When looking for a speaker for your home with which to play music and listen to your podcasts with all the peace of mind in the world, you may have seen dozens of options on the Internet. There are the most classic ones, which are limited to fulfilling the functions you expect in a speaker, and newer ones, which allow you to control different functions in your home via Wi-Fi (which you will have to configure beforehand).
Along these lines, Apple’s HomePods enjoyed great prestige for their benefits (and for the brand, it must be said). and we say “enjoyed” because Apple, two years ago, stopped making them. Now, the apple company will launch the second generation of these speakers for the home, although the first tests indicate that their benefits are “strangely familiar”.
A relaunch with some (few) improvements?
Different media, such as The Verge, have had the opportunity to test the new Apple HomePod, detailing each aspect. In the most superficial aspect, its design, we find a device that is practically identical to its first version, although with certain differences, such as a top surface where Siri can perform different animations and a power cable that can be easily disassembled.
As for its internal components, Apple has reduced the tweeters from seven to five in this second version. A “nerf” that joins that of its set of microphones, which goes from six to four in this new speaker model, and that of its own Wi-Fi connection (surely to reduce costs). Its “high-oscillation woofer” now measures almost 10 centimeters, and we move from “computational audio” (original model) to “advanced computational audio“.
Lastly, their sound doesn’t seem to have changed much from one generation to the next. Although we are talking about a rich, multidirectional, enveloping, automated sound, and that emphasizes clarity and the level of detail, those who have tried it did not appreciate the differences with the HomePod that they were able to test years ago. An even more obvious similarity if we take into account that the company has not mentioned any sound improvement in its promotional material.
While it is (very) similar, this “relaunch” of the speaker drops in price compared to its previous model, going from $350 to $300 (still not for everyone’s pocket, as you will see), and also adds some smart home features, such as a temperature and humidity measurement function, and an alarm detection system. In all other respects, however, it is virtually identical to the first version.
