Apple HomePod - Worth the money?
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Apple HomePod - Worth the money?  | ||||||||||||||
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Transcript[edit | edit source]
The Apple HomePod: It claims to be “A powerful speaker that sounds amazing and adapts to wherever it’s playing… and also an intelligent home assistant capable of handling everyday tasks.”
The HomePod’s 7 tweeters, high excursion woofer, and 6 microphone array combine with the A8 chip to make a smarter music experience.
An accelerometer detects when the HomePod is moved so that it can recalibrate, to sound best in the room its in.
The aesthetics of HomePod are simple and understated, with a mesh fabric exterior and a touch surface on top for controlling music playback or volume, and that’s… pretty much it. With no other inputs, you either use voice commands, or send audio to the device using AirPlay from a Mac or iOS device.
iFixit gave the HomePod a repairability score a 1/10, but reported that it was “built like a tank,” and if you hold a HomePod in your hands, you’ll feel what they’re talking about; the build quality is very good.
Acoustically, the HomePod is impressive. For its size, the sound is surprisingly full and loud. Later this year, Apple is releasing an update enabling two HomePods to work together for a stereo experience, making HomePod quite a powerful sound system for those who don’t want a more complicated home audio setup.
HomePod is quick and easy to set up out of the box. You simply plug it in, hold up a compatible iOS device, and it walks you through the process in less than five minutes.
When it comes to smart speaker assistants, the HomePod falls short. It can read messages and access reminders, but it can’t access your phone’s calendar, and it can’t distinguish between voices, meaning your mom could ask HomePod to read her your messages while you’re in an entirely different part of the house. And compared to Amazon Echo or Google Home, Siri is just plain dumb. It would be possible for Apple to take the lead in this department if they update Siri in the future, but only time will tell.
By far the biggest complaint about HomePod is its lack of support for 3rd party apps. The only way to play music from apps like Spotify is through AirPlay, so if you aren’t already an Apple Music subscriber, HomePod will treat you like a second-class citizen.
Where the HomePod shines is in its ability to recognize voice commands, even while music is blasting, and its integration with HomeKit devices, whether you’re asking Siri to control your Hue lightbulbs or lock your front door.
Ultimately though, even if you’re heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, the HomePod still lacks enough functionality to make it the obvious choice if you’re in the market for a smart speaker.
The verdicts from our panel of judges?
Logan George: Don't get it
Michael Aranda: Get it
Todd Williams: Don't get it