Smart Speaker Showdown: HomePod vs. Google Home Max vs. Sonos One

[gijoeinla]

How many times are we gonna rehash this?

Agreed.

Talk about beating a....

I’ll repeat what I’ve shared on other threads in this topic. Personally I do not — I do not want to own a Google / Amazon device that is listening in on my family 24 hrs a day. I don’t want a “assistant” to speak into day and night.

Most importantly my life just isn’t that complicated that I need Google anal-yizing my families dialogue and doing who knows what with.

To me.. to me PRIVACY is PARAMOUNT to my families life. Boundaries are critical. The fact that many here are obsessed with the assistant aspect of these devices frankly is — scary.

I’m completely conscious that SIRI is limited because it is not mining my information to sell to any bad actor out there.

If you aren’t aware of the reasons for Apple and it’s privacy policies I suggest you read them very carefully then read Googles and Amazons then - then decide if you even belong on this platform or this forum even — if Siri’s limitations across ALL Apple devices just don’t work for you.

Earth to many of you — that just isn’t gonna change drastically at Apple in the foreseeable future.

 

[G5isAlive]

I have decided to return my homepod. This morning I was taking a shower, and I asked Siri for the weather report. Got nothing. Nada. Totally ignored. And its supposed to have good microphones! Okay, so I was whispering, the water was on high, the bathroom door was shut, and my bedroom, where Siri sits, not leaving a mark, was down the hall and around the corner with it's door shut. But still. Total piece of junk.

 

[err404]

Music services have significant lock-in no matter which device you own. Google’s speaker won’t play Amazon Music or Apple Music. Amazon’s speaker won’t play Google Music or Apple Music. And Apple’s speaker won’t play Google Music or Amazon Music.
Sure the HomePod is the most restrictive, but the fact remains that there is no music service that works with all three.

 

[darkpaw]

I don't get why HomePod/iOS is so clever as to hand off ALL queries to the HomePod, and then fails to answer them?

My iPhone is in my hand, and I'm in the same room as a HomePod. I say, "Hey Siri, what's the fastest car in the world?" My iPhone lights up briefly, then the HomePod says it can't answer on HomePod.

How am I supposed to get any meaningful answers when I'm in the same room as my HomePod? Must I stop using "Hey Siri" and instead hold down the button?

 

[WarHeadz]

I never listen to music while at home so I’m not really in the market for these.

Same here, I'm actually amazed at the amount of people who listen to music at home. I never realized it was a norm.

 

[Rogifan]

Poor Apple... too little, too late. Maybe that should be their new tagline.

Too little to late for what?

 

[Jaylay14]

Music services have significant lock-in no matter which device you own. Google’s speaker won’t play Amazon Music or Apple Music. Amazon’s speaker won’t play Google Music or Apple Music. And Apple’s speaker won’t play Google Music or Amazon Music.
Sure the HomePod is the most restrictive, but the fact remains that there is no music service that works with all three.

That's the main reason why I went the Sonos route. Within the sonos app you can add quite a few different music streaming services. I have my apple music account added to mine for instance.

 

[44267547]

I have decided to return my homepod. This morning I was taking a shower, and I asked Siri for the weather report. Got nothing. Nada. Totally ignored. And its supposed to have good microphones!

Jokes aside, Actually I think the microphone is very sensitive and accurate On picking up your voice with the HomePod, it’s Siri that’s not always on par with producing the results you are asking of it. But I don’t have any general complaints.

 

[Ryan0751]

I've got some Sonos One's. In my opinion, the Sonos App and experience are what make the system. I can start some music playing on my laptop using the controller app there, then if I'm walking around the house I can open the App on my iPhone and it just picks up and shows me what is playing completely seamlessly.

Plus the Sonos works with their other products. I was so impressed with the Sonos "experience", I added in a Connect to my home theater system.

The whole house audio capability of Sonos is amazing. I can play from all my Sonos devices for whole house audio, and it's synchronized with no latency.

Plus Sonos already integrates with like every music provider out there!

Seems these reviews only talk about subjective sound quality, use of the digital assistants, and some basic integration. But they are leaving out a whole bunch of other stuff that Sonos has had for years and years...

 

[jwhitnah]

Yes, exactly! All the accountants in charge of the massive revenue stream and huge cash hoard are always saying "too little!" Not.

They are not earning that cash from HomePod, their wireless ear buds, or their apple watch. Most of it is coming from iPhone.

 

[69Mustang]

Agreed.

Talk about beating a....

I’ll repeat what I’ve shared on other threads in this topic. Personally I do not — I do not want to own a Google / Amazon device that is listening in on my family 24 hrs a day. I don’t want a “assistant” to speak into day and night.

Most importantly my life just isn’t that complicated that I need Google anal-yizing my families dialogue and doing who knows what with.

To me.. to me PRIVACY is PARAMOUNT to my families life. Boundaries are critical. The fact that many here are obsessed with the assistant aspect of these devices frankly is — scary.

I’m completely conscious that SIRI is limited because it is not mining my information to sell to any bad actor out there.

If you aren’t aware of the reasons for Apple and it’s privacy policies I suggest you read them very carefully then read Googles and Amazons then - then decide if you even belong on this platform or this forum even — if Siri’s limitations across ALL Apple devices just don’t work for you.

Earth to many of you — that just isn’t gonna change drastically at Apple in the foreseeable future.

It's a speaker. You're a bit too amped over a speaker.

