Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

HomePod Is homepod still worth it ???

Aditya rathee

Aditya rathee

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 1, 2019
172
42
India
Hey guys

is homepod still worth it in 2019
i mean there are no news of apple announcing new homepad any time soon
i want a bluetooth speaker for music and watching shows and moves on my ipad air 3
so should i buy it ?? is sound quality as good and jbl and sony speakers in that range ??
plz do share yr thoughts

and also will this flawlessly with my android phones( galaxy s7 and oneplus 7T)
 
It is not a Bluetooth speaker in the normal sense. It will not work with your android phones. It is really designed for AirPlay and Apple Music.

Regarding the sound, however, I think it’s superb. I also think it’s the best sounding of all of these kind of speakers. It will work flawlessly with your iPad as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: I7guy, JBaby and chabig
StumpyBloke said:
It is not a Bluetooth speaker in the normal sense. It will not work with your android phones. It is really designed for AirPlay and Apple Music.

Regarding the sound, however, I think it’s superb. I also think it’s the best sounding of all of these kind of speakers. It will work flawlessly with your iPad as well.
Click to expand...

so i cant just use it like any other bluetooth speakers
bose home speaker 300 it is then lol
 
In truth it’s not a Bluetooth speaker at all. Bluetooth is only used for proximity information when you’re setting up a HomePod. I’d also bet it‘s used for the new Handoff feature.  never claimed it was a Bluetooth speaker. It’s always said it’s an AirPlay speaker. But to answer your question it’s still worth it, just not for you. Enjoy your Bose. I love my Soundlink Micro!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: jbachandouris
To answer the OP, no. Go with Sonos or some other brand. As evidenced by Apple's software update yesterday that bricked hundreds to thousands of units (no way to know but it's high), the level of scrutiny and recourse if something does go wrong with them is a creed you will be up without a paddle.

They sound great, but the support and software from apple as the backing hasn't been what they wanted has shown we are more of an afterthought.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PC_tech and jbachandouris
I think they are really good if your priority is something that sounds great while playing (Apple/airplay) music and the personal assistant stuff is secondary.

But I totally get that some people are looking for more from them and in that case there may be better options out there.
 
I do wonder why Apple decided to restrict Bluetooth beyond initial set up and for HandOff because there have been times in the past I would have liked to use my HomePod outside of home without access to WiFi networks.

Personally? I feel Apple aren't as invested in HomePod now, even with the price cuts, namely because the likes of Amazon and Google are ahead with their respective market shares.
 
Thats hilarious since the sonos support forums are full of people complain that firmware updates bricked their sonos speakers and want to know how they stop them. I have both sonos and HomePods by the way and have never had a homepod bricked by a software update and I've had them from day one.
[automerge]1579303848[/automerge]
iGeek2019 said:
I do wonder why Apple decided to restrict Bluetooth beyond initial set up and for HandOff because there have been times in the past I would have liked to use my HomePod outside of home without access to WiFi networks.

Personally? I feel Apple aren't as invested in HomePod now, even with the price cuts, namely because the likes of Amazon and Google are ahead with their respective market shares.
Click to expand...

Bluetooth won't work with Apples DSP.
Apple has added lots of functionality to homepods so obviously they are invested.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jbachandouris
Have hade an HomePod for about a month now and got it from John Lewis for £229 and must say I do like it. It replaced a Bluesound Pulse in the bedroom which was a nightmare using wirelessly and just would not connect just 30 feet away from the router and had to use a Netgear extender!. The HomePod was up and running in minutes and as yet has not dropped the signal. Just as good sound wise as the Pulse at nearly a third of the price. Yes it is not as versatile as other streaming speakers and you really need to be in the Apple eco system to get the most of it but it does what it says on the tin, Plug and Play and forget so to speak without constantly rebooting or losing connection.
 
BarrettF77 said:
Go with Sonos. They support their speakers and don’t brick them with software updates and place you in support he’ll for days without resolution.
Click to expand...
This is a little too combative of an attitude for my taste, but Sonos is definitely a superior option to HomePod.
 
AustinIllini said:
This is a little too combative of an attitude for my taste, but Sonos is definitely a superior option to HomePod.
Click to expand...

