Audiophile speaker wires can cost multiple times the cost of a HomePod, so we aren't talking about the same market.
Amazon and Google have different goals when compared to Apple. They are more worried about gathering data than making a profit, though, I am not sure that is working out with Amazon since they just laid off thousands of people from their Alexa division.To be fair to Apple the bill of materials for the Homepod is significantly higher than that of Google Home and the larger Echos. Apple is definitely pitching for the high end... but if you want marketshare you've got to lower the barrier of entry. Siri as a software service isn't as good as Alexa and I'm not sure just having higher quality speakers than competitors is enough by itself to appeal to mass market.
Old image but still relevant:
How dare you post a link to a good, balanced review from a well respected hifi organisation
My car has a smaller engine with fewer cylinders than the car I had a few years ago, yet it has a higher top speed, it accelerates faster, it uses less fuel and it's more comfortable.
I feel like you're right about that. It's still waaay too expensive,too. It's one thing to be frustrated as heck with Siri for $99, but to experience that same frustration for $299? Yeah, no.
Lol yup. But the sad thing is that Apple's marketing products shots all look so fake and rendered now that I go to her channel just to see what stuff actually looks like. All those marketing images are "uncanny."
I would like to know how they compared them. In the test that had opposite results, one person was blindfolded and they switched the speakers back and forth to get their results. Many audio magazines will simply write that the new one is better. It is why I prefer Stereophile reviews where they at least have charts and graphs next to the article about how someone actually hears it. As I mentioned before, Stereophile can't really measure these speakers, so it just comes down to one person's (though Brian Tong and his fiancé got the same results) opinion.How dare you post a link to a good, balanced review from a well respected hifi organisation
(Seriously, thank you. That's a decent review)
People in here only want to slate it because it's got fewer tweeters and microphones or complain about the price, without even experiencing the product first hand. The negativity towards Apple in this forum astounds me sometimes.
And yet, that’s what they did. Listening to them one after another it’s unmistakably worse.
i’ve seen this type of sentiment everywhere and I just don’t think it’s true.
Once you have a stereo pair, you realize it's clear (to me at least) that a stereo pair is the only way to go with a HomePod setup.
First of all. House is too small. One floor of house. Second audio lag still exists and that would drive me mad.
This is the only review I’ve seen that extensively compares their sound signatures using high quality mics. The OGs sound significantly better.How dare you post a link to a good, balanced review from a well respected hifi organisation
(Seriously, thank you. That's a decent review)
People in here only want to slate it because it's got fewer tweeters and microphones or complain about the price, without even experiencing the product first hand. The negativity towards Apple in this forum astounds me sometimes.
i’ve seen this type of sentiment everywhere and I just don’t think it’s true.
The original HomePod didn’t just flop because it was overpriced.
It flopped because throughout the majority of its life, it was the only option from Apple.
It was $350 or nothing, no SE, no previous generation, no nothing.
From February 2018 until November 2020, that was it.
And when they came out with the Mini, it quickly became the best overall selling smart speaker.
This is not new to Apple, the best selling iPod was always the Mini/Nano, the best selling iPad has been the cheapest.HomePod mini was the single best-selling smart speaker in Q1 2022 | AppleInsider
Combined sales of different Amazon and Google devices exceeded HomePod mini figures in Q1 2022, yet Apple's device grew 29% year-over-year to become the top-selling smart speaker.appleinsider.com
Not Introducing the HomePod as a product lineup was over all what I think doomed that original model.
They should’ve introduced a small $99 HomePod and a big $300 HomePod at the same time back when they first announced it in 2017.
When both Amazon and Google had products at every price point, it made Apple’s single massively expensive option look ridiculous in comparison.
And there were other ridiculous options, the Google Home Max was $400 an equally ridiculous as the HomePod. But it was balanced out because they also had like a $50 dot speaker.
Now that I think that the two products, mini and standard, are presented with basically the same specifications, you’ll see both become a lot more successful.
I also wouldn’t be surprised to see them expand the lineup with a HomePod Pro that’s got a screen or a HomePod Air that doesn’t have to plug into the wall or, my personal dream product, a HomePod Max that turns the thing into an entire home theater set up for the Apple TV, although I think that would be a very niche product, so I doubt they would do something like that.
Yep. Which isn't surprising, and I still can't fathom why Apple re-released these HomePods. There's something magical about the OGs in a stereo pair, it has to be reiterated. They fill the space remarkably. It will not surprise me when Apple eventually discontinues the 2nd gen. It doesn't ask any questions the first didn't already answer.
Yeah. One of the weirdest Apple product launches (or relaunches) I can remember. “Remember that product that flopped on the market? Here it is for the same price, with worse performance! Please buy it this time.”
It's a different environment now that they have a bunch of minis in peoples homes. Also, the cost cutting measures of getting rid of some tweeters and mics gives them more wiggle room on price and probably a larger margin.
Not sure I follow, do you mean does a WIFI 6 router* support wifi 5 and wifi 4 (802.11n)?
This is the same group that claimed CDs sound better when played from the beginning…. 😂. Once again, unless they did some kind of blind test, their results are faulty at best. Would be nice if they said how they compared them....similar to how they didn't discuss their testing process when it came to their conclusion that CDs sound better when played from stop vs pause... need more info.
My experience, having owned multiple iPhones since the original and taken them all on backpacking and backcountry ski trips, is that they have become more reliable but the age of the device (really the age of its battery) matters a lot. 8000 feet is also not that high. I haven't had any issues at that altitude (I live at close to 7000 feet), but once you get over 10,000, reliability drops. Over 12,000 and it drops significantly.
Lol. Sure, that's why they're so popular, because they are horrible. I've owned Sonos products for over a decade and not a single one has failed. The system works flawlessly. I've compared the Five and OG HomePod side by side and the Five sounds much better. Sonos gets very high marks across the board from reviewers and customers alike. Maybe you should get your hearing checked.