 

[digitalexplr]

Junk it is not. And Actually I think the microphone is very sensitive an accurate On picking up your voice with the HomePod, it’s Siri that’s not always on par with producing the results you are asking of it. Two different things.

Don't really get sarcasm do you?

 

[Boatboy24]

I went ahead and picked up a HP on Friday to try it out. I was pretty sure I wouldn't want one, based on what I heard in the store, but I wanted to give it an honest tryout in my home. The sound is most definitely optimized for Apple Music. Playing the same music via AirPlay from Pandora or even iTunes did not produce near the same quality. I signed up for an Apple Music trial to try it out. Siri is very responsive, even when playing music at fairly high volume. I don't have any HomeKit enabled devices yet, so I couldn't try that out. On Sunday, I was at my parents' house and was able to test out Dad's setup of a few Sonos Ones. While the sound isn't in the same ballpark, it's 'plenty good enough' for most uses. Alexa was pretty good, but I (and my kids) found we had to raise our voices a bit. For me, I'd love to eventually have multi-room capability, but at $350 a pop for HomePod, I'm not sure it's worth it (for me). Would love if Apple came out with a 'Dot' version.

 

[steve knight]

Music services have significant lock-in no matter which device you own. Google’s speaker won’t play Amazon Music or Apple Music. Amazon’s speaker won’t play Google Music or Apple Music. And Apple’s speaker won’t play Google Music or Amazon Music.
Sure the HomePod is the most restrictive, but the fact remains that there is no music service that works with all three.

well sonos does and much more. when it gets airplay it will support pretty much everything.

 

[CarpalMac]

I would recommend the "What HIFI" review for people who care about the audio part, as reviewers there are used to listening to high quality audio equipment (being used to what good audio sounds like makes a difference in judging audio equipment just like when you have heard a real good violin or piano, you know better how to judge other violins or pianos you play on or hear).

True the listen to a lot of high end equipment, but then they are also the ones that stated that a £400 HDMI cable gave "a richness to colours" that apparently a £40 HDMI cable did not.

I liken the What Hi-Fi lot to taxi cab drivers. As people who drive all day, almost every day, cabbies must be awesome drivers. Except...

 

[StevieD100]

Agreed.
I do not want to own a Google / Amazon device that is listening in on my family 24 hrs a day.
I don’t want a “assistant” to speak into day and night.

Most importantly my life just isn’t that complicated that I need Google anal-yizing my families dialogue and doing who knows what with.

To me.. to me PRIVACY is PARAMOUNT to my families life. Boundaries are critical. The fact that many here are obsessed with the assistant aspect of these devices frankly is — scary.
.

I wish I could give you a 1000 upvotes. Far too many people these days don't care about how much of their life they 'give away' to any tom, dick or harry aka Google and Amazon and Facebook and everyone else.
There will come a time when the WW2 saying 'Careless Talk Costs Lives' will become very apt again. Keep your private life 'private'.

 

[thenewyorkgod]

Wait - I can only play music from my phone to home pod, when its playing through Apple Music?

 

[Macalway]

I won't be 'trivial pursuit' when people leave stupid Siri in droves to the competition.

 

[WannaGoMac]

If I were in market for a small speaker I would get the Sonos One. It is smaller than the others, very flexible, and much cheaper. None of these are in the league of a real stereo system, so spending 2x the price for sound that is NOT 2x the quality of the Sonos is not worth it to me. Additionally the Sonos is the most flexible of all 3

 

[Mac 128]

It seems to me that Siri came long before the other two assistants. You’d think by this point it would be way ahead, but it’s way behind. I’m guessing Apple is aware of this and that’s the reason it’s being marketed primarily as a music speaker.

I saw this exact comparison on the Good Day LA morning news program, and Siri's functionality was a complete embarrassment for the Home Pod. Barely responded to either of the two people interacting with them, meanwhile Both the Sonos, Google and Amazon were perfect.

 

[citysnaps]

Wait - I can only play music from my phone to home pod, when its playing through Apple Music?

From your iPhone, go to Control Center and select HomePod for audio output.

From your Mac, simply click on the speaker icon in the menu bar and HomePod will show up as one of your sound output choices in a drop-down list.

 

[Mike MA]

Poor Apple... too little, too late. Maybe that should be their new tagline.

The truth is that nearly all Apple products were not the first one of their kinds, but the most successful ones by now. Apple Watch is the latest example.

 

[Aston441]

I won't be 'trivial pursuit' when people leave stupid Siri in droves to the competition.

They already have. HomePod is a niche.

 

[fluamsler]

I've got some Sonos One's. In my opinion, the Sonos App and experience are what make the system.

Plus Sonos already integrates with like every music provider out there!

I Agree.
Even if I don't own any smart speaker I think the integration of many important music streaming services into their eco system is a big plus of Sonos.
But if you own a high quality stereo system you don't set up again a bunch of Sonos speakers. It takes up too much space and is expensive.

To me Sonos One, Apple HomePod and Google Home Max are good speakers for sure. But if you listen occasionally to other sources like Vinyl records you better buy some old school speakers, a good amp and a connector for audio Streaming (compatible to AirPlay or Google Cast).

 

[seventhedition]

I don’t really see how it’s fair to compare the Sonos One and the Google Home Max in the sound quality category. Should be comparing the Max to the Sonos Play 5 (which I’m willing to bet will blow the max out of the water)