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

[Chupa Chupa]

So for all the simple stuff, Siri works like a charm.

Homekit, Mac, iOS user here. If by "simple stuff" you mean "how's the weather," "Did the Braves win? (OK, I probably don't need to ask that question), "What day is Flag Day this year," then yes, 100% agree.

But I think "turn on the office lamp," is pretty simple too. My Mac can't do that, along with a lot of other things. Now HomePod can't do certain things like "what appointments to I have tomorrow," also simple.

 

[Starship67]

Nonsense. Post some real examples.

Siri = Alexa and is better than Bixby.

GoogleHome appears to be better, but how often do you ask Siri things she can't do or answer? What specifically does she struggle with?

I honestly think people here just repeat their negative thoughts on Siri based on what they read.

Absolutely agree. Most intelligent post I’ve read here in a while. People here seem to bash just to bash. If Apple is so horrible, why do these people continually buy the products?

 

[ipponrg]

I made the mistake of listening to the panic/criticism of the X.

I love the X. Two homepods on order.

Why would you listen to the criticisms from others? It's quite easy to form your own opinion about the X and HomePod just by reading the specs and analyzing your use cases.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

You can just play off your iTunes library.

...but don't leave out key detail: You can just play off your iTunes library via Airplay

If OP wants Siri voice control for their library, they need an Apple subscription (AM or Match).

If OP is OK with Siri-less Airplay, they can accomplish the same with a number of OTHER Apple products even TV, where Siri voice-control already exists.

 

[MrX8503]

Having one coming in on launch day. Can't wait to hear it in person.

 

[BruceEBonus]

Like the iPhone X. It’s come late to the game yet has the audacity to charge double it’s true value. What other company would have the nerve to do that? Love them or hate them you’ve got to give Apple kudos for pushing their luck for their “old tech with less- for more” once again. If the formula ain’t broke then why fix it?.

 

[JimmyBanks6]

Like the iPhone X. It’s come late to the game yet has the audacity to charge double it’s true value. What other company would have the nerve to do that? Love them or hate them you’ve got to give Apple kudos for pushing their luck for their “old tech with less- for more” once again. If the formula ain’t broke then why fix it?.

Double it's true value?

That What HiFi review is pretty approving of the sound, and What HiFi isn't afraid to call a speaker junk.

Quality speakers aren't cheap pieces of technology.

 

[Romy90210]

Stop calling it "Smart speaker" when in reality, this is just another bluetooth speaker. Siri is anything but smart.

Updated: Just found out, you can't even use it as BT speaker.. It fails at the basics. I will keep my Alexa for now and keep ordering Uber/Pizza/grocery... etc..

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I made the mistake of listening to the panic/criticism of the X.

Own, enjoy my X. I can't say the criticism of the X was misplaced. It's just that they were either not issues that ultimately concerned me much or that I chose to burying under the rugs in my brain. I truly hope Apple takes note of the more constructive criticism to build better phones in the future. That is how improvements happen. If it was all sugar and sweet smelling flowers there would be no need to improve.

 

[Heineken]

Stop calling it "Smart speaker" when in reality, this is just another bluetooth speaker. Siri is anything but smart.

Except it's not a bluetooth speaker.

 

[OllyW]

Stop calling it "Smart speaker" when in reality, this is just another bluetooth speaker. Siri is anything but smart.

It would be the first Bluetooth speaker that doesn't stream over Bluetooth.

 

[scrapesleon]

Siri will get better with software updates but I need my HomePod ASAP the music way

 

[anson42]

I’d argue this is Apples entry into home audio, not home assistant. I’m not saying they shouldn’t compete there, or extend HomePod to include home assistant features beyond HomeKit. They should. But they have been pretty clear about their initial focus.

+1 However I feel they had no choice but to do take this approach because they would have been marketing a non-competitive "smart" speaker otherwise. Pretty sly when you think about it because this melds well with Apple's history in music products and properties. Could this become a smarter speaker with software upgrades? Hope so. But try to use this like an Echo and you may be disappointed. At any rate, I'll be test driving mine on Friday along with a trial Apple Music membership to see how well v1 of this thing really works.

 

[cardfan]

I only use Siri for certain things. Setting reminders (esp at work where I set at least a dozen a day), calendar appointments, in my car for music, navigation & texting and for HomeKit to control my house. A lot of other things Siri can do don't really interest me, so I can't comment on their accuracy (like sports/scores).

I understand Google is better to search for things, but I never use a voice assistant to search. I prefer to use my browser as I usually have something very specific I want information on, and I can get better results with a specific query (as opposed to a voice one). This is probably from years of using Google Search and understanding how to word my queries to get exactly what I want.

Yep, pretty much. Although I see my family struggling to use Siri as you describe for search. For them, a google or alexa speaker works better. They don't care about speaker quality or music.

If you're an apple music user and want a decent speaker in a room for it, then this is your product. It's not for your tv. It's not great for general use as a search AI. I just don't have a use for it. My only room where i could play music without disturbing anyone is the basement which already has a 5.1 sound system with airplay that is much superior to this. Sonos for tv will go in the open concept living room. No point in having one in kitchen that is basically the same area.

If homepod can connect to sonos, then maybe.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

This is what I have been saying all along. How big can the market for something this niche actually be? Unless they've got some massive improvements to Siri in the works, this thing isn't going to do well.

Apple has enormous brand momentum. This will sell very well. Apple claims nearly 40M paying AM subscribers already. If 5% of them decide to buy a HP, 2M HPs at $349 = $698M in revenues. If they want a stereo pair, that doubles to nearly $1.4B in revenues. A lot of companies in the world would love to be able to package up a speaker and quickly make hundreds of millions to more than a billion in new revenues.

