Admittedly, I am all in with Apple. I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max, an Apple TV 4K (2022), a Mac Studio, a 3rd-gen iPad Pro, and a Studio Display. I have five Alexa speakers spread across my house, but never bothered with the HomePod speaker, until now. I recently purchased the HomePod 2 in white from Apple and received it on the day of its release. I have it in my bedroom right now, where sound is absent. This is a high-end speaker; the main reason I chose it is its support for Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio.
Setting up the HomePod 2 was extremely easy; it paired with the Apple Home app, which I had previously uninstalled, but I needed to reinstall it for it to work. It does not pair with Bluetooth or any other devices, which is refreshing. I often use Apple Music for my day-to-day needs, but I also use Spotify and Audible audiobooks, which I can easily transfer to the HomePod 2 instead of using my phone’s speakers. The audio quality is excellent; however, I don’t use the whole Siri voice assistant feature. The only reason I use Alexa is to control all of the lights in my condo.
The HomePod 2 has a few tricks up its sleeve. You can purchase two of them, and the software will convert them to stereo, providing better sound quality when watching videos on Apple TV. This is somewhat of a moot point for me, as I have a Sonos Arc soundbar, a bass speaker, and two smaller Sonos speakers, which provide superior 5.1 surround sound for my living room setup. My home office is where I spend the majority of my time. I have the Edifier S350DB bookshelf speakers, which include two speakers and a subwoofer. It doesn’t support many of the Dolby audio features, but I find that for my needs, the power of these speakers is good. They also look stunning. However, I am the type of person who needs things to be quiet when I am researching story ideas for Good e-Reader or writing.
Why did I spend $399 Canadian on the Apple HomePod 2? Primarily, I wanted something that would integrate well with my existing Apple products, such as my iPad, which is always in my room. However, so far, I am just using Apple Music to play on the speaker. Currently, I am using Apple Music One and some Friday night DJ mixes; I find the audio to be stellar. Alexa has the most support for companies that need voice controls, but Alexa speakers don’t sound that great, no matter how much you spend on them. I have found that Alexa is primarily designed for voice controls, rather than focusing on the overall audio quality.
It does have support for Scenes that you can set up. Some of the defaults allow you to automatically turn the music off when you are leaving and outside of the WIFI area, which is nice. It also features a humidity sensor, and when you click on it, it will display the current percentage. Mine is currently 35%, the side effect of living in Vancouver, which is a rainforest. It also shows the current temperature. If you have multiple HomePods, you can use the intercom feature to talk to people in other rooms. I live by myself, so this feature isn’t for me!
Apple Home Pod 2023
$399.99Pros
- Dolby Atmos
- Spacial Audio
- Podcast automatically lower bass
- Shuts off if your outside WIFI zone
Cons
- People say it leaves a mark on wood
- Need to have iOS devices
- Expensive
- Not for everyone
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.