Apple HomePod White

It works great and sounds great. The set up was painless. Siri may be limited compared to other smart assistants in the market but none of the smart speakers in this size sound as good as the HomePod. It doesn’t support Bluetooth with Android devices which is unfortunate if you have friends over to connect their phones to play music. I have this sitting in my bedroom bedside table and it gets loud! It doesn’t sound distorted in max volume and fills the room pretty well. The sound signature may be a little too sharp in the high frequency for me but may be ok for others. The bass is decent and not overpowering. For those looking into a home theatre set up, I would look elsewhere as getting a pair of HomePods would equate to the same price as a proper surround setup ... MoreIt works great and sounds great. The set up was painless. Siri may be limited compared to other smart assistants in the market but none of the smart speakers in this size sound as good as the HomePod. It doesn’t support Bluetooth with Android devices which is unfortunate if you have friends over to connect their phones to play music. I have this sitting in my bedroom bedside table and it gets loud! It doesn’t sound distorted in max volume and fills the room pretty well. The sound signature may be a little too sharp in the high frequency for me but may be ok for others. The bass is decent and not overpowering. For those looking into a home theatre set up, I would look elsewhere as getting a pair of HomePods would equate to the same price as a proper surround setup with rear speakers. It’s a great smart speaker for users heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem (and HomeKit) but Siri currently doesn’t justify the price tag.

100% DO NOT Recommend...

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. I purchased a second HomePod after buying my first one and thinking it sounded bad; what a waste of money. Seriously, a cheap google mini or echo thing sounds better than these do all day long. The bass is pathetic, no mids and the voice quality is horrendous. Then, after realizing how poorly the speakers sound, I'm even less impressed by Siri and/or whatever junk software, they have stuffed into these. In a houseful of Apple products, these are an absolute FAIL.

Amazing sound definitely recommend!!

This is an amazing speaker that I recommend to anyone who wants crips, clear audio. It sounds great in every room in my house. When you pick up and move the device, it analyzes the room and figures out how to play music the best. When it's against the wall, I can tell that the sound is boomed out. If I put it in the center of the room, the 360 audio feature kicks in and sounds amazing. I ordered another one so that I can make a stereo pair and I’m so excited to test this out!

Better, but not great.

I bought these as a preorder and well… Getting them setup in the home app was easy once my phone was updated. Setting them up as a pair was fairly smooth too. That’s where the issues begin. Even though the speakers were setup as a stereo pair, my Apple TV 4K refused to set them as a default audio for the device. After rebooting the device I was notified that they needed to be updated to 16.3, so why is apple shipping these things with an incompatible OS? Even after updating though, I still had to fight with them to be able to use them with my Apple TV. I even tried resetting the Apple TV, but that didn’t even fix the issue. Anyway, after about 2 hours with fighting with them, they finally decided to cooperate and they’re now the default speakers. So, how do they ... MoreI bought these as a preorder and well… Getting them setup in the home app was easy once my phone was updated. Setting them up as a pair was fairly smooth too. That’s where the issues begin. Even though the speakers were setup as a stereo pair, my Apple TV 4K refused to set them as a default audio for the device. After rebooting the device I was notified that they needed to be updated to 16.3, so why is apple shipping these things with an incompatible OS? Even after updating though, I still had to fight with them to be able to use them with my Apple TV. I even tried resetting the Apple TV, but that didn’t even fix the issue. Anyway, after about 2 hours with fighting with them, they finally decided to cooperate and they’re now the default speakers. So, how do they sound? Honestly, they sound fairly similar to the Sonos Arc, but you can at least add a sub to the Sonos. They’re not as clean as the Bose 900 though. So, I can’t honestly say who these make sense for. At $600 a pair, there’s only $100 that separates this from the Bose 900, and that can be expanded to a much more complete system. It also sounds better under most situations. The speakers do sound nice though and if you were thinking about grabbing an Arc and nothing else, then this is definitely a better value for the money and the sound profile is very similar. I have the Bose, so these are likely going back, but I would certainly have kept these if Apple made a wireless sub for them.

Disappointed.

I am a Apple guy. I have purchased lots of Apple products. The reason for a two rating is connectivity. I purchased 2 of them. I could not get the HomePods to turn on with my Apple tv, iPad, or iPhone with any sort of consistency. When they were connected they would cut out on a regular basis. Very frustrating. They sound good. Wifi with any other electronics in the home are not the problem. I spent $600 for two of them. I returned them to Best Buy. I have never returned a Apple product,

EXCELLENT

I am so happy that Apple brought this back. I have an older one so I LOVE THIS! These are awesome! Deep rich sound. Much stronger than the smaller ones that have been out. (I have a few of those) I put this in every room that I can and the sound fills the room. I simply play music from my iPhone and enjoy a great sound. Very easy to set up. Sets up in seconds with your iPhone. THANK YOU APPLE for finally bringing this back!!!

