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New HomePod Reviews Offer Hands-On Look at Sound Quality, Siri, and More
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I agree. I have a Sonos system but was very curious about the HomePod when it was released, so I bought one to try. I thought it sounded very good, not as good as the Sonos Five, but definitely better than the Sonos Move.
I returned the HomePod and invested further in Sonos for several reasons. One of those reasons was Sonos's support for all kinds of third party audio services. I use PocketCasts for Podcasts, TuneIn for radio, SoundCloud, etc. Sonos supports all of these. Apple, at the time, supported none of them. Sure, AirPlay was always an option, but it's not nearly as elegant as having all of your services in one app, being able to create favorites across different services, etc.
I haven't looked at whether or not the new HomePod offers better support for third party services. At this point, I'm so deep in with Sonos that Apple has permanently lost me as a potential home audio customer.
Yeah I do that regularly as a sound engineer. I dont know about the quality of hardware inside, but the sound is pure torture (especially the crappy midrange). I dont know ANYONE who bought sonos because of the sound, only for the connectivity…
As a sound engineer, I’d expect you to be picky. The average person isn’t going to be as critical. If they like what they hear, that’s good enough. In Sonos’s case, plenty of people obviously like what they hear. Good connectivity alone doesn’t sell speakers. That should be fairly obvious. Frankly you’re in the minority with your opinion on Sonos. Most reviews are quite positive and most Sonos customers love their products. Whatever your beef, most people simply don’t share it.
I dont agree that is is more elegant to open a separate app than the one that was built around whichever service we want to discuss. I think the more elegant solution is using the native app which makes it easy to transition from house, to walking the dog, to the car, and to work. I have used products that use their own apps to control other services..LMS, Plex, Wiim, Audirvana, and I preferred the native app in every case. I think Sonos added Airplay to some of their speakers to answer this issue for those that feel the same way about it.
I agree that Sonos speakers are fine for most people. However, they are not audiophile quality which is why a lot of people are just using separate streaming devices with their regular speakers. I know Sonos had a Connect product for this at one point and I believe I read somewhere that they updated it.
To each his/her own. When I'm home I like opening one app and not having to jump between a bunch of different interfaces.
"Audiophile" is such a worthless term. If the speaker sounds good to you, it's good. It's really that simple. "Audiophiles" are just like wine snobs. It's all about ego, not taste.
What I like about Sonos is that I can use whatever speakers I want with their Amp and Port products. I have in-ceiling speakers throughout my house connected to Sonos Amps. No one else makes such an easy and elegant home audio solution.
They added Airplay for a reason.
We agree that they have the most multi-room options (speaker choices) for your average consumer.
Sonos speakers aren't going to be good enough for a lot of people. As you said, they have the Connect to fill that void. However, I am not sure it is all that popular these days with Bluesound and Wiim getting in the game. I think the Connect serves people that already use Sonos speakers, but want to use better speakers when they are in the mood.
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Of course they're good enough. Otherwise they wouldn't be one of the most popular consumer speaker brands. Sheesh. Whatever your bias, it's showing because you're obviously clueless about their popularity. I just finished building a house and both my electrician and AV guys sell Sonos Amps (they're not called Connect anymore, FYI) all day long. They install racks of them in new homes. You obviously don't like Sonos for whatever reason and that's fine, but get real, they're extremely popular and for good reason. They've been around for a long time, they are rock solid, and the speakers sound great for the price.
It was actually a bit of a bargain for what you got. (If you don't want to pay that much for a speaker, that's totally understandable of course. But it was a great speaker at a bargain price.
Then OG was $349. For the tech it had shoved into that little thing, it was a steal. It was literally impossible to find any other speaker with that speaker array and on-the-fly sound processing like eq-, phase-, and room-correction for under $1500.
Apple sold it at near-cost. Their usual hefty margins were thrown out the window for the OG HomePod.
LOL The Echo Dot is very popular, as well (I actually have a few of them). Yet, that has nothing to do with my point that there are much better sounding speakers out there.
Of course, there's always something better. And better is subjective, especially when it comes to something like audio. If it sounds good to your ears, it's good. It's really that simple. Furthermore, your OPINION is generally not shared by most reviewers and customers. Sonos gets very positive reviews for their sound quality across the board. You don't like Sonos. We get it. But you're just one random person arguing on a forum and your opinion is pretty meaningless compared to the opinion of professional reviewers and, frankly, lots of satisfied customers.
