine.

Nobody uses iTunes anymore. It's called Apple Music. And people already expect Apple to have walled it off from their competitors accessing it. It's Apple keeping others out, always has been and always will.

 

[mdatwood]

Why didn’t it turn down your AC?

Haha, the funny thing is I could program it to do that instead. In the app, you tell it to do X when you say Y. I have a Nest thermostat so I could have it turn the AC on.

One thing it doesn't support yet is going directly to a season and episode of a show. Last time I tried, it said it can't do that yet, but should be able to soon. Right now it only support things like next episode/prior/restart, stuff like that.

 

[Uofmtiger]

Nobody uses iTunes anymore. It's called Apple Music. And people already expect Apple to have walled it off from their competitors accessing it. It's Apple keeping others out, always has been and always will.

And Google Home doesn't support Amazon Music and Alexa doesn't support Google Play Music. Par for the course. Let's not forget Google removing Youtube from Amazon's Show or FireTV, either.

This may be big news, but most companies do what is in THEIR (and their shareholder's) best interests. Just in case you didn't see their financials from last quarter, it seems to be working for them.

 

[Neodym]

With the woofer sitting near the top and firing upwards, directly at the electronics at the top, I’m wondering how that design will stand the test of time. That‘s significantly more vibration than the average Apple product has to deal with usually.

 

[Doomtomb]

And Google Home doesn't support Amazon Music and Alexa doesn't support Google Play Music. Par for the course. Let's not forget Google removing Youtube from Amazon's Show or FireTV, either.

Never said the others aren't guilty of it either. When they feel threatened, services get pulled from competing devices until they can reach an agreement. Whether it be licensing or quid pro quo. The only thing that doesn't change is Apple refusing to allow competing services to be accessed or worse, become the primary way for their consumers to consume content. Apple's revenue from Services has been growing at something like 40% year-over-year. It's business as usual to them, pretty cut and dry if you ask me.

 

[kruegdude]

Haha, the funny thing is I could program it to do that instead. In the app, you tell it to do X when you say Y. I have a Nest thermostat so I could have it turn the AC on.

One thing it doesn't support yet is going directly to a season and episode of a show. Last time I tried, it said it can't do that yet, but should be able to soon. Right now it only support things like next episode/prior/restart, stuff like that.

Sounds neat. Eventually I’ll have the pieces to do this. Enjoy.

 

[Uofmtiger]

Never said the others aren't guilty of it either. When they feel threatened, services get pulled from competing devices until they can reach an agreement. Whether it be licensing or quid pro quo. The only thing that doesn't change is Apple refusing to allow competing services to be accessed or worse, become the primary way for their consumers to consume content. Apple's revenue from Services has been growing at something like 40% year-over-year. It's business as usual to them, pretty cut and dry if you ask me.

No argument. It is working great for them and their shareholders.

 

[Doomtomb]

No argument. It is working great for them and their shareholders.

Me included.

 

[robjulo]

That’s nice, but I was referring to Sonos. Do you have Sonos in your house?

I can guarantee you that when my HomePod arrives it will sound better than any Amazon or Google product I have.
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All their stuff is in boxes right now

 

[entropys]

I love Apple products and I'm quick to jump to their defense but the one thing I haven't been able to defend is Siri, it's a mess. Surely they could just make another Alexa if they wanted to, they have the resources and talent to do that, but instead they're content to stick with something so obviously inferior. I just don't understand what the end game is here. They can't be so oblivious as to not realize that they've been lapped by Amazon and Google in the AI market.

It is because the real, underlying focus of Apple in the last few years has been supply chain efficiency to maximise margins.
User experience seems to be secondary in comparison to the days where a new product and service enhancement was announced every week. I think it got usurped in priority at around the same time as the skuemorphism rejection. You know, when Forstall was kicked out.

The sad thing is that this HomePod is an otherwise awesome product that will not get the credit it deserves because SIRI was not kept up. It is very clear now why the SIRI developers left Apple after only a short stay.

 

[Rcbooth14]

wow, sarcasm??, or when you go shopping do you think.... "now, lets get something with no innovation, late to market, doesn't do as much as its peers and has limited third party capability, but I'll only buy it if its too expensive!!"??

thats very weird if you think like this!

Doesn’t do as much as it’s peers is not accurate if you’re looking for homekit integration.

 

[Richard28]

So going by your reasoning, basically every Apple product ever?

Notice how well this has turned out for Apple and how badly it has progressed for the rest of the competition?

haha! true to a point.

I have (or more precisely had) a full apple ecosystem... and was holding out on a smart speaker for apple to announce, but as soon as homepod got previewed last year it was clear that this was not for me, and went for the echo, where I now have three of them.

having been "tied" to apple for years, I was blown away by Alexa.. and the ability to add "dots" around the house for home automation means that apples hardware is not yet a complete home solution.

I have paid premium for apple before, but now find a much better assistant in Alexa, a better product for home automation and ability to place around your home much more price effectively.

For sure homepod will get some apple diehard purchasers, they always do, but outside of that sphere I cannot see it at this time.. until apple drop the focus on top tier audio, the price, improve the assistant, grant third party access and include dot like solutions, this will never be a home solution for the masses.

Maybe there is more hardware at different price points to come (and the needed software improvements too).... there needs to be I think for it to be viable against its peers.

 

[Abazigal]

I have paid premium for apple before, but now find a much better assistant in Alexa, a better product for home automation and ability to place around your home much more price effectively.

For sure homepod will get some apple diehard purchasers, they always do, but outside of that sphere I cannot see it at this time.. until apple drop the focus on top tier audio, the price, improve the assistant, grant third party access and include dot like solutions, this will never be a home solution for the masses.

I think it’s becoming increasingly clear how Apple is positioning the HomePod. It’s for iPhone users subscribed to Apple Music.

Because Apple owns the best customers (by virtue of the iPhone), they command a large user base with a propensity to spend. And Apple is betting that this group of users care more for sound quality than smart assistants or home automation.

I suspect Siri will be optimised well enough for the basic few commands people use Siri for. People who quibble about how the HomePod can perform some niche, specialised function likely don’t represent the needs of the mass market at any rate.

It’s never meant to be a mass solution. It’s a premium speaker for users deeply entrenched in the Apple ecosystem. Apple will never come close to selling as many units as the echo and that’s perfectly fine, because their business model isn’t in flooding the market with cheap hardware which hardly earn them any profits.

I believe the HomePod will do just fine.

 

[Heineken]

True. But how many people are going to buy hardware with the promise of software improving over time? Especially when that software is Siri which hasn’t improved nearly as much as it should have over the last 5 years?

Because Apple actually delivers what's promised and Siri works just fine with simple tasks like homekit and music.

 

[turbineseaplane]

And Apple is betting that this group of users care more for sound quality than smart assistants or home automation.

What's sad is that I don't think it's a strategy play at all (regarding Siri).
Apple is just totally horrible at the assistant space for some reason, despite outrageous resources.

I'm sure they'd love Siri to be the best assistant out there and be built into the best home speaker made...the problem is they're apparently incapable of making Siri good enough to even compete, let alone be the best.