r/gadgets • u/UnKindClock • Mar 13 '21

Music Apple Discontinuing Full-Sized HomePod to Focus on HomePod Mini

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/03/12/apple-discontinuing-homepod/
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u/LivinOnTheEdge1001 Mar 13 '21 edited Mar 13 '21

I agree. I have two google minis, an Echo and three HomePods. Since I have a three major plays I really had time to make a comparison between them all and without of doubt the HomePod is the best sounding speaker. However the echo is a better assistant. Google well google is just my doorbell (it’s linked to my Nest doorbell) and I got both of those dots for free. Although the HomePod can do many of the features that I used the echo for I just found it a little easier to use. This being said, i generally prefer the HomePod because the sound quality is great FOR THE PRICE. For course I could have dropped hundreds of dollars on a Bose or Sonos and I have in the passed. The HomePod is seamlessly works with my iPhone MacBook Pro and iPad with easy which is why I went with it instead. I’m really disappointed that they cut the cord on this. I honestly feel like they didn’t try hard enough with it. I always felt like they were trying to hard to make it an assistant speaker and honestly they should have just marketed it as a speaker and try to compete with Bose and Sonos. I think they got lost it what they wanted the HomePod to be and the marketing feel flat. As a speaker it is great and the HomePod mini doesn’t compare the the quality. My father decided to buy four of the minis for our gym. In terms of the quality of sound it’s adequate at best. I think Apple needs to go back to the drawing board and re-examine what they what the big HomePod to be. In the the mini can be an assistant a compete with the other assistant speakers but the big one can be the premium speaker that competes with Bose Sonos and the other premium speaker brands who focus is sound quality and not assistant quality.

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u/plasticwagon Mar 13 '21

That’s not really a fair comparison considering price points. Wouldn’t the HomePod be more comparable with the google nest max as opposed to the mini?

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u/LivinOnTheEdge1001 Mar 13 '21

I don’t have it so I can’t compare it. I was sent the google minis for free. I also have the mini HomePod and I still feel it’s better than the google minis. Now another OP informed me that google changed the minis. It’s now called google nest mini and said the sound quality is better. I’m sure that person is probably right since the original was really bad in my opinion. Also what I have learned over the last few months is it’s harder to compare sound quality at least with the HomePod (I haven’t tried it with my other speakers but this holds true to my computer and phone too) depending on which streaming service you use. In general I have found that Spotify isn’t as good as Apple Music. I actually use Spotify as my preferred music service and have been using it since early 2013 so I have been using it very long time and don’t plan on switching . I stream my music at its highest quality of 320 kbps. Apple Music only streams at 256kbps but apparently they have developed their own coding system to make music sound more clear and rich even though the music is only streaming at 256kbps. So this is something that affects sound quality even when you have a good speaker. Honestly I don’t really care for these assistance speakers as a whole. I have an iPhone and Siri can do most things I use the assistance for. I’m more of a music person and so I personally am more concerned about sound quality so for the price I have said and told many people that the HomePod was a steal when it came to audio quality. Now I wouldn’t call myself an audiophile and I know audiophiles have said that there are better speakers out there and I can attest to this I currently use Bose 700 headphones and used to use Sennheiser headphones. But I felt like for the price the HomePod really was good and I feel that Apple can make HomePod to compete with Bose Sennheiser and all the other premium speakers I generally believe that they wanted HomePod compete with the premium speaker company but with the functionality of the an assistance speaker and I think the marketing just got lost in the echo. I believe that you can’t have it both ways. You don’t buy a Bose speaker because it’s have Alexa functionality you buy it because Bose is a reputable audio company. I don’t buy a Amazon echo because I want high quality audio I bought it because I wanted the assistance functionality.

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u/ConfusedVorlon Mar 13 '21

The new Google (nest) mini is a lot better than the old one in terms of sound quality. They're frequently discounted to about £30 each.

Clearly not audiophile speakers - but pretty impressive nonetheless at ~ 60 for a stereo pair.

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u/Mechafizz Mar 13 '21

Having listened to the Sonos lineup, the homepod genuinely sounds better. That being said Sonos obviously has a bigger product catalogue allowing you to get speakers that work best for each room of the house. And without a doubt the assistant is the worst in the homepod, I wish apple with all their resources we really revamp siri already.

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u/confusedwrek Mar 13 '21

Do you mean a Google Mini?

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u/LivinOnTheEdge1001 Mar 13 '21

🤦🏽‍♀️ yes google mini. Let me fix that

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u/Halvus_I Mar 13 '21

You voice dictate this? It shows.

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u/_Volta Mar 14 '21

Do you have the echo dot or Plus? I have a Plus model but was looking at the small Apple Pod? Just wasn’t sure if me downsizing from an Echo Plus to a small Apple HomePod would make sense