As I said, they are fine for the market they are serving. This isn't some hatred for Sonos, just saying they aren't the best sounding speakers out there and I haven't read a professional review that contradicts that point.
When a pro is reviewing them, they are often comparing them to the market they serve at similar price points. No professional review that I have read is comparing a Sonos speaker to a Dynaudio Focus 30 (for example) even if they are both wireless speakers.
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You're comparing apples and oranges. Different markets. No one is going to argue that better sounding speakers exist, but you will pay a lot more and you will need to buy additional hardware beyond just the speakers. Most people aren't interested in, and frankly can't afford, the best of the best in any market. If you want to spend thousands and thousands of dollars to have an "audiophile" setup, by all means, knock yourself out. Most people don't care. They just want something that sounds good and works reliably. Sonos checks those boxes and arguably sounds as good, if not better, than its competitors. You can compare a Hyundai to a Ferrari too, but what's the point?
Well, one of those is actually reliable and can be counted on to get the job done…at 1/20th the price.
The problem With sonos is that its nearly impossible finding worse/harsher sounding speakers around sonos price range(s)…
Says you. I guess all the four and five star professional reviews are bogus but you, random internet person, know the truth! Lol.
Lot of audiophiles in here who might need to reset the clock. Fact is standalone speakers with built-in amps like the HomePod are getting better all the time. It's also where probably most of the R&D is going to go now and in the future. The days of your bulky amp and your floor standing speakers might soon be just a waste of space. And I say that as a guy with a Denon receiver and a pair of Klipsch floorstanders. But I'm also excited to get my stereo pair of HomePods tomorrow. I want the new tech to succeed and deliver sound as good or better. Let's face it: it's a lot simpler and takes up less space and the compromise to audio quality is not nearly what it used to be.
The market for better sounding “wireless” speakers is starting to take off, so I agree with your main premise that companies are starting to see that more people want the convenience of “wireless” options.
That being said, I don’t see any sort of end to the receiver/amp setups coming any time soon, either. Those markets are still there for good reason. We could discuss those reasons, but would just drag this off into another unrelated discussion.
As I said, I use an OG HomePod (and a mini in my bedroom) every day and love the convenience, small footprint, sound for its size, and it’s 360 dispersion. No reset needed here.
I think what’s happening here is honestly that these companies have entered an audio space that maybe doesn’t technically reach the quality of levels of the traditional high end audio, but are darn closer at shockingly lower pricing than the current super high end market and enthusiasts are comfortable with. That culture is slowly being invaded by what they view as inferior but for everyone who’s a “normie” in their eyes is getting a significant step up with some handy additional features as well.
Does that make sense?
Technically, many of the high quality speaker companies have figured out that they can build everything into the speaker like these small speakers aimed at the average user are doing. In some (maybe most) cases, these “wireless“ speakers can sound better than their non-wifi counterparts because the company can design the internal amp around the speaker and add room correction software into the mix.
As far as products like the HomePod providing better sound along with convenience to the masses, I never said anything to the contrary. However, there are plenty of people listening to music on Echo Dots, so many of your average consumers don’t really care all that much about SQ. I am not looking to change that, either. Just don’t try to convince me that a Dot ( for example) has great sound quality just because people are happy with it.
Note: I own an OG HomePod, a HomePod mini, Dots, a Spot, etc. I have had the products in my home for years, so no reset needed.
I’ve actually bought the original HomePod and even the HomePod mini because I really wanted to want them, but ended up returning both because they just didn’t offer up enough to make me satisfied.
This time around, I’ve decided to save myself the hassle and not even buy it just to return it, because they haven’t done enough to win me over.
Admittedly, I’m probably the exact target consumer that they needed to attract for it to be successful. Im bought into the entire apple ecosystem and upgrade each time a new one comes out. I’ve had an iPhone since the original to my now iPhone 14 pro max, I’ve had countless MacBooks over the years, then switched over to iPad Pro. I have an iMac Pro, Apple Watches and now Apple Watch ultra, AirPods to airpod pros and now the newer airpod pros. Apple TVs for each tv, etc, the list goes on.
I’m not an audiophile, but I do value sound quality, but I also value design, ease of use and simplicity as well as portability. I also am building a smart home and dedicated to HomeKit (even buying lessor smart home accessories to keep it in the ecosystem).
All of this, and I still won’t buy the HomePod. It literally needed 1 or 2 minor tweaks or 1 added feature and they would’ve won me over, instead they removed features and basically raised the price vs the clearance prices of the original HomePod and have left me uninterested and disappointed.
