David Hanak This week, reviews of the first new product of the year from Apple - the HomePod speaker - began to appear on the web. Those interested in HomePod have been waiting for a really long time, because Apple already presented it at last year's WWDC conference, which took place in June (that is, almost eight months ago). Apple has moved the original December release date and the first models will go to customers only this Friday. So far, only a few tests have appeared on the web, with one of the best ones coming from The Verge. You can watch the video review below.
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Patrik Siwek If you don't want to watch the video or just can't, I'll summarize the review in a few sentences. In the case of the HomePod, Apple focuses primarily on music production. This fact has been constantly mentioned in recent months, and the review confirms it. The HomePod plays very well indeed, especially considering its surprisingly compact size. In the video below, you can listen to the comparison with the competition (in this case, we recommend using headphones).
The sound quality is said to be excellent, but there is nothing else left for Apple. HomePod offers a rather austere range of functions, which are also very specifically targeted. First of all, it is not possible to use the HomePod as a classic Bluetooth speaker. The only protocol through which playback works is Apple AirPlay, which in practice also means that you can't connect anything to it except Apple products. Furthermore, you can't play music from anything other than Apple Music or iTunes on the HomePod (playback from Spotify only works via AirPlay to some extent, but you only need to control it from your phone). "Smart" features are really quite limited in the case of the HomePod. Another problem arises with practical use, when the HomePod is not able to recognize multiple users, which can lead to unpleasant situations if you live with someone else.
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The technical equipment of the speaker is impressive. Inside is an A8 processor running a modified version of iOS that takes care of all important calculations and communication with connected devices and Siri. There is one 4″ woofer on the top, seven microphones and seven tweeters below. This combination provides great surround sound that is unmatched in a device of similar size. The process of connecting and setting up the sound can be found described in the video above. However, many of the big draws that Apple presented with the HomePod at WWDC are still unavailable. Whether it's AirPlay 2 or the function of connecting two speakers into one system, customers still have to wait for these things for some time. It will arrive sometime during the year. So far, it looks like the HomePod plays great, but it also suffers from quite a few shortcomings. Some will be resolved with time (for example, AirPlay 2 support or other software-related functions), but there is a big question mark for others (support for other streaming services, etc.)
Source: YouTube
