I Tried Using HomePod in My Smart Home: Here's How it Went

Up until this point, I never really tried the HomePod, despite being fully invested in the Apple Home Ecosystem. So for the last 3 months, I've used HomePod and here are my thoughts.

With just a single homepod, I’m pretty impressed with how it sounds. It sounds really good. You could walk anywhere around it, and the sound quality is similar all around, and even in large spaces. So you really could place this speaker anywhere and get some pretty good sound out of it, and it helps that the speaker looks good, so that it probably does fit in most places you’re thinking of. The touch controls work well, and I do love the integration into Apple home. But that’s because my preferred smart home platform is apple homekit. There’s a built-in humidity and temperature sensor that you can use in your apple home automations. But if you want to change any settings on the Homepod, that’s only on the Apple Home app. So if you don’t use a lot of Apple Homekit devices, or don’t own apple devices, taking full advantage of the Homepod’s features can be difficult. The Homepod alone is nice, but when combined with some other Apple products, it can do some pretty amazing stuff. Two can be paired together to really fill out a room. And you can even use a single one or a pair as speakers for your Apple TV. And if your TV has an e-arc HDMI port, you can even use the HomePods as speakers for anything else you watch on your TV as well as gaming consoles. Wirelessly. I’ve been using a sonos beam soundbar for the TV in the primary bedroom, and once I switched it out for a pair of homepods, I quickly noticed how much more bass and clarity I was hearing in the audio coming out of the homepods. I noticed that the two homepods were good at emulating a surround audio system and the bass was more booming than I expected. Definitely plenty for a bedroom or living room.

How does the HomePod compare to other smart speakers. And what does Smart Speaker even more, other than the obvious. It normally means a device that can be used as a speaker, as well as a device that has smart functionalities like voice assistants, bluetooth or wifi connectivity, and you’re able to stream to the speaker or do some other cool stuff with it. But at its core, you can separate it into a device that does two different things. Act as a speaker, and a smart home assistant. And there’s a lot of different products that at first, you might think are exactly like it, namely these two products. A google home, and Sonos speaker. These are older versions of each but the point is kind of the same. These are all smart speakers. But not all smart speakers are the same. It’s kind of a spectrum between whether something is closer to a smart home product, or a speaker. The Google home is very smart home oriented, while the sonos lineup of products are closer to speakers with a few smart features, the Homepod, is pretty close to the middle, with some great smart home features and even some amazing features like the ability to use them as speakers for everything on your TV, not just for the Apple TV. But unlike those other smart speakers, the Homepod has one major flaw. It’s very much an Apple accessory, a device that requires you to use another apple device to setup, works best with an Apple device to cast to it, and does need some other Apple devices to access some of it’s best features, like using it as a TV speaker replacement, or use the built-in sensors for smart home functionality. And if you’re not in that ecosystem, then that $300 price tag isn’t just $300, it’s a learning curve, more cost, and potentially segmenting your different devices into different ecosystems. But there is a product that lets you dip your toes into the world of Apple Home tech without pouring $300 into it. And that’s the homepod mini. And let me tell you. The homepod mini is a good value.

So at this point, I think it’s conclusion time. The Homepod sounds great, it looks good, and is the perfect companion in an Apple smart home. There are similar priced speakers that sound better, there are cheaper smart speakers that does smart home functions better. But the HomePod is both a great sounding speaker, and a solid smart home device. But honestly, all that could be said about its smaller sibling, the HomePod Mini. So, if you’re not ingrained in the apple ecosystem. Skip this. If you’re looking for the perfect Apple Homekit companion with good sound. Get the HomePod Mini. And if you want the best sound out of that homekit companion, for music, or as a TV speaker substitute. Get the HomePod.

[SeptienPatterson]

Damn fine, video Jimmy. Your channel is underrated.

[heelbeavans]

I have 6 home pod mins, 2 second gen HomePods and I love and use them daily!

[jimtipton]

I have a pair of mini's that I use as my computer speakers. Great little sound system.