It's not about combative. Only charging a premium and not providing the same level of software support post purchase. I'm sure Sonos has their own issues. Granted I'm in a situation where I'm fully in on the apple ecosystem, but when you have customers that tied in by design, then having them become equally as upset at poor software goes hand in hand. Many of us have had these eperiences last year.

I think from the fact apple has only TWO engineers over their WHOLE HomeKit ecosystem, that speaks a lot right there how much confidence they have in it. More like how little interest they have. And this is where my mindset originates. Also, new units they ship all still have iOS 11.2.4 on them if that tells you anything. These are new units from Apple and other resellers in the last couple months. So the inventory they carry is obviously great, and you'd think to sell them they would focus on doing more with those devices to sell more product. Disappointing to say the least.
 
AustinIllini said:
This is a little too combative of an attitude for my taste, but Sonos is definitely a superior option to HomePod.
Click to expand...

Not for Apple Music subscribers. We are quite happy, thanks. The HomePod is the best sounding smart speaker ever made.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ICBM
AustinIllini said:
I'm an Apple Music subscriber. Sonos is still a much better option.
Click to expand...

No its not.

I can bring a HomePod to my beach house in July, plug it in a wall, and without an iPhone anywhere near it I and any of my houseguests can use Siri to play any song or album they like. To me, that's HomePod's greatest feature, its an independent music system that isn't a slave to another device or a specific user.

And HomePod sounds better than any Sonos smart speaker, that's well documented.
 
boltjames said:
No its not.

I can bring a HomePod to my beach house in July, plug it in a wall, and without an iPhone anywhere near it I and any of my houseguests can use Siri to play any song or album they like. To me, that's HomePod's greatest feature, its an independent music system that isn't a slave to another device or a specific user.

And HomePod sounds better than any Sonos smart speaker, that's well documented.
Click to expand...
I can take my Sonos 5 or my Sonos 3 to your beach house (please) and use it with a greater number of services including radio stations (tune in), podcasting networks of my choice, and it works with other devices.

We're at a stalemate here, but the fact is HomePod is overpriced and not very easy to expand (price is too high).
 
AustinIllini said:
I can take my Sonos 5 or my Sonos 3 to your beach house (please) and use it with a greater number of services including radio stations (tune in), podcasting networks of my choice, and it works with other devices.

We're at a stalemate here, but the fact is HomePod is overpriced and not very easy to expand (price is too high).
Click to expand...

HomePod has 1000’s of local and national radio stations since iOS 13, I can merely say “Hey Siri, play WFAN New York radio” and on it comes.

Same for Podcasts.

HomePod works with every phone, tablet, notebook, and TV product Apple makes, and has support for 100’s of IOT devices.

This isn’t a stalemate; HomePod beats the pants off of that old Sonos concept. And, most importantly, as a speaker it sounds much better.
 
Anyone know how to get HomePod to play BBC Radio 4?

This morning.

ME: Hey Siri, play BBC radio 4
SIRI: Playing BBC World Service on Tune In
ME: Hey Siri play BBC Radio 4 on Tune In
SIRI: I can't play Tune In on this device.
 
Price is moot if the product did more and had a greater feature set. Apple has squandered this greatly, and it's a case of putting your dollars where it matters. Does it sound amazing? No doubt! Does the software differentiate it from any other product out there (aside from holding it at setup by the speaker), absolutely not. And it has Siri which is unequivocally the dumbest AI on the market. And these are the reasons it struggles.

From a purely engineering standpoint (aside from no service port which is incredibly dumb), it's a marvel and extremely well built. But that is destroyed by the software it runs to let it realize it's true potential. The only way it gets better is apple releases a 2nd gen at a lower price and ups the features of both together. IF they do their force the user to upgrade and get the cheaper product to have the new features with a lower quality speaker, then that'll be a disadvantage. I have many of these HomePods, but if this turns into a case of diverging support from the HomePods, my take is they are pushing more for greed and backing away from how they have historically support things like Apple TV later into its life.
 
danmart said:
Your timing is amusing, given this :)
Click to expand...

And?..... No one is perfect, and this is for machines from 2008 - 2015. Our HomePods are from 2018 so my point was they should have better support longer term given the infancy relatively speaking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back