It’s a really powerful way to discover new music, and Alexa is nowhere near as good at it. In fact, this mini marvel won a What Hi-Fi? Award in 2022.Īfter a short period of learning, Siri will respond to the phrase “Hey Siri, play something I'll like” not by streaming your most played track of the last few weeks, but by playing something that you may have never listened to before but is a good fit for what you often do listen to. Get its swirling orb of coloured light up and running (when Siri is listening or processing) though, and you realise you've got a classy performer on your hands. In fact, it’s even dwarfed by the Echo Dot. At just 8.4cm tall and 9.8cm wide, it’s quite a bit smaller than the similarly spherical Amazon Echo. This will limit its appeal to those who aren’t Apple fans or fully ensconced in the iOS ecosystem, and who might prefer more platform-agnostic options like Sonos, or another alternative from this list. This is a minor annoyance as services like Tidal or BBC radio still don’t work with Siri. Its primary connection is locked to Apple’s AirPlay 2 tech, Apple Music is the only music streaming service natively supported and Siri is your only option for voice commands. The only real downside to the HomePod 2 is that it is very much designed for people embedded in Apple’s ecosystem. Testing the feature by moving it closer to a wall in our listening room, our reviewers could hear the HomePod 2 adjusting its sound in real-time. This includes a clever process where the speaker uses in-built sensors to optimise its sound settings for its position in the room.
The entire process only took us a few minutes. Paired with an iPhone all you have to do is scan for the speaker and run through a few on-screen commands to get it fully up and running and integrated with your smart home setup. The deep integration with Apple’s ecosystem also makes it blissfully easy to set up. The new HomePod has boundless energy its enthusiasm is infectious, its rhythmic drive always exciting and engaging. Really pushing it with SBTRKT’s Trials Of The Past in Apple Lossless quality, the speaker delivers equally precise audio and avoids falling victim to sibilance, which is a common issue we encounter playing the song on speakers this price. Listening to Apple Music’s Dolby Atmos version of The 1 by Taylor Swift, the vocals hold a wonderful clarity and warmth.
Our tests revealed it to be one of THE best sounding smart speakers you’ll find, with it blowing its closest rival, the Amazon Echo Studio, out of the water and offering a much more precise low end than the first generation HomePod. Though it looks a lot like its predecessor, under the hood it’s a completely different beast and a clear sonic step forward for the brand. It’s the pricier option in Apple’s current lineup, sitting well above the smaller HomePod Mini featured in this list, and a successor to the first generation HomePod we tested all the way back in 2018. The HomePod 2 is the latest speaker from big tech heavyweight Apple that we’ve reviewed.
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