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Apple HomePod
Good quality sound, slow response and Siri is just not good enough
I’ve got two HomePods, which I’ve owned now for about 7 months. I’m completely immersed in the apple eco system and so HomePods made sense. Siri; Apple Music; integration with the iOS home app. After living with them now I can say I’m really frustrated and disappointed overall. As a speaker system the sound they deliver is good - better than good really - deliver awesome tones and fill the room. Having access to my Apple Music library is also a plus. But that’s where it stops.
Siri often is slow to reply - doesn’t play the song that’s ...Read more
been asked of it. He is totally dumb, and Alexa (which I also have) absolutely is more useful as an in home voice assistant. Siri can just take forward the same functions in your iPhone. Actually, he cant even do that. At least 35% of the time you ask Siri a question and the response is ‘I cant answer that on homepod’. Alexa who’s always on standby waiting (almost begging me to ask her a question!) will have the answer at least 95% of the time. (I’m not exaggerating here, genuinely there is a whole world of difference between the capability of Alexa as a smart in home AI over Siri). Siri is also slow to respond, and I’ve noticed a significant amount of bandwidth gets sucked up on my broad band. At times, the two HomePods go out of sync. Today each one played two different songs at the same time of their own accord. Since the iOS 13 update, Siri has got more confused over whether I want to talk to the HomePod; iPad or my iPhone. I honestly (if I could justify starting again) would go for a high quality Alexa integrated speaker system. Siri is just not good enough, and now some of the Sonos speakers deliver their sound way better than the HomePod.Purchased in May 2021 for $500.00.
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Karen P.
- 4 reviews
Great product, music sounds great
Bought one of these for downstairs and within a few days bought another. Music sounds great, she works the lamp and sometimes she can't answer what we want. Serves its purpose for what we wanted
Purchased in December 2021 for $440.00.
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The reviewer stated that an incentive was offered for this review
Other Speakers
MeldrewYea
- 11 reviews
- 5 likes
Average item at premium price
I like Apple products, and have a number of them, I have not been greatly impressed by HomePod. Speaker is good but not brilliant, and I’m sick of having to yell “hey Siri”, it can be quite deaf! I’m not finding it useful at all. Lately if I ask it to do something all of my devices react, not as clever as I had hoped.
Purchased in January 2021.
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Jamyson G.
- 6 reviews
- 1 like
Sound quality is Substantial, Everything is till trash
Yes, the sound quality is good but home pod itself is a confined piece of junk. Siri is still illiterate and disabled. It is evident that the person who programmed this device was a 3 year old girl who just walked across someones keyboard and typed some jargon code. Siri only responds when im not talking to her.
Purchased in August 2021 at Apple Online store for $499.00.
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Great sound!
I bought the HomePod so I could listen to music and the radio, mainly in the kitchen. I’m a musician and a hifi enthusiast, so sound quality was my main requirement. The HomePod sounds great. Far better than something this size should. It sounds better than the PMC-DB1 speakers I had setup in the kitchen with a little amp (that system was worth around $2,000!). I took it into the lounge room for a shootout with my proper sound system where it did pretty well despite being both mono and about 1/10th the price.
I use Apple Music, so Siri has bee...Read more
Purchased in May 2021 at JB Hi-Fi.
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Josh
- 3 reviews
Great sound!
Can not fault the Apple HomePod. I have two in a stereo pair with an Apple TV. Sound is amazing and works really well with Apple HomeKit where I can control some of the lights in my home.
Purchased in February 2021.
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BatmanSouth East Queensland, QLD
- 2 reviews
Hey Siri only works 50% of the time
AUD499 for what really is a piece of poo.
The positives:
The sound quality is amazing. That's it. There's nothing else good about it.
The bad:
The software is GARBAGE!
"Hey Siri" only works 50% of the time (if that).
Works fine when you press the button to force it to listen but otherwise you could be screaming at the stupid thing from 1 metre away and still no response. If I wanted to scream at things I'd have more kids.
Sometimes "Hey Siri" will respond on my iphone instead when the Homepod and iphone are sitting 1m from each other. This shouldn't happen.
...Read more
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bwadleyPerth, WA
- 7 reviews
- Verified purchase
Amazing sound and integration let down by Siri
The sound on this speaker has to be heard to be believed, its seriously worth the $499 alone. Pair it with a second now AirPlay 2 has been released, its just mind blowing. The ability to stream from any apple device instantly, in conjunction with multiple room support to other Homepods or Apple TV's is fantastic. I use my HomePod to control my Philips Hue lighting system, its great for this, very fast and responsive. The microphone can actually hear me from upstairs so controlling my upstairs lights is easy too (ok, so I may have to repeat myse...Read more
lf on occasion) Siri has improved since it's release slightly, but still lags far behind Google Assistant on the Google Home for example, I keep one of each and use the one I think will give me the best answer (hint: usually Google!)Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
ArtCPerth, WA
- 11 reviews
- 1 like
- Verified purchase
Great Speaker
The sound quality is excellent and being a house that's heavily Apple-centric it was the logical choice for us.
