February 9, 2018 • 4 mins
Rich DeMuro reviews Apple's new $350 HomePod smart speaker.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Rich Demiro and this is Rich on Tech Daily.
Let's talk about the Apple home Pod. This is Apple's
smart speaker. And remember it was kind of delayed. It
was supposed to be available in time for the holidays.
That did not happen, but it's now in stores today
for three hundred and fifty dollars.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So the HomePod.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Looks and sounds fantastic. It has an amazing design that'll
fit into any room. The sound quality is really really good,
and of course Apple puts some magic in it, so
it will adjust automatically to sound best no matter where
you put it. So it has three hundred and sixty
degree sound and it somehow figures out how to make
that sound the best whether you put it in the
(00:38):
middle of a room or against a wall. So what
can it do well? First and foremost, this is a
music player. This is kind of a iPod imagine with
a speaker built inside, but a really high quality speaker
and loaded with every song you could ever imagine, as
long as you have a subscription to Apple Music.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
So you do have to.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Have that ten dollars month subscription to Apple Music. It
can also control smart home devices as long as they're
working with Apple HomeKit, and you can do other things
like ask it questions, general knowledge, sports scores, the weather, traffic,
and you can do some other things like send messages
through your iPhone, and you can use it as a speakerphone.
Those two things do require your phone to be nearby.
(01:20):
For instance, with the speakerphone, you have to start the
call on your iPhone then transfer.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
It to the HomePod. So how does this stack up
against the competition.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, I listened to the HomePod versus Google's home Max speaker,
the Sonos and the Echo, and I'd put them in
that order. I think the HomePod sounded best, then I
think Google Home Max sounded good, then Sonos, then Echo,
and I'd say Echo all the way kind of down
at the bottom several rows rungs under the Sonos. But again,
(01:49):
that's only one hundred bucks. HomePod is three fifty. So
you summon everything with Hey Siri. That's how it works,
just like on your iPhone, and you can do a
lot of stuff like I mentioned earlier. But the thing
is when it comes to other music, if you want
to try to use this with Spotify or Pandora or
any of those services, it will not work. Natively and
know there is no way to plug in an external input,
(02:11):
so you can't plug in a three point five millimeter
jack to get some other music or audio source into this.
The only thing coming out of this thing is a
plug on the back that you plug into the wall
and that's it. Now you can use these other services
via Airplay, and I tested out Spotify that way. It
sounded amazing, but that is not an ideal setup for
a Wi Fi speaker. You do not want to have
to be tethered to your iPhone or any phone the
(02:34):
entire time.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Well, I guess it would just be iPhone because you
can only use Airplay.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You cannot use Bluetooth to do the music, so you
don't want to be tethered. So I don't recommend this
speaker if you plan on using any service other than
Apple Music. Setting up the HomePod was super easy, while
at least in theory.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Once I got it to work, it was really easy.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
But I did get some weird error message called sixty
seven twenty two and I had to ask Apple what
does this mean?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
And they immediately said.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Hey, do you have keychain enabled on your iPhone? Which
I didn't. That's the system that stores your passwords. I
didn't have that turned on, and you have the home
app working and I didn't. I deleted the home app
because I don't have any other home Kit devices right now,
so I had that deleted off my phone. One SI
installed home Kit. Once I enabled keychain, everything worked very fast.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
You literally hold your phone next to the speaker.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
It comes to life with a little pop up box
and it transfers all your settings and you're.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Good to go.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Bottom line on the home Pod, you have to be
invested in the Apple ecosystem for this to be a
good deal. You have to be interested in design and audio.
Those have to be your top two priorities. You will
definitely deliver on those things. The HomePod is amazing when
it comes to design and audio and fitting into the
Apple ecosystem, but you have to be able to overlook
the high price and the limited options of this device.
(03:47):
So there are other smart speakers out there that do
way more. I think if you're listening to the Echo
by itself, you're not going to think it has terrible
sound quality, and Sonos at this point I think is
really nice. I have those in a lot of my
rooms and I love it, But I feel like a
lot of these other speakers, like the Google Homes of
the world and the echoes, are just doing a lot better.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
So there you have it.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Apple HomePod in stores today, comes in white or gray.
Three hundred and fifty dollars. Thanks so much for listening.
You could see my full review at richontech dot TV.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I'm Rich tomorrow, See you next time.
