The HomePod is, by Apple’s own admission, a music speaker first and a smart assistant second. That’s fine, but it’s also not really a complete music speaker either – it’s a home Apple Music player for iPhone owners. That makes it very niche and restrictive compared to its rivals from Amazon, Google and Sonos. What it does better than any of those three, though, is muster incredible sound from one, very pretty speaker. It's better than a Sonos One (if not twice as good, as the price tag suggests) and it's in another league to the Echo and Home. Siri is also, if far from the best all-round home helper, the most knowledgeable and intelligent virtual music assistant around. That's not to say there aren't definite holes in the HomePod's armoury. Some of these, like recognising multiple voices and setting alarm radios, feel like simple software fixes. Others, like Siri's comparative lack of general knowledge, are just a fundamentally different approach to smart speakers and data. But what the HomePod does well, it does so well that it’s now the benchmark by which we’ll judge musical smart speakers.
Incredible sound quality for its size; Homely, minimalist design; Siri has impressive music smarts ; Works well as a HomeKit hub; Automatically adjusts sound to suit any room;
Voice control only works with Apple Music; No stereo pairing or multi-room support until 'later this year'; Can't yet recognise different voices; Beats 1 is the only radio station you can directly stream; Alexa and Google Assistant are still better all-round voice assistants;