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HomePod Should I buy the Bigger Homepod or Pass For Now ?

M

magneeto

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Oct 27, 2020
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Hi Guys,

Need a Honest Suggestion and advice from the audience here. So I am kind of a late entrant to the Homepod Party. I am thinking about buying one Homepod the Bigger one. But I wanted to ask you guys does it make sense now ? to buy a product which Apple has discontinued and though it has some support right now in terms of Software Updates and Technical Support it would not be too long before Apple declares it as a Vintage Product and Stops the Support completely for it.

Also some of the known well YouTubers like Rene Ritchie who is of the opinion here Listen to him at 4:22


Rene Ritchie says had the Homepod had AUX-IN, Bluetooth etc it would have still made sense to go right now for the Homepod because that would have made it Future Proof to a certain extent, But none of that is available in the Homepod and with Apple’s Plans to make changes in their Music Streaming Service, Change in API’s, Framework and with newer Generation and newer versions of Airplay in the pipeline it does not make sense now to go for the Homepod is what Renee Ritchie is saying.

What would you guys say about this ? Should I go for the Homepod or just wait for the newer Avatar to arrive which IMO is still atleast 2 Years away, It is definitely not happening this Year. So ?
 
Last edited:
cardfan said:
You’ve pretty much heard the pros and cons. Up to you to decide. Gets a no from me since there’s much better to buy.
Click to expand...

Yes but the Homepod Sounds Just Incredible. I mean with the Speaker this Size the Kind of Music and especially the BASS it pumps out is Phenomenal !! Kudos to Apple in that Department !! They have made a Fantastic Sounding Speaker Minus the Features :)
 
Well the big HomePod was discontinued. The HonePod Mini sounds incredible at a low price of $99. There was a reason they discontinued the HomePod and there is a lot of rumors that the HonePod Mini has a secret sensor in it. The big HonePod has Dolby Atmos but it was discontinued sadly. I use a HomePod Mini and it has incredible bass and sound. I also use it when I watch Netflix and it is magnificent. Go for the HomePod Mini.
 
macsareveryinteresting said:
Well the big HomePod was discontinued. The HonePod Mini sounds incredible at a low price of $99. There was a reason they discontinued the HomePod and there is a lot of rumors that the HonePod Mini has a secret sensor in it. The big HonePod has Dolby Atmos but it was discontinued sadly. I use a HomePod Mini and it has incredible bass and sound. I also use it when I watch Netflix and it is magnificent. Go for the HomePod Mini.
Click to expand...

Homepod Mini to me sounds disastrous ! It is just Meh !!
 
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It seems like your looking for justification to buy it from the members here. You asked for honest suggestions and advice. Got two going against the HomePod and shunned them both. I won’t suggest what you should or shouldn’t do but I’ll tell you what I did. I bought two more after they announced the discontinuation bringing my total to nine so you can see my stance on it. I’m good with the features it has now and I’ll be happy so long as they continue to work the way they are now. There’s no guarantee there will be a new version but the latest rumors I saw are they’re working on one with a display like the Echo show. I’m a fan of the Mini as well. Can’t beat it for the price and functionality and goes well in places that a HomePod will be overkill.
 
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Itinj24 said:
It seems like your looking for justification to buy it from the members here. You asked for honest suggestions and advice. Got two going against the HomePod and shunned them both. I won’t suggest what you should or shouldn’t do but I’ll tell you what I did. I bought two more after they announced the discontinuation bringing my total to nine so you can see my stance on it. I’m good with the features it has now and I’ll be happy so long as they continue to work the way they are now. There’s no guarantee there will be a new version but the latest rumors I saw are they’re working on one with a display like the Echo show. I’m a fan of the Mini as well. Can’t beat it for the price and functionality and goes well in places that a HomePod will be overkill.
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is the Homepod successful all the times in Controlling Smart Lights. I have quite a few.of them from LIFX. One of the other Youtubers I heard saying is Homepod behaves very weirdly everytime he asks SIRI to switch off his lights and it does the Opposite !!
 
magneeto said:
is the Homepod successful all the times in Controlling Smart Lights. I have quite a few.of them from LIFX. One of the other Youtubers I heard saying is Homepod behaves very weirdly everytime he asks SIRI to switch off his lights and it does the Opposite !!
Click to expand...
In my experience, it’s successful most of the time. I’d say in the 95-99% range and I’ve never had the opposite of what I asked occur. Occasionally, though, Siri wouldn’t understand and I’d have to repeat my request. The HomePod relies heavily on a good WiFi connection so make sure your WiFi is correct in the location where you plan on placing it. I use Lutron Caseta dimmers for my lighting so not sure what happens with LIFX.
 
magneeto said:
Yes but the Homepod Sounds Just Incredible. I mean with the Speaker this Size the Kind of Music and especially the BASS it pumps out is Phenomenal !! Kudos to Apple in that Department !! They have made a Fantastic Sounding Speaker Minus the Features :)
Click to expand...

Ahh. I see you’re here for other reasons.
 
I've just brought the big HomePod and I plan on getting a second for stereo pair for my Apple TV 4K. If they enabled the ability to use the mini's as rear speakers then I'll grab them once they do.
 
