Apple HomePod vs Sonos vs Amazon Echo at WWDC Hands-On Area

Apple offered a sneak peak at its smart home speaker, called HomePod, during their WWDC keynote yesterday.

The media got a chance to take a look at the device in a hands-on area after the presentation, however, due to a very loud environment we didn’t get a true indication of how the device sounds. A few people were lucky enough to get a dedicated hands-on session with the device last night.

The Verge said that the HomePod delivered audio that manages to outperform any other smart speaker of this size.

“It starts with the subwoofer, which delivers bass that doesn’t quite hit you in the chest but does manage to put other smart speakers like the Echo or Google Home to shame.

Regardless, the takeaway here is that when it comes to smart speakers, the HomePod is likely to be head and shoulders above its direct competitors.”

Business Insider also got a hands-on with the HomePod and here’s what they have to say:

So, if audio is so important to the HomePod — and will justify that whopping $349 price tag — how does it really sound?

The answer?

Really good.

Jason Snell from SixColors also has a hands-on with the HomePod. Snell said that the HomePod’s sound was quite good, with a powerful bass and great treble clarity. He said:

In general, I found the HomePod to sound quite good, with a powerful bass and great clarity in the treble. However, in a few cases—Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” was the one that really struck me—I felt that the Sonos Play:3 more accurately reproduced the feel of the track, while the (extremely early, pre-release version of the) HomePod’s clever audio processing technology spread the bass and vocals out so much that it didn’t sound right anymore.

Of course, with the HomePod half a year away from shipping, there’s probably a lot of software tweaking yet to be done in terms of audio processing.

Bloomberg Technology got an exclusive interview with Tim Cook, who reiterated that the HomePod was built with an audio-first mentality. You can watch the interview below:

YouTube video

Apple has always had a passion for music and the HomePod definitely showcases that. The smart speaker also comes at a premium price over its competition, which is pretty common for Apple products.

P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.