Great, fun speaker

Purchased the stereo pair to replace a soundbar. Sound is immersive, Dolby Atmos sounds great! Setup was kinda tricky (surprised being an Apple product) but reason being one HomePod required firmware update to continue setup. Once setup, HomePod is easy to use, Siri responds quickly, and handoff from Music app is great! There is no audio lag using these as TV speakers. I’d recommend to hold HomePod from the base as the mesh housing feels kinda soft, and may get damaged or dented if trying to carry it from the sides.

Mid

When talking about audio quality, it is definitely better than the older gen 1 HomePod, but when talking about features, I would say if you don’t have HomeKit accessories, I would stick to Alexa or Google. It does come with matter comparability however, alot of old smart devices are not catered to HomeKit which means spending more money. In testing, the temperature sensor can be off by a few degrees. In conclusion, If you are looking for a budget home audio system with a mid quality smart person and have extra money, go for it. Otherwise for now I would go with a echo show.

Okay for movies/TV - awful for bass rich music

These speakers are okay for the casual listener and someone who is using them primarily as a television or movie sound. The processing does some unusual manipulation with the high end and completely mangles the low end. Worse these the consumer Bose products do. For 600 (pair) you can get a much more powerful home theater system and/or significantly cleaner reference speakers that will be more accurate and more powerful. Siri still hasn't matured to what I'd call usable yet. How long has that product been available? It's pretty astonishing. At lower volumes and with content that isn't bass rich they sound spacious and open. There is a bit of "slipperiness," I don't care for on the top end but it doesn't make them unusable. These have internal transformers for power ... MoreThese speakers are okay for the casual listener and someone who is using them primarily as a television or movie sound. The processing does some unusual manipulation with the high end and completely mangles the low end. Worse these the consumer Bose products do. For 600 (pair) you can get a much more powerful home theater system and/or significantly cleaner reference speakers that will be more accurate and more powerful. Siri still hasn't matured to what I'd call usable yet. How long has that product been available? It's pretty astonishing. At lower volumes and with content that isn't bass rich they sound spacious and open. There is a bit of "slipperiness," I don't care for on the top end but it doesn't make them unusable. These have internal transformers for power so you're only going to have two regular plugs instead of another pair of wall warts pushing aa USB cord. The sound everywhere feature is nice but can be done for a heck of a lot less money while winning even more functionality. There is no audible room measuring process. I'm not sure it does anything or not but their site suggests it "knows," where it is in a room. There is no EQ or user adjustable settings someone with more experience or more particular preferences would want. The low end is flabby and undefined on EDM and trance. Does well with Classical and movies. There is a "reduce bass," option but it seemed to completely eliminate the low end. Getting to these and/or other home pod speakers is clunky and terribly unintuitive. Sumarizing I think you can get better speakers with more power and more features for a heck of lot less money. I am trapped in an all apple home infrastructure and they aren't up to par for price or function for me. I produce and engineer music and favor reference monitors. For this price you can get an entry level setup with a subwoofer. For around 300 you can get a pair of JBL305p. For another 400 you can get the 10" sub. If you want room correction IK Multidmedia sells the iLoud MTM as a pair with the mic for aoround 800. The Apple "it just works," doesn't anymore. It took some time to update the firmware and wasn't very informative while it was doing so. Way more expensive than they should be for what they are. If you have a picky ear and/or want features or access to features this isn't the product for you. If you're okay with the inflated price, the terrible user experience, and the flabby low end for EDM or if you're using it for TV or movies they're okay. For my money there are plenty of options that do what this product does for a fraction of the price. The small ones, for what they are, are pretty impressive. These didn't wow me like I wanted them to.

Tv sound bar or Apple HomePods? Get it right!

Had a long selection process of over 2 months - was choosing among Bose, Sonos solutions and a pair of Apple HomePods. Sonos is a great choice and allows your sound system to expand over time wirelessly, which is great. However, for an Apple fan i made the right choice: Dolby Atmos friendly pair of HomePods sitting on the sides of the tv unit with Siri managing it all - works like magic. Not cheap, but other options aren’t cheap either. Works for me and can hopefully be a good option for you, too!