Jeff Dunn
What is that this factor?
That, in essence, is the query most onlookers have requested about Apple’s HomePod speaker since its unveiling final summer season. The pure inclination is to check it to sensible audio system just like the Amazon Echo or Google Residence. It’s a speaker with a speaking assistant in it, the pondering goes. Apple simply desires a chunk of that rising pie.
However that doesn’t sit proper. Positive, Siri, the assistant on the coronary heart of the speaker, can reply questions, set alarms, and switch off related mild bulbs. However the HomePod prices $350, roughly thrice as a lot as the bottom Echo and Residence gadgets, it sounds miles higher than each, and Apple isn’t almost as involved with aiding you thru each a part of your day and controlling every part in your house. The HomePod is decidedly extra “speaker” than “sensible.”
You would then consider it as Apple’s first strike on Sonos, the favored maker of related audio system. That’s a more in-depth analogue however nonetheless not completely on the nostril. The entire pitch with Sonos is that its audio system are hubs for each music service you care about. They’re additionally finest utilized as a household. The HomePod, in the meantime, is a solitary system for a solitary service. It could grow to be extra like Sonos, however Apple tends to maintain issues for itself, so it’s onerous to say to what extent.
As an alternative, in its present state, the HomePod is one thing a lot less complicated: a neat accent for Apple Music subscribers. Simply because the AirPods are enjoyable and flashy headphones for Apple diehards to take heed to music on the go—albeit ones that also work for many who do not reside in Apple’s world—the HomePod is a pleasing approach for them to take heed to that music at dwelling. That’s it. It sounds nice, and for a lot of the 36 million individuals paying for Apple’s music service each month, it’ll stream music and podcasts with little friction.
It simply doesn’t do rather more than that, notably for individuals who aren’t hitched to Apple’s wagon. The HomePod shouldn’t be revolutionary; it’s only a fantastic little speaker for a distinct segment that turns into very clearly outlined as you employ it. That’s OK, Apple doesn’t must disrupt the paradigm, or no matter, with each product it releases. Aiming low isn’t the worst—it’s simply not the very best, both.
Good-looking hardware
The HomePod is a good-looking little cylinder. It doesn’t strike me as trendy the way in which MacBooks and iPhones do, and it provides no outward indication that it’s even made by Apple. However I’d argue that’s a very good factor: the utilitarian look helps it mix in with no matter decor it’s close to. It’ll sit on a lounge desk or kitchen counter with out calling consideration to itself. It’s decidedly not ugly.
Specs at a look: Apple HomePod
Dimension
5.6 x 5.6 x 6.eight inches
Weight
5.5 lbs
Audio system and microphones
Seven horn-loaded tweets with customized amplifiers, four-inch woofer with customized amplifier, six-microphone array (for Siri), one calibration microphone (for “automated bass correction”)
Processor
Apple A8
Connectivity
AirPlay, 802.11ac Wi-Fi with MIMO, Bluetooth 5.zero (no audio streaming)
Supported Audio Codecs
HE-AAC, AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV, FLAC
Supported OS
iOS 11.2.5 or later (required for setup), Mac (by way of iTunes)
Supported Voice Assistants
Siri
Supported Voice-Managed Music Companies
Apple Music
Worth
$349, £319
Launch Date
February 9, 2018
For what it’s value, the delicate mesh material surrounding the speaker is pleasant to the contact. Similar goes for the thick, fabric-coated cable extending from the again. A round touchscreen sits on high of the system, but it surely’s a lot less complicated in scope than the show on Amazon’s Echo Present. There’s just a little mild sample that strikes everytime you work together with Siri, a few capacitive quantity buttons each time is music is enjoying, and a clean house between these buttons that permits you to play, pause, and skip tracks. That’s about it.
The entire thing is small, at 5.6 x 5.6 x 6.eight inches. It’s squatter than a Google Residence Max, however a pinch fatter than the Sonos One. It weighs 5.5 lbs, which is once more a bit greater than the One. There’s some heft to it. It doesn’t really feel like a toy.
It’s value noting that the silicone base on the backside of the HomePod may injury your furnishings, although. After complaints from a number of customers, Apple has acknowledged that the speaker might go away white rings on wooden surfaces. So, do not try this. I didn’t have this downside after leaving the system on a marble countertop, but it surely’s a shocking oversight all the identical. The corporate says the rings can heal on their very own, however would not assure it.
Contained in the HomePod, Apple has packed a hoop of seven tweeters, every of that are individually amplified, together with a four-inch upward-firing woofer to assist with bass response. There are seven microphones in-built as nicely, six of that are used to assist Siri hear you whereas the opposite helps the woofer higher management bass. As a degree of comparability, the Sonos One has a six-microphone array, two amplifiers, one tweeter, and one mid-woofer. So there’s a bit extra occurring right here.
Above every part within the HomePod is Apple’s A8 chip, which is healthier generally known as the processor that powered the iPhone 6. That is used to make Siri go, for one, but it surely additionally permits Apple to deploy its model of digital sign processing (DSP). In easy phrases, the HomePod makes use of the A8 and people microphones to measure the room through which it’s positioned and the audio it’s enjoying. Then it adjusts that audio on the fly to keep away from distortion and maintain a comparatively balanced sound profile.
DSP shouldn’t be a brand new factor for wi-fi audio system, however, in impact, the HomePod is making an attempt to dynamically take a monitor and paint it again in a approach that’s tailor-made to the acoustics of your room. This may be good and dangerous (and we’ll get into that), but it surely does make it a bit tough to definitively speak in regards to the HomePod’s sound.
One gentle grievance I’ve in regards to the system is that it’s not weather-resistant, however the DSP get together methods counsel the HomePod is admittedly meant for the indoors.
