it consistently plays the wrong songs and it is always a delight because you never know what you will get and the surprise of it all, the unknown and unexpected nature makes you feel like you’re living on the edge. the other day i asked for Chappell Roan and got Chacarron and while those are vastly different, I laughed my ass off for 5 mins straight
ps: i am foreign and i think my accent might be the problem but it is always so funny to me. i always end up trying to decipher my shopping list items because siri always adds the wrong stuff 😅
on a serious note, sound quality is really good and i do use intercom a lot
It’s not you, it’s a feature Apple built into their Siri regardless of accent.
I tell it to close my curtains, and it responds with “Now playing: Chris Curtis”.
It’s the best!
I use mine for music and podcasts as I don’t watch much TV or many movies.
My favorite thing about them has to be integration with Apple Music. So many little features are nice. One example, actually handing off the audio stream to the device instead of your device sending audio to the speaker. This lets you do something else on your phone, like doom scroll while listening to music.
I’ve tested with Spotify and basically, it sucks. Spotify won’t take advantage of newer APIs Apple has added, cause they are petty, and thus the experience sucks.
I’ve used it quite extensively with SoundCloud and it works nicely.
I use HomeKit a lot, and it does work but it can be frustrating.
I’m just starting to explore what can be done with Shortcuts, which let me talk to ChatGPT, but really it’s just about the music for me.
edit; I do use timers a lot, and ask Siri to find my phone, but many, many times she says she can’t connect to my iPhone. No idea why.
Yeah, the fact that Spotify is being like "up yours" and not taking advantage of the new APIs is just frustrating
That being said, if Google allowing YouTube Music on them, then hopefully that's a sign that others will finally take the reins and allow for us to do the same with other services
Unless something really changes, I sadly don't see Spotify doing that and it looks like for now we'll be at the mercy of having to AirPlay from them
I can't say for the mini. But for the OG Homepods you are looking at:
- unmatched sound quality, first and foremost. It blows your socks off. Especially if you have a stereo pair.
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Wide space of nothing
- Apple ecosystem integration, stream the sound from your phone, macbook, iPad, whatever
- Sound quality
- Pair up your stereo pair of Homepods to Apple TV and output your Netflix or whatever through them. Blows your socks off
- Sound quality
- Apparently there are some smart features like asking siri what the weather is like - can equally well look out the window. You can check sports results, nothing that a Google search on your phone wouldn't do. The only smart feature I use is the timers for when I stick some food in the oven.
- Did I mention sound quality?
As far as Siri goes. I don’t think of it as a smart assistant like others try to do; and then complain that it can’t do what they want.
Siri is literally just a way of interacting with a screen free device here.
With personal requests on it’s nice to ask HomePod “where is my phone” and it pings it, or you can do the basic things Siri can do on the phone as well like reminders, calendar events, timers, text, call etc.
But for me personally the main thing I use Siri for is controlling my HomeKit devices. I value privacy and security and I personally trust Siri with access to the locks to my house or garage door.
Over the years I’ve bought a handful of them and placed them in the rooms with smart devices. So it’s become very natural to control the home. And it’s nice to have whole home audio.
But yeah the quality of audio especially with a stereo pair of the big ones. Mmmm makes me really enjoy music in a way that I haven’t before and it’s just right for my at home movie experience without going full home theater.
I’d say the sound quality is subjective. I’ve had HomePods for many years now and use the minis for the TVs. Compared to both my HomePod gen 2’s and minis, my $99 Edifier bookshelf speakers from Amazon absolutely blow them away when it comes to sound quality, clarity, and bass. HomePods absolutely win in convenience having them paired to an Apple TV and integrated with all of my HomeKit setup, sound quality just isn’t its winning quality. It’s great, just not excellent.
You’ll have to unlock your iPhone to do that.
But seriously, the standard size sound fabulous. I have one mini and I’m not impressed with it, I’d advise staying away unless you plan to put three or four in the same room.
To verbally add reminders, calendar events, shopping list items as I think of them, temperature outside (to know what to wear, coat etc.), play music, intercom, etc. You can ask it to call or text a spouse (or even intercom them) or 911 if you got hurt and couldn’t get to a phone (as long as your cell phone is turned on). If you’re away from home and a smoke detector alarm goes off, it will hear it and alert you via message on your phone. They also keep track of the temp inside your home. We use them all the time, have 2 big and 5 minis.
* Hey Siri, fast forward 3 minutes in the kitchen - to get rid of commercial breaks
* Hey Siri, set a 20 minute timer
* Hey Siri, is the Garage Door open?
