I never really understood why anyone would need a smart speaker in the house. When the HomePod was announced, I still didn’t really get too excited for it. I couldn’t figure out why anyone would need a smart speaker in the house when we already have smartphone, tablets, and watches – all with the same capabilities.
But I still bought one.
It took a while and a good sale for me to finally jump into the smart speaker crazy. Being the Apple Fan Boy that I am, I bought the Apple speaker as well. I’m entrenched in the Apple Ecosystem so it makes sense to go for that one versus the others on the market.
So what is the State of the HomePod in 2018? Well, it’s been a year of growth.
Line-Up
The HomePod Launched back in February 2018, so the line hasn’t even been for sale for a full year, so while I’m going to grade this category roughly, I think it will improve down the line.
Right now, there is one HomePod that comes in two colors. Both HomePods look great.
It’s hard to knock the line-up because when Apple typically enters a market, they do so with one model and then down the line, they start to release more variants. I would expect them to do that as well with the HomePod.
Grade: C
The HomePod has found a spot in my home, but the line-up is small so not everyone might find it a spot. I would like to see Apple really expand the line with more devices. A HomePod mini (which would be cheaper hopefully – more on that later) and maybe even a package with two HomePods in it for Stereo paring could enhance the line.
I’m not sure that I would want a small puck-like HomePod like the Echo Dot. I don’t think it is really needed right now. A puck could allow Apple to expand Siri through the house, but I feel like it would lose the appeal of what Apple is trying to do- make a great speaker. Apple wants to make the best speaker it can while also providing the means to use it. If you have a speaker that you’d like to use instead of the HomePod, you could track down the AirPort Express. You can plug your speaker into the AirPort Express and use AirPlay to play to those speakers.
Design
The HomePod looks good. While it isn’t the fanciest device in the Apple line-up, it’s not supposed to be. It’s supposed to just fade away.
The speaker is smaller than it appears in pictures but hefty. It is a dense product. Even the cable is designed to almost fade away. It’s made of a woven fabric material. So far, there hasn’t been any tear, and I’d like to see if Apple could move this to its lightning and other cables. It might be tougher than the ones out there that fray right now.
The main draw of the machine is the top which can light up to signify that Siri is listening or working. The colors are cool and classic, but not something that you’ll want to stare at, or even really be aware of if you are using the speaker to it’s intended purpose.
Grade: A
For the most part, I think Apple has designed something that can be the center of attention or fade away in the background. As I mentioned earlier, I would like a few more variation in the line-up, but the design works as it is.
Internals
This is where the HomePod outclasses most other speakers.
The HomePod is running on the same processor as the iPhone 7, the A8. Using such a powerful chip allows the speaker to do things like hear you over the music, splitting the music so that you can hear it everywhere you go. It also allows for easy use of Siri, which can still process on the device and then pull the info it needs from the internet.
The HomePod even comes equipped with a gyroscope that sense when the device has been moved. Once it has been moved, the HomePod automatically adjusts how it projects the audio so that it fills the entire room.
I’m not much of a speaker head, but I do think that the music coming out of the speaker sounds great. I know that some people wish that they could control the balances more, but I’m not that person. For the average person, I think it picks the best sound possible.
I am constantly amazed by how well the microphones pick up over the music. I can be in another room and say in a normal voice to change the track and HomePod will hear me over the music currently playing. Apple uses machine learning and other tricks to make this happen. If I had to shout at the machine all the time, I would get rid of it, but it works so well.
Grade: A+
This is one of the best machines you can get when it comes to smart speakers. While Siri might not be the smartest, it is bridging the gap (more in a minute). The speaker just does so much that other speakers haven’t really done before like autocalibrating and beamforming. It is top of its class.
Price
I’m not happy about the price of this machine. I really wish that it was cheaper, and for Apple to really grab mass market appeal, I think they’ll need to drop the price of offer cheaper versions of it.
Right now though, $350 is too much for a speaker like this for most people.
For the holidays, many retailers are dropping the price to $250 and I think that’s much more fair. If I didn’t have this rule that you can’t buy anything for yourself between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I would probably try to pick up another HomePod at that price. Maybe there will be open box deals after Christmas that will be comparable.
Right now though, buying one at $350 just seems like a mistake.
Grade: F
I know that good speakers can be expensive. I don’t fault them for that. However, this is a speaker that has been marketed at a mass market. It is entering a field that is dominated by low cost smart speakers and mid range qualtiy speakers (Sonos). If Apple really wants to compete, it will lower the price.
