Works with any music service worth subscribing to and the mic can be turned off. If you’re going to turn it off though you’ll be better off saving some money and going with the Play:1 that’s cheaper and doesn’t have Alexa.
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Sonos Announces Limited Time Sale Offering Two 'Sonos One' Speakers for $349 [Update: Now Available]
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But I want it so I can control my lights with my voice. But I still want privacy. All the amazon and google products are just spy devices.
[doublepost=1516924226][/doublepost]Sonos... thanks a lot for forgetting Australia. Not.
[doublepost=1516924930][/doublepost]It’s a good thing Sonos doesn’t lock you into one music subscription.
Based on some of the nonsense being spouted in this thread, it seems it is the Apple zealots running scared.
That’s why Sonos is the superior option. Great hardware, great native support for a lot of services, very good customer service, etc. As for the $50 off, it’s nothing special, but clever nonetheless.
Wake me up when Sonos does, because they still require an app to play from these services--just like HomePod. If it requires an app, it's not native. And if you are satisfied with the Sonos app requirement, then it can be said that HomePod supports all of those services too.
Amazing how dramatic and emotional people get about a gadget. "Mine is better, yours sucks" "you must be a ...to buy that". Blah blah, woof woof. It's a fun, cute gadget, you can talk to it. Personally I prefer pro speakers. But whatever you like is fine with me.....sigh.
According to the buyers guide on this site, only iTune songs that you have purchased will be available for HomePod. MP3 songs or CD’s that you have imported into your iTunes library will NOT be playable. Maybe when Airplay 2 is released you might be able to send music stored on a local device to the HomePod but not right now and there may be other problems with doing so later.
While I love apple products (2 iPads, iPhone and the new 15' macbook pro) I'm totally unenthused about the HomePod. I too purchased the Sonos system (playbar, sub and 2 new Sonos ones) and it does everything I could have hoped for. I was actually looking at a $10,000 Bowers and Wilkins setup when someone told me about Sonos. Incredible sound at a fraction of the cost. If that HP only plays music it's dead in the water. The eco system I once loved so much is letting me down. While I'll always be an apple computer guy I've begun to look at other options to get the best bang for the buck. $349 for a speaker in development is ridiculous. Sounds like the Devialet speaker that years later still hasn't been brought up to the promised performance level.
Not true. The Sonos speaker itself actually connects to these services and streams from them, natively. The app is merely a remote control.
Using the app, I can tell the Sonos to stream from Spotify, then leave my house and go to work, and it will continue streaming the whole time. Indeed I do this for my dog.
HomePod can do that only with Apple Music, nothing else. It can’t even play the MP3 and ripped CDs from an iTunes library!
we have two sonos 5 in the bedroom and the wife got the subwoofer for Christmas. I replaced the alexa with the sonos one so we are not using the 5's for pink noise at night. and for alarms that don't interrupt her music. alexa and sonos has been so great for my blind wife it saves her having to open the app. because the sonos lock screen does not show up with voiceover on. siri would never work as well as it sucks with much of any noise in the room.
I got her some of the logitech pop buttons. one button I push and the lights go out and dim doors lock sonos turns off everywhere goes on in the bedroom. her button one push it skips her sonos 5 double tap starts and stops google play I am feeling lucky radio. hold the button it turns on and off off the sonos one. when my daughter arrives sonos announces it when someone arrives sonos notifies us. I even had it back when someone came to the door when no one was home.
one thing does the home pod stream media or does it rely on your device? thats one great thing with sonos to can play without your device.
I got her some of the logitech pop buttons. one button I push and the lights go out and dim doors lock sonos turns off everywhere goes on in the bedroom. her button one push it skips her sonos 5 double tap starts and stops google play I am feeling lucky radio. hold the button it turns on and off off the sonos one. when my daughter arrives sonos announces it when someone arrives sonos notifies us. I even had it back when someone came to the door when no one was home.
one thing does the home pod stream media or does it rely on your device? thats one great thing with sonos to can play without your device.
