Apple HomePod review: This stylish iSpeaker puts sound before smarts

Apple has taken a while getting its audio game together, but with Beats acquired and Apple Music successfully rebooted, the HomePod has now arrived with great fanfare to complete the iPhone and iPad firm's home-audio package.

Going up against not just Google Home and Amazon Echo in the voice-assistants smart space, HomePod is also gunning for Sonos in the connected speaker arena. Can it succeed successfully on both fronts? Digital Spy has had one in the wild for a while to find out.

Apple HomePod: What does it look like?

Apple's audio alliance with Harmon Kardon was formative for many and it's hard not to think back to the Jellyfish's iconic central amp when you first clock the HomePod. There's a clear design line there – also reminiscent of the 'Darth Vader helmet' Mac Pro tower, the HomePod is a classic Apple creation.

It's also surprisingly small – it's been hard to grasp its size in the pre-release, close-crop advertising, but if it resembles a Mac Pro in looks, it doesn't in scale – just 17x14cm compared to the 25x17cm desktop.

In white and space grey (read: black) colourways, HomePod is also made from mesh fabric (with matching cable), which not only skirts over the textbook fingerprint problem, making it look super sharp, but also aids the acoustics to boost the audio.

All in all, it's the nicest looking smart speaker we've seen. It's small, svelte and, as you'll find out, packs a serious punch.

Apple HomePod: How do you set it up?

HomePod is not just a speaker you throw music to, it's a device in its own right. Once you sync it with your iPhone or iPad – just stand near it and it will do this all for you providing you're on the same Wi-Fi network – you're up and running, with it pulling your iCloud, Apple Music, connected devices, Siri preferences and other settings from your account.

And that's it, really. Much like iPhones, it's an absolute doddle to set up. The only actual controls are volume up and down and a Siri button, that appear on the top of the unit, but everything is meant to be done through voice search.

There isn't even a HomePod app, it sits rather unobtrusively in the Apple Home app as a connected device, and there's not much direct functionality to it other than being able to automate times and contextual uses around your home.

Apple HomePod: What does it sound like?

This is the HomePod's main selling point, as you would hope from a speaker – it sounds really good. Like, REALLY good. Apple put on a Pepsi challenge in an early demo that pitted it against a Sonos Play 1, an Allure number and Amazon's Echo (slightly unfair that one), and it blew them all out of the water. Yes, even the Sonos.

At home, it's even more pronounced. The clarity is quite something and the bass particularly impressive, with no noticeable degradation at high volumes, and maintaining depth at low ones. There are seven tweeters around the cylinder's ring, each with their own driver, while the upward-firing woofer inverses the typical audio alignment to great effect.

The HomePod is able to react dynamically to its surroundings, the curved audio output of its chassis producing noticeably consistent 360-degree sound, meaning top quality sound whatever chair in the room you choose.

Most of us, though, don't sit around our speakers like they're at an altar, instead sticking them in the corner of the room, so the HomePod has some other clever tricks, with sensors analysing the walls and overhangs to best aim the noise at you.

Apple HomePod: What features does it have?

Powered by the A8 chip found in many an iPhone or iPad, there's plenty of oomph onboard the HomePod, with a hell of a lot of potential, from the expected audio jukebox to Back to the Future 2-style connected home hub, controlling everything from your cooker to your curtains.

As ever with Apple products, the more integrated into the Apple ecosystem, and how deep you go with its third-party accessories line, the more you'll get out of it. But if you are fully Appled up, have Philips Hue lights, Nest thermostats or a particularly nice Wi-Fi kettle, they can all be controlled with a shout at the HomePod. And it's really cool.

You can get basic news alerts, weather updates, travel info and the usual smart-assistant fare just by saying 'Hey Siri' and asking, too. However, this is where HomePod feels a little like a work in progress.

While it's billed as a smart speaker, with it relying so much on vocal commands, and with no physical app, what you can and can't do is often a case of trial and error – so you can play Desert Island Discs podcast through it, but you can't play audiobooks; you can order a pizza, but not a cab.

While this can be a fun dance to start with, the lack of visibility on what is and isn't available to choose, plus the lack of flexibility in understanding, can often make you err on the side of not asking after a while, or even occasionally idling messing up the basics.

