HomePod Tried out the HomePod but ended up returning it

[jlseattle]

Hi All! I purchased the HomePod and ended up returning it. I've owned the Sonos system and the Amazon Echo. My review is comparing the three:

1) The Sonos system sounds great! But the Alexa microphone is weak and has trouble hearing you.
2) The Amazon Echo listens perfectly and gives great responses to inquires. The speaker is "ok".
3) The HomePod suffered on all fronts. The sound was too "bassy" on any content I played on it. It was like the speaker was over compensating for other faults. Siri was not very functional for me. I have Philips Hue system and Siri didn't work well with it. The alarm functionality was ok. It functioned but getting snooze to work correctly was messed up.

I donated the Sonos system I had to a friend (tired of yelling at Alexa. I returned the HomePod because overall it was a terrible smart speaker system. I upgraded to the Amazon Echo plus (upgraded version of the Echo).

A few final words on the HomePod:
1) Give users the ability to control the equalizer on all content coming out of the sonos. So audiobooks are more treble (less bass and easier to hear without muddled sound). OR make the equalizer so 'smart' that it changes with the content (Sonos did this well).
2) A smarter system that handles alarms, Philips hue system and just "works" (Siri currently does not "just work").
3) Fix the overall quality of the speakers sound. Right now I feel that the "quality of tone" is best out of the sonos for my ears. It balances well the bass and treble and makes the music sound amazing. HomePod sound did not stand out to me other than being over bassy.

If the HomePod could take the echos smart system (Alexa) and the sonos sound they would have a winning speaker and I would buy 3 of them immediately. At the moment Amazon is getting my money.

Of course, these are all my opinions. I'm curious to see if others agree with my assessment. I'm a huge apple fan boy.

 

[cmaier]

I got some Sonos speakers for free (long story) and they sound fine for what they are. I’ve compared to HomePod and don’t hear much difference. Since everyone in my house already has an iPhone in their pocket, i also haven’t seen the need for a global Siri.

 

[SerenaC]

I have NO trouble with Hue and Siri. And I have 43 bulbs. Just works every time I ask to turn on/off a lamp.

 

[jlseattle]

I have NO trouble with Hue ad Siri. And I hqve 43 bulbs. Just works every time I ask to turn on/off a lamp.

Yea, I don't know why my 4 bulbs (soon to be more) are not working properly. But they work fine on Alexa.

 

[dagored]

I’ve been using the HomePod with Siri and Hue lights since the HP was released. Not one problem, even after getting a new router, nothing lasts forever.

 

[bbednarz]

Are you using Alexa as the hub and not using the Phillips bridge?

Add me to the list of people that have never had an issue with Siri controlling Hue lights or other HomeKit devices. I actually think Siri is better and faster at performing the commands than Alexa.

 

[jlseattle]

Are you using Alexa as the hub and not using the Phillips bridge?

Add me to the list of people that have never had an issue with Siri controlling Hue lights or other HomeKit devices. I actually think Siri is better and faster at performing the commands than Alexa.

I am using the hue bridge. I'll say this. I did the setup on alexa with the Hue bridge so maybe something didn't translate to Homepod. All I know is if I said "Siri, turn off the lights" it would only turn one off. When I say Alexa turn off the lights it will turn off all of them.

I probably would have dug in deeper on the issue and figured out what Siri interpreted "lights" to mean (maybe something was translated from HUB to HomeKit incorrectly). With all the other issues I was having with the homepod I didn't want to go down that road.

 

[danmart]

I have only used HomePod as I won’t buy-in to the Amazon or Google ecosystems; it’s just personal preference. But I do have six HomePods now.

In terms of controlling Hue lights, Siri is fine in my experience. You have to set it up more fully in the Home app to get the best out of it. I have all the rooms containing devices defined and all the devices allocated correctly. So, if I am in the lounge and tell Siri to turn the light on or off only those lights change as Siri assumes I want to control the lights in the same room as the HomePod which heard the command.

If I want to change the lights in a different room then I just specify the room where I want the lights to change. I also have several scenes set which sometimes cover multiple rooms. And automation to turn lights on / off automatically when we arrive home after dark or the last person leaves the house.

 

[cynics]

The HomePod equalizes its own frequency response to be as flat (equal) as the room acoustics and its speakers will allow.

