Apple HomePod second generation (2023) review: more reasonable design, more complete functions, more attractive price- Engadget 中文版

In 2018, Apple entered the smart speaker market with the first-generation HomePod, and it debuted with its high-quality sound. Major hardware products that promote streaming music. But as 2023 is the first year of Matter, after the unified smart home agreement is finally launched on the market, Apple officially brings the second-generation HomePod, so that everyone can have a more presentable and complete choice of smart speakers when adding a home hub. .

exterior design

The second-generation HomePod follows the cylindrical shape of the previous generation and is covered with a ribbed fabric material. At first glance, there is no difference. However, the height of HomePod 2 is slightly reduced by 4cm. At the same time, the small screen on the zenith also refers to the large window design of HomePod Mini. When Siri is used, a larger area will be lit. But the most important change is that the HomePod 2 power cord has been changed to a detachable design! In this way, it will be easier for the wires to pass through the wire holes of TV cabinets, shelves, etc., especially the British three-pin power plug used in Hong Kong takes up more space, if there is a space reserved for wiring Insufficient is very troublesome.

Of course, compared to the flat and long soundbar, HomePod 2 still has a certain height, and the sense of presence next to the TV is still obvious. Fortunately, the TV in my home is hung relatively high, and the HomePod 2 is slightly shorter to avoid blocking the screen, and the WiFi 6 router next to it is taller than it, which is nothing compared to it. As for the size of the HomePod Mini, it is indeed smaller, but for the purpose of watching TV dramas, its bass performance is still slightly inferior.

Specification advance and retreat

The specifications of the HomePod 2 have advanced and retreated. In the audio part, the tweeter and the far-field microphone have been reduced by two groups, to 5 groups and 4 groups, but the 4-inch long-stroke woofer has been retained. The processing part is replaced with the same S7 chip as the HomePod Mini, which adds UWB ultra-wideband positioning capabilities and supports Thread, but the Wi-Fi specification is regressed to Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n).

Although the wireless transmission specification is reversed, HomePod 2 still supports a variety of spatial audio formats, including Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital 7.1 / 5.1 when used in pairs, and the visible bandwidth is still sufficient, but this first requires the user to have an eARC connection at home to the TV’s Apple TV 4K.

The addition of UWB is to allow iPhone users to easily transfer the music played on the phone to the HomePod, just like the HomePod Mini. This function seems simple, but it is one of the most frequently used functions by the editor. Every time I go home, I lean the iPhone towards the HomePod Mini to let the music be played on the speaker instead of the AirPods Pro. Now of course it is on the HomePod up.

It is a pity that Apple has added the Thread protocol and Matter standard for smart home. The editor has not yet obtained the relevant new accessories. I hope that when manufacturers such as Nanoleaf, IKEA, and Arlo launch new products in Hong Kong in the future, they can Please contact me for help.

However, you can already see the newly added home temperature and humidity information in the Apple home app, which shows that the built-in temperature and humidity gauges of HomePod 2 have been opened for use. HomePod Mini users will also be able to unlock the same after updating the firmware version. Features. Users can use this new condition to set up automatic operations. For example, when the temperature or humidity in the home reaches a certain level, a certain action will be triggered, such as turning on the air conditioner or fan. This allows the smart home to interact more with the environment, and saves the need for a dedicated internet-connected temperature and humidity meter.

Experience

This time, the editor borrowed a pair of midnight dark versions. As mentioned earlier, after the height of the HomePod 2 is slightly reduced, it is just under the hanging TV, which is a fateful coincidence. I also have a HomePod Mini myself, and I have a certain sense of familiarity with the new HomePod 2, because the touch panel on the zenith is the same.

HomePod 2 is also a fully wireless design, so it only needs to be placed near the power outlet when installing, and this time it is a detachable power cord, so the wiring is easier. A pair of HomePods is equivalent to occupying two power outlets, which is worse for the number of power outlets that I will never have enough to use, but this is a personal problem, and readers may not face it.

There are no requirements for placing HomePod 2. It is not like looking for an “emperor seat” like a general audio combination. Even when placing a pair, it does not say that it must be absolutely symmetrical, and it can be placed on the TV cabinet appropriately. iPhones upgraded to iOS 16.3 will automatically pair when powered on. After adding the first HomePod to the Apple home, when processing the second one, the system will automatically ask you if you want to pair the HomePod combination with a stereo channel, and if so, choose left or right.