I'm Rich Demiro and this is Rich on Tech Daily.
Let's talk about the Apple home Pod. This is Apple's
smart speaker. And remember it was kind of delayed. It
was supposed to be available in time for the holidays.
That did not happen, but it's now in stores today
for three hundred and fifty dollars.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So the HomePod.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Looks and sounds fantastic. It has an amazing design that'll
fit into any room. The sound quality is really really good,
and of course Apple puts some magic in it, so
it will adjust automatically to sound best no matter where
you put it. So it has three hundred and sixty
degree sound and it somehow figures out how to make
that sound the best whether you put it in the
(00:38):
middle of a room or against a wall. So what
can it do well? First and foremost, this is a
music player. This is kind of a iPod imagine with
a speaker built inside, but a really high quality speaker
and loaded with every song you could ever imagine, as
long as you have a subscription to Apple Music.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
So you do have to.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Have that ten dollars month subscription to Apple Music. It
can also control smart home devices as long as they're
working with Apple HomeKit, and you can do other things
like ask it questions, general knowledge, sports scores, the weather, traffic,
and you can do some other things like send messages
through your iPhone, and you can use it as a speakerphone.
Those two things do require your phone to be nearby.
(01:20):
For instance, with the speakerphone, you have to start the
call on your iPhone then transfer.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
It to the HomePod. So how does this stack up
against the competition.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, I listened to the HomePod versus Google's home Max speaker,
the Sonos and the Echo, and I'd put them in
that order. I think the HomePod sounded best, then I
think Google Home Max sounded good, then Sonos, then Echo,
and I'd say Echo all the way kind of down
at the bottom several rows rungs under the Sonos. But again,
(01:49):
that's only one hundred bucks. HomePod is three fifty. So
you summon everything with Hey Siri. That's how it works,
just like on your iPhone, and you can do a
lot of stuff like I mentioned earlier. But the thing
is when it comes to other music, if you want
to try to use this with Spotify or Pandora or
any of those services, it will not work. Natively and
know there is no way to plug in an external input,
(02:11):
so you can't plug in a three point five millimeter
jack to get some other music or audio source into this.
The only thing coming out of this thing is a
plug on the back that you plug into the wall
and that's it. Now you can use these other services
via Airplay, and I tested out Spotify that way. It
sounded amazing, but that is not an ideal setup for
a Wi Fi speaker. You do not want to have
to be tethered to your iPhone or any phone the
(02:34):
entire time.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Well, I guess it would just be iPhone because you
can only use Airplay.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You cannot use Bluetooth to do the music, so you
don't want to be tethered. So I don't recommend this
speaker if you plan on using any service other than
Apple Music. Setting up the HomePod was super easy, while
at least in theory.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Once I got it to work, it was really easy.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
But I did get some weird error message called sixty
seven twenty two and I had to ask Apple what
does this mean?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
And they immediately said.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Hey, do you have keychain enabled on your iPhone? Which
I didn't. That's the system that stores your passwords. I
didn't have that turned on, and you have the home
app working and I didn't. I deleted the home app
because I don't have any other home Kit devices right now,
so I had that deleted off my phone. One SI
installed home Kit. Once I enabled keychain, everything worked very fast.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
You literally hold your phone next to the speaker.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
It comes to life with a little pop up box
and it transfers all your settings and you're.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Good to go.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Bottom line on the home Pod, you have to be
invested in the Apple ecosystem for this to be a
good deal. You have to be interested in design and audio.
Those have to be your top two priorities. You will
definitely deliver on those things. The HomePod is amazing when
it comes to design and audio and fitting into the
Apple ecosystem, but you have to be able to overlook
the high price and the limited options of this device.
(03:47):
So there are other smart speakers out there that do
way more. I think if you're listening to the Echo
by itself, you're not going to think it has terrible
sound quality, and Sonos at this point I think is
really nice. I have those in a lot of my
rooms and I love it, But I feel like a
lot of these other speakers, like the Google Homes of
the world and the echoes, are just doing a lot better.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
So there you have it.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Apple HomePod in stores today, comes in white or gray.
Three hundred and fifty dollars. Thanks so much for listening.
You could see my full review at richontech dot TV.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I'm Rich tomorrow, See you next time.
Host
Rich DeMuro
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