As always Apple is late to the party but it entered the race with a superior product.
Apple finally released its HomePod in India. That’s great news for the Apple fan base. It is a perfect smart speaker to add to your home automation kit. You can listen to music, news, podcasts, video, and audiobooks from various sources on this speaker. Just like any other Apple device, HomePod has very good integration with products in the Apple Ecosystem. So next time you want to listen to Jay Shetty podcast, just say “Hey Siri, play the latest On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast”
Apple HomePod Design
Apple never disappoints us with the look and feel of its flagship products. The 6.7-inch cylindrical HomePod has got a sleek design and weighs 2.5 kg. An elegant mesh fabric runs around the body of the speaker except for the top portion which has a glossy finish. The top portion is where you control the HomePod with touch sensors. Just like in Google home, one tap pauses/resumes the song, a double-tap plays the next song and you can control the volume using +/- buttons. Of course, you can do all these functions using your App or by issuing voice commands (“Hey Siri, increase the volume”)
Sound Quality of Apple HomePod
The audio system is engineered by Apple’s audio technology and it comes with an A8 Chip for bass-heavy, distortion-free music. As with many smart speakers in the market today, HomePod is capable of adapting to its surroundings- whether it is your living room or your bedroom, it analyses the space around the room and adjusts the sound accordingly. It also comes with a high-excursion woofer on its top, offering a rich audio experience and a six-microphone array that lets the HomePod hear you even when the music is on.
The spatial awareness of the speaker lets you put the speaker anywhere in the room without compromising the quality of the audio.
Setup:
Setup:Setting up the product is quite simple. Just like with Airpods or other apple products, all you need to do is place your iPhone close to your HomePod and it takes WiFi and other settings from your existing device and starts the HomePod. Well, you can always customize what you want during the setup process.
Control Music with AirPlay 2
As with Google Home and Amazon Echo, you can control the music with the AirPlay 2 app. You can control other Apple integrated devices using your HomePod. Say if you have a smart thermostat that supports Apple Ecosystem, you can monitor it using voice commands.
Amazon Echo is still leading the smart speaker market. While we cannot at this point say how good HomePod is compared to Amazon Echo and Google Home, it surely is a healthy competitor in the smart speaker market. Apple needs to increase the list of compatible devices it can work with. According to the businesstoday, the HomeKit supports Philips Hue Light bulbs, Nanoleaf smart LED lights kit, and Elagato Eve light switch. HomeKit can also support D-Link Omna security camera, and Eve smart motion sensor.