HP is also heavy on the ecosystem lock-in. Those who buy are likely to maintain a subscription to AM for the long-term.

Is this an iPhone-level impact product? No, but really, what will be? Can this sell as well as the Watch? Maybe? Probably? If so, the Watch volume is considered a pretty big success.

That written, I wish it was fully baked out of the box myself and I wish Siri was significantly smartened up so that the "smarts" side was being reviewed as favorably as the "quality of sound" side. But Apple being Apple, I have little doubt that this will sell well. Apple could box air right now and probably sell it in the millions.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Stop calling it "Smart speaker" when in reality, this is just another bluetooth speaker. Siri is anything but smart.

No, it's not a BT speaker AT ALL. It can't function that way. It's an AirPlay speaker. And speaker-wise I think the verdict is it's pretty great sounding for it's size, other features, notwithstanding. Siri, as I've noted in this very thread is lacking, but it is more secure than the others. It's why I put up with it rather than go Alexa or Hey Google. HomePod is mostly for AppleMusic/iCloud Music customers, that's all.

 

[Romy90210]

It would be the first Bluetooth speaker that doesn't stream over Bluetooth.

So it fails to do even that ???? SMH Apple...

 

[unobtainium]

I want to know how it compares to Riva turbo x.

 

[DoctorTech]

Apple's ignorance on Siri's development in recent years is really starting to show up. Siri has become the Village idiot among smart assistants.

I hate to have to agree with you but you are right. I love Apple products and I am fully invested in the Apple Eco-system (iPhone, iPad, MBP, Apple Watch, Apple TV). However, all of my home automation (thermostat and a dozen lights) are all controlled by 5 Amazon Echos I have scattered around my house. About half of my automation lights are Phillips Hue bulbs which are compatible with HomeKit but the other half are regular LED lights controlled by smart outlets that are not HomeKit compatible. I am interested in HomePod for playing music in my living room and hopefully to play the sound from my Apple TV but it would take more than the cost of a HomePod to upgrade the rest of my lights to be Siri / HomeKit compatible.

In addition to home automation, I use the Amazon Echo in my living room frequently to ask questions about music, musicians, movies and actors. Alexa does a fantastic job of finding specific answers to very detailed questions about when a certain movie was released or what movies a certain actor has appeared in or who played a certain character in a TV show. Siri is pretty much worthless for these type of questions.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Well I have Apple Music already, so if I wanted to listen to a studio mastered for digital version, I would just open up Apple Music.

I understand the walled garden approach, but Apple is usually quite "hip" with current trends, and the vinyl renaissance is a pretty heavy one in the hifi community.

You seem to be thinking of the old Apple. The new Apple seems to ask: "is there money in this?" If so, they are "hip" to building it in.

Or maybe it's one of the features to "hold back" for HP 2, like the front-facing camera in the first iPad.

On a separate note, interesting that Apple is getting into the hifi speaker industry [again], but Apple Music doesn't support a lossless audio source

On the premise of "best quality speaker," it does seem to beg for best quality source. However, try to fly that around here and get the "256kbps is good enough" beat down. Of course, later if Apple decides to roll out a AM Pro subscription with lossless music, nobody will call Apple out for the audio overkill that "no one can hear." Instead, we'll gush at the greatness of lossless... as soon as- but not before- Apple decides to formally push it themselves.

As is, one can subscribe to Tidal and toss lossless audio to HP now (but that will also get a thorough beatdown). Or one can rip their music into iTunes as lossless and airplay it to HP, but that jettisons the "smart" half of the functionality.

 

[Romy90210]

Siri will get better with software updates but I need my HomePod ASAP the music way

Thats what Apple said 5 years ago...

 

[bruinsrme]

Own, enjoy my X. I can't say the criticism of the X was misplaced. It's just that they were either not issues that ultimately concerned me much or that I chose to burying under the rugs in my brain. I truly hope Apple takes note of the more constructive criticism to build better phones in the future. That is how improvements happen. If it was all sugar and sweet smelling flowers there would be no need to improve.

Agree. When Alexa was introduced, especially in beta, I had more useful paperweights.
I will be happy if the homepod is a speaker first and whatever else second.
The Sonos play 1 and echoplus will be ready for comparison.

Something tells me this is just the beginning of something great.
I am hoping for an wireless charging ipad mini that will be mounted to a wall as a home automation control panel.
HP will play into that for me.
One thing I hope to see is, Siri facetime grandson from TV, then the apple TV turns on the facetime app and camera.

For now I just want a small better sounding speaker in my home office, not a system but a good sounding speaker.

 

[ipponrg]

Is this an iPhone-level impact product. No, but really, what will be. Can this sell as well as the Watch? Maybe? Probably? If so, the Watch volume is considered a pretty big success.

The watch has more of an ubiquitous use case and is very different than this. With how focused we are as a society on health and accessibility, the watch obviously will have a better fit for people on a day to day basis. Price point it was also accessible.

On the other hand, this speaker seems to be attracting and targeting a very specific niche of Apple users (if evident on this forum). Most people who know audio will probably not care for this as a replacement for any home sound setup. Many people already have Alexas/Homes and don't really have a need for this outside of it being a speaker.

So exactly what void are they filling here other than trying to catch up to the competition in this space? I think I would've been happier if Apple would just focused on pricing a decent speaker without Siri to be honest.

 

[Vasilioskn]

Wait you can’t even use Bluetooth to connect to the speaker? Is Apple on crack?

 

[ck2875]

I need my HomePod ASAP the music way

A$AP HomePod