HomePod 2 is exactly what I wanted – but then there’s AirPlay

I’m a longtime HomePod mini user. As soon as Apple announced the cheapest version of its smart speaker, I immediately bought a pair to use with my Apple TV. Then I bought more pairs to spread around my apartment. Even so, I always felt the need to have something with a fuller sound. Now I’ve bought a HomePod 2, and it’s exactly what I wanted – except because there’s AirPlay 2.

HomePod 2 at a glance

HomePod 2 was launched in February 2023, and it’s basically a revised version of the original HomePod that was launched in 2018 and discontinued in 2021.

The design is extremely similar despite the different touchscreen panel on the top. Inside, the new HomePod has an arrangement of five tweeters instead of seven – but since I never had the original HomePod, I couldn’t tell you the difference between them. It also has the U1 chip and a temperature sensor just like the HomePod mini, which is nice.

Apple has also made the power cable removable and replaceable, which is great news when it comes to repairability (especially since Apple doesn’t officially sell HomePods where I live).

For people who already had the original HomePod, the second generation may not sound like an upgrade. But in my case, this was my first experience with a full-sized HomePod – so keep that in mind.

A great sound experience

As soon as I heard the HomePod’s setup sound after plugging it in, I immediately knew that was the sound quality I was looking for. And I was able to confirm this after spending hours with it playing different genres of music.

HomePod mini is decently loud, and it gets better when you have two of them paired together. I have a pair in each room of my apartment, so the experience is quite interesting overall when they’re all playing together. It has a clear sound, but it’s not exactly exciting because of the lack of bass. This also makes the HomePod mini somewhat disappointing for watching movies and TV shows.

Having a pair of HomePod mini is probably better than using your TV’s built-in speakers, but they definitely don’t sound like a proper sound system.

HomePod 2, on the other hand, brings exceptional immersiveness thanks to 360º sound combined with a 4-inch woofer. The sound is noticeably richer with deeper bass, and a single HomePod might be enough to fill an entire room with music. Listening to Lossless music with it is fantastic, as I can discern details that I can’t with the HomePod mini.

Apple has also made some tweaks to reduce the bass when listening to podcasts or watching videos, so that dialogues sound clearer.

It works (almost) great with HomePod mini

Since I don’t have a pair of full-size HomePods yet, I put it in a corner of my living room, while my TV is still connected to a stereo pair of HomePod mini. And I have to say, that combination sounds pretty decent. I can now hear some real bass coming from another direction thanks to the HomePod 2.

I could easily live with this setup, although I’m now convinced that I need another HomePod 2 for a stereo pair. But there’s one thing that ruins my HomePod experience (and I’m not even talking about Siri).

AirPlay 2

AirPlay 2 is Apple’s technology designed to transmit audio and video wirelessly. With AirPlay 2, users can pair multiple speakers at the same time, creating an immersive sound experience for everyone. And of course, Apple’s HomePod relies 100% on this technology.

While AirPlay 2 is great in theory, it needs some urgent fixes. Even before I bought HomePod 2, I always had connectivity issues with my HomePods. They randomly stop playing songs, the audio from a stereo pair becomes mono, and sometimes the sound gets choppy. And I’m not the only one complaining about this, as you can find reports of other people having similar issues.

Sometimes my HomePods simply stop responding in the Home app and lose internet connection. In another bad example, the multi-room audio gets out of sync between the HomePods. I was hoping that HomePod 2 would be better in this case, but I still face the same issues – which corroborates that the problem is AirPlay.

For a product designed to work wirelessly with AirPlay 2, HomePod is quite unreliable in this respect.

A request for the future

HomePod Software 17 (which will be available soon along with iOS 17) doesn’t bring any significant new features. But I do hope that Apple is working on a new, more reliable version of AirPlay. At the same time, I’d also like a real Home Theater mode where you can create multi-channel audio using three or more HomePods.

And, of course, I’m still hoping that Siri will get better eventually – or that Apple will replace it with something better (no, I never meant to say that Apple should kill Siri without a proper replacement). Because I’m tired of asking Siri to play a song and having it call someone instead.

Wrap-up

Yes, the HomePod 2 is impressive. And although it’s a bit pricey (each costs $300 in the US), you’ll definitely get the best sound experience for your Apple devices. Unfortunately, that amazing sound experience comes paired with bad software, so it’s up to you to accept that or look for some good alternatives like Sonos.

What about your experiences with HomePod and AirPlay? Let me know in the comments below.

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