The first Apple HomePod was a bit of a mess, but has the second iteration of the HomePod finally
solved the long-standing issues that many had with the original HomePod? I take you through
why I think yes, Apple has actually solved most of those issues, plus I'll answer some
questions from subscribers along the way. The HomePod is not just an omnidirectional speaker,
but also a smart speaker. And the smart part of this speaker is what has really impressed
me over the past six months. Siri's response time is incredibly fast. It is consistently
the fastest assistant on a smart speaker that I have in my home, beating both the Google
Assistant and Amazon Assistant. Just look at how fast it responds to these commands:
Turn off the lights. Turn off the lights.
Turn off Josh's bedroom lights.
And now that the new smart home standard Matter is finally rolling out (though that
rollout has been a bit messy), it does mean that more devices will finally be
supported on Apple's HomeKit. Siri on the HomePod can also do things other
assistants on other speakers just can't do, like read you your text messages.
"Josh said hey, would you be interested in seeing
The Northman with me at the Alamo Drafthouse in Raleigh?"
"It looks like I'm the only one here who wants to see that movie."
Siri can also let you pass a phone call over to the speaker. And while Siri is not as good
as the Google Assistant for general search queries, for things like setting timers,
setting reminders, thats a big one I use a lot, and of course playing media, it's pretty great.
Siri on the HomePod can support multiple users, and for the past six months, I haven't found
that it's mixed up my voice versus his. Though there are a couple of caveats. There are only
two people in my home, and I am primarily using Siri. He primarily uses the Google Assistant,
so its not like Siri is getting a lot of opportunities to mix up our voices.
Another huge benefit of the HomePod is AirPlay. If you have an iPhone or you're in Apple's ecosystem,
AirPlay is the easiest way to cast media from your Apple device to speakers. Neither
Amazon nor Google's first-party speakers support AirPlay. And in my experience,
AirPlay is a much better and more reliable system for casting music and media to multiple speakers,
as well as speaker groups, compared to Google's Chromecast.
Related to Airplay, the second-generation HomePod also inherits the Handoff
feature that Apple first debuted with the HomePod mini. This makes it easy to
take any media currently playing on your iPhone and transfer it to your HomePod.
Another thing I've really appreciated about the HomePod over the past six months is its overall
design. It's not too big, and they actually improved its design from the previous version.
This HomePod has a removable cord, a common complaint from the first gen and HomePod Mini. It
also features a temperature and humidity sensor that you can use for smart home automations.
Other design changes Apple made to achieve this speaker's lower price include removing
two tweeters and oddly downgrading the Wi-Fi chip to 802.11n Wi-Fi,
or otherwise known as Wi-Fi 4. Apple also added a Thread radio for the Matter smart home standard,
as well as an ultra wideband chip, which enables that transfer to iPhone feature.
The only thing I wish Apple would have changed with this is the top part. It's still
a fingerprint magnet, and the controls are less intuitive than something like Sonos' new design,
although Apple's does look a bit more minimalist. You tap once to play and pause,
tap twice to skip forward, three times to skip back, and tap and hold to wake Siri without
using the command. You then tap the etched-in volume buttons to raise and lower the volume.
And while there's no physical mute switch built into the HomePod that can mute the four-mic array,
you can cut the mics in the HomePod settings via the Home app. The mics themselves are
excellent. I've had zero issues with Siri hearing me even over some pretty loud music.
Now, the last great feature to talk about with the second-gen HomePod is, of course,
sound quality. Though I do think the sound and how much it's been hyped up with the HomePod
over several years is a bit overblown in my experience with this speaker. You do get clear,
high-fidelity sound with tremendous bass and bass that'll shake you to your core, thanks to Apple's
fantastic high-excursion woofer. But depending on what type of music you listen to, the bass could
actually come across as a bit too much. Generally, this speaker sounds better when it's at least one
to two feet away from you. It's not really a speaker designed to be listened to up close.
But how does it sound compared to other speakers? I can definitely say the HomePod
sounds better than smart speakers from Google and the only speaker that might be able to match it
is the Amazon Echo Studio. But I don't have one at the time of recording. When comparing it to
Sonos speakers, like the new Sonos Era 300, which was built from the ground up for spatial audio,
that's where you really notice the limits of what the HomePod can d. For spatial audio tracks,
the difference is night and day. The Sonos Era 300, when you get a really good Atmos mix,
makes it feel like the artist is just there in the room with you. It's just like an extra level
of immersion that you don't get when you listen to a non-Atmos track. And when you listen to the same
Atmos track on the HomePod, the HomePod just isn't able to reproduce it the way the Era 300 can.
And when you look at these two speakers, it makes more sense why the Era 300 would
blow away the HomePod. Just look at the size difference. The Era 300 has much more room to
push air, and it also has larger, better wave guides and a driver pointed at the ceiling to
push sound further around the room and more intentionally when listening to Atmos tracks,
compared to the HomePod's acoustic design. Also, in general, I find that the HomePod
can sound a bit harsh at times compared to other speakers. It sounds like Apple is really
pushing the highs and the lows but its kid of crushing the mids a bit. And unfortunately,
with the HomePod, that's the sound signature you're stuck with. Apple refuses to give
users the option of an EQ with the HomePod, where Sonos, Bose and others do give you an
EQ. The only sound adjustment Apple lets you do at the time of recording with the HomePod
is to reduce its bass. But when you enable that feature, it reduces the bass considerably.
Now, I've become used to Apple with their audio hardware just not giving users an EQ.
And with the AirPods Max, which I've done a review as well as a revisited review on,
the sound signature is good enough where I don't really feel like I need an EQ. But the
HomePod's sound signature is different, and I really do wish I had an EQ with this product.
