The original Apple HomePod was a hard sell when it dropped five years ago, largely due to its high price point, Siri only having a fraction of today’s functionality and smart homes not really being a priority for Australians, but so much has changed now.
I feel like the introduction of the HomePod Mini was the best thing that Apple could have done before the re-introduction of the HomePod because it really just showed the value of having at least one smart speaker in your house if you’re in the Apple ecosystem. What the regular HomePod does is bring that same great functionality, but in the form of a fantastic speaker that is unrivalled by anything else at this size.
Despite having less tweeters than the original HomePod, the Gen 2 version still sounds absolutely fantastic. I’ve got several Sonos One units placed throughout my house, and comparatively, it just blows them out of the water. Not only are the voices that it projects really clear, but the bass is there to match, particularly at higher volumes, where the Sonos One and other cheaper smart speakers tend to get muffled or distorted, the HomePod really stays crystal clear.
This is largely due to the Apple S7 Chip that is also in the Apple Watch (Series 7). This allows HomePod to custom tune what is being played depending on the environment to really let it shine. Similarly, the HomePod knows its surroundings in terms of if it’s being placed near a wall, so that it doesn’t send out sound directly into another object. The computation changes that kick in a few seconds into a song are noticeable at times and make that audio sound so much better. It’s hard to put into words, but listening to music on the HomePod just sounds dynamic with the various parts of the song coming through at differing levels.
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The HomePod Gen 2 also supports Spatial Audio which has been a big deal for Apple in recent years. I was sceptical in terms of how much of a difference this could make, but I often had to check that other speakers in my house weren’t connected as I’d notice a voice or a certain instrument sounding like it was coming from another part of the room thanks to the Spatial Audio capability in the HomePod.
I was able to test two HomePods synced, and what a different it makes once again once you pair two of these. It really filled my larger living room and added an immense amount of bass and further clarity. Obviously, two of them is a sizeable investment, but if you’re somebody that appreciates audio, you won’t regret it. You’re able to pair multiple HomePods (and Minis) if they’re in seperate rooms and easily sync them up to have music blaring through your house too.
I was really impressed once I paired both of them in a stereo setup with my Apple TV 4K. Watching Prehistoric Planet on Apple TV+ in Dolby Atmos, I was really amazed with how having one on either side of my TV was able to create a complete sound stage, making it feel like I had a centre channel. Similarly, the bass wasn’t quite as good as my Sonos Sub, but it was really damn close, to the point that I’d struggle to pick between the two setups.
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Due to the eARC port of the Apple TV 4K, if you’ve got a compatible eARC HDMI port, you can run all TV sound through your HomePods speakers, meaning if you’re using a PS5 or Xbox Series X, you can also take advantage of your HomePods, and I was similarly impressed jumping into Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with the amount of bass provided to the gunshots. Whilst the purchase of an Apple TV 4K is an additional one, if you’re using the HomePods in this way, it’s going to be worth your investment.
I’ve invested quite heavily in a smart home with every light in my house being smart alongside my blinds, air conditioning, front gate and a number of other accessories, so smart speakers play a big part in my every day life and I’ve always preferred how responsive Siri is to Google Home/Alexa, with actions being implemented instantly, rather than a few seconds with the other platforms and that’s no exception with HomePod.
The display on top now takes up most of the top of the speaker, much like the HomePod Mini, now gives you a really pleasing colourful graphic when answering your request. I do wish maybe this display could be used for timers or to give you results when using Siri, but it’s hard to fault how high-end it looks when it’s sitting on your entertainment unit or side table.
There’s some other improvements as well, with HomePod now having built in temperature/humidity sensors (these are on the Mini with the firmware update too). This is great to being able to automate your blinds or air conditioning, based on the heat in the house. There’s also the ability to ask Siri where your family member is on Find My andcreate automations right on the HomePod which is seamless experience.
There are still some little quirks which somewhat dampened the experience for me though. HomePod has fantastic far-field microphones and never missed a beat when I said Hey Siri, but often my own phone or my partners phone would be chosen as the device to handle my request, even when I was standing right in front of the HomePod. I’d expect Apple’s smarts to be able to know to direct this to the HomePod as a priority and I hope it’s something I see improved with further updates.
Handoff from the HomePod Mini also makes its way to its larger counterpart. If you’re listening to a song on your iPhone, just tap the top of the HomePod and you’ll get a nice haptic response as well as the song you’re listening to transferred to your speaker system, if for whatever reason you’re wanting to get it back onto your iPhone just do the same and it’ll be transferred back.
There’s other smart features coming with further updates as well, including the ability to detect a alarm sound, which will let you know on your iPhone, and let you listen in, or watch a camera if there is one to make sure everything is okay, and this is further just adding to the need to have a device like this in the house.
All-in-all, whilst the HomePod Gen 2 is still a pricy product at $480 (double it if you’re wanting to), it does feel more complete that it did when the original came out in 2018. I feel like the sound still hasn’t been topped by a speaker of its size, and if you’re already in the Apple ecosystem, it really brings the experience together nicely.