Just my .02 here - I have no smart speakers at all. I've been wanting to get into the home automation scene, via Apple TV, and probably will once I move into my new place in June. Homepod really appealed to me, because I'm already in the Apple ecosystem. But I also really like Sonos. They are pretty amazing little speakers. I assume Apple will make an amazing little speaker too, but that price point is high for a single speaker, especially knowing that only Apple Music will be natively supported. I'm hopeful that Apple will EVENTUALLY permit others in as well, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm still on the fence about where I want to go with smart speakers..but this is a pretty good Sonos deal, and from what I've read you can disabled Alexa (disabled by default, apparently). If Airplay 2 is indeed going to be integrated into the Sonos One then it may still be a good deal, in a forward-planning scenario. Regardless, since I won't be buying anything until June, I still have time to see just how good (or bad) HomePod is. I've never been a fan of Siri. It always seems to get some things right and most things wrong, for me. I don't use it a lot though.
Didn't say Apple charges too much, or they were doing it wrong. I took your comments literally bud...
If the HomePod is anything like my AirPods it'll be a success.
Can't wait to purchase Friday.
"AirPods are a success", "cant wait" to buy more Apple products? You have not heard the HomePod but assume it will be a success because it is a "premium" product made by Apple? Glad you major gives you insight. Hope you find the Homepod to your liking champ...
Be curious to know what sucked about your PC. Did you spend time with Windows 10? Great operating system but I do prefer OS X. Out of curiosity what was your last Android phone and tablet that "sucked". I'd like to know so I can avoid those models if I ever try Android bud.... Awe Ignorance is bliss...
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I’m not sure anyone who’s serious about audio quality is looking at Sonos either.
I guess it all depends on the magnitude of one’s “seriousness”
It's a better product for less money. Even if Apple dropped the price, I'd rather buy better.
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So you don't want to talk to your speaker, you just want a "kick ass speaker", so instead of buying a better sound system for less, you're going to spend $350 on a 7 inch tall Siri box with an Apple logo. Hmm..
[doublepost=1516949795][/doublepost]
And who's fault do you think that is? Here I'll give you a hint: all of the other apps work just fine.
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Don’t really understand advantages Apple can offer except improved integration levels due to closed platform. Same way they helped to kill Pebble.
I’m not sure anyone who’s serious about audio quality is looking at Sonos either.
I guess it all depends on the magnitude of one’s “seriousness”
I already have a Sonos system and it sounds pretty good. Not great, not perfect, not fantastic, just pretty good.
It is used in my entertainment room in the basement. It is the surround sound system so I have the bass cube and sound bar and two Play 3 for the rear speakers.
When I kept hearing HomePods were going to compete with Sonos I was interested. I intend to add speakers to other areas of my house and maybe I should wait and see what the HomePod can do. At $350 for an all in one speaker/amp/network I wasn’t expecting glorious heavenly sound I was expecting pretty good sound. That’s ok I have a higher end stereo system for my serious listening and I know Sonos doesn’t match that system and I don’t expect HomePod will either.
Music can never be better than its source material. Play a cheap vinyl record on a high end system and you will hear each and every pop and scratch. You want to hear what your system can really do then you have to have good source music to start with. Streaming music is not great source music. It’s ok, it’s better than my cheap vinyl example but it’s only average quality. Someday that may not be true. Someday they won’t compress/clip/restrict sound file size to make it smaller so it fits on whatever media or streaming technology is used. That day isn’t today.
I can play my better source material thru my Sonos speakers. Once again, I have a better speaker/amp system in my house so I know that Sonos sounds good but not great. But they sound as good as I can afford to make them sound.
Apple has made the deliberate decision to limit what I can use as my source material. Plus there are current limitations as far as number of speakers and functions - right now there is no stereo sound and no ability
to add a bass unit to deepen that sound range. One of those 2 problems they have promised to fix, stereo, but no word at all if they intend to expand it further than that at all.
I was looking for a sound system and not a voice assistant. I don’t give a damn if I can ask Siri/Alexa/Google a question and get an answer or turn on a light using my selected sound system. Right now I don’t trust ANY of these providers to not sell whatever information they are mining. When these speaker systems are $30 or less the company isn’t making money selling that speaker to you, they are making it by selling you to another company. So my focus was on sound, expandability and how easy it was to use my current music. And that’s why I’m disappointed with HomePod.
So the home pod is a multi phased array speaker in a tiny circle. That is a promising start. I suspect from a pure audio spectrum that they sounds amazing.
The smartness well Siri is not so smart. Siri is a mess and that is sad. Siri needs some major love that apple appears is focusing elsewhere.
