The HomePod 2 elegantly fills a gap in the Apple ecosystem

The second generation of the Apple HomePod is supposed to do everything better. The first generation was discontinued in 2021 with no indication of a successor model. Rumour has it sales were below expectations. The era of Apple smart speakers seemed to be over before it had really begun. But come 2022, the HomePod Mini appeared. For under 100 francs or euros, you could get a ball of good sound which simultaneously served as a smart home control centre. For Apple, the Mini was a breakthrough in smart speakers. Without it, the re-release of the original HomePod would have been unthinkable.

When presenting the HomePod 2, Apple emphasised the perfect integration into its own ecosystem. No surprise there. But how’s the sound on this speaker? Likely in an effort to bring down costs, Apple reduced the formerly seven tweeters to five. Two of the formerly six microphones have also been removed. That makes for a total of:

• 5× tweeters
• 1× woofer
• 4× microphones

I received two speakers from Apple to test over the course of a few days. For the sound comparison, they’re facing up against the Sonos One and the Amazon Echo Studio.

Sound

As a standalone speaker, I perceive the differences between the Apple, Sonos and Amazon Echo to be quite small. When it comes to podcasts, speech is a bit brighter on the Sonos One and a tad more bass heavy on the Echo Studio, while the HomePod 2 is somewhere in between. To see how speakers fare with music, I rely on a ten-track Spotify playlist which, according to the online magazine «What Hi-Fi», is particularly well suited to this purpose. In addition, I have each speaker play a few tracks to play from Apple Music in lossless quality. This confirms my impression from the podcast comparison. Namely, the HomePod 2’s five tweeters and lone woofer create a very balanced sound. It has no issue with vocally dominant pieces or the orchestral «Jurassic Park» soundtrack. The Echo Studio keeps up well and even offers a bit more bass, but tends to become somewhat washed out at higher volumes. As for the Sonos One, it’s important to note it has only one tweeter and one mid-range speaker. It sounds a bit weak overall, but that isn’t an issue when playing quiet background music. By the way, I’ll be doing a detailed comparison review of the HomePod 2, Sonos One and Echo Studio soon. Stay tuned.

The HomePod 2 isn’t «groundbreaking» in my everyday life, as Apple put it in its typical brouhaha launch announcement. But as a stereo pair, two HomePods 2 do sound really good – I’m talking clear trebles, balanced mids and a distinct bass. The HomePod 2 seems to play to the strengths of its chip; the microphones constantly measure the environment and adjust the sound output accordingly. For instance, it detects nearby walls and beams sound waves accordingly to create room-filling sound with the pair of speakers.

The HomePod 2 really won me over as a home theatre solution. Audiophiles are welcome to skip over this part, as my demands are comparatively modest. My current setup encompasses a Pioneer receiver with two Canton speakers stood on my living room shelf along with a flat Canton subwoofer mounted to the wall behind the TV. A HomePod 2 duo easily beats this. I paired the speakers with my Apple TV. That way, the TV routes the sound to them – even in Dolby Atmos.

My test film is «Greyhound», starring Tom Hanks – the part with Captain Krause’s submarine hunt. When the destroyer’s guns fire, depth bombs explode, or a torpedo whirs through the water, the HomePods do a great job. The speakers’ stereo sound fills the room quite well; I almost feel as if something’s happening behind me, too. But the quiet passages speak to me just as much; those moments of tension when all the crew hear is the pinging of the sonar.

Design and features

If you want to charge 300 francs or even 350 euros per speaker, the workmanship has to be on point. And it certainly is on the HomePod 2. I had just one brief moment of panic. Why? Well, the honeycomb exterior gives way slightly when I press down on it too hard. It’s made from a very substantial kind of fabric. My initial concern that I’d dented it turned out to be unfounded; the material is flexible.

The bottom of the 2.3-kilogramme HomePod 2 is lined with a slightly rubberised plate. The first gen HomePod had a weak point here. Namely, if you placed it on a wooden surface, the material would leave circular marks. So far, I haven’t noticed anything like this with the HomePod 2 – not on the wood veneer of my desk, nor on my oiled parquet, nor on the synthetic resin surface of my kitchen.

