Apple Homepod

[Ready]

Has anyone sprung for a new Apple HomePod yet?

We have two of the Amazon Echos which we love for doing home automation stuff like turning lights on and off, but the audio quality has never been anything that impressive.

With the HomePod I get the impression that the audio quality is fantastic but Siri is not nearly as mature as Alexa as a smart speaker. So I'm on the fence. We have Nest thermostats and TP-Link smart bulbs, neither of which are supported by Apple's HomeKit, so it would pretty much just be for listening to music. I do have a subscription to Apple Music which I use all the time, so no additional expense there for me.

 

[braumeister]

I'll probably get one eventually, just for music. Main reason is I'm much less than thrilled with the quality of the Sonos unit in the living room. But I think it's better to wait until they get its other features more mature.

 

[Chuckanut]

I have an Echo Dot just to try it out. I am not impressed. Same with Siri.

For music, I really enjoy my Sonos. I tried tying it into the Dot, but the dang Dot gets it wrong to often. It's easier to use my phone or computer than repeat the same instruction over and over again. Love my two speaker Sonos system.

 

[RockyMtn]

Had a Google Home and didn't care for it. Then I got an Echo 2nd Gen and it seems much more intuitive and certainly handles more tasks. Took a while to get it to do the Sonos system but now works fine. Also will run my Trane thermostats in the main house and the casita.

Also picked up an echo dot to replace the alarm clock and to play music in bedroom bathroom. Dot speaker is not good at all but I bluetoothed it to a Bose Soundlink and solved that problem. Also can use the Dot as an intercom so no more yelling to DGF while she is in the bathroom getting ready!

Probably will stick with the Echo. Apple Homepod seems a bit spendy at this point.

 

[Ready]

I picked up the Space Gray one today at the local Apple store. It took less than a minute to setup, thanks to Apple's elegant set up process. So far the audio quality has been great. We'll see long term how much we use it, but I like having an easy to use speaker in our family room area.

 

[bw5972]

Has anyone sprung for a new Apple HomePod yet?

We have two of the Amazon Echos which we love for doing home automation stuff like turning lights on and off, but the audio quality has never been anything that impressive.

With the HomePod I get the impression that the audio quality is fantastic but Siri is not nearly as mature as Alexa as a smart speaker. So I'm on the fence. We have Nest thermostats and TP-Link smart bulbs, neither of which are supported by Apple's HomeKit, so it would pretty much just be for listening to music. I do have a subscription to Apple Music which I use all the time, so no additional expense there for me.

Better to get TWO Sonos 1's for the same money. And that is from someone who has Apple Music, iPhone, iMac, and 3 iPads.

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/streaming-music

 

[mpeirce]

I'll probably get one eventually, just for music. Main reason is I'm much less than thrilled with the quality of the Sonos unit in the living room. But I think it's better to wait until they get its other features more mature.

I agree. I'd like one (or more), but the software isn't really finished. Still, the reports I hear are the audio is excellent.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I had read somewhere where Sonos user's weren't happy about information being collected. I can't find actual discussion but did mange to find this: Sonos says users must accept new privacy policy or devices may "cease to function" | ZDNet

 

[Zathras]

We are thrilled with our Sonos One (think Sonos with Echo built in). It plays very nicely with other home automation stuff as well as Apple lists.
The sound quality is great (IMO).

I wanted to try the HomePod, but after Apple missed their expected release (December) and Sonos came out with the Sonos One, I went with them.

 

[MacsNMore]

Been an Apple early adopter for 3+ decades but am perfectly happy with the Amazon Echo units we have. Started with the Echo which we primarily use for alarms, timers and home integration with Wemo and TP Link, etc. Added a couple Echo Dots which are each hard-wired (via their RCA audio outputs) to home audio receivers for music library and streaming purposes (“Echo turn on the receiver. Echo play....”). Don’t see a need to add Apple$ HomePod at this point.

 

[Katsmeow]

I have not done it. But, I read the HomePod reviews that say it is not nearly as advanced as the Echo or even the Google product. I think I will wait a bit for the next generation or two.

 

[Scuba]

We have a Jambox Bluetooth speaker and it sounds awesome with no wires needed. Don’t really need anything else.

 

[cranberryjoe]

Consumer Reports claims the Sonos One and Google Home Max both have higher sound quality than the Homepod, though the difference is probably not very large.

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/02/12/homepod-sonos-google-max-comparison/

Meanwhile, here's a tongue-in-cheek video about what Siri would have been like in 1987.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/02/heres-what-siri-would-have-been-like-on-ms-dos-in-1987/

 

[Brat]

Critique this week in TWiT (This Week in Tech) podcast.