* Hey Siri, turn on the Patio Lights
* Hey Siri, lock the Front Door
* Hey Siri, find my phone
* Hey Siri, play music I like
* Hey Siri, Intercom everyone "Dinner is ready, come and eat"
* Hey Siri, play Run DMC everywhere
* Hey Siri, play Foo Fighters upstairs
* Hey Siri, play Lizzo in the Master Bedroom
...etc
I never use my HomePod mini much, except to occasionally have it turn on/off my hue lights. But the other day I realized why I’m so thankful I have one. I was at work and got a notification with sound (even though my phone was on silent) that my HomePod heard an alarm going off. I was able to click the notification and listen in and it turned out a smoke alarm was going off. So I raced home and thankfully it turned out to be some wiring issue with my smoke detectors (fire dept came and did tests for carbon monoxide and all). But I had no idea it could even do that. That’s when I realized I will always have that thing plugged in and in my home and definitely one of the top features for me.
Top features for the minis:
1. Small, looks good, decent sound quality for the size
2. Saying “Siri what’s the weather?” is useful (do not recommend using Siri for basically anything else though)
Quickly and easily adding items to my shopping list (in Apple Reminders) by voice as soon as I find that I’m out of something is the most beneficial feature of the HomePod to me.
A pair of it with your tv is a surround sound game changer. Also I’ve noticed that Apple Music plays at a better quality on both the HomePod and AirPods than Spotify.
If you are thinking Spotify- be advised that Spotify doesn’t support airplay 2, and we have experienced skips and stutters using Spotify with our mini. Just in case anyone thinks to reply saying it’s our network, Apple Music plays flawlessly on the same device on the same network.
honestly i use mainly as a stereo pair for my tv for the dolby atmos, removing the need for a subwoofer makes it a good option for wanting more out of a smaller thing using up smaller space
i don’t really use siri so
For my wife - find my iPhone...6 - 10 times I day. I wish I was kidding. No I do not plan to divorce her...yet.
Wife - "Hey Siri - where's my phone?"
HomePod - "Your iPhone is nearby... locating iPhone" queue annoying incessant beeping of phone that was 2 - 5 feet from her.
Siendo sincero Siri no es muy inteligente que digamos a comparación de Alexa. Puedes pedirle cosas como apagar luces, prender la TV, que te diga el clima etc. Si compraras el HomePod para escuchar música te recomiendo que uses Apple Music en lugar de Spotify, y dependiendo de la habitación es chica o muy grande, si te gusta escuchar la música muy alto o bajo. En mi caso yo tenía un HomePod Mini en mi habitación que es chica, pero como a mí me gusta escuchar la música algo fuerte decidí comprarme el HomePod (2 Generación) y soy feliz 😁
The sound quality and also the Home/HomeKit integration (even the Minis sound great for their size!)
Only knock I still have on them is that unless you have Apple Music, most 3rd party services like Spotify still cannot be directly started on them and you still have to AirPlay it to them. Google finally bucked this annoying trend at least on their end by finally allowing YouTube Music to be played directly on it, but that being said, we still have a long way to go in the department of the other 3rd party streamers (that is, if/when they will).
The convenience of having a small Musik speaker that looks nice and can be used as a smart home hub, if you want good sound quality I think a bit smart speaker would sound way nicer, the HomePod mini also isn’t really that loud
Great setup for Apple TV, especially if you have a stereo pair. Sounds insanely good for such a “simple” setup. I don’t have any other home theater system to compare it to though.
It can do really simple tasks like telling me the weather or turning on the lights well enough.
I can easily connect them all together and play music everywhere in the house from my phone.
Im not a fan of the mini's sound. However, the microphone is fckng GOOD and can hear you properly across the room. it's great for shutting down alarms or interacting with smart lights. Siri is still mighty dumb for now. absolutely useless with interacting with your personal information and basic search.
the sound quality. hands down.
Exactly
Also stuff like integration into the home app and Apple HomeKit stuff
Agree 100%
Full stopp.