At the top, a touch-responsive surface closes off the cylindrical speaker, as on the HomePod Mini. If you look closely, you’ll see a plus sign and a minus sign. You can use them to control the volume. If you wake up the speaker’s integrated voice assistant by saying «Hey, Siri», said surface lights up in rainbow colours to signal it’s listening for your instructions.

The HomePod 2 includes a fabric-covered power cable. At not even 1.5 metres in length, it’s abundantly short, which limits your placement options. You can sidestep the problem by grabbing one of our all-time bestsellers: an extension cable. And hey, maybe Apple itself will soon offer an overpriced longer cable. What makes me say that? The HomePod 2’s power cable isn’t permanently fixed; it can be unplugged. Not that that does you any good. Apple has, of course, come up with a special shape around the plug which only the included cable fits into. God forbid you use any old C7 cable! But I do have to admit that I like the design, just because it allows the power cable to seamlessly integrate into the speaker.

The only drawback is that Apples’ design, with its diameter of 16 millimetres, is significantly thicker than a standard C7 plug. This can prove a problem – as it was for me – if you want to pull the cable through the narrow space between your wall and any shelves. Especially given the flat two-pin plug is quite the chubster, too.

Last but not least, the HomePod 2 includes a sensor that measures the humidity and temperature of the room. You can use this alongside other smart home gadgets to, for example, automatically turn on a fan heater when the temperature falls below a certain level. And because the HomePod 2 uses the Matter standard, you can even use it in combination with non-Apple hardware.

Designed and made for the Apple universe

I mentioned the plus and minus keys for volume above. That was only for the sake of completeness; you’ll typically control the HomePod 2 using voice commands. Commands like «louder» and «quieter», «next song» and «music off» work without a hitch. If you’ve got an Apple Music subscription, you’ll find yourself breezing through your playlists with Siri. Rely on Spotify, however, and Siri will prove unruly. And when I ask the speaker to play SRF3 on the TuneIn app, it selects something from the Apple Music library and pretends that’s what I meant. In its more honest moments, Siri will at least admit that the app doesn’t yet support the given function with Siri. However, the Community has found some workarounds for this.

Music not stemming from Apple’s streaming service must be sent from your iPhone to your HomePod 2 via Airplay. Even in its second generation, the HomePod still doesn’t have much of a heart for external services. Apple forces you into a detour over Airplay or the «Handoff» function. To use the latter, you hold the iPhone you’re playing music on to the top of the HomePod, which then takes over playing it.

Verdict: good, but no bargain

Apple has made the HomePod more affordable. Emphasis on «more». At 300 francs in Switzerland or 350 euros in neighbouring countries, it’s by no means a bargain. It delivers great sound, especially as a stereo pair or home theatre solution for the occasional movie night or Netflix binge. If that’s what you’re using it for, it is actually an inexpensive solution; unlike with Sonos, you don’t need a soundbar to connect them to your TV. Your Apple TV will do. So, what if you already have one first-generation HomePod and are thinking of combining it with the HomePod 2 for stereo sound? You’re out of luck. The two models aren’t compatible.

If all you’re after is stereo sound or a standalone smart speaker, you can get similarly good devices for less money. Both the Sonos One and the Echo Studio also offer Alexa’s somewhat more sophisticated voice assistance (which, mind you, also listens in and stores more than Siri). Sonos even offers the option of using Google Assistant.

All in all, the HomePod 2 is the right speaker for you if you appreciate the convenience of Apple’s almost perfect interplay of software and hardware. The HomePod 2 fits in seamlessly. You can use it alone or in combination with Apple TV as a smart home control centre, and it provides good sound.

Smart speakers

EUR379,–

Apple HomePod 2nd Gen.

Apple Siri

316

Smart speakers

EUR399,–

Apple HomePod 2nd Gen.

Apple Siri

316

What do you think of the new Apple HomePod? Got any questions? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.