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
rotor said:
When you can get two Sonos Ones for the price of a HomePod... Ignoring the smartness for a second, a stereo pair of Ones is going to objectively sound significantly better than a single HomePod, and most of the good reviews basically say that the HomePod sound quality is great, but given all the shortcomings (including the price, and how closed it is) it's not high on the recommendations list.

I'm a super Apple fan, but I think it's easy to get carried away with the imaginary "OMG the sound quality is AMAZING" when in reality, I very much doubt that anyone would be able to tell the difference in a blind comparison, especially if you weren't listening to them side by side / one after the other.

It's a really fascinating product, and fascinating to see it all unfold. Once AirPlay2 comes it will be in a slightly better position to compete, although the price is still high, and Siri remains rubbish. Speaking of rubbish, here's another pretty funny Siri interaction: https://twitter.com/gruber/status/963843284794793984?lang=en-gb
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2 sonos for one Homepod is actually fair comparison and I tried to find out, but not many reviews like this. Majority focused on Siri and how crap it is which was known from the start. Do you have tests that would compare speakers when not listening directly from the front of the speaker ? (Which is on every review). Homepod's feature is supposed to be filling the room with sound, any reviews that actually compare This feature with other speakers? Or is it just me that has speaker in the middle of the room but seats on the side? Would sonos still be comparable or would you have to angle it?
 
If you have a single One/Play:1, put it in the middle. If you have two, put one on each side. For me Sonos (home speakers in general) isn't about sitting down in my "special music listening seat" and listening to music while doing nothing else. It's about having ambient music in the house while we go about our daily lives.
 
Minstadave said:
A Sonos 1 is going to be more directional than the HomePod.

A pair of them can fill a room well though at high volumes.
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Nobody ever mentioned their stereo bookshelves sounding "directional" in the past. Funny how that's now used against competing speakers.

If you place your single speaker in the corner of the room, facing outwards there's no need for this room sensing tech.... it's simply a solution to compensate for the fact that the Homepod has tweeters arranged in a 360 pattern, so half of them are facing the wrong way when in that kind of position.
 
pioneer2000 said:
Nobody ever mentioned their stereo bookshelves sounding "directional" in the past. Funny how that's now used against competing speakers.

If you place your single speaker in the corner of the room, facing outwards there's no need for this room sensing tech.... it's simply a solution to compensate for the fact that the Homepod has tweeters arranged in a 360 pattern, so half of them are facing the wrong way when in that kind of position.
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It was a single Sonos 1 I was suggesting will sound very directional, it’s a mono speaker with drivers on one side, that’s a given.

A Sonos 5 is better because it has angled drivers giving and stereo output, so it sounds less directional. I’ve got both.

I suspect the HomePod goes a step further from the reviews.

Stereo Sonos Ones don’t sound directional, they give a much more full soundstage. I suspect better than anything the HomePod can put out.
 
Anybody hearing hissing "Sssshhh sound" coming from the tweeters at the bottom of their Homepod when its within close range? (1 metre)

To test, make sure you're in a dead quiet room, and turn the Homepod off (unplug), and then turn it back on. Say "hi siri"..

There's white noise coming from mine even with no audio playing. Tried different outlets and turning off switches/devices in my house.
 
fluidz said:
Anybody hearing hissing "Sssshhh sound" coming from the tweeters at the bottom of their Homepod when its within close range? (1 metre)

To test, make sure you're in a dead quiet room, and turn the Homepod off (unplug), and then turn it back on. Say "hi siri"..

There's white noise coming from mine even with no audio playing. Tried different outlets and turning off switches/devices in my house.
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Tinnitus?
 
Interesting report in The Information (paywall) is described in a number of blogs including this one from "MacRumors" (a usually very pro Apple site).

Summary: HomePod fails due to the underperformance of Siri. In fact Siri is so bad that Apple even considered launching the HomePod WITHOUT including Siri! So why did they launch it with Siri included when they knew how bad it was? It is both overpriced and underperforms.

Will they consider a drastic price cut or will that be too heavy a hit to their high margins?

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/03/14/siri-has-turned-sour-report/
 
Somnambulist said:
HomePod advert by Spike Jonze starring FKA Twigs

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I find this interesting, it is all about altered reality, virtually no advertisement of the features, just the assumption that people will know it is the 'best' home speaker that isn't a speaker system.
I suppose just style over function type advert, but I thought they'd have tried to have something to show how useful it might be.

Assuming without a mac or ipad or iPhone that it can't even play you 'something you like'?
 
Destination said:
I find this interesting, it is all about altered reality, virtually no advertisement of the features, just the assumption that people will know it is the 'best' home speaker that isn't a speaker system.
I suppose just style over function type advert, but I thought they'd have tried to have something to show how useful it might be.

Assuming without a mac or ipad or iPhone that it can't even play you 'something you like'?
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I think they know it's not that useful outside of listening to music (the youf of today don't tend to have stereo systems or hi-fis at home like their parents did) and the ad itself is a play on the way the speaker adapts to the environment it's placed in, but that's about it. Just have to wait and see if Apple make a serious effort to improve Siri this year.
 
Picked up one of these today and tbh I think it’s fantastic. The sound quality is superb......

s2tbex.jpg
 
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Valo said:
Just ordered my HomePod (Space Grey). Delivery next week. I’m already thinking about getting a second in White for another room.
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ppkfcXY.jpg

Arrived on Tuesday and I'm amazed by the sound quality of it. Already ordered a second for my front room!

Looking forward to Apple seriously ramping up development of Siri, especially with the hiring of Googles Chief of Search and AI: https://www.macrumors.com/2018/04/03/apple-hires-google-ai-chief/

EDIT: Second HomePod ordered and delivered! :cool:

BC5cksy.jpg
 
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