HomePod Turns Two, Lower-Priced Model Might Launch Later This Year

I would really like to see a $99 homepod, smaller, focused on targeting what the echo dot does for me now. I love having all my smart home stuff on homekit and using the home app, but for voice control across the room I have everything also set up with Alexa. If homepods had a cheaper alternative I would love to replace Alexa entirely and just have one solution.
 
Z3man said:
Have owned two HomePods and returned them both, sound quality is awful, and Siri is useless.

I can honestly say, if i was given one for free i wouldn't even bother turning it on.
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I honestly don't understand what you're describing (I'm happy with 4 HomePods after having owned 6 Sonos).
Btw: I accidentally liked your post and I'm really annoyed that I can't undo.
 
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H.E. Pennypacker said:
As far as I know yes. You’ll need to use AirPlay in order to play Spotify on it.
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Thanks for the heads-up. I asked that question months ago on another HomePod thread here and someone responded that a device wasn't needed to stream and control music to Sonos.

The beauty of HomePod is that it's always on and only needs my voice to play the music I want to hear. And via beamforming that HomePod employs (in both directions - playing music and listening for commands), can understand my voice commands from 20 feet away while it's playing music.

I don't need to find/use my phone/tablet/computer, open an app, and select a song/artist/album/genre/etc. I just need to say something like: "Hey Siri, play Kind of Blue."

For me, that's huge.
 
“Hey Siri, play Jazz Standards in the bedroom, kitchen, and patio.”

Siri queues up music on your Sonos. No HomePod needed.
 
Not sure it doesn't need another model at lower price.
Just lower the current one to $200 and if Apple want major sales, then create another one at $100
also, it needs an input for cable to extend the shelf life down the road when Apple drops support of it.
 
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Love my 3. I listen to a lot of music, so a reasonably good quality is important to my ears. I use them as speakers first, Siri second. I'm not anything like an audiophile, my ears are way too damaged from loud gigs, but I defo appreciate how great they sound. Currently listening to them in their winter configuration of one mono in the living room/stereo pair in the dining room (open plan), sounds amazing and completely fills those two rooms and the kitchen with no dead spots. Looking forward to summer though where I move to one mono in the dining room and two stereo in the conservatory and basically sit dead centre in front of the two stereo ones and crank them up.

Oh and with Siri Shortcuts & the remote app I've built for my AV receiver (as the Pioneer one's are absolute garbage) I control the AV receiver using voice commands to the HomePod's extending the life of the AV receiver (as Pioneer definitely aren't going to add support for old models if they ever did add shortcuts to their apps).
 
e-coli said:
“Hey Siri, play Jazz Standards in the bedroom, kitchen, and patio.”

Siri queues up music on your Sonos. No HomePod needed.
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Doesn't that mean there's another device involved nearby and powered on, processing the "Hey Siri..." command?
 
RogerWilco said:
You believe it’s normal for a set of expensive speakers to have a useful life of five years?
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But they wouldn't just stop working one day. iPhones that are not supported are still useable. Unless they would in which case I'm clearly misinformed.
 
citysnaps said:
I don't need to find/use my phone/tablet/computer, open an app, and select a song/artist/album/genre/etc. I just need to say something like: "Hey Siri, play Kind of Blue."

For me, that's huge.
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You don’t need a device to get that to work on Sonos. Most of the non-HomePod uses described in this thread are pairing with a Google or Amazon assistant device. They ask the assistant to play from the supported service and it is connected to a Sonos speaker or hub. They might need to use unnatural language (do you have to invoke the words Spotify or Sonos, I’m not sure) but it is possible.

———

Im with you about how easy it is with HomePod though. I’m a very happy owner of two HomePods because I already used Apple Music in a family plan, and just wanted an always-on Wi-Fi speaker that was unobtrusive and sounded better than the things I already had been using in the same situations (Bose mini soundlink, UE megaboom). Using Siri Shortcuts (or AirPlay) I can play anything on my phone/tablet.

Siri does everything I need. It has twelve English voice options. It recognizes who talks to it. It makes phone calls, sends messages, sets timers, and turns on lights. Most importantly it plays music. I have no desire to shop on Amazon as with Echo. I have no desire to let Google have my web and search history just to do these tasks as with their assistant.
 
swingerofbirch said:
That's an understatement. I got an Echo dot for 99 cents over the holidays. Just had to sign up for Amazon Prime music and then cancel. For good sound I use my AudioEngine A5 Plus speakers connected to my Airport Express. Still the best solution for me. I have given Apple a hard time, but the Airport Express is a delightful product and has held up well for many, many years now.
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I agree. Apple should bring the AirPort Express back.
 
smulji said:
I agree. Apple should bring the AirPort Express back.
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Off topic, Apple should bring back all the Airport products, they were awesome! I have had zero issues with my Airport Extremes.

On topic, I too love my Homepods! The sound is amazing and the Homepod has increased my listening to music as well. I agree their sound fills the room like no other. I love the look of them too, hard not just stare at them. I don't use the voice control, so Siri being limited is not an issue for me. I would not recommend judging them by listening to them in a store, the Homepod is at its best once it is place in your room and has learned the layout, that is when the sound starts to really shine. I would buy more in a heart beat, even though I do not need them.
 
I bought a pair to try in stereo - let me be kind and say the sound was not actively bad. Thoroughly mediocre is as polite as I can be.

And Siri is still something of a joke.

Save your money.
 
PastaPrimav said:
No it isn't. I don't care what your use case is, it is a worse product for more money than all of the competition. It is not a typical Apple product. It is a giant swing and miss.
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Well then, going by this response, this is just another opinion and one I don’t agree with as I’ve already decided on my options.
 
farewelwilliams said:
it's a great product. will buy a second
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Huh, if only we could buy them in New Zealand.
Now here is the really funny thing.
You can buy them in Australia and the New Zealand online store is run from the exact same warehouse as the Australian one.
And most NZ standards and AUS/NZ standards.

Oh and Siri does not work on the ATV4, it works on every other Siri compatible device, including I am told the ATV4K
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swingerofbirch said:
That's an understatement. I got an Echo dot for 99 cents over the holidays. Just had to sign up for Amazon Prime music and then cancel. For good sound I use my AudioEngine A5 Plus speakers connected to my Airport Express. Still the best solution for me. I have given Apple a hard time, but the Airport Express is a delightful product and has held up well for many, many years now.
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I just bough another 2nd hand airport express for home.
I have 4 of them now.

And yeah, I use them connected to my Stereo too as well as my USB printer/scanner

I will be keeping a lookout for a few more.

No idea why Apple dumped them, lets face it they are damn near a ATV4 without the HDMI output and different software.
 
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citysnaps said:
Question... Do you need a device (a phone, tablet, or computer) in order to control and play Spotify music through Sonos?
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Well I always hand off from phone to HomePod. I use Apple Music. Much easier than dealing with Siri not being able to play the correct album

with Spotify you need a playback device. No big deal. Airplay is awesome.
 
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