Apple HomePod Review

The Apple HomePod is now available on the German market. I saw and listened to the intelligent speaker of Apple.

The Apple HomePod is not just a speaker for music, it also wants to score points. Here Apple is supporting the Siri language badistant. You are not the first manufacturer on the market because you have as an Amazon competitor with Alexa and the Google badistant in front of him. 349 euros are due for the HomePod in Germany, not as cheap as an Amazon Echo or Google Home.

Apple HomePod: The Bowels

Apple technically counts on its A8 chip, seven tweeters and a woofer, each with its own amplifier. There are also six microphones on board for Siri to hear you from a distance. For bbad correction, a calibration microphone is available. The Apple HomePod does not take much space: it measures 17.2 cm high and 14.2 cm wide and weighs 2.5 kilos. If you can not imagine, but you know the Sonos One – they are about the same size:

In terms of connectivity, the HomePod is equipped with a plug can. As an audio source can serve just about anything, if the iPad or iPhone AirPlay strives, the protocol brings you not only Apple Music on the HomePod, but also Spotify, Mixcloud and all the rest. By language, it's different, here's Apple Music subscription, iTunes music shopping, iCloud music library, Beats 1 Live Radio and Apple podcasts to choose from.

Apple HomePod: Possibilities and Sources

And it's gone I'll start – even with some comparisons. Operation, sources and sound. The decor is simple. The HomePod looks unpacked and you pack your iPhone or iPad nearby. Then works as the coupling of AirPods. It allows access to HomeKit, Siri and Co and is then almost finished.

It takes less than two minutes and you can start now. Tap any music application on the iPad or iPhone and select the HomePod as the source in the Control Center. So easy? Yes. Now, when Siri is set up, other users can access Siri music and services. With AirPlay as a target, only Apple devices are officially able to transfer to the HomePod. Thus, mobile devices or a transfer from iTunes or completely on the Mac, alternatively you are with the possibility of connecting this with the HomePod Apple

Now the little swing as a matter of thinking, if I think of mixed households that do not depend only on Apple. Other users can only order music via voice, so Android can not be broadcast on the HomePod. Sonos Advantage: Here you are more open, keeps in the Sonos app all the services you want and then transfers. Alternatively, use Spotify Connect or switch directly to Google Play Music.

In daily use, I have tried my healthy mixed consumption of music and services. Here is a lot to use, almost everything has to be used for a test. If there is an Apple Music subscription in the family, you can become active by language. "Hey Siri, play The Cure" plays a station with titles from The Cure. With "Hey Siri, what's the name of the song?" You can also request the song.

Of course, you can also explicitly request Apple Music titles or playlists for them to be played. In addition, you can also control the volume via voice, pause or skip songs – recognition is great throughout the room. The requested music works well, without the owner of the HomePod being close to the initial authentication of the HomePod is coupled with Apple, so that voice commands directly to a handshake with Apple take place and are broadcast directly from the Internet .

of course with AirPlay. Here, the reproduction takes place directly on the respective device. I play a song from my playlist and disconnect the device from Wi-Fi – or leave the zone, then close time. The HomePod always has buffers, so it does not matter if the transmitter is about a minute away, but then it stops playing.

No matter whether it's a playlist of Apple Music playlists or a self-created. If AirPlay becomes unavailable, the HomePod will remain silent after a while because it is a direct handshake of the device.

By way of comparison, Sonos is broadcast directly from the streaming and internet services via the service integration process. That's only the case with Apple Music.

The controls can not be only done by voice, on the top of the HomePod there is a touch control panel, which can make the sound louder or softer or conjure Siri: 19659002] [19659002] Siri in the HomePod is not only Siri for the home or media controls, but also the ordinary Siri, with all the corners and edges – and so you can ask questions everyday.

Apple HomePod: Latency

I think the HomePod is a good thing to ask somewhere, mainly for audio transmission, but standalone.AirPlay or Apple Music by Ad – that feels addressed, looks excellent The situation is different when you think: "I can also bridle the HomePod on the Mac." Of course, this also works – but keep in mind what you use.

