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HomePod is evaluated for the first time, receives praise for its sound and has its most detailed operation

THE HomePod has not even started its pre-sale phase (which will happen tomorrow in the three countries that will first receive the product – USA, UK and Australia), but a lucky columnist has already put his hands on it for an hour and brought it to us your initial impressions.

Madeline Buxton, from the website Refinery29, ended the experience impressed with the sound quality of Apple’s first smart speaker and even had the courtesy to share with us some more details about how it works.

First, the journalist praises the look of the HomePod, citing how much smaller it is in person than it looks in photos (they are only 17.2 centimeters high) and praising its ability to simply disappear into the surroundings, transforming sound into a almost incorporeal experience.

Despite this, the sound that the small rounded cylinder produces is impressive, says the report. According to Buxton, the experience of listening to music on HomePod surely surpasses its main competitors, such as Google Home Max, the newest Amazon Echo and even Sonos One (which, we must not forget, comes from a manufacturer that was born with sound on DNA). The columnist says that the vocals are more crystal clear on the Apple speaker and no frequency is overlooked – the high notes of the guitar stand out, and the bass leaves nothing to be desired.

Here, it is interesting to take a brief detour from the story and, for those interested in the technical details of the parade, refer to this discussion on Reddit, in which audiophiles from around the world discuss the capabilities of HomePod and list features brought by the device that are basically unpublished in this category. For example, the feature that detects the configuration of the environment in which the speaker is located and configures the sound appropriately is found only in products that exceed the $ 85,000 mark (!), Such as Bang & Olufsen’s BeoLab 90 .

HomePod inside

Returning to the main subject: the report also praises the capacity of the HomePod microphones, stating that it is not necessary to shout or speak loudly for the device to understand the “Hey, Siri” – even on the opposite side of the room, the loudspeaker hears a sentence uttered in a normal tone, as in a quiet conversation. Buxton also says that Siri has been improved for the device, understanding more about music and always pronouncing everything correctly (I want to see when HomePod arrives here and she has to say “Katinguelê”).

Some criticisms were also reserved for the product, some of which are inherent in its own operation. The columnist laments the fact that only Apple Music subscribers will be able to take full advantage of HomePod’s intelligence, while users of other services will have to resort to streaming via AirPlay.

In addition, the Apple speaker is actually designed to have a single “owner”, while other users can use it only “collaterally”. That is, only the user whose account is used to activate the HomePod will have their notifications read aloud (which only happens when he is at home, it is good to note) and will be able to perform actions such as sending messages or setting reminders. The other residents of the house will be able to enjoy Apple Music, AirPlay, Siri and HomeKit, but they will not have this fully personalized experience.

As HomePod becomes available to more analyzers, of course, other opinions will emerge – so let’s wait to see if that praiseworthy initial impression will continue or if we will see dissenting voices about it. The next few weeks will be interesting to follow!

via MacStories