1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:03,720 Speaker 1: I'm Rich Demiro and this is Rich on Tech Daily. 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Apple home Pod. This is Apple's 3 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:09,720 Speaker 1: smart speaker. And remember it was kind of delayed. It 4 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,160 Speaker 1: was supposed to be available in time for the holidays. 5 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: That did not happen, but it's now in stores today 6 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: for three hundred and fifty dollars. 7 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:18,239 Speaker 2: So the HomePod. 8 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: Looks and sounds fantastic. It has an amazing design that'll 9 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: fit into any room. The sound quality is really really good, 10 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: and of course Apple puts some magic in it, so 11 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: it will adjust automatically to sound best no matter where 12 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: you put it. So it has three hundred and sixty 13 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: degree sound and it somehow figures out how to make 14 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: that sound the best whether you put it in the 15 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,559 Speaker 1: middle of a room or against a wall. So what 16 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:44,839 Speaker 1: can it do well? First and foremost, this is a 17 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,559 Speaker 1: music player. This is kind of a iPod imagine with 18 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 1: a speaker built inside, but a really high quality speaker 19 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: and loaded with every song you could ever imagine, as 20 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: long as you have a subscription to Apple Music. 21 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 2: So you do have to. 22 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: Have that ten dollars month subscription to Apple Music. It 23 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: can also control smart home devices as long as they're 24 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:06,199 Speaker 1: working with Apple HomeKit, and you can do other things 25 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:10,399 Speaker 1: like ask it questions, general knowledge, sports scores, the weather, traffic, 26 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: and you can do some other things like send messages 27 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,120 Speaker 1: through your iPhone, and you can use it as a speakerphone. 28 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: Those two things do require your phone to be nearby. 29 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: For instance, with the speakerphone, you have to start the 30 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: call on your iPhone then transfer. 31 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 2: It to the HomePod. So how does this stack up 32 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 2: against the competition. 33 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: Well, I listened to the HomePod versus Google's home Max speaker, 34 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: the Sonos and the Echo, and I'd put them in 35 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: that order. I think the HomePod sounded best, then I 36 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: think Google Home Max sounded good, then Sonos, then Echo, 37 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: and I'd say Echo all the way kind of down 38 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: at the bottom several rows rungs under the Sonos. But again, 39 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: that's only one hundred bucks. HomePod is three fifty. So 40 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: you summon everything with Hey Siri. That's how it works, 41 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: just like on your iPhone, and you can do a 42 00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: lot of stuff like I mentioned earlier. But the thing 43 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: is when it comes to other music, if you want 44 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: to try to use this with Spotify or Pandora or 45 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: any of those services, it will not work. Natively and 46 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,360 Speaker 1: know there is no way to plug in an external input, 47 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: so you can't plug in a three point five millimeter 48 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: jack to get some other music or audio source into this. 49 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: The only thing coming out of this thing is a 50 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: plug on the back that you plug into the wall 51 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:22,960 Speaker 1: and that's it. Now you can use these other services 52 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: via Airplay, and I tested out Spotify that way. It 53 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: sounded amazing, but that is not an ideal setup for 54 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: a Wi Fi speaker. You do not want to have 55 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,920 Speaker 1: to be tethered to your iPhone or any phone the 56 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: entire time. 57 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 2: Well, I guess it would just be iPhone because you 58 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 2: can only use Airplay. 59 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: You cannot use Bluetooth to do the music, so you 60 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: don't want to be tethered. So I don't recommend this 61 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: speaker if you plan on using any service other than 62 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,679 Speaker 1: Apple Music. Setting up the HomePod was super easy, while 63 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:48,639 Speaker 1: at least in theory. 64 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 2: Once I got it to work, it was really easy. 65 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: But I did get some weird error message called sixty 66 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,079 Speaker 1: seven twenty two and I had to ask Apple what 67 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: does this mean? 68 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 2: And they immediately said. 69 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 1: Hey, do you have keychain enabled on your iPhone? Which 70 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: I didn't. That's the system that stores your passwords. I 71 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: didn't have that turned on, and you have the home 72 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: app working and I didn't. I deleted the home app 73 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: because I don't have any other home Kit devices right now, 74 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: so I had that deleted off my phone. One SI 75 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: installed home Kit. Once I enabled keychain, everything worked very fast. 76 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 2: You literally hold your phone next to the speaker. 77 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:21,919 Speaker 1: It comes to life with a little pop up box 78 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:23,799 Speaker 1: and it transfers all your settings and you're. 79 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 2: Good to go. 80 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:26,920 Speaker 1: Bottom line on the home Pod, you have to be 81 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: invested in the Apple ecosystem for this to be a 82 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,360 Speaker 1: good deal. You have to be interested in design and audio. 83 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: Those have to be your top two priorities. You will 84 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: definitely deliver on those things. The HomePod is amazing when 85 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: it comes to design and audio and fitting into the 86 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: Apple ecosystem, but you have to be able to overlook 87 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 1: the high price and the limited options of this device. 88 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: So there are other smart speakers out there that do 89 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: way more. I think if you're listening to the Echo 90 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: by itself, you're not going to think it has terrible 91 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: sound quality, and Sonos at this point I think is 92 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 1: really nice. I have those in a lot of my 93 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: rooms and I love it, But I feel like a 94 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: lot of these other speakers, like the Google Homes of 95 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: the world and the echoes, are just doing a lot better. 96 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 2: So there you have it. 97 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 1: Apple HomePod in stores today, comes in white or gray. 98 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: Three hundred and fifty dollars. Thanks so much for listening. 99 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:16,559 Speaker 1: You could see my full review at richontech dot TV. 100 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:18,599 Speaker 2: I'm Rich tomorrow, See you next time.