WEBVTT - Apple HomePod Review

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Rich Demiro and this is Rich on Tech Daily.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's talk about the Apple home Pod. This is Apple's

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<v Speaker 1>smart speaker. And remember it was kind of delayed. It

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<v Speaker 1>was supposed to be available in time for the holidays.

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<v Speaker 1>That did not happen, but it's now in stores today

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<v Speaker 1>for three hundred and fifty dollars.

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<v Speaker 2>So the HomePod.

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<v Speaker 1>Looks and sounds fantastic. It has an amazing design that'll

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<v Speaker 1>fit into any room. The sound quality is really really good,

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<v Speaker 1>and of course Apple puts some magic in it, so

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<v Speaker 1>it will adjust automatically to sound best no matter where

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<v Speaker 1>you put it. So it has three hundred and sixty

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<v Speaker 1>degree sound and it somehow figures out how to make

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<v Speaker 1>that sound the best whether you put it in the

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<v Speaker 1>middle of a room or against a wall. So what

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<v Speaker 1>can it do well? First and foremost, this is a

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<v Speaker 1>music player. This is kind of a iPod imagine with

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<v Speaker 1>a speaker built inside, but a really high quality speaker

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<v Speaker 1>and loaded with every song you could ever imagine, as

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<v Speaker 1>long as you have a subscription to Apple Music.

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<v Speaker 2>So you do have to.

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<v Speaker 1>Have that ten dollars month subscription to Apple Music. It

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<v Speaker 1>can also control smart home devices as long as they're

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<v Speaker 1>working with Apple HomeKit, and you can do other things

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<v Speaker 1>like ask it questions, general knowledge, sports scores, the weather, traffic,

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<v Speaker 1>and you can do some other things like send messages

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<v Speaker 1>through your iPhone, and you can use it as a speakerphone.

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<v Speaker 1>Those two things do require your phone to be nearby.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, with the speakerphone, you have to start the

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<v Speaker 1>call on your iPhone then transfer.

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<v Speaker 2>It to the HomePod. So how does this stack up

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<v Speaker 2>against the competition.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, I listened to the HomePod versus Google's home Max speaker,

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<v Speaker 1>the Sonos and the Echo, and I'd put them in

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<v Speaker 1>that order. I think the HomePod sounded best, then I

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<v Speaker 1>think Google Home Max sounded good, then Sonos, then Echo,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'd say Echo all the way kind of down

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<v Speaker 1>at the bottom several rows rungs under the Sonos. But again,

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<v Speaker 1>that's only one hundred bucks. HomePod is three fifty. So

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<v Speaker 1>you summon everything with Hey Siri. That's how it works,

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<v Speaker 1>just like on your iPhone, and you can do a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of stuff like I mentioned earlier. But the thing

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<v Speaker 1>is when it comes to other music, if you want

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<v Speaker 1>to try to use this with Spotify or Pandora or

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<v Speaker 1>any of those services, it will not work. Natively and

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<v Speaker 1>know there is no way to plug in an external input,

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<v Speaker 1>so you can't plug in a three point five millimeter

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<v Speaker 1>jack to get some other music or audio source into this.

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<v Speaker 1>The only thing coming out of this thing is a

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<v Speaker 1>plug on the back that you plug into the wall

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<v Speaker 1>and that's it. Now you can use these other services

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<v Speaker 1>via Airplay, and I tested out Spotify that way. It

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<v Speaker 1>sounded amazing, but that is not an ideal setup for

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<v Speaker 1>a Wi Fi speaker. You do not want to have

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<v Speaker 1>to be tethered to your iPhone or any phone the

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<v Speaker 1>entire time.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I guess it would just be iPhone because you

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<v Speaker 2>can only use Airplay.

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<v Speaker 1>You cannot use Bluetooth to do the music, so you

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to be tethered. So I don't recommend this

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<v Speaker 1>speaker if you plan on using any service other than

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Music. Setting up the HomePod was super easy, while

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<v Speaker 1>at least in theory.

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<v Speaker 2>Once I got it to work, it was really easy.

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<v Speaker 1>But I did get some weird error message called sixty

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<v Speaker 1>seven twenty two and I had to ask Apple what

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<v Speaker 1>does this mean?

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<v Speaker 2>And they immediately said.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, do you have keychain enabled on your iPhone? Which

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't. That's the system that stores your passwords. I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't have that turned on, and you have the home

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<v Speaker 1>app working and I didn't. I deleted the home app

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<v Speaker 1>because I don't have any other home Kit devices right now,

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<v Speaker 1>so I had that deleted off my phone. One SI

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<v Speaker 1>installed home Kit. Once I enabled keychain, everything worked very fast.

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<v Speaker 2>You literally hold your phone next to the speaker.

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<v Speaker 1>It comes to life with a little pop up box

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<v Speaker 1>and it transfers all your settings and you're.

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<v Speaker 2>Good to go.

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<v Speaker 1>Bottom line on the home Pod, you have to be

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<v Speaker 1>invested in the Apple ecosystem for this to be a

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<v Speaker 1>good deal. You have to be interested in design and audio.

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<v Speaker 1>Those have to be your top two priorities. You will

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<v Speaker 1>definitely deliver on those things. The HomePod is amazing when

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<v Speaker 1>it comes to design and audio and fitting into the

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<v Speaker 1>Apple ecosystem, but you have to be able to overlook

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<v Speaker 1>the high price and the limited options of this device.

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<v Speaker 1>So there are other smart speakers out there that do

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<v Speaker 1>way more. I think if you're listening to the Echo

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<v Speaker 1>by itself, you're not going to think it has terrible

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<v Speaker 1>sound quality, and Sonos at this point I think is

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<v Speaker 1>really nice. I have those in a lot of my

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<v Speaker 1>rooms and I love it, But I feel like a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of these other speakers, like the Google Homes of

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<v Speaker 1>the world and the echoes, are just doing a lot better.

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<v Speaker 2>So there you have it.

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<v Speaker 1>Apple HomePod in stores today, comes in white or gray.

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<v Speaker 1>Three hundred and fifty dollars. Thanks so much for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>You could see my full review at richontech dot TV.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm Rich tomorrow, See you next time.