Sound
When the HomePod came out, this is what finally sold me. All the reviews coming out at the time praised the HomePod for the quality of sound. It made the device go from meh to …well maybe.
I started to want it, and it is a strange device to really test out. You can’t go to the store to test because those places are loud, crowded, and open. You really want to get one of these home and see if you’ll use it.
I really enjoy the music that comes out of the speaker. When I can get phone calls to actually work, they sound great too and the other person can usually hear me even if I’m across the room from the HomePod.
I am not however blown away by the sound. Sure this is the best speaker I own, but based on the reviews I was expecting to be blown away. It could just be my ears, or it could be that adding in another HomePod which would enable stereo pairing could boost that up.
Still the HomePod does sound better than my friends’ Alexa and Google Home minis. Neither of which were devices really designed to sound as good as the HomePod, but they don’t cost $350 either.
Grade: A
The sound is the defining feature of the device. It sounds really good, but I wouldn’t say it is a revolution to the ear. Not personally at least.
Siri
Oh Siri.
I haven’t really used many other voice assistants ever, so I don’t have much to compare, but I have had my frustrations with Siri.
Siri is improving though, as the test are showing. Apple even brought in one of the Google’s former head of AI to help improve Siri.
On the HomePod, users really got to see where Siri improved and where it lacked. It was a sad state of affairs when you couldn’t set more than one timer on the HomePod. It was something so simple, yet so limiting. but Apple fixed that. You can now set multiple timers.
On the HomePod, I rarely have an issue with Siri hearing me. It might not understand me, but it hears me. Whether it can do what I ask it to do, is the question now.
Still, I don’t think Siri is as bad as many make it out to be. It is still a machine, and still behind Google’s Assistant, but it works so much better than when I’ve had to use Alexa. Does it still like in certain places? Yes.
Grade: B
Siri is getting better. It started rough on the HomePod, but that just helped highlight how far behind and how lacking Siri was compared to the others. Apple is still plugging the holes though. Siri will get better, but will people give her the chance?
Software
Unlike the Echo system, Apple hasn’t released an app kit.
I can’t talk for how the apps work on the other systems, but I can’t imagine it working really well. It’s a speaker without a screen after all, there’s only so much you can do.
Still, I know that there are some trivia games on Alexa which could be a fun party system.
Instead of giving us an App Store, Apple has opened up Shortcuts to the HomePod. If more apps dig hooks into the Shortcuts this could be a great way to make things happen.
Otherwise, apps on the HomePod are a monopoly. You can’t use Siri to start a Pandora station or anything from a competing streaming service.
EnStart something on your phone and you can use AirPlay 2 to stream it to the HomePod. You can even control it using your voice once it’s started on the HomePod, but only for basic things like pause/play or rewind.
AirPlay 2 is incredible. It took a little longer to work it out, but it really has changed the way I have the house set up for music. I have the HomePod covering most of the house, and a pair of desktop speakers hooked up to an old AirPort Express in my office.
Now I can just yell at the house to play a song, or play a song in the living room and Siri will start that song on Apple Music where I asked it to.
The only other major flaw that I can think of at the moment is the lack of accounts, or at the least being able to tell who in the family is talking to it. The iPhone can tell when you aren’t the one calling for it, so I’m not sure how much harder it would be to set it to figure out if I’m talking or my wife is talking when invoking it.
Grade: B-
While the basic and standard use of the software is great, especially if you are entrenched in the Apple ecosystem.
If you’re not in the Apple ecosystem, you’ll have a tougher choice here. I would maybe look at a different speaker like the Sonos One.
AirPlay 2 is great though.
The Future
I’m excited to see where the HomePod could go. Personally, I don’t want to see it get a screen like some of its competitors. If it did that, it would just be an iPad.
I really would like Apple to add more to the product line, as I’ve mentioned a few times. Lowering the price, but delivering a great experience at a smaller size could allow more people to spread these out in the house.
Other than that, I’d really like to see the HomePod being able to tell if my wife or I is talking to it.
It doesn’t affect me, but I’d also like to see Apple work on getting other streaming apps hooked in somehow.
Wrap up
I use the HomePod more than I thought I would when it was announced. Does that mean that everyone should get one? I doubt it. It is still too expensive for what it does.
Adding in more versions and fine-tuning the software will make this a better proposition for most. Until then, you can get the assistant in a can for cheaper.
But the product is young and has a ways to grow. I think the State of the HomePod is that it needs some work, but has potential.
What do you think the state of the HomPod is? Do you own one? What would you like to see come to the device?
Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.
Check out my other year in reviews:
Also check out my Buyers Guides to help you pick the right device for you this holiday season: