I recently purchased an Apple HomePod for myself as a little b-day gift. After living with the speaker for a while, here is what I can offer. 1. Set-up is perhaps the easiest I've ever done for a network device. Plug it in, hold your iPhone near it, and it automatically starts the set-up for you. Click a few buttons on your phone to complete the set-up and you're up and running in like a few minutes. Very nice. 2. Once set up, using the speaker is amazingly simple, yet feature-rich. "Hey Siri, play some Coltrane", or "Hey Siri, play Music for Airports by Brian Eno" and in about 2 seconds, it starts playing. Too loud or quiet? Just say "Hey Siri, raise/lower the volume" and it'll take care of that. 3. Ask it the weather, or what your appointments are for tomorrow. It seems like it can pretty much do it all. 4. The "ring" issue. Some people have found that the speaker can leave a ring on some wood surfaces. You can go ahead and buy a little $10 stand to put it on. I just used a folded piece of paper. Works great. 5. Let's talk about sound. Plenty of reviews talk about the great sound, and for its size, the sound is impressive. Don't expect your HomePod to sound like Tannoys or a nice pair of vintage Klipschorns, but the sound is pretty good. It's an active speaker, so it adjusts its sound reproduction based on its surroundings. So don't worry too much about where you're putting it. It can adjust. Speaking of Coltrane, I played "A Love Supreme" and was actually impressed. The bass solo sounded pretty decent, not as muddy as I would expect a small woofer to be. The drum solo sounded relatively tight. The piano was missing a bit of brightness, but still more than passable. Sax just stood out nicely. Overall, the sound was more natural that I was expecting, and definitely better than the artificial sound you'd get from a similarly-sized speaker from Bose. 6. Volume control. You can tell it to raise or lower the volume, or tape the plus/minus sign on top. I do wish the volume increments were a bit smaller, though. Raising the volume sometimes is a bit too high and I wish it could raise it just a little bit less. But this is a minor issue in my book. 7. The power cord. OK, yeah, I'm making a point of the power cord. They actually give you a decent-length cord! I know this seems like a small issue, but I do get tired of getting electronics that have these short, dinky power cords. In all, I think this would make a fine addition to your home, assuming you are well-invested in the Apple ecosystem.

With the Apple HomePod connected, amplified audio is a snap. No amplifier, nor endless wires, and great bass/ treble plus Dolby Atmos with Airplay 2 is supported for audiophiles. Siri is omnipresent when within speaking range for voice commands, and home automation is built in to each Apple HomePod if you want to explore the Apple HomeKit. One HomePod sounds great with its booming subwoofer. Connect a 2nd one and the Apple system detects and connects both for well balanced stereo output. Or put one in multiple rooms for whole home audio immersion! Viewing video content (especially with an Apple TV) or simply streaming audio from an iPhone, iPad, or MacBook is a snap! The HomePod can also serve to be a hub for a Smarthome system. This is a super simple solution for a home audio system, or for those who want to get a foot in the door for Smarthome automation. Explore the Home app on your Apple Devices and get started with home automation and add more functionality with the Apple HomeKit. As Apple continues to refine their operating systems for all their devices, this audio solution/home automation system continues to improve with each new release. The future looks bright for the those hoping to expand their Apple-Verse to include more functionality. Do yourself a favor and get rid of those unsightly speaker and power cables and give the HomePod a try, you'll be glad you did.

The sound quality of HomePod is amazing. Of course, the main features will be turned on later this year and with the great quality sound combined with Airplay 2 it is a no brainer this is the best smart speaker to have. I was amazed I could go full volume and fill the room with music that was not distorted in the least. Again, sound is amazing and the HomePod will just get better with AirPlay 2 for multiroom playing and being able to connect two HomePods together. Great potential for this product. A must have for an Apple ecosystem.

Overall completely blown away with all the issues this thing has!! Don’t get me wrong the sound is impressive but that it. Siri is useless which I knew that going into it however when you buy apple products you expect the seamless connectivity and ease of use! That’s why I have many many apple products. However this doesn’t even seem like an apple product... it actually makes trying to listen to music a total hassle. And I have new iPhone 11 with Apple Music! Long story short airplay can’t even get through one or two song without stopping. Half the time it can’t even connect if I skip the song it just sits there thinking, and if I use Siri to play my music and does the same thing.... NOTHING!!! Some of the forums ive read said you need a good Wifi setup. Well rest assured I have the best possible WiFi! 1000mbps downloads!! So that is clearly not the case. Trust me I love apple products. I have almost every single one but this is complete trash. Totally useless piece of tech. And I’m saying all this when I bought it 9on sale for $199!! NOT WORTH THE HEADACHE!

The HomePod is something really special that will expand its options as updates come available over time. The sound on this impeccable piece of engineering is absolutely INCREDIBLE. I’m a audiophile at heart. I have to have the best of the best when it comes to sound. This has 7-speakers that offer crisp and clear keynotes that can make you hear things that you normally couldn’t in the smart speaker world. I also have a Sonos and believe me when I say this that the sound comparison between the Apple’s HomePod and the Sony’s Sonos has a marginal gap. I was blown away by how impressive the HomePod sounds. The microphone also has pretty good range. I was 3 rooms away and Siri picked up what I said (with kids running in the background) and played 80s Rock. That was impressive for a small but heavy speaker. Speaking of heavy. That is due to the magnet that is in this speaker. The bass that comes from this thing is MIGHTY impressive. I’ve had friends come over during the weekend and they never guessed it was coming from the HomePod. They thought it was my Bose Home Theatre system that I usually have on. Needless to say they were blown away as it knows where it’s sitting by using sound waves reporting back to the device so that’ll it’ll adjust to any room setting. On another note. This is is limited for now. If you don’t think Apple won’t open the HomePod up to other apps and add new features then you obviously don’t know Apple. For now if you can be a little patient until Apple releases updates this year and can just admire the sound quality the HomePod has then its for you. It’ll eventually be able to connect to other devices within time. Everyone just has to be patient. That shouldn’t stop anyone from buying a speaker to listen to music via Apple Music, iTunes and Spotify. Overall, The HomePod is an incredible sounding machine. Apple spent 6 years in development to get the sound perfect and they did just that. Now they will focus on updates throughout the year to improve what’s already THE best sounding device in my home. Go get one especially if you’ve invested in iTunes, Spotify and Apple Music!!

If you are looking for a perfect companion to fit into your Apple music world you'll loveeeee Apple HomePod. HomePod sounds very good. I was a bit skeptical since I was really happy with my Bose Sound Link Mini II, but after playing few songs the speaker proved what it is capable of. The speaker as expected out of premium Apple product is designed so well that it blends in perfectly & its capability to sense movement and adjust the output to suit the surrounding ensures you get the best sound quality no matter where you place it. Siri is very responsive(no need to shout or yell) and is able to perform majority of the actions(Turn on/off switches/lights, weather forecast, alarm, reminder, etc.) that I used to ask Alexa to do. Go for it if you are looking for a great sounding, beautifully designed, well-built speaker!!

I've owned other smart speakers/assistants and while there are some advantages, the sound quality of the HomePod is hands down the best available. As I have homes in Berlin and NY, I own a handful and do notice a slight difference in the equalizer in iOS 11 vs 12. Most won't notice but if you prefer more base, don't update the firmware if the model you buy still has iOS 11. Otherwise, iOS 12 has a plethora of Siri and iCloud features such as handsfree callings, reminders, appointments/scheduling, etc along with Siri Shortcuts that make the update paramount. I've updated most of mine with the exception of two in my master bedroom and know Apple is releasing a new update that will allow users to customize the equalizer. Beyond that, Apple's improvements in Siri have finally pushed the virtual assistant to the quality level it has sorely needed for years. While I understand Apple places security/privacy above all else which has hindered Siri's ability to evolve, the last year of improvements launched with iOS 12 along with Siri Shortcuts, a clever way to create the equivalent of Alexa Skills without foregoing user privacy, and with more to come, I highly recommend the investment in a HomePod over others. If you have an Apple TV, AVR, Mac, etc with AirPlay 2, the ability to fill a room with space conscious auto-tuning is far and above what's on the market.

HomePod, first and foremost, it's an excellent speaker. You can place it in any room in your home and it will fill it with excellent sound. Siri is, well, Siri and it gets the job done, but honestly Google Assistant and Alexa are more capable digital assistants. I expect it to get more capable with time like the Apple TV did, especially since the processor on the inside of the HomePod is pretty much overkill for what it does. Airplay 2 is excellent and its easy + fast to redirect audio around your home. Overall, if you live in the Apple ecosystem and use stuff like HomeKit its a great add-on. I like mine and will probably be buying another one in a few months.