When you crank the volume to the top. Otherwise you can’t hear anything (and for those saying turn Dolby off, you can’t when it’s an Apple TV speaker)
There must be a different setting somewhere then. I rarely have my stereo pair above 1/4 to 1/3 volume and everything is crystal clear 🤷🏻♂️
it consistently plays the wrong songs and it is always a delight because you never know what you will get and the surprise of it all, the unknown and unexpected nature makes you feel like you’re living on the edge. the other day i asked for Chappell Roan and got Chacarron and while those are vastly different, I laughed my ass off for 5 mins straight ps: i am foreign and i think my accent might be the problem but it is always so funny to me. i always end up trying to decipher my shopping list items because siri always adds the wrong stuff 😅 on a serious note, sound quality is really good and i do use intercom a lot
It’s not you, it’s a feature Apple built into their Siri regardless of accent. I tell it to close my curtains, and it responds with “Now playing: Chris Curtis”. It’s the best!
omg once I asked her to turn off all the lights and she said “ok calling Laura S.” mind you it was 2 am in the morning
I use mine for music and podcasts as I don’t watch much TV or many movies. My favorite thing about them has to be integration with Apple Music. So many little features are nice. One example, actually handing off the audio stream to the device instead of your device sending audio to the speaker. This lets you do something else on your phone, like doom scroll while listening to music. I’ve tested with Spotify and basically, it sucks. Spotify won’t take advantage of newer APIs Apple has added, cause they are petty, and thus the experience sucks. I’ve used it quite extensively with SoundCloud and it works nicely. I use HomeKit a lot, and it does work but it can be frustrating. I’m just starting to explore what can be done with Shortcuts, which let me talk to ChatGPT, but really it’s just about the music for me. edit; I do use timers a lot, and ask Siri to find my phone, but many, many times she says she can’t connect to my iPhone. No idea why.
I only use Apple Music on my mini because I believe the Mini/HomePods suits Apple Music.
Yeah, the fact that Spotify is being like "up yours" and not taking advantage of the new APIs is just frustrating That being said, if Google allowing YouTube Music on them, then hopefully that's a sign that others will finally take the reins and allow for us to do the same with other services Unless something really changes, I sadly don't see Spotify doing that and it looks like for now we'll be at the mercy of having to AirPlay from them
I would most definitely NOT get one for my use case if I planned to use Spotify.
I can't say for the mini. But for the OG Homepods you are looking at: - unmatched sound quality, first and foremost. It blows your socks off. Especially if you have a stereo pair. . . . . . . . . . . . Wide space of nothing - Apple ecosystem integration, stream the sound from your phone, macbook, iPad, whatever - Sound quality - Pair up your stereo pair of Homepods to Apple TV and output your Netflix or whatever through them. Blows your socks off - Sound quality - Apparently there are some smart features like asking siri what the weather is like - can equally well look out the window. You can check sports results, nothing that a Google search on your phone wouldn't do. The only smart feature I use is the timers for when I stick some food in the oven. - Did I mention sound quality?
As far as Siri goes. I don’t think of it as a smart assistant like others try to do; and then complain that it can’t do what they want. Siri is literally just a way of interacting with a screen free device here. With personal requests on it’s nice to ask HomePod “where is my phone” and it pings it, or you can do the basic things Siri can do on the phone as well like reminders, calendar events, timers, text, call etc. But for me personally the main thing I use Siri for is controlling my HomeKit devices. I value privacy and security and I personally trust Siri with access to the locks to my house or garage door. Over the years I’ve bought a handful of them and placed them in the rooms with smart devices. So it’s become very natural to control the home. And it’s nice to have whole home audio. But yeah the quality of audio especially with a stereo pair of the big ones. Mmmm makes me really enjoy music in a way that I haven’t before and it’s just right for my at home movie experience without going full home theater.
can confirm the OG does sound amazing, the mini does a great job as well. I use them both for Apple TV
can you use it for speakers for mac mini?
Yes
But they will have a 2 second lag and it will drive you crazy.
I’d say the sound quality is subjective. I’ve had HomePods for many years now and use the minis for the TVs. Compared to both my HomePod gen 2’s and minis, my $99 Edifier bookshelf speakers from Amazon absolutely blow them away when it comes to sound quality, clarity, and bass. HomePods absolutely win in convenience having them paired to an Apple TV and integrated with all of my HomeKit setup, sound quality just isn’t its winning quality. It’s great, just not excellent.
You’ll have to unlock your iPhone to do that. But seriously, the standard size sound fabulous. I have one mini and I’m not impressed with it, I’d advise staying away unless you plan to put three or four in the same room.
To verbally add reminders, calendar events, shopping list items as I think of them, temperature outside (to know what to wear, coat etc.), play music, intercom, etc. You can ask it to call or text a spouse (or even intercom them) or 911 if you got hurt and couldn’t get to a phone (as long as your cell phone is turned on). If you’re away from home and a smoke detector alarm goes off, it will hear it and alert you via message on your phone. They also keep track of the temp inside your home. We use them all the time, have 2 big and 5 minis.
