Apple’s HomePod is great, if you’re into Apple Music
Siri falls a bit flat, but the device’s ‘reading’ of the room mostly makes the tunes sound strong
When Apple began selling its HomePod smart speaker last month, the initial reviews were a mixed bag. Most writers who got their hands on an early one loved the sound these pods produce but weren’t too wild about the functionality of Siri, the digital assistant best known for its presence on iPhones and iPads.
Many also complained that the HomePod’s most useful feature — voice control — is designed to work only with Apple Music, the company’s streaming music service. They took Apple to task for what’s known as “lock-in,” in which users increasingly invest in a company’s products to the point that it’s difficult to switch to alternatives. The HomePod, its critics said, locked its users in to Apple Music.
After having used the HomePod for several weeks, I want to turn that assessment on its head. In this case, “lock-in” is a good thing. Because if you’re an Apple Music subscriber — and particularly if you use other Apple products, most notably the iPhone and the Macintosh computer — then the HomePod is an excellent musical companion that not only presents you with music you love the most but makes it very easy to do so.
That said, many of the earlier critiques were spot-on. The HomePod is, indeed, a missed opportunity in terms of Siri as a digital assistant — the smarts of Google Home and Amazon Echo both put Apple’s assistant to shame. It’s an expensive product, though other high-end home speakers approach its $349 cost, notably the well-reviewed Sonos speakers (currently being offered in a 2-for-1 sale).
And, to a certain extent, the HomePod is an unfinished product. Apple delayed its original end-of-2017 launch because the HomePod wasn’t ready. And there remain some missing features, promised in a future software update, that would make it really compelling. More on that later. In the meantime, here’s a rundown of how the pod works and interfaces with your home.
The device
The HomePod doesn’t really look like a piece of technology — it resembles a cylindrical, space gray or white pillow standing about 7 inches tall. The only visual giveaway that it’s a smart object is the round screen on top, which displays a pulsing, multicolored orb when you say “Hey, Siri” to access the voice controls.
Internally, the 5-pound unit bristles with speakers, microphones and sensors. It has a single, downward-firing subwoofer for solid bass and seven tweeters that ring the cylinder. Six microphones listen for the “Hey, Siri!” prompt. The microphones and other sensors are used to “read” the setup in a room and direct music accordingly.
This is all controlled using the same A8 processor that was employed in Apple’s iPhone 6.
Setup is ridiculously easy. Plug in the HomePod’s one cord — for power, hold your iPhone next to it and follow the prompts that appear on the phone’s screen. The process transfers needed settings — such as your iTunes login and WiFi credentials — automatically, so you won’t need to type anything in. When it’s done, the HomePod begins playing a personalized radio station based on past songs you’ve listened to on Apple Music or in iTunes.
Which brings us to …
The music
There’s no question that the HomePod is the best wireless speaker I’ve heard, particularly at high volume. You can crank itup— way up — and the pod doesn’t distort the music.
The powerful subwoofer delivers commanding bass, and fans of Beats by Dr. Dre headphones — which Apple now owns — will recognize the way lows push through the unit. The seven tweeters allow for a remarkable delineation of a song’s instruments. On many tunes, the guitar, bass, drum, vocals, piano and brass can be clearly heard as separate.
This works better on newer songs recorded with modern production techniques. If you’re listening to older music — particularly that which hasn’t been remastered digitally — the sound quality is more like the audio-in-a-can sensation you expect from lesser wireless speakers.
More amazing, perhaps, is that the HomePod uses its microphones and sensors to discern the qualities of a room and adjust the sound accordingly. In other words, its “reads” the space and adjust how it sends sound out.
For instance, my kitchen, dining and living rooms are all in one space, and the HomePod sat on the breakfast bar between the kitchen and dining room. It directed the sound to the center of this big room, and sounded best over there. If you walked right up to it, the sound was not quite as impressive because the device is “aiming” music at the center of the room.
Unfortunately, the HomePod can’t be paired with a second one to create stereo — yet. That’s coming in the aforementioned software update. You’ll also be able to have HomePods in different rooms that can coordinate what they play with each other, playing the same or even different songs.