The fact it can only native stream Apple Music should take absolutely no one by surprise. If you want Spotify your better off with Sonos.
Though I want to see / hear a sonos phased array setup on the high end frequency. The fact apple has decided to do this with the high frequency sounds promising and that is normal the echo chamber.
So from hardware I am impressed and I am sure I will be impressed with the sound.
From the software side I am not just let down I am hurt. Just make this a stupid dumb airplay 2 speaker and move on with it apple. Drop the price 50 bucks call it 300 flat and lets move on.
Till you deeply overhaul Siri these device is nothing but a gimped sad existence for a smart anything.
The speaker team delivered something amazing the software team is still delivery nothing since they are a mess.
The smartness well Siri is not so smart. Siri is a mess and that is sad. Siri needs some major love that apple appears is focusing elsewhere.
The fact it can only native stream Apple Music should take absolutely no one by surprise. If you want Spotify your better off with Sonos.
Though I want to see / hear a sonos phased array setup on the high end frequency. The fact apple has decided to do this with the high frequency sounds promising and that is normal the echo chamber.
So from hardware I am impressed and I am sure I will be impressed with the sound.
From the software side I am not just let down I am hurt. Just make this a stupid dumb airplay 2 speaker and move on with it apple. Drop the price 50 bucks call it 300 flat and lets move on.
Till you deeply overhaul Siri these device is nothing but a gimped sad existence for a smart anything.
The speaker team delivered something amazing the software team is still delivery nothing since they are a mess.
Sonos is just knocking off $50 (coincidently the to the price of the HomePod) because they're nice.
Buy what you like but - fan boy rhetoric aside - Sonos obviously felt the need to run a promotion that aligns with the launch and pricing of a competitive product.
Samsung does the same every year when new iPhones are released. Some of the other brands do as well. I haven’t tracked it but it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple has announcements/specials when major competitors have a major product release. As a company you want to make sure your name gets mentioned and if you do nothing then there won’t be any mentions. And when the press gets back around to discussing you they will be asking why your company didn’t do anything.
Please explain your cheap vinyl analogy. What is the difference between cheap and expensive vinyl? You mention source material, but you also have to take into consideration the source. I have a turntable and two channel set up that would blow away just about any digital source in my opinion. I'd love to hear your reasoning.
I have 30 year old LP's and more recent 180 gram vinyl. They can all sound great if you take care of your albums. Do you use a disk washer? I have also found that the recording itself makes a difference, but what you are implying makes little sense.
Cool. But would you bet $350 that AM will still be worthwhile in 3 years? Apple has a habbit of revamping and changing their cloud services - sometimes for the worse. Who know? They could raise the prices a lot. Some folks really loved iTunes Match for $25/yr until that rug was ripped out from under them.
When it comes to pricey and high-quality internet-connected speakers, I’d bet on the company known for doing everything they can to include even the irrelevant options. Because one day they might suddenly become relevant, and I’d rather not have to wait then.
Options are the best feature.
I see myself staying with Apple Music for as long as I remain entrenched in the Apple ecosystem, which will likely be for the next few years at least.
A lot of things can happen in three years, I give you that. But I will take my chances with Apple.
I have nothing against Sonos; I just feel that there is more utility to be had in the homepod which has the benefit of more tight-knit integration with the Apple ecosystem. That's why I went all in with Apple many years back. I made a decision and decided that I valued an integrated computing solution over more options. Give me one optimised workflow which just works, over half a dozen different ways which don't work as well.
Yes, some parts of Apple work better than their non-Apple counterparts, just as some aspects are worse, but the point is that when everything comes together, the pros far outweigh the cons. It's a package deal.
https://www.aboveavalon.com/notes/2018/1/23/apple-watch-is-a-bridge-to-the-future
The writer at the website linked above makes a very compelling argument for how the Apple Watch can one day become a legitimate alternative to the iPhone, and how the homepod is not just an iPhone accessory, but also an Apple Watch one.
The homepod can be seen as a computer with speakers and a smart assistant. In essence, by choosing the homepod, I am also betting that it will one day be more than just a pricey, internet-connected speaker, and that Apple has plans to morph it into something else. Something more. In contrast, Sonos can never be more than just a pricey, internet-connected speaker because that's what they are. A speaker company with no ecosystem to call their own.
It's pebble vs the Apple Watch all over again.