Pretty interesting how everyone was very luke warm about the home pod and in practice it looks like it is not so bad. I don’t play music loud enough to warrant to buy one, but that assessment might change with Siri Shortcuts and a good deal over Christmas, for example.
Tell me, is it true that volume levels are much lower when Airplaying? I heard that this is an issue.
Hmmm. I would say no. I’ve not noticed this. I have noticed though that volume can seem low when using it as a speaker for the AppleTV. This seems to do though with the source file. I’ve had some video where cranking audio to the max made it just about right, maybe a tad on the low side. Other video that is plenty loud. But aside from that I’ve not notice any issues with volume.
1 Like
I hesitated in buying the HomePod because of the price (we pay a lot more for Apple gear in Australia unfortunately) but as with all my Apple purchases the quality is long remembered while the price is soon forgotten.
I’m very happy with it.
The voice recognition has been 100% from anywhere in the room, the sound quality is excellent, and coupled with my Apple Music subscription it now seems like almost a no-brainer to purchase it.
Years ago I used to go to a record store (vinyl) every pay day and purchase a record (which I still have in my cupboard) and I’ve never ceased to be amazed that I can now play any record that I can think of just by asking Siri to play it from the comfort of my living room couch.
4 Likes
An update on this. After more than a week I still cannot get NPR news briefings (the default) to play on any of my HomePods. I finally just told Siri to switch to CNN and now news briefings play just fine.
I tried to switch back to NPR, and alas they don’t work. Not sure if there is a problem with the NPR service as a whole, a bug in this version of the software (11.4) or just something with my HomePod. But looks like news briefings work, just not NPR.
Weird.
Bought 2 as soon as it became available in Canada. I’m waiting for the second generation to buy a third one, hoping it might have a tv connection for that. For now, Canadian French is not available yet but I’m good with English (my iPhone is in English too, so no conflict).
I’m with David I wish Siri would shut up and just do her job. I’m not liking the “hmmm?” answer as well if I miss a beat talking to it. I did mention that to @applesupport and they redirected me to the comment section on the HomePod pages, if it bugs you too, there you go. As for the news reading feature, it works fine here, it gave me the different (Canadian) options for news sources the first time, but now it just give me the news when asked.
Love the sound. The microphone is impressive. My bf tells me I’m a little rough 
with Siri i need to ajust my voice, not talk loud to it like I always had to with the phone.
What else? Wish the alarms would have a selected song or playlist option.
Love it.
1 Like
We took advantage of a recent Best Buy sale and snagged up our third HomePod which is situated in our master bedroom and doubles (very effectively) as a sound bar for our TV. As Apple Music subscribers I’m super impressed, but more importantly, my wife is. She hates my apple obsession but she is really into the HomePods. Not only that, she’s talking to Siri for the first time ever, so Apple really has something here. Good start with awesome hardware, excited to see where software takes us in the future
It probably won’t help, but I did it. Now there are two of them! I feel a little bit like @katiefloyd .
That’s what happened here as well. The second one wasn’t even my initiative.
1 Like
Same here. Loving the sound quality and the versatility. I did not own an Amazon Echo, so the Siri fallbacks are not as obvious to me. And for me, Homepod is the starting point for home automation: Now that we have Siri accessible and listening, we start thinking about Philips Hue lightbulbs…
And yes, @katiefloyd, they are like tribbles. You made me laugh out loud today when I listened to the latest episode! 
I’ve really been enjoying the Homepod, my response is much like Katie on the recent episode: Siri is weak. My biggest pet peeve she didn’t mention, lack of a sleep timer for music at night.
Was there any error message when the HomePod failed to play the news?
My HomePod merely tells me “There are no news sources for that topic!” when I ask Siri what the latest news is. Actually, she tells me that whenever I mention the news. I wonder what settings I have set wrong . . .
I bought the HomePod the first week it was available and have learned to love it. I say ‘learned’ because I had to change my old ways and get used to streaming my iTunes playlists via Apple Music. The HomePod replaced my flakey homemade music streaming device: MacBook iTunes library to AirPort Express and powered Bose computer speakers in the kitchen. It was flakey and had to be rebooted often.
I love the HomePod for all the reasons everybody here has stated (though I doubt I’ll ever own 3 of them, smh). My only complaints: Siri doesn’t always compensate for my mumbling, Siri can’t find calendar events by name (when is my appointment with Dr. Harriott?), Siri doesn’t always resume podcasts where I left them, Siri doesn’t share song info with the Watch when I initiate a playlist via Siri – this really throws a spanner into my parlor-trick routines!
I got my first homepod last weekend and like Katie - just want to expand the family - my first one is in the bedroom and I want one for the kitchen as well - how it picks up siri commands over loud music is quite amazing
I have been pondering this decision as well. I am trying to step back and not the that “Apple-Fan” person that like the new shiny stuff. Also wondering if I should wait until version 2 of the HomePod.
My 2 cents on the Homepod. Having been devout Appleuser for 10 years, my last phone 6 months ago was an android model, and I don’t think I will switch back.
Google is spending a fortune on AI, Google home is way ahead of Siri in usefulness. The Google voice in the can runs rings around Siri, which I have always found very disappointing. Call me a heretic!
However, the Homepod is ridiculously expensive yet only works with Siri.
I hope that your expectations for Siri shortcuts and iOS 12 doesn’t make your triple purchase a lemon!
Apple has, I think lost this race
Cheers Greg
Sydney
I can’t wait for Homepod to become available in my country. I use an old Harman Kardon Soundstick II but its placement is odd in our home the sound isn’t optimized. We also have a proper audio equipment that is plugged on our turntable but I’m finding it hard to just sit where the speaker is facing to be able to enjoy the music. So the idea of a Homepod wherein you can be anywhere in your room and still able to get the same quality of sound feels like a dream come true for me.
I think this is not the best speaker around, although dollar for dollar it’s hard to find a better speaker. My Samsung Soundbar cost over $1,500 and includes Atmos, it works great for movies but I’d much rather listen to music on my HomePod. No question you could spend a lot more money and get a much better speaker. For wireless sound I think it’s hard to find something better at this price point. You could spend a bit less and might find something better or comparable ala Sonos, but I’ve heard they’re better at marketing than sound quality.
Heretic!!! 
I will say this, Google is ahead, but there is a privacy cost and I’m not comfortable with Google or Amazon recording audio in my house. I never planned on owning a smart speaker before HomePod came around so that’s something serious to consider. - This coming from someone who happily deleted facebook and has been actively moving away from Google for a few years mind you.
2 Likes
Do you have the link to the eBay auction for the Apple HomePod from Best Buy?
1 Like
I was sceptical on the HomePod. I have some very nice audio gear, much more expensive than HomePod. I thought it sounded a bit boomy in the Apple shop. But then I came across my wife listening to a podcast on her iPhone in the kitchen, with the phone in a glass vase to amplify the sound, as our collection of bluetooth speakers had either died or dropped connections, and I thought, its time.
I can honestly say I am blown away by this device, and more to the point, my wife (as a technophobe) is too. She uses it constantly, even unplugs it and carries it upstairs if she is working up there, and for the first time ever is really connecting with our Apple Music account. I am very surprised by the adaptive sound quality, it is better than any other wifi or bluetooth speaker device I have heard.
So a big win for us.
3 Likes
Sounds like you need a second one. 
4 Likes