ScrumpyDaniel said:
I've just brought the big HomePod and I plan on getting a second for stereo pair for my Apple TV 4K. If they enabled the ability to use the mini's as rear speakers then I'll grab them once they do.
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How much did you get it for ?
 
magneeto said:
is the Homepod successful all the times in Controlling Smart Lights. I have quite a few.of them from LIFX. One of the other Youtubers I heard saying is Homepod behaves very weirdly everytime he asks SIRI to switch off his lights and it does the Opposite !!
Click to expand...
If a light is on, and they asks siri to turn it off, The opposite would be to turn it on, But the light is already on, so how can they tell what's happening?

if you don't give a command, and just give a device (or group of devices) siri will toggle them. So if you say "siri living room lights" all the lights that were on will turn off, and vice versa. I have occassinsaly had siri cut the last word off commands so "turn the lights on" becomes "turn the lights" and strange things will happen.

you don't need a HomePod to make it work.
You need to add the lights in the home app on your phone, and you'll be able to control them using siri on the phone. Siri on the HomePod just responds to the same commands as your phone. (once things are setup in your home, siri on all your devices will control them)
That being said, siri on the HomePod gets a bit stupid at times, and forgets about lights, A reboot of the HomePod and your router normally gets her going again.

You only need a home hub (HomePod, appleTV, or iPad) if you want to be able to control the lights away from home, or have automations or timed events happen while you're away.

One small difference in commands, since the HomePod is assigned to a room, if you ask siri to "turn off the lights" only the light in the same room will turn off. you need to say "turn off all the lights" if you want to turn off everything. On devices that don't have a location, like your phone "turn off the lights" will turn off all rooms. I've just gotten in the habit of saying "all the lights" to my phone anyway, so I always say the same thing no matter which device I'm talking to.
 
magneeto said:
Yes but the Homepod Sounds Just Incredible. I mean with the Speaker this Size the Kind of Music and especially the BASS it pumps out is Phenomenal !! Kudos to Apple in that Department !! They have made a Fantastic Sounding Speaker Minus the Features :)
Click to expand...
🙄
 
It’s going to be supported for a while and it has airplay 2 which is going to be supported for a very long time seeing it‘s what everyone else it putting in their devices. Even if some features go away, you’ll always be able to airplay it
 
AL2TEACH said:
I was going to buy two more from best buy but thinking a dolby atmosphere soundbar. can't seem to find any info if Apple TV 4K can support 4 HomePods
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The AppleTV supports up to two (stereo pair) HomePods for the default audio/Home Theater feature but you can Airplay to the other two HomePods besides the defaulted ones. The AirPlayed HomePods won’t support Dolby Atmos or true surround though.
 
Itinj24 said:
The AppleTV supports up to two (stereo pair) HomePods for the default audio/Home Theater feature but you can Airplay to the other two HomePods besides the defaulted ones. The AirPlayed HomePods won’t support Dolby Atmos or true surround though.
Click to expand...
aahhh thanks for the info. damn apple for being so shortsighted, lol.
 
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AL2TEACH said:
aahhh thanks for the info. damn apple for being so shortsighted, lol.
Click to expand...
You got it. HomePods are always getting new features. From what I saw, Minis will soon be available as default audio options too. Hopefully multiple (more than two) HomePod support gets added at some point.
 
AL2TEACH said:
the things are like precious metals now and very hard to get at a decent price now. I thought about getting two more and even went to apple's refurbished store nada even the apple store sold out. damn.
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Apple store is still showing white HomePods are available today, and my closest Apple store has some in stock as well.
 
Well I’ve decided I’ll get another one when my Apple TV arrives. I might as well take advantage of theatre mode.
 
magneeto said:
Hi Guys,

Need a Honest Suggestion and advice from the audience here. So I am kind of a late entrant to the Homepod Party. I am thinking about buying one Homepod the Bigger one. But I wanted to ask you guys does it make sense now ? to buy a product which Apple has discontinued and though it has some support right now in terms of Software Updates and Technical Support it would not be too long before Apple declares it as a Vintage Product and Stops the Support completely for it.

Also some of the known well YouTubers like Rene Ritchie who is of the opinion here Listen to him at 4:22


Rene Ritchie says had the Homepod had AUX-IN, Bluetooth etc it would have still made sense to go right now for the Homepod because that would have made it Future Proof to a certain extent, But none of that is available in the Homepod and with Apple’s Plans to make changes in their Music Streaming Service, Change in API’s, Framework and with newer Generation and newer versions of Airplay in the pipeline it does not make sense now to go for the Homepod is what Renee Ritchie is saying.

What would you guys say about this ? Should I go for the Homepod or just wait for the newer Avatar to arrive which IMO is still atleast 2 Years away, It is definitely not happening this Year. So ?
Click to expand...

Buy the HomePod. Doesn’t matter that Apple doesn’t make them anymore. It’s the best sounding streaming speaker and Apple will be updating it for a decade or more. All HomePod owners are Apple Music subscribers and they value us, especially those audiophiles that care about sound quality.
 
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