"Hey Siri, off"

"Off is an American hardcore punk supergroup, formed in Los Angeles in 2009"

That said, despite the expected misunderstanding from time to time, we certainly had something of a Siri epiphany with the HomePod. Despite their prevalence, voice assistants have not generally been something we can get down with on a smartphone that you have in your hands – currently, on any system, they are rarely good enough to get detailed responses, and the responses it does give are so general, you may as well have searched for it yourself in the time it takes.

On HomePod, the in-the-background, communal nature of it makes it far more of a natural use case. A quick 'Hey Siri' alerts the HomePod to you, and then a request of 'Will it rain today?', 'turn the lights down' or 'play Radiohead' can be fired off, probably in quick succession. If it brings up the wrong version of a song, a quick 'play the other one' will usually sort it out.

Soon, evening get-togethers turn into open-mic tune request nights, while hands-free song selection is great for newborn entertaining. HomePod semi-mutes on hearing 'Hey Siri' to pick up your requests, while you can output your Apple TV audio to it if your TV setup is a bit duff.

While you can AirPlay your tunes to HomePod, it very much encourages itself to be used as an audio jukebox that you talk at, so Siri is your primary interface, which has some real benefits, particular as a new parent. Hands-free control is instantly a multi-task master, while asking for 'children's songs' takes you to Disney radio. It's sometimes cleverer than you are.

Apple HomePod: What are the problems with it?

Well, let's get it out the way: it's expensive, but that's Apple's 'doesn't it look sexy and sound sexy and damn you want it' tax. Reality check: you can get two Sonos Play:1s for the same price, AND you can chain them together to create stereo or multi-room audio, which is something that is coming to HomePod in an update later this year but isn't here yet.

Also if you're not already an Apple product user, you can rule this out off the bat. You need an iPhone or iPad to even set it up, and if you can't really get the best out of it if you're not an Apple Music subscriber either. Sure, you can use Spotify and other third-party apps, as long as they support Apple's proprietary AirPlay connection, but there's no Bluetooth and only Apple Music works with Siri voice control.

Similarly, if you're not much of an Apple-approved 'connected home' nut, you'll struggle to find things to ask Siri to do around your house other than to play you music. Siri itself can still be hit and miss when it comes to specifics, too, with: "I cannot find that on HomePod or in your Apple Music library" a slightly too familiar refrain.

Oh, and it would be remiss to not mention that, while we didn't experience any issues ourselves with the distinct lack of wood surfaces in our house, Apple has acknowledged that the HomePod can mark certain woods with its audio output.

This is to be considered on a case by case basis as its effects will differ for everyone, and we look forward to the official Apple HomePod Mat as a workaround.

Apple HomePod: How much does it cost?

Apple HomePod is available now from £319. Buy now from John Lewis.

Apple HomePod: The Verdict

The HomePod is a great-looking, brilliant-sounding, easy-to-control smart speaker that will fit naturally, both stylistically and functionally, in any Apple fan's tech collection. For those who have held off a smart speaker based on them looking cheap and plasticky, your time has come. If your home is full of connected smart gadgets, too, your Jetsons future may have arrived.

Sure, against smart speaker rivals like Google Home (£129) and Amazon Echo (£90), the HomePod looks epically expensive, but this is a speaker first, with smart functionality second. The sound that comes out of Apple's device can hold its own against proper pro audio, it's that good (taking up very little space in the process), and the whole 'oral jukebox' vibe really doesn't get old. It's a cracking piece of kit when it's on song.

That said, while it wins on music, the HomePod isn't a complete home run. Non-Apple users have no business here, the wood-marking gaffe will certainly rule out others, while the lack of Bluetooth or connectivity beyond Airplay also limit its flexibility and the voice-assistant options seem less extensive and well-refined currently than Amazon's Alexa.

The HomePod was supposed to come out in 2017 and we can't help but think it was software issues that held it back. An Apple demo earlier in the year showcased the device's incredible sound but had quite a few functionality snags that have since been ironed out, and we expect this to continue in incremental updates – with stereo and multi-unit setups already confirmed to be on their way.

As ever with a first-generation product, it feels like you're in early here – for better and worse. But then that is technology in the age of software updates and ongoing live services rather than fully formed products out of the box. The HomePod is sure to get better, not worse, but right now for the right person, it's very good already.

Photography and styling by Emma Kay

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