But what about the HomePod versus other speakers like the Sonos Era 100? The
HomePod will still give you better bass and an omnidirectional sound experience
that can fill a room. Whereas the Era 100s are more directional speakers. They’ve got
a warm bright sound that overall in my opinion sounds for the price.
Now, one HomePod does sound pretty good. Two can sound even better,
and I think a lot of people will be tempted to get a stereo pair of HomePods. I get a
lot of questions on this particular topic from our subscribers, like this one, for example, it reads:
Can you talk about a stereo pair? I have one and I'm not super impressed by the software
implementation with the Home app. Sound is pretty good but not impeccable. Another $300 for stereo?
And by the way, if you want your questions answered in a video like this one,
make sure you subscribe to the channel. So, stereo pair, is it worth it or not?
It really depends on the situation. For TV viewing, for example,
if you already have one second-generation HomePod and you can't return it, then yes,
in that specific scenario, I would say go for the stereo pair. It's
only like $300 more to get that second HomePod and set it up with an Apple TV.
However, if you already have a HomePod, don't buy two. That's my general rule of thumb,
especially for a TV setup. You're much better off getting a soundbar
and subwoofer for a TV setup or going the full throttle 5.1, 7.1.2, or 7.2.1,
whatever the numbers are for a proper Dolby Atmos setup. You'd be much better off putting your money
towards that type of a setup than wasting it on a stereo pair of HomePods for TV viewing.
And that's related to another question that I got from a subscriber:
How does it sound paired with an Apple TV? This heavily depends on your expectations. If
you were previously used to the garbage sound coming out of your TV speakers, two HomePods
will sound ******* amazing. However, if you're used to a proper 5.1 system or even a soundbar,
two stereo-paired HomePods aren't really going to impress you and they might even disappoint. That's
because, while the two HomePods will try and direct sound as if a center speaker were there,
its just not the same as having a dedicated center channel speaker,
like you would in a surround setup or even having a soundbar there.
And this becomes really important for dialogue. The way sound is mixed today
for TV and the way it's compressed, it can make dialogue really hard to hear in the
sound mix. In my experience, having that center speaker, where a lot of dialogue comes from,
is really important in being able to actually hear it and understanding it. Plus, those
systems are wired in. HomePods are wireless and need to be hooked up to an Apple TV.
Well their wireless connection for me over the past six months while I’ve continually
tried this setup has actually been pretty flawless. But in general, I'm still wary of
recommending you spend so much on a setup that's dependent on wireless technology for your sound.
Now, what about a stereo pair for just listening to music and improving the
overall sound? I go into detail on why stereo-pair sound sounds better in my
explainer on buying two HomePods, so heck out that part of the video
for a detailed explanation. And then come back here to watch the rest of the review.
But if you're really looking for an immersive music experience, especially if you're interested
in Dolby Atmos music tracks, that's where I'd recommend putting your money towards getting a
Sonos Era 300. I think you'll be much happier with the experience you get and the immersion
with music listening with that particular speaker. And then if you go that route, then I'd just get
one HomePod mini or even just one HomePod for the smart speaker and Siri experience.
Now, one major downside with a HomePod has always been music service availability.
It's typically been considered an Apple Music and iTunes only speaker. Though technically
it can also play music from services like Pandora and media from TuneIn, iHeartRadio,
Audacy, Apple Podcasts, news briefings, and ambient sounds like sounds of a forest,
or the ocean. If you wanted to play anything else on the HomePod,
from say Spotify, YouTube Music, or Amazon Music, historically,
you had to do it from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac and AirPlay the music to your HomePod.
Now, notice I said historically there. That's because after years of complaints, Apple is
finally doing something to address this issue. The fix will come with iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and the new
HomePod software, which will be rolled out between September and October 2023. The new feature is
titled Siri Support for AirPlay on HomePod, which I wrote about in our monthly newsletter. I'll
leave a link to that post below so you can stay on top of more Apple feature updates like that.
Make sure you subscribe to our monthly newsletter. You can use the link in the description below or
the QR code that you've seen here on screen. With this new feature, you'll be able to play media
that you could previously use Siri to play on an iPhone, for example. But now you can use Siri on
the HomePod to play it too. So yes, services like Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music,
and even podcast apps like Pocketcasts. Basically, any app that Siri can play media from today on
an iPhone or iPad, you'll be able to use Siri on the HomePod to play from when this feature
rolls out. The only caveat is that you need to have an iPhone or iPad located on the same Wi-Fi
network as the HomePod you want to use to play media. For more details on how that works, make
sure you check out that newsletter post I talked about. The link to it is in the description below.
Lastly, let's talk recommendations. Yes,
in general, I do recommend getting a HomePod. It's a fantastic device for
smart home control. It works slightly faster than a HomePod Mini and has much better sound.
Now, if you're looking to get a stereo pair for music and you already have a HomePod,
then I'd say go for it. Overall, if I was buying two speakers for just music,
I'd go with the Sonos Era 100s over the HomePod. Their sound is just a
bit more pleasant, even if they don’t have the excellent high-excursion woofer.
And if you're looking to get two HomePods to pair with your Apple TV, just don't.
Your money's going to be better spent going for a soundbar system or a proper surround sound system.
And if you're looking for a speaker for Dolby Atmos music, while it's $150 more,
the Sonos Era 300 really outclasses the HomePod with Atmos mixes.
So those are my general thoughts on the second-gen HomePod after six months. Now,
if you still have any remaining questions on this speaker or you want to share your experience with
the second-gen HomePod, leave them in a comment below and consider hitting that thumbs up.
If you liked this video and found it helpful, it really helps out the
channel. And to see more reviews on speakers, earbuds, headphones, and other audio products,
as well as other tech products from Apple, you can get to those by clicking on the videos here.
For 6 Months Later, I'm Josh Teder, thanks for watching.