Apple Home Pod

[Jimmcb]

Hi everyone and a happy new year to you all.

Have any of you got one or used one of these? Looking to change the 4 speakers and sub I have in the office and thought about one of these. Great to get some opinions

Jim

[doebag]

I’ve got three around the house - an original (larger) HomePod in the living room and two Mini’s in the office and kitchen respectively.

The original HomePod is becoming less reliable as each iOS update comes out and I’m thinking of replacing it with a Mini (or the rumoured soundbar Apple might be releasing this year)

But equally there’s been things on the Mini’s broken by an iOS update and then fixed in a subsequent release - a good example of this is the Personal Requests function which my wife and I use to manage shared a reminders list (for a shopping list) and the shared Calendar. For a good number of weeks if I tried to ask the HomePod to add an item to the list/calendar it would work but if my wife asked, Siri would respond saying we needed to enable Personal Requests (which of course were enabled).

Siri is still way more limited than Alexa or Google Assistant but for the regular day to day stuff it’s fine.

The original HomePod at £249 eclipsed the competition in sound quality for the price point and to be honest even the HomePod Mini at £99 is great value for money.

If you’re heavily into the Apple ecosystem and use a lot of smart home devices (or are thinking of using them) then I’d recommend the HomePods.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Phil Lee]

Bear in mind that Apple discontinued the original HomePod in March 2021. They are good at providing software updates for existing products but I wouldn’t expect any new features.

[watchstudent]

I have an original big HomePod. Imo it is a fantastic product and nothing comes close for the price in terms of sound quality. Unfortunately it obviously wasn’t a success for Apple so it is discontinued therefore long term may not be a good buy. Shame though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jimmcb]

Many thanks all

It’s the Mini I’m thinking of. If I opt for having two in same house can one be used independent of the other? In other words if I ask it to play a particular track will the rest of the house hear it.

Jim

[doebag]

Many thanks all

It’s the Mini I’m thinking of. If I opt for having two in same house can one be used independent of the other? In other words if I ask it to play a particular track will the rest of the house hear it.

Jim

Completely independent, unless:

A. You specify in the set-up that they’re a stereo pair
B. You select both speakers in the AirPlay menu


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jimmcb]

Completely independent, unless:

A. You specify in the set-up that they’re a stereo pair
B. You select both speakers in the AirPlay menu


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cheers DB. Much obliged.

Jim

[SlipperySam]

You can also say, “Hey Siri, play xxxxxx everywhere.” and all speakers will play.

[RobM]

I have three Mini’s dotted around the house, all independent of each other. The all-room playback is impressive, every bit as good as Sonos (which they replaced in my case) for being perfectly in-sync.

Otherwise they’re independent and they sound great for their size. Siri is fine; realistically 90% of what you do with smart speakers is play music, set timers, ask the weather, and control smart home kit and Siri does this very well.

I’m deep in the Apple ecosystem so I also appreciate little things like touching my iPhone against a HomePod to transfer whatever I’m playing, and the ability to use it as a hands-free speaker for calls and messages.

[Jimmcb]

You can also say, “Hey Siri, play xxxxxx everywhere.” and all speakers will play.

Cheers SS. Good intel

- - - Updated - - -

I have three Mini’s dotted around the house, all independent of each other. The all-room playback is impressive, every bit as good as Sonos (which they replaced in my case) for being perfectly in-sync.

Otherwise they’re independent and they sound great for their size. Siri is fine; realistically 90% of what you do with smart speakers is play music, set timers, ask the weather, and control smart home kit and Siri does this very well.

I’m deep in the Apple ecosystem so I also appreciate little things like touching my iPhone against a HomePod to transfer whatever I’m playing, and the ability to use it as a hands-free speaker for calls and messages.

Thanks Rob. Ideal

Jim

- - - Updated - - -

I have three Mini’s dotted around the house, all independent of each other. The all-room playback is impressive, every bit as good as Sonos (which they replaced in my case) for being perfectly in-sync.

Otherwise they’re independent and they sound great for their size. Siri is fine; realistically 90% of what you do with smart speakers is play music, set timers, ask the weather, and control smart home kit and Siri does this very well.

I’m deep in the Apple ecosystem so I also appreciate little things like touching my iPhone against a HomePod to transfer whatever I’m playing, and the ability to use it as a hands-free speaker for calls and messages.

Thanks Rob. Ideal

Jim

[RobDad]

We have 4 HomePods all set up independently - ie not as stereo pairs. The mini versions sound very good for their size - quite shocking the first time I heard them tbh for a £99 speaker. But the now discontinued larger version sounds jaw dropping in comparison, properly loud and the bass can be uncomfortably deep. I find the apple controls and the way it links with the ecosystem very good, but my son thinks they are useless compared to the Amazon equivalents. What we both agree on is that sonically they are way ahead of Amazon and I care a lot more about that than complicated home automation!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[watchstudent]

I think this is why the big HomePod failed. People saw it as an expensive smart speaker that wasn't as capable as the Amazon or Google ones. In reality, it was supposed to be a very very good value speaker with excellent sound quality, that happened to have Siri. In the hifi world it is a steal, in the smart speaker world it is expensive and dumb.

We have 4 HomePods all set up independently - ie not as stereo pairs. The mini versions sound very good for their size - quite shocking the first time I heard them tbh for a £99 speaker. But the now discontinued larger version sounds jaw dropping in comparison, properly loud and the bass can be uncomfortably deep. I find the apple controls and the way it links with the ecosystem very good, but my son thinks they are useless compared to the Amazon equivalents. What we both agree on is that sonically they are way ahead of Amazon and I care a lot more about that than complicated home automation!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mr noble]

I have been waiting for Apple to release a big HomePod replacement before starting to add big and small speakers to my home, but reading this thread, it sounds like they may not.


Does anyone know if Apple are intending to release another BIG HomePod?


Is there any substance to the rumoured TV soundbar?

[doebag]

I have been waiting for Apple to release a big HomePod replacement before starting to add big and small speakers to my home, but reading this thread, it sounds like they may not.


Does anyone know if Apple are intending to release another BIG HomePod?


Is there any substance to the rumoured TV soundbar?

Mark Gurman with Bloomberg has a seemingly endless stream of reliable leaks and it’s been said that Apple are working on an AppleTV/Soundbar/Camera all in one.

Think Facebook’s Portal (but for FaceTime) and an Apple TV built into a HomePod Soundbar. It’d be a sensible option as Amazon and Google both have their smart speakers with cameras built in.

As for when it’s coming? Well that’s anyone’s guess.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RobDad]

Having killed off the big HomePod very recently I can’t see that happening tbh. A very odd decision in my opinion as the larger version was in another league to the small ones. I don’t think much of the soundbar idea as most of these products seem to rely on Apple TV which isn’t all that compelling imho


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mr noble]

I think that without the option of a big HomePod, I’d prefer to go down the Sonos route.

[reecie]

Having killed off the big HomePod very recently I can’t see that happening tbh. A very odd decision in my opinion as the larger version was in another league to the small ones. I don’t think much of the soundbar idea as most of these products seem to rely on Apple TV which isn’t all that compelling imho

Depends what you mean by Apple TV though. If you mean Apple TV+ as in the streaming service then maybe. If you mean the black box streaming unit then I have two 4K ones and they are great pieces of kit. I run all the streaming services via them including Plex and they don't miss a beat. Gives us a better consistent interface over the built in apps in the Sony and LG tvs we have. They will also get far better support, in my experience, than what the tvs tend to do.