A hands-on Apple HomePod smart speaker review

I think it’s fair to say I’ve tested over fifty speakers as a tech writer and editor. I’ve tried PC speakers, bookshelf speakers, smart speakers — some of which weren’t very smart — and I’ve tried nearly every major Bluetooth speaker on the market. I know what I like in a speaker.

When I tried the Apple HomePod, it delivered a different experience than expected — I fell in love with my smart home tech all over again, which had been dormant longer than what felt like an Icelandic volcano.

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This is the second generation of the Apple HomePod. The first version had been sidelined, and this new version was molded after the initial design. It still has that simple marshmallow design, which comes in two basic colors, midnight and white. It still has spatial audio, temperature and humidity sensors, Matter smart-home compatibility and more. Of course, none of these features matter if the audio isn’t up to par. I can safely say that after jumping from genres and listening to numerous albums, this speaker can easily compete with similar-priced competitors.

The HomePod turns your speaker into a home base for all your Apple and smart home devices. After my initial setup of the HomePod, I was tempted to install my old smart light bulbs. I even bought some smart plugs to turn older lamps into smart ones. I finally dabbled with the Apple HomeKit app and created custom automations, too. I would have the lights turn on anytime at sunset or make the lights turn off whenever my iPhone left the apartment. At its core, the HomePod works best when you take full advantage of Siri and Apple’s smart home features. You can tell the HomePod to turn on your Apple TV, play some music or throw on a podcast. I also loved the ability to easily swap between playing music from my headphones and the HomePod. Thanks to the way Apple devices and chips communicate, you can hold your phone near the HomePod and resume the same music you were listening to on the speaker.

The 6.6-inch speaker is about as tall as a paperback book, and it only weighs 5.16 lbs, which is a little more than a bag of flour. It’s wrapped in a soft mesh fabric around the entire speaker. The HomePod also has Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos support, a touch control on the speaker’s top, and incredible microphones. The HomePod does such a good job at catching my voice halfway across the room that I had to be careful not to even whisper the name Siri for the sake of triggering Apple’s smart assistant. This is handy when you want to set timers, ask Siri about the weather or request a new song, skip tracks or turn off the lights.

In my experience, the sound of HomePod is powerful, especially on the lower end. The bass is punchy and vibrant. Electronic music tracks had a noticeable bounce and energy to them, while the bass on hip-hop tracks felt similarly heavy. Despite that thick bass, you still get clear vocals in the midrange. You don’t end up with a muddy sound, something I would notice in smaller speakers that try to overcompensate with heavy bass.

Apple’s ecosystem is great, but it keeps you locked in. When you have an iPhone, iPad, MacBook and other Apple tech, your devices talk to each other and work together seamlessly. But when you try to bring a device that isn’t made by Apple, things can not work as well for the HomePod. That means you can’t ask your HomePod to open up Netflix if you have a FireTV or if your smart device isn’t compatible with Apple’s HomeKit, it also won’t respond. This has been a noticeable issue with Apple products for some time, the products work well, but they don’t play as nice with other brands. As someone who owns a fair share of Apple products, this wasn’t as much of an issue for me. Still, if you have multiple Amazon devices, for example, the lack of connectivity between the devices and Siri can be frustrating.

Thankfully, Apple’s HomePod is now able to work with Matter devices. Matter is a technical standard that allows smart devices to connect easily. You don’t need to download another app; Matter devices will simply connect and communicate with one another. So, it means your smart devices will feel less fragmented. You can use HomeKit-compatible devices as well as devices compatible with Google Home, for example.

Another issue that tampered with my experience with the Apple HomePod was the lack of Bluetooth connectivity. You can only play music and podcasts over Wi-FI and AirPlay. This doesn’t seem like much of an issue until your Wi-Fi shuts off like mine did a few weeks back. I couldn’t play music so I had to switch to one of my other speakers, which conveniently has a Bluetooth connection. The HomePod also has a hefty price tag especially when you consider the fact that Apple’s own HomePod Mini is available at a much more affordable price.

The HomePod Mini is jam-packed with many of the same features as its larger counterpart the Apple HomePod. The audio quality isn’t quite the same, but it’s a third of the size and a third of the price. As far as audio is concerned I thought it was noticeably better than Amazon’s smaller smart speakers. You also have access to Siri on the HomePod Mini, you can set timers, check your calendar or the weather, turn on Apple TV or turn off the lights in a room and more. The setup process is as simple as the HomePod, but you need an iOS device. You also have the option to choose from a wider range of colors including the traditional midnight and white as well as more attractive colors like blue, orange and yellow.

The HomePod is a great speaker with a caveat. You must ask yourself, am I okay with being stuck within the Apple ecosystem? If the answer is, no. Then you should look for Google or Amazon smart speakers, which work with Android devices. The HomePod does have a punchy sound and great microphones that can easily pick up on your voice. It’s a good smart speaker but with a very specific user in mind.

I am a commerce editor for NBC Select who writes and edits stories on various topics including tech, fitness, home and more. I used my years of commerce expertise and tech coverage for this article to review Apple’s HomePod smart speaker.

Catch up on NBC Select’s in-depth coverage of personal finance, tech and tools, wellness and more, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to stay up to date.

Jordan Bowman is a Commerce Editor at NBC Select.

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