Many people feel its bass heavy because they either don't like bass because its disruptive for others (apartments, condos, kids, parents, etc) so they've always turned it down. Or they haven't had a speaker with low frequency response especially at higher volumes. Keep in mind again the HomePod isn't favoring bass, its capable of reproducing low frequencies but not favoring it. I'm used to higher end headphones which typically have fairly accurate base.

https://www.fastcompany.com/40530628/apple-homepod-frequency-response-flat-sound

Play this through all your speakers...

https://www.audiocheck.net/audiotests_frequencychecklow.php

For comparison my Alexa = 50-55hz, iMac = 50hz, Sonos Play:5 = 30hz, HomePod = 30hz. Any quality over the ear headphone wired or wirelesss = 20hz (feel it around 15hz).

Sounds below those frequencies can't be reproduced (at my normal listening volume, milage will verify). So if I always listen to something on my iMac its going to sound like it has more bass on my HomePod. Not because of HomePod empathizes bass but because the iMacs inability to ever play it at all. Plus the HomePod has a high excursion woofer, like the Play:5 its capable of being very punchy.

Placement will effect bass as well as highs. It can adjust for its locations but there are limitations. Places that are wide open might not sound as good to you as on a shelf.

Manual adjustment of the EQ (frequency wise) at the HomePod is virtually impossible and defeats what the HomePod is doing which is essentially automatic Trueplay. But even presets (reduce bass, increase treble, etc) can be difficult because you can lose the wide soundstage its producing which is what I think sets it apart. I'd think they could manage a reduce bass toggle for those that just want less bass.

The HomePod is high strung though, it takes a lot of processing to make that thing work as intended. For example its using 7 horn loaded tweeters. Horn loaded tweeters are difficult to implement into most setups because they are very directional (beam sound) and thus reflect off surfaces more noticeably. Apple uses 6 microphones to listen for reflection and adjust the tweeters in frequency and volume via each speaker having a dedicate amp. Since there are 7 of them there is only the tiniest of gaps between the sound "beams". What this accomplishes is a speaker that can broadcast its sound across the room with minimal dissipation. 25 feet away from the speaker isn't noticeably quieter than 5 feet, thus giving that room filling experience. First few weeks I had it I was always walking out of rooms into the living room to turn it down thinking it was too loud to find its not. The woofer is high excursion but also mic'd to essentially throttle itself to avoid distortion while maintaining equalization. And its still doing a ton of other things from separating the sounds (direct and background) to be output differently.

I use a Sonos One in my bathroom because its AirPlay 2 and currently the cheapest AirPlay 2 speaker. I sounds really good but since its a bathroom its a little echo'y. In the living area its too small and I can get distortion out of it occasionally. I originally had a Play 5 in the living room but the omnidirectional sound of the HomePods work much better for the space. I love the Play 5's but only to rock the house.

Siri =/= Alexa. They both do things slightly differently. Depending on how things are defined in homekit it could take a generic request literal. "Turn off the lights" might just turn off lights labeled "light" for each room or something. If you want all the lights off you would say "Turn off all the lights". You can follow those up with "and" and "except" (which I couldn't do with Alexa last time I tried (?) ex "Turn off all the lights except the porch light", "turn on the kitchen light and living room lights". Either way you go there is a learning curve both will get you there.

At the end of the day you got to go with whatever makes you happy. Can't go wrong with Sonos is sound quality IMO.

 

[ipedro]

Add me to the list of those who use HomePod with Phillips Hue and they work perfectly every time. I have a pretty complex HomeKit setup with a couple dozen Hue lights, mixed in with lightstrips and Nanoleaf panels, August locks, an assortment of Eve sensors and power plugs, Lyric thermostat and a bunch of other smart devices, all controlled from two different smart speakers — HomePod in the living room, Google Home in the bedroom — and everything works smoothly.

As for smarts, Siri on HomePod has been impressing me lately. Questions I don’t think it’ll be able to answer, it does. It has at times surprised me and beaten my Google Home for best response to some questions. I’ve started asking my HomePod first.

Finally, on capabilities, I’ve been adding Siri Shortcuts to my routinely used iPhone apps and can now control them from HomePod. Shortcuts extend the capabilities of HomePod like Alexa Skills does for Amazon Echo.

I have no regrets in getting a HomePod and I plan to put one in every room.