HomePod Is the Ultimate Apple Product—in a Bad Way

Sometimes , years hand before Apple create a completely unexampled product like the HomePod . During that parade of iPhone redesigns and MacBook upgrade , it can be easy to bury that when Apple enters a new blank space , the company does it with swagger . The products are beautiful . They work well . But they are also ordinarily exclusively design to mould with other Apple Cartesian product and service . The $ 350 HomePod is all of these thing , and it drives me crazy .

The fib of the HomePod is about as Apple as it gets . As it had done with mp3 player and smartphones in the past tense , the Cupertino society watch every tech company in the earth build a voice - controlled wise loudspeaker , and just when it seemed like it was too tardy for Apple to throw its chapeau in the ring , Phil Schiller announce the HomePod in June 2017 .

HomePod

Photos: Adam Clark Estes / Gizmodo

Photos: Adam Clark Estes / Gizmodo

What is it ?

A Siri - powered smart speaker

monetary value

$ 350

slap-up sound timbre

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Dislike

Only work with Apple poppycock , Siri is also speechless

After several delays , the HomePod finally started to ship last hebdomad . Not only would it bring as a Siri - powered spokesperson mastery assistant , but the novel HomePod would also assist as a hub for fresh gadget . Unlike so many shockingly exciting iPhone launching of year past , however , it feel like the HomePod has landed with a thump .

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The HomePod just is n’t very useful for most people . I ’ve been testing the Siri - powered talker for four day , and it sure enough looks like a piece of work of prowess in my apartment . It works like a dream , with sound quality that rivals speakers nearly twice the cost . Heck , it even made me sign up for Apple Music again , because ‚ well , Apple force me to . you’re able to only use Apple Music , iTunes , or Beats 1 wireless for voice - controlled music on the HomePod . you’re able to listen to music from other service like Spotify or Google Play by using Airplay on a freestanding machine . The HomePod does not have Bluetooth .

This just boggle my mind — but it ’s not like I ’m surprised that Apple ’s new audio computer hardware is firmly stock-still within the walled garden that the society has been building for decennium now . I just ca n’t believe there is a human who is so committed to the Apple ecosystem that they would spend perhaps thousands of dollar bill to fit the room of their house with HomePods , only to be stuck shovel more money at Apple so that they can actually spiel euphony with those speakers . It feel so backwards ! If you ’ve been a Spotify user but really want to be getting the most out of your HomePod , you ’ll find yourself firing up iTunes and making new playlists like it ’s fucking 2006 all over again .

Now let ’s speak about sound . The HomePod is , first and foremost , a speaker design to play music in your home . It could be described as a Sonos - grampus , except that one HomePod can not really tie to other HomePods , intend that stereophonic sound and multi - room capabilities do not presently exists . Apple suppose these features will be labour out in software system updates later this yr . In terms of audio fidelity , I ’d also fence that the Apple HomePod gets closest to the Sonos One in bring forth truly first-class speech sound in a modest loudspeaker . Yet depending on your sense of taste , you might like the HomePod a lot more .

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To depict the legal quality of the HomePod requires a basic understanding of the how the speaker is built . The star of the show , in my opinion , is a downward facing woofer that travels an impressive 20 - millimetre to move air out of the speaker and produce best - in - category bass part . It ’s not ear - rattling freshwater bass , though . The electric bass on “ torch ” by Parliament sounds , for instance , distinctly crisp and clean on the HomePod . Meanwhile , the lowly violoncello notes on “ Eleanor Rigby ” by the Beatles fathom deep and textured .

Below that big , lumbering woofer , there are seven tweeter that handle the mids and high school . Since we ’re already talking about the Beatles , find out the first couple minutes of “ Let It Be ” made me feel like I was in the studio with Paul , the auditory sensation seemed so staring and unadulterated . I could say the same matter “ When You Say Nothing at All ” by Allison Kraus and Union Station . These songs are both largely acoustical , and I ’d say that Sung dynasty from this genre perform particularly well on the HomePod .

It ’s not all applaudable , however . Given the attention Apple paid to bring about excellent bass and wondrous treble , it ’s no surprise that the HomePod leaves something to be trust in the mid range of mountains . Certain Song dynasty actually voice like they do n’t have mids at all . As an electronic music fan , I comment this with some of my favorite artists . “ Archangel ” by Burial just sounds turbid . While “ The Wilhelm Scream ” voice like James Blake is place upright in an empty garage with a bass barrel , singe into the void . Which is sort of how he always sounds , but the HomePod overemphasized the sea bass and made Blake sound especially whiny .

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To put all of that into context , the HomePod just might be the best - go impertinent verbalizer I ’ve examine . braggart accent on the “ might ” in that sentence . The Sonos One sounds almost as good as the HomePod on most song and , actually , slight better on others . Which is sound out something since it ’s only $ 200 . The Sonos Play:5 sounded better than the HomePod to me in side - by - side trial . But it really should for $ 500 .

As a wise home hub , the HomePod is urgently lacking . As with Apple Music before it , the HomePod ’s smart home capabilities are limited to Apple ’s software system — in this case HomeKit . And unlike the backwards compatible standards that enable Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to do sassy home trick , Apple HomeKit actually requires new ironware to work . So even if you have , say , a Philips Hue connected light system , you might not have the latest HomeKit - enabled hub . This happened to me . I have an onetime hub , so I ca n’t insure my lights with HomePod , unless I spend $ 60 on a novel Philips hub . The same turned out to be true for my security cameras , my saucy switches , and actually all of the other smart home equipment I have . I ca n’t practice any of them with HomePod because I have n’t buy the special new Apple - approve hardware .

And I have n’t even catch to how tough Siri is ! Not only is Apple ’s artificial intelligence dumb — a recent mental test showed sheonly answered 52 percent of questions right — but her functionality is super circumscribed . Siri is only really supported in lineage Apple apps like stock certificate , News , Messages , Weather , and Reminders . you may also ask about the atmospheric condition , mutant scores , and traffic , as well as set timers and alarms . That ’s it . I tried to get Siri to call my mum . “ I wish I could , ” Siri say “ but I ca n’t help you make call on HomePod . ” ( I can , however , set out a call on my earpiece and then send it to my HomePod . )

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What all this comes down to is a case of a great piece of hardware , hampered by some seriously restrictive software . In other watchword , the HomePod is the ultimate Apple product . If you hold to all of Apple ’s rules and do everything just like the companionship wants , you might have an awful experience . The HomePod really is a gracious loudspeaker ! However , most people wo n’t . Most hoi polloi want the flexibility of set up a Sonos system in their sign of the zodiac and play whatever music service they want . Others want to use an Amazon Echo or a Google Home to turn on their lights because those gimmick do n’t require them to go out and bribe new lights .

I aboveboard wonder what Apple ’s last game is here . Will the first HomePod be like the first iPod and iPhone , where you have to use Apple software program or go grease one’s palms crappier hardware ? And will Apple also open up the platform like it did with iOS , enable developers to build apps in its once restrictive sandbox and make the HomePod truly useful . clip will say . With the next days of this particular twist , all of its delay , and all of its quirk , Apple is as predictably frustrating as ever .