But, in the interim, I found a cool trick to circumvent the lack of stereo pairing.
Though the HomePod is designed to be primarily controlled via voice commands, you can also stream to it with an iPhone, iPad or Mac. In fact, with the Mac, you can stream music from iTunes and play the same song through your computer speakers simultaneously. I’ve got a set of Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speakers connected to my Mac mini, and when they’re playing along with the HomePod, the sound is glorious.
Mostly, though, what you’ll play through the HomePod is Apple Music. As previously mentioned, the HomePod uses your listening history to craft a radio station that sounds like you personally programmed it. You’ll hear familiar songs, but occasionally it drops in something you likely have not heard. When it does, you can ask Siri the name of the song and even ask her to play more by that artist, or more songs like that one.
It’s this personalization that shows off the strength of integrating Apple Music with the device.
But there is one downside: In a multiperson household, there can be only one iTunes account associated with it. At this point, you can’t tell the HomePod to switch accounts, as you can with the Amazon Echo. Which means another household member’s request to play specific songs can end up as part of your listening history, thus affecting what the HomePod plays in the future.
Fortunately, you can turn this off so only your iPhone or iTunes’ history sculpts what the HomePod plays.
Sorry, Siri
Since the HomePod is mostly about music, Siri excels as a digital assistant. You can ask her to play many different genres, specific albums, artists or songs, or even build playlists. If she plays a slow song and you want something peppier, you can ask her to play something more upbeat, and she’ll comply.
Apple claims that Siri will hear you even if loud music is playing, from across a room, but this often didn’t work for me. I had to really shout at times to get her attention. My luck was better if I was across the room controlling it via my iPhone, but I really wished the voice commands worked as Apple said they would.
In addition, I’ve got an iPhone and an Apple Watch, both of which respond to the “Hey, Siri” prompt. Sometimes my other devices tried to handle a command meant for the HomePod.
The pod’s Siri also can handle a subset of the nonmusic tasks she executes on an iPhone or iPad. She can set a timer (but only one, rather than the multiple timers of the Amazon Echo), read a news briefing, hear a weather report, play your favorite podcast, send text messages and read responses. You can also use it to make phone calls, then hand that call off to your iPhone.
But try to get her to do more, and she falls flat. Apple says the HomePod’s version of Siri is limited to the kind of commands that are most popular. But given the higher level of capabilities in both the Amazon Echo and Google Home smart speakers, Siri’s weakness is a missed opportunity.
Of course, this is fixable with software, and Siri could improve over time, but Apple has a history of announcing that Siri’s gotten better, only to have those promises fall flat. I would not recommend buying the HomePod if your goal is to own a quality digital assistant.
Smart home hub
Apple got into the smart home business in 2014 with the launch of HomeKit, which lets users control lights, thermostats, door locks and other smart devices using an iPhone or iPad. The HomePod can also control devices that work with this system but via voice.
Once it’s set up using a fairly simple process, you can say, “Hey, Siri, turn on the TV lights,” and the lights come on. It’s possible to cluster lights within rooms, creating what are called scenes, for certain activities. I’ve got a scene for watching TV that turns off some lights and dims others, which happens with just one command.
Apple’s HomeKit system seems to be easier to use than the smart home system used by the Amazon Echo, but it’s relative. The Echo’s process isn’t that hard, but using your phone to scan a code streamlines the process. If you’re a newcomer to smart home technology, it’s a great way to get started.
The bottom line
As mentioned, the HomePod costs $349, so it’s not a trivial purchase. That’s in the same ballpark as the Apple Watch Series 3, which starts at $329. And if you’re planning on adding a second one when Apple enables stereo capabilities with two HomePods, you’re talking about a notable investment.
But if you’re a serious Apple Music user, and you have multiple Apple products in your home, it’s worth the consideration. You won’t find a better wireless speaker and the experience of exploring and controlling music playback with voice commands is natural and fun.
I have a colleague who listens to Apple Music constantly, and at home, with the HomePod he’s found that it is now the main way he listens to music. He’s the perfect customer for the HomePod, and if you fit the bill, you might be, too.