[dontannenbaum]

I am in the Apple ecosystem but have the Amazon Echo devices as well including the Echo Studio speakers and subwoofer for my living room TV. The problem is I can only use it with the FireTV cube which I do not like. Now that Apple is upgrading Siri in IOS 18, I will switch over to the HomePod and HomePod minis and use an iPad in spots where I feel I need a screen. My guess is Apple will introduce at some point a HomePod device with a screen as well. It will be an expensive shift but for me it is worth settling on one ecosystem for my home. I liked your assessment and the way you present. I will subscribe to your channel. Thanks for posting.

[misteraon]

Aside from the speaker functionality, I use HomePods for smart home control via voice…but only as a secondary platform. I find HomeKit to be one of Apples flakiest products/platforms. I’ve had better luck and more versatility using Home Assistant as the brain of my smart home and having that present itself to HomeKit as a “bridge” with all its devices. Then when HomeKit flakes out my smart home isn’t useless and my wife losses the Siri voice control. Things usually keep purring away on the Home Assistant side.

[Larsbor]

I originally got it for meetings using it with my telephone and online meetings during Corona... I was so dissapointed, people told me the quality was bad, it sound like I was talking into a tube. ... So I got a Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1, it has many of the same features but with Alexa and the sound is great ! You can use the equalizer if the bass is to loud, and you can take it with you into the bath or out to the beach. I absolutely recommend this speaker, you can use 2 in stereo.

[GGVicV]

I have home assistant and anything not on homekit i can make it pop up in homekit with my integration and talking to siri i can make it do so much more than it was ever able to before.

[dsoboslay]

Can you elaborate a bit more on how HomePods can also broadcast regular TV? I have a pair of original HomePods hooked up and they broadcast sound from my Apple TV. How does it broadcast regular TV? Maybe I am wrong on what I heard? Thanks and love your channel.

[MrDexterSr]

Gotta give the Sonos beam a fair fight by adding the sub mini. Then there would be no contest in my opinion 😊

[coffeebrakevideos]

I have two of these HomePods connected to my TV they work very well, but I've had to turn off Siri because there are so many words on the television that sound like Siri and Siri thinks I'm trying to say Siri that it cancels the sound and Siri asks me what can I help you with, I have turned off the base but still it booms sometimes to fix this. I've put the speakers apart. They seem to work perfectly well now I'm thinking of buying two of the smaller speakers to add to the two larger speakers to try and get a more sound surround, do you think this would work? Many thanks if you reply.

[cpenrose]

I have two mini's and one HomePod. I also use a Google Home Hub because of the screen and speaker. I tried an iPad and HomePod combo but it's just not seamless. Hopefully Apple fixes that this year.

[bryans]

I considered the HomePod when I purchased a 4K AppleTV, but in the end I opted for the Echo Studio. Partly my choice was based on price but mostly it was because I already had other Echo devices paired with smart plugs. Also, the bass and treble are adjustable through the Alexa app, so for me it offered more bang for the buck.

[City-Hiker]

I actually like the Bose Revolve speaker more than the Apple HomePod.
That’s why I bought Bose Revolve last Christmas.

[aaronmontgomery]

These are also not the OG HomePods; the originals sound better but lack humidity sensors. I have used them with my Apple TV but I honestly cannot figure out eARC to make them work with consoles.

[mihaipavel]

Hi! Is there any option that I need to set that make the HomePod mini only to my voice and not to other people?

[ElijahPerrin]

Hi Apple, this is a good model for advertising and I look forward to more like it.

[maryyoung]

Should I use two HomePod minis for TV speakers or just one HomePod …..

[TechReviewInsider]

Home pod with Default Google assistant ❤ . A Man can dream' 😅.

[jaackelliott]

Do they work well with Spotify now? Any audio delay?

[MontaeMontana]

I was told you need the full sized HomePod to set up automations. Just so I’m clear, the mini has all the same smart home assistant features??