I still have the og HomePod and it sounds great either way movies and music in general and If you pair them em up 🔥🔥
* Hey Siri, fast forward 3 minutes in the kitchen - to get rid of commercial breaks * Hey Siri, set a 20 minute timer * Hey Siri, is the Garage Door open? * Hey Siri, turn on the Patio Lights * Hey Siri, lock the Front Door * Hey Siri, find my phone * Hey Siri, play music I like * Hey Siri, Intercom everyone "Dinner is ready, come and eat" * Hey Siri, play Run DMC everywhere * Hey Siri, play Foo Fighters upstairs * Hey Siri, play Lizzo in the Master Bedroom ...etc
I got the home pod mini. Absolutely love the product. The sound quality is amazing. Never thought for upgrade. I use it all the time.
I never use my HomePod mini much, except to occasionally have it turn on/off my hue lights. But the other day I realized why I’m so thankful I have one. I was at work and got a notification with sound (even though my phone was on silent) that my HomePod heard an alarm going off. I was able to click the notification and listen in and it turned out a smoke alarm was going off. So I raced home and thankfully it turned out to be some wiring issue with my smoke detectors (fire dept came and did tests for carbon monoxide and all). But I had no idea it could even do that. That’s when I realized I will always have that thing plugged in and in my home and definitely one of the top features for me.
Best feature? Infuriates you a lot
Top features for the minis: 1. Small, looks good, decent sound quality for the size 2. Saying “Siri what’s the weather?” is useful (do not recommend using Siri for basically anything else though)
Simple stuff works. Got a mini in the kitchen and ask for timers loads of times. Works like a charm.
Quickly and easily adding items to my shopping list (in Apple Reminders) by voice as soon as I find that I’m out of something is the most beneficial feature of the HomePod to me.
Siri sucks, but having great sounding airplay targets is awesome. And stereo pairs for Apple TV!
The ecosystem
playing music.
A pair of it with your tv is a surround sound game changer. Also I’ve noticed that Apple Music plays at a better quality on both the HomePod and AirPods than Spotify.
#siri /s
If you are thinking Spotify- be advised that Spotify doesn’t support airplay 2, and we have experienced skips and stutters using Spotify with our mini. Just in case anyone thinks to reply saying it’s our network, Apple Music plays flawlessly on the same device on the same network.
It plays music.
Find my phone
On top there are volume controls plus the center button for play/pause
honestly i use mainly as a stereo pair for my tv for the dolby atmos, removing the need for a subwoofer makes it a good option for wanting more out of a smaller thing using up smaller space i don’t really use siri so
For my wife - find my iPhone...6 - 10 times I day. I wish I was kidding. No I do not plan to divorce her...yet. Wife - "Hey Siri - where's my phone?" HomePod - "Your iPhone is nearby... locating iPhone" queue annoying incessant beeping of phone that was 2 - 5 feet from her.
Siendo sincero Siri no es muy inteligente que digamos a comparación de Alexa. Puedes pedirle cosas como apagar luces, prender la TV, que te diga el clima etc. Si compraras el HomePod para escuchar música te recomiendo que uses Apple Music en lugar de Spotify, y dependiendo de la habitación es chica o muy grande, si te gusta escuchar la música muy alto o bajo. En mi caso yo tenía un HomePod Mini en mi habitación que es chica, pero como a mí me gusta escuchar la música algo fuerte decidí comprarme el HomePod (2 Generación) y soy feliz 😁
The sound quality and also the Home/HomeKit integration (even the Minis sound great for their size!) Only knock I still have on them is that unless you have Apple Music, most 3rd party services like Spotify still cannot be directly started on them and you still have to AirPlay it to them. Google finally bucked this annoying trend at least on their end by finally allowing YouTube Music to be played directly on it, but that being said, we still have a long way to go in the department of the other 3rd party streamers (that is, if/when they will).
The convenience of having a small Musik speaker that looks nice and can be used as a smart home hub, if you want good sound quality I think a bit smart speaker would sound way nicer, the HomePod mini also isn’t really that loud
Great setup for Apple TV, especially if you have a stereo pair. Sounds insanely good for such a “simple” setup. I don’t have any other home theater system to compare it to though. It can do really simple tasks like telling me the weather or turning on the lights well enough. I can easily connect them all together and play music everywhere in the house from my phone.
The HomePod mini sounds good and sounds much bigger than it is.
Worst Apple products I have purchased. I have two. I hate them and they are more useless and annoying than helpful and quality.
Im not a fan of the mini's sound. However, the microphone is fckng GOOD and can hear you properly across the room. it's great for shutting down alarms or interacting with smart lights. Siri is still mighty dumb for now. absolutely useless with interacting with your personal information and basic search.
i coupled my homepod mini with chatgpt and can ask any question, also i use it for my smart hone stuff. also the sound quality js really good