THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE BUYING APPLE’S HOMEPOD
Hey Siri, play “All About That Bass.” Because HomePod’s all about that bass. Not that brain. Apologies to Meghan Trainor for my geeky remix of her ode to bottom notes. It sums up how I feel about the first talking speaker from the company that gave us the first talking artificial intelligence, Siri.
No matter how much boom-boom Apple packed into the $350 HomePod, it can’t make up for poor old Siri, which somehow became even more dopey. Inside this speaker, Siri can’t even do all the things it stumbles through on an iPhone, Apple Watch and Mac. The HomePod was years in the making and delayed months before it finally arrived this month — yet still feels like an unfinished product.
The speaker, which I’ve been testing for a few days, likely sounds better than what most people use today on a kitchen counter or bookshelf. But it’s only of use to people who buy all their technology from Apple. You need an iPhone and a $10-per-month subscription to Apple Music, the only music service it lets you control with your voice. You can’t use it as a traditional Bluetooth speaker.
Here are five lessons from my test lab.
1. Yes, the HomePod sounds good.
But not as good as two Sonos One speakers for the same price.
Apple engineers and marketing people will talk your ears off about the HomePod’s innovations in high-excursion woofers and flimflam flibbertigibbets.
2. HomePod Siri isn’t the best Siri.
Siri does best at music: It can summon songs, make playlists (”play 80s party music”), and offer factoids about songs. I’d grade it a B- for delight when I asked it to just “play some music.” Alas, it had no idea what to make of the request, “Play my favorite song.” (It offered Julie Andrews singing “My Favorite Things,” which is fun but not, in fact, my favorite.)
On the HomePod, Siri can’t place phone calls, read your calendar or hail an Uber. What’s mysterious is that Siri can do all those things on an iPhone.
If you’re building a smart home, the HomePod can control lights, thermostats and locks. But Apple’s HomeKit is only compatible with certain devices; for example, you can’t use it to control Google’s popular Nest thermostats. Amazon’s Alexa works with far more.
3. There’s no physical button to turn off the HomePod microphone.
But it is better about privacy in other ways. The creepy factor on all smart speakers is that they’re constantly listening. But sometimes you just want to turn them off. Amazon’s Echo speakers come with a button that mutes its microphone — the HomePod has no such button. But you can turn off Siri by asking: “Hey Siri, stop listening.” (Annoyingly, she asks you each time if that’s what you really want.) To make Siri resume listening, you either tap on top of the speaker or use an app on your phone.
4. You can’t make two HomePods into a stereo pair or fill multiple rooms with music — yet.
Apple hasn’t finished delivering on some HomePod capabilities that rivals like Sonos mastered years ago. The ability to turn two HomePods into a stereo pair is coming “later this year.” Same goes for the ability to have your music follow you from one room to the next. Only after an update to Apple’s AirPlay software will you be able to ask Siri to play a song in a particular room, or play the same music everywhere — a “party mode” so to speak.
5. When you call out to Siri on the HomePod, sometimes your Apple Watch or iPhone answers instead.
About 20 percent of the time I call out to the HomePod, the Siri on my Apple Watch or iPhone answers instead. One time, when I asked Siri to play Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner,” both the HomePod and iPhone started playing.