There are two ways to transfer audio via AirPlay on Mac. Once you can only transfer the music from iTunes, alternatively, the sound of the system, so that everything can broadcast to an AirPlay receiver like the HomePod If you use the iTunes path, the sound of iTunes arrives on the HomePod, all other sounds are played through the Mac speakers, it works almost latency-cool enough, if you only use iTunes. [19659002] In my case, I also use other services and I want to play all the sound of the Mac on the HomePod. Yes, it works too. Almost 2 seconds of latency, which would be almost normal with the sounds and music of the normal system, but not when playing videos. So therefore useless for this application. Funny and me with another user HomePod traced: YouTube buffers, since the video is synchronized again after 2 seconds, like Sky Go. But not VLC, which has this shift. Apple probably has magic that synchronizes the sound of the browser, but not all applications (iTunes and videos are synchronized again). Hope that one way or another you can hang out here.

Apple HomePod: Sound

The important thing with a speaker: the sound. And here is the HomePod convinced by its dimensions. The full keyboard of the sound is well reproduced according to my ear, the HomePod delivers a pleasantly warm and precise sound. Although it lacks an equalizer, depending on the location of the installation, the room is measured to give the best sound to the front, for example, when the HomePod is placed on a Wall

Soundproofed, the HomePod is ahead of its most Google Home competitors and the entire Echo Fleet – and the Sonos One, I think it's still leaving behind. This can be heard especially in large halls, if you have the speaker distance – not if you have both in direct comparison of 20 centimeters in front of him. Simply because the HomePod has a better sound all around sounds so large. But it becomes difficult when you give it the Play: 3 or the more expensive Play: 5. Nevertheless, whoever is at home in the Apple Universe and enjoys a good sound, is in very good hands with the HomePod. Moreover, the HomePod not only records this in simple mode, but also when paired with another, because it is possible too (ie 2 × 1 HomePod or a stereo pair). In the middle parts, an Apple HomePod is enough, for my test I have set up a pair in my living room a little bigger, the couple offers a room-full sound, good sound.

Apple HomePod: Siri and Smart Home

Apple HomePod also gives you Siri. A language badistant, who for many still belongs to the category "needs improvement". The usual questions move away from the music that Siri tries to master as on the iPad or the iPhone. You can ask questions about the weather, have things calculated or ask for the nearest bus stop or the zoo path. Sometimes Siri seems a little abnormal in the German language, especially when it comes to the pronunciation of proper names or foreign names.

The fact that the HomePod was created by a person, the practical use is currently in need of improvement. There is no voice mapping and support for multiple users. If you want to be the "owner" of the HomePod, make sure that no personal information is heard by other people at home, so it is also possible. This then goes through the application of the house in the area of ​​personal demands. Then you can listen to or send messages, write notes and reminders.

Users using Smart Home items can also control them. Here, Apple relies on privacy and does not support the opening of Alexa or Google Home. The device must be explicitly configured on HomeKit, so you can control compatible and equipped equipment such as lamps or even ask for status. The HomeKit compatible hardware offering is currently lower than that of its competitors, who often simply have an account and an adapted interface.

What about other home users or WLAN? You decide that. For example, in the Home application, you can specify that your music does not count in your listening history, which is important for Apple Music recommendations. Similarly, we can allow everyone to access, only those from the same network – or guests who are invited to control Home. How to handle it, you must see, there is always the possibility of a pbadword.

Apple HomePod: A Kind of Conclusion

The Apple HomePod is not the next iPhone from Apple. This is also not a speaker for people who live in mixed households and want to keep everything open. No, of course, it does not need a Mac, but iPad or iPhone should already be there. When it comes to sound, the HomePod does a very good job, no matter where you are in the room. Google Home and Amazon Echo do not even come – and not Sonos One. Who agrees with the things mentioned, gets a powerful speaker. Anyone who does not see himself in this sound environment does not need to think about it and uses other systems. If you do not give much importance to the sound, you can choose Echo and Home.If you want more, you can choose Sonos, the new devices will soon support AirPlay 2, which will make them more convenient to use outside of the Sonos app. [ad_2]
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