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Is HomePod a "must-have"?
- Thread starter AyeKay15
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It would've been for me if it had come with a battery so it was portable. I have an entertainment center in the living room and would have liked to have used this in various places around the house where I can't hear the music as well, including outside where I can't hear it at all. This would've been especially nice with Airplay 2.
I don't think most tech items are 'must haves', but for me it's definitely something I want and plan on buying. I'm not looking at it the way others are, which is that it's an echo with a nicer speaker. I'm viewing it as what I believe it's supposed to be, which is a nicer Sonos style speaker with Siri. Considering a Sonos play 5 is around $400 and the technology in the home pod is meant to provide an ever superior listening experience by using beam forming technology to equalize the sound in all parts of the room simultaneously so that anywhere you sit is a 'sweet spot', I'd think $350 is more than reasonable. Also, the main reason people have so much trouble with Siri is its inability to fully understand what's said every time. By adding a half dozen microphones for pickup and noise canceling, I think voice recognition will be on par or superior to the echo or google home.
You get a better Sonos play 5 PLUS Siri for $50 less. When viewed that way, and if you were in the market to purchase something like a Play 5, I think it's a good deal.
You get a better Sonos play 5 PLUS Siri for $50 less. When viewed that way, and if you were in the market to purchase something like a Play 5, I think it's a good deal.
One of the big tech players should have bought Sonos. Apple could have all of those things already.
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HomePod isn't better than a Play 5. All comparisons were to a Play 3, which is Sonos' oldest speaker
My house is fitted with an Amazon Echo in every room ... my kids control it with ease, and we have multi-room play and intercom like capabilities ... no more screaming for them to come downstairs to eat dinner ... a simple call does the trick ... on top of that, I have a media room fitted with Sonos and outdoor speakers controlled with Sonos ... I cant ask for a better setup ... Sonos will be coming with Alexa capability which makes it even better ... HomePod will fail because Siri just plain sucks ... I cant send a TXT with CarPlay in complete silence without her getting it completely wrong and me talking like im speaking to someone in a foreign language ... crazy they dont get it right ... worse part of Alexa is talking about her when you dont want to activate her ... it triggers it ... other than that almost flawless ... HomePod wont have a home in my home ...
I too have Echo devices in every room of my house and I have found them to be indispensable (controlling lights/thermostat/appliances, managing grocery lists, calendar appointments, weather, traffic, multi-room music, conversions, store hours, movie times, timers/alarms, definitions, spelling words, the list goes on...)
The only thing I wish it would do is real phone calls and text messages (nobody is using echo calling on a regular basis, let's be honest), and the music sound quality is pretty mediocre. If HomePod can manage all of the tasks the Echo already can and adds phone calls (I know they already said it will do text messaging) then I'm pretty sold. $350 is an outrageous price though, I'll have to order them one room at a time and gradually shift.
I have an iPad next to my computer and I'll occasionally shout "Hey Siri" commands at it, and it does nearly as good a job as Echo does, I think the issue with Siri understanding people is the crappy short-range microphones on all the iDevices and in car systems - I'm confident the HomePod will be as good or better than Amazon/Google at deciphering speech.
I also can't even begin to imagine all the possibilities about handing information off to your phone/watch/etc and all of the continuity features they could add if they take the time. I hope HomePod is like the AirPods in that it has a low key release without a lot of fanfare and overpromising on features and turns out to be absolutely fantastic with all the little Apple conveniences and ingenuities that only they would take the time to come up with.
That said, if AmazonFresh ever expands to my area I'll probably switch back to Echo because ordering groceries through it is likely a game changer for me (if it does it well).
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The only thing I wish it would do is real phone calls and text messages (nobody is using echo calling on a regular basis, let's be honest), and the music sound quality is pretty mediocre. If HomePod can manage all of the tasks the Echo already can and adds phone calls (I know they already said it will do text messaging) then I'm pretty sold. $350 is an outrageous price though, I'll have to order them one room at a time and gradually shift.
I have an iPad next to my computer and I'll occasionally shout "Hey Siri" commands at it, and it does nearly as good a job as Echo does, I think the issue with Siri understanding people is the crappy short-range microphones on all the iDevices and in car systems - I'm confident the HomePod will be as good or better than Amazon/Google at deciphering speech.
I also can't even begin to imagine all the possibilities about handing information off to your phone/watch/etc and all of the continuity features they could add if they take the time. I hope HomePod is like the AirPods in that it has a low key release without a lot of fanfare and overpromising on features and turns out to be absolutely fantastic with all the little Apple conveniences and ingenuities that only they would take the time to come up with.
That said, if AmazonFresh ever expands to my area I'll probably switch back to Echo because ordering groceries through it is likely a game changer for me (if it does it well).
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I really hope this is in the pipeline as well.
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Although I have Echos and Dots around my home, I would get a HomePod to try out if it ever supports Spotify.