- The sound quality is outstanding.
- Aesthetically it's pleasing. Surprisingly heavy and feels quality built, looks good, and tucks away unobtrusively or can stand alone as a point of interest.
- It's ridiculously easy to set up (plug it in and place your iPhone next to it.)
- Siri makes it very convenient to play your favourite song or podcast (via Apple Music) or you can stream from a device.
- You can also control HomeKit powered smart devices with Siri, but we don't have any so can't comment on that.
In any case, as a voice powered speaker, it gets 5 stars.
...Read more
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Mark BNSW, 2099
- 3 reviews
- 2 likes
Superb quality speaker, Siri not so great
You can either buy a great home assistant (google home, amazon alexa) with mediocre sound or you can buy a great sounding speaker (apple homepod) with a mediocre assistant (siri). I mainly wanted a speaker that produced stunning sound and the homepod does this.
It's no secret that Siri is a bit thick, but hopefully future firmware updates can fix this. Siri on the homepod works great for setting timers, alarms and alerts. Beyond that it's was a bit useless.
After trialling apple music for a couple of months as an accompaniment, I cancell...Read more
ed the subscription and use the speaker with Spotify. Spotify does a much better job if picking music I like than siri and apple music did and half the time Siri couldn't understand what I was asking. So summing up, if you care about the quality of the sound over being able to get a restaurant review. Then homepod is the speaker for you.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
MickSydney Surrounds, NSW
- 7 reviews
- 3 likes
- Verified purchase
Fantastic sound quality makes for revolution in home stereo use
The sound quality is very impressive, subtle notes and a clean thumping bass possess the clarity of high end audio. The $500 price tag makes the home pod a serious investment I think is worth every dollar. The build quality is typical of Apple products, even the power cord is a superior quality. The unit includes a powerful processor which is yet to provide the full potential of Siri with plenty of scope for major updates. Indeed this is a sound system that is currently dependant of Apples ecosystem and enormous collection of music. The natural...Read more
speaking interaction with Siri far exceeds the robotic sounds of the rival smart speaker systems. With enough power to fill a small house with a massive array of music delivered on demand with such clarity is impressive. Buy it and you won’t be disappointed unless you can’t wait for the Siri upgrades. I have smart lighting and also use the HomePod Siri to control the lights with voice command. With a new software update coming soon, you will be able pair 2 HomePods for true stereophonic sound.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
Alex RSydney, NSW
- 15 reviews
- Verified purchase
Sound is awesome, Siri needs work
We have both a Google Home Mini and an Apple HomePod. Being able to compare them highlights strengths and limitations of each.
The Google Home Mini is not really supposed to have great sound. It's small and cheap, so don't bother too much about playing music through it. However it hooks into a whole bunch of things that Siri doesn't. For example, we have a thing called Sensibo which acts as a remote for our non-wifi air conditioner. I can ask Google to turn on and off the aircon, which is great because our small kids hide the remote. I can't...Read more
ask Siri to do that, unless I use a third party solution. I can also ask Google to add things to my Woolworths shopping list. Again, Siri can't do that. Siri also has certain things that it can't do from HomePod, but it can do from your phone. This means a fragmented Siri experience for us - we have to remember what we can and can't do through HomePod. But there are certain things that you can do through HomePod that are great. I can handoff a phone call to Siri so I can wander around the room doing things, and unless my toddler is screaming, the other person can usually hear me pretty well. No matter how loud your music is, Siri seems to hear you, even if you speak softly. That's quite impressive.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
Gabe P.B.Sydney, NSW
- 11 reviews
- 4 likes
- Verified purchase
Siri has rough edges, but it's a breathtaking speaker
They say good things come in small packages, and for the HomePod, that's certainly the case. For a relatively small speaker, it certainly punches way above its weight. It filled up a large room effortlessly, with absolutely no distortion - very impressive. Siri is still a bit "air-headed", and doesn't stack up to Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa - so if you're looking primarily for a "personal assistant speaker" then this isn't a good fit - but it's not bad at all. It's the first speaker that I don't have to shout at to hear me (it has a scaril...Read more
y enormous mic pick-up range), and it does the basics well - play playlists, turn up/down lights, read me news, check store times, etc. It replaced a Bose SoundTouch speaker nearly twice its size and price, and it ran circles around it. If you know what you're buying with the HomePod - that is, a top-notch speaker with wireless capabilities - than this is a very strong performer.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
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