Poll: ** The Official Apple HomePod/HomePod mini thread **

Are you going to buy an Apple HomePod

  • Yes

    Votes: 28 13.8%

  • No

    Votes: 115 56.7%

  • Possibly, I'll wait and see what the reviews are like first

    Votes: 44 21.7%

  • HomePod mini - Yes

    Votes: 18 8.9%

  • HomePod mini - No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • HomePod mini - Possibly, I'll wait and see what the reviews are like first

    Votes: 3 1.5%
  • Total voters
    203

Broken Hope

Broken Hope

Broken Hope

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I'd love to disable her feedback also if you ask her to turn on/off a light or change something that doesn't really require feedback.

The microphone range is insane though, she can hear me downstairs and and the HomePod is in my bedroom.
 
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EyeDot

EyeDot

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One thing I find strange, I cant control it using my voice with the iPhone.

If I say Siri, volume down, or Siri Pause. it tells me I've no music playing.

I have to say, I was expecting it to have a little more intelligence than that... Maybe a future upgrade.

It feels like a v0.8 Beta tbh!
 

haszek

haszek

haszek

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Yeah I thought Siri is supposed to activate on the best/closest device when you say hey Siri. So that it doesn't matter which device. But Siri on the phone doesn't see Homepod, only phone sees it. I think it's because siri doesn't work with multi room yet. Also Homepod is already assigned to a room but we can't create scenes with it :/ hopefully they will update it soon. It will be cool to switch off Homepod when you leave home etc.

Maybe not long to wait
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/01/22/homepod-homekit-scenes-for-muting-siri/

BTW there is apple tv as well on those icons, I read somewhere that in 11.3 beta ATV is already showing in homekit so might be able to be part of automation soon
 
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Somnambulist

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I'll take the review with actual measurements, thanks.

As he said:
It sounds bass heavy because most small speakers do not produce accurate bass - they under-deliver. If that's what you've been hearing your whole life, it's going to feel like a lot of bass. Our experiences are relative -- if you put your hand it cold water, then warm water, it'll feel warm. Put your hand in hot water, and then put it in warm water, and the water will feel cold.
Click to expand...

It drops off quickly below 40hz anyway, physics and all that. Hopefully with all the audio engineering team they've been hiring the last few years they'll come up with something more full range that measures as well so I won't have to keep dreaming of owning a pair of Kii Threes.
 

Broken Hope

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Somnambulist

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It's also worth noting that the CR review was done in an anechoic listening room. This is fine and dandy if you buy speakers to use in a treated studio but that is not 99.999% of people and the design of the HomePod is based around actively using/working with a reflective environment (i.e. a normal kitchen/living or bedroom), not an unreflective one.
 

N19h7m4r3

N19h7m4r3

N19h7m4r3

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I'm looking forward to this hitting the Irish market. Don't need an Adobe Sub anymore, so will likely try Apple Music with it as well.

Only negative review I've read for the sound quality is that Consumer Report one sofar. Saw the folks at r/audiophile are singing praises for the sound quality over all.

Would be nice if it had a connection for Windows Systems as well. Would have liked to try two at my windows system in stereo.
 

sesevans

sesevans

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Broken Hope said:
I'm truly shocked that you would post the only report I've seen that claims the Max and the Sonos One sound better, wait I'm not really shocked. If you aren't actually being paid by Google then maybe you should be..
Click to expand...

You will note that I continue to ignore your ad hominem attacks (I have no association with Google) and instead I focus on the actual product which is really what this Community is all about.

So again you are wrong about "the only post.....".

David Pogue, who writes for Yahoo, and was formerly the highly regarded tech writer for the NY Times, attended what appeared to be a "staged" comparison entirely controlled by Apple--he described it as a smart listening session---which of course favoured the HomePod. You can rightly ask whether this staging influenced the reviews from three or four well-known blog sites listed. But he had questions about the accuracy after responses to his Tweet.

So he constructed his own test of the four devices used in Apple's test and you can decide if his test was more accurate and more objective. Apple's test did not set up the four units in an identical manner, making the test subjective and not objective. The Yahoo crew who reviewed the four units included a sound recordist, a professional violinist, a home-maker, a sound technician and a couple of young listeners.

Conclusion: Of the 5 ratings, three found the Sonos One the best, two found the Google Home Max the best and no one found the HomePod the best.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/head-head-apple-homepod-really-sound-best-160346138.html

N19h7m4r3 said:
I'm looking forward to this hitting the Irish market. Don't need an Adobe Sub anymore, so will likely try Apple Music with it as well.

Only negative review I've read for the sound quality is that Consumer Report one sofar. Saw the folks at r/audiophile are singing praises for the sound quality over all.

Would be nice if it had a connection for Windows Systems as well. Would have liked to try two at my windows system in stereo.
Click to expand...

....and now the Yahoo News report from the highly regarded David Pogue. Also he says regarding the intelligence in the HomePod: "that the HomePod isn’t as smart as the other smart speakers (among other problems, its voice control is limited to iTunes and Apple Music — no Spotify)".

Somnambulist said:
It's also worth noting that the CR review was done in an anechoic listening room. This is fine and dandy if you buy speakers to use in a treated studio but that is not 99.999% of people and the design of the HomePod is based around actively using/working with a reflective environment (i.e. a normal kitchen/living or bedroom), not an unreflective one.
Click to expand...

According to the Yahoo News article by David Pogue, it seems that Apple created what you describe as an "anechoic listening room" when it asked reviewers to compare the four competing units. His own test seemed more like the "reflective environment" you desire.

Does that create bias in the reviews from Verge and others based entirely on the Apple listening room set up? And the differing set ups for each device?

Hmmmm....
 
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Feek

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Two bullet points on the conclusion of that article are interesting to me.
  • The Apple HomePod generally sounds better than any other smart speaker—but only somewhat, and only in direct A/B/C/D tests. If you listened to the HomePod, Sonos, and Google Home an hour apart, you’d never be able to declare one a clear winner. (Everyone agrees that the Amazon Echo Plus is the loser in this roundup, but then again, it’s $150 and the size of a Pringle’s can; it’s not a fair fight.)
  • Everybody’s different.

I don't have one, I'm still undecided.
 
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