I wanted to buy 4 of these for wireless home theater atmos surround with my Apple TV, but apple doesn’t support that. It also lacks bass which I hoped they would have addressed or offered improved sound quality. Alternatively, I would have also been okay if they offered portability with a battery and pairing like UE Boom, etc. Heck, even just a proper screen up top to display information or allow home control would have been enough.
Instead, they offered none of these things and I just use my other apple devices as my smart home hub and get picked up with hey siri by one of my many apple devices and get by. I also spent 10x HomePod cost on Sony’s HT-A9 speaker setup with subwoofer which are essentially what the HomePods should have been.
This will flop again. Maybe if we see them cleared out at $150 or $199 again I’ll bite, but until then, count me out and waiting for a HomePod 3.
I disagree, I think we’re starting to see the death of receiver / amp setups now. The wireless home theater market is closing the gap between simple soundbars and full fledged 5.1 or 7.1 dedicated setups.
I had humble beginnings with klipsch setups and upgraded over the years to top of the line receivers and speakers, denon, Martin Logan, marantz, definitive tech, etc.
I was getting sick of my wife yelling at me for why the sound wasn’t working or how she “just wanted to be able to watch tv”. The kids also not being able to figure out how to turn on and play their video games.
When we moved to our new house, I figured it was time to upgrade to a new atmos setup. My wife absolutely veto’d the large floor standing speaker setup I wanted.
It would have been great if apple allowed for pairing 4 of them to develop surround sound with your Apple TV with adaptive EQ, but they don’t. It would have been even better if they tried to improve the sound of the new HomePod vs the original, or offer a subwoofer, but they didn’t.
In the end, I ended up grabbing the Sony HT-A9 speaker setup and I have zero regrets. Gone are the days of fumbling through the AVR settings or sources or calibrations. No longer do I have to deal with the wife or kids complaining that the tv or speakers aren’t working and how to setup their game. Everything just works, seamlessly.
The sound is fantastic too, gives a massive sound stage with just the 4 speakers with atmos effects. My 83” Sony A90J OLED also operates as the center channel speaker with its acoustic surface panel and does fantastic sound placement and balances out the system nicely. The larger subwoofer is the icing on the cake, truly bringing a theater viewing experience home.
I’ll never buy a dedicated home theater AVR and speakers again. The setup is way more neat and clean with zero cabling hassle or drama. Everything just works and sounds fantastic. It’s what I hoped the HomePods could have achieved with and Apple TV. Best of all, the wife is fine with the 4 relatively normal sized speakers, with the front 2 flush mounted on the wall either side of the Tv, and the rear 2 mounted on the rear wall for optimal placement.
I read about the Sony setup and I think it is great for those that have setups that aren't too complicated (limited HDMI sources, for example). However, there are many enthusiasts in the home theater market. Take a look at AVS Forum or Audioholics if you think that market is coming to an end anytime soon. Even Sony continues to crank out new receivers. If the model you own was taking over the market, there would be no reason for them to continue in the "dead" receiver market. There is also data to back this up:
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Personally, I don't need the HomePod to do home theater. It fills a different role in our life than the home theater setup. I agree that "wireless" ( I put it in quotes because they have to be plugged in, so you still have a wire.. usually a thicker one than speaker wire coming out of the back) is on the rise, but we are no where near replacing the receiver market.
If you look at the receiver market right now, the only thing that is missing is direct voice control (though at this point there could be some units with one of the assistants built in by now). However, on my Denon receiver, Alexa can control most features (including telling an Echo to play music on the receiver, turning it on and off, changing inputs, etc) alongside Airplay 2 that gives you the ability to send it audio via Siri (one way I use my HomePod). The receiver market is changing with the times.
The downside to "wireless" setups is that they rely on the company on the other end continuing to support them. In many cases, the warranty on a speaker with wifi vs a speaker without is much shorter. If you receiver become archaic, you replace the old with the new if you choose. You dont have to switch out every speaker, too. Obviously, if the speaker market can start making their speakers disposable, like old phones, they will make more money, so there is an incentive for them to switch everyone, but I personally dont see that happening for a long time.
Good to hear that the reviews are very positive about the sound quality.
I would probably go with the new ones for that price difference. I imagine they will get more support and be more reliable, plus I like the faster Siri speed on the minis (and the second gen big one should be even faster). I think I am going to wait until the new one goes on sale somewhere, though, since I doubt that will take too terribly long.