Home Improvement Apple HomePod

The HomePod is back and the latest incarnation of the speaker sounds incredible whether listening to music or watching films

SPECIFICATIONS

Drivers 6 (4-inch high-excursion woofer, 5x horn-loaded tweeters)
Audio formats Spatial audio, Dolby Atmos
Microphones 4
Connectivity Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 5
Sensors temperature and humidity, accelerometer
Size 168x142mm
Weight 2.3 kg

The Apple HomePod returns with a bang. It brings with it impressive premium performance as a speaker and a smart home device. Making it ideal for those wanting to listen to lossless music, upgrade their Apple TV experience and take control of the home.

Its integration into Apple's smart home ecosystem is much more pronounced than its predecessor. It's central to not just your music listening needs but also your home cinema and the automation of other devices in your network.

The new HomePod is largely the same size and shape as the original model. Placed next to each other you'd need to look carefully to tell them apart. The second-gen model is slightly shorter at 168mm but the same 142mm wide. The base of the unit has changed slightly, now being completely flat rather than concave. Meanwhile, the top touch panel is set slightly recessed. It's slightly lighter than the original, weighing in at 2.3kg. That's still a significant weight for a speaker, but not enough to worry about.

The touch panel on the top of the HomePod is a little more ambiguous that you might expect. The surface lights in different colours depending on what the device is doing and there's a plus and minus symbol to increase or decrease the volume. Other controls such as skipping tracks, play or pause are handled by a series of taps.