After running through the fully automated process, HomePod 2 was officially added to my Apple home. At this time, if you turn on the Apple TV 4K, there is a reminder that you can use the HDMI eARC method to make the HomePod work as a TV speaker. This problem is also the biggest question many people have about this speaker, that is, how can HomePod be used besides playing audio from Apple products?

How to set it as a TV speaker?

After connecting the Apple TV 4K through the HDMI eARC return channel, in the “Audio Output” setting, you can turn on the “Play TV Audio” function. In the future, even if your TV is in different source modes such as Google TV and public antenna signals, you can use HomePod to emit sound.

Although today’s TVs all claim to have a built-in speaker with a certain power, the sound quality is often very thin, and the bass cannot be forced. This is why the rise of the soundbar has been created, but many of them will use a separate bass unit to form a 1 + 1 The combination. It’s just that for Hong Kong dwellers, of course, the integrated soundbar can save more space, and in recent years, there are also models that support Dolby Atmos panoramic sound. However, because of the congenital defect of insufficient space in the long strip body, most of them only focus on the high-frequency and mid-frequency units. The size of the woofer is limited, so the effect is still not obvious enough. Therefore, compared with the same stand-alone setup, the HomePod 2 with a long-throw subwoofer naturally has a deeper low frequency.

Compared with the soundbar experience?

Although HomePod did not say that it was born for TV, but the editor replaced the original soundbar to experience its effect this time, and found that the sound pressure of a HomePod is enough for a small living room in Hong Kong, and it has a good sense of hierarchy. , with the new price of HK$2,299, it is better than many entry-level soundbars of the same price. Of course, this requires you to have an Apple TV 4K starting at HK$1,049.

In fact, Apple TV 4K is also a prerequisite for getting HomePod, because if HomePod is used alone, there are quite a lot of usage restrictions. For example, it only supports Apple products to broadcast audio wirelessly through AirPlay 2, and does not have Bluetooth/Chromecast like other competing products. It’s very pitiful for a friend with an Android device to be a guest at home. After the Apple TV 4K is connected to a Chromecast-compatible TV, it can be used as a pre-decoder for the HomePod, thereby connecting to more devices of different camps.

If you have a little more budget, you can buy two HomePod 2, that is, pay HK$4,598, which is roughly equivalent to some mid-range soundbars, such as Sonos Beam 2, Sony HT-A3000 and the like. In terms of specifications, two HomePod 2s have 10+2 units. At the same time, the sound localization and low-frequency shock are more obvious under the stereo combination. It is playing Apple TV+, Disney+ and Netflix movies, and even Apple Music’s Dolby Atmos music There will be a clearer and refreshing spatial sound effect, and not only the audience sitting in the “emperor’s seat” can enjoy it, but like a movie theater, the whole room can have a similar experience (it may also be that the house is too small).

For music/video lovers who pursue further, HomePod should not enter their field of vision, because HomePod 2 can only use up to 2 speakers to form stereo sound, and cannot be expanded to 5.1 / 7.1 / rear and other combinations . But if your budget is really too much and you want to buy a few more HomePods to support Apple’s stock price, you can consider the multi-room streaming method, so that all floors and rooms of the whole house can be synchronized or take over to play music.

Summarize

After 2 years, the impression of seeing HomePod 2 again this time is much richer. In addition to the software and hardware upgrades, as the environment changes and the market evolves, our evaluation content will also be adjusted accordingly. For example, the editor still didn’t care about how to connect HomePod to the TV and output Dolby Atmos sound effects; I still haven’t thought about how to make Android devices “indirectly” use HomePod to play music; there is no similarly priced soundbar to compare its experience.

Back then, Apple rushed into the smart speaker market just to chase its opponents, but the results are obvious to all. However, because this door was opened, there was the later HomePod Mini, and more experience was accumulated to improve the second-generation HomePod. Apple lowered the price to HK$2,299, kept the sound quality as the main selling point, improved the design, and cooperated with the new batch of Matter smart home accessories expected to appear in 2023, giving consumers more reasons to choose HomePod 2.