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After months of delays, Apple's new smart speaker; HomePod has finally hit the stores. Take a look at whats inside the box, how easy it is to set up and our first reactions.
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0:00
What's up guys, Stephen Culls of Mac here, and after months of delays, Apple's HomePod
0:04
has finally been released. I ran out this morning and picked one up so I could bring you my usual unboxing, show
0:08
you the setup and give you my initial thoughts. Let's roll the intro and get started
0:18
So here it is after months of waiting. On top there's a graphic of the top of the speaker rather than a photo
0:24
On the front and back there's a profile of the HomePod in the same style
0:28
And on the sides there's the usual Apple logo. This new graphic style actually threw me at first at the store as I thought it was the
0:35
white version they brought out when in fact I ordered the black. Underneath there's a list of features along with the serials and barcodes and so on
0:42
Let's flip it over and get it open. Such a satisfying pull tab
0:49
I love taking the plastic wrap off new Apple products
0:59
And here it is. I thought this in the store when I picked it up but it's so much smaller than I thought
1:05
it would be. I think I was expecting it to be the size of my Mac Pro
1:10
Let's take this out and pop it to one side. In the box there's absolutely nothing else apart from this circle folder which I'm guessing
1:21
will have the quick start guide. Yep showing how to power using an iPhone
1:31
Then there's a list of the touch controls and questions you can ask Siri
1:36
Also in here is the standard warranty info. Surprisingly no Apple Music trial like they do with some Beats headphones
1:42
And then as always the essential Apple sticker. Back to the HomePod itself and the power cable is wrapped in the same material as the mesh
1:49
on the speaker which is a nice touch. But let's go ahead and plug it in
1:54
Give me a sec. A few moments later. Okay it's on and if I unlock my iPhone we can set it up
2:06
So here's the HomePod setup card that pops up automatically. I'm not actually sure if there is a W1 chip in the HomePod
2:13
So now I can choose where it's going to be set up which is my office for now
2:16
I can choose whether to enable personal requests or not such as sending messages or making notes
2:21
And I can use my iCloud account to transfer settings and connect to WiFi
2:26
Now to wait. While we do I'll give you a close up of the HomePod which actually does look really nice
2:32
If you've ever had or seen the Mac Pro it does look like a smaller rounder version of that
2:37
which I personally don't mind. The mesh covering it also makes it look a lot more inviting and it'll look great in
2:42
most dining rooms or living rooms. Hi I'm Siri. Welcome to HomePod
2:50
You can't tell but I'm waving. To get my attention say hey Siri
2:55
Hey Siri. Let's try it. Say hey Siri what can you do
3:03
Hey Siri what can you do? I can do lots of things like turn on the lights, give you a news update and tell you about
3:11
the weather. Now you try. Say hey Siri, play some music. Hey Siri play some music
3:20
Ok here's a personal radio station built just for you, starting with John Legend
3:25
Remember, any time you have a question, just say hey Siri. Ok so we'll start quietly
3:40
Hey Siri, turn volume up to a hundred percent. Yeah, go for it
4:05
Turn volume down to ten percent. So it is really loud for the size of it but for some reason I was expecting it to be a
4:14
little bit louder, I don't know. It does sound really great. Let's try asking it a few questions
4:20
Hey Siri, what's the weather like tomorrow? The forecast is for rain in Skelmersdale tomorrow
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The high will be nine degrees and the low will be one. Hey Siri, play next song
4:38
Hey Siri, turn the volume up. Hey Siri, go to full volume
4:51
That's very loud, are you sure? Yep. Hey Siri, play next song
5:07
Hey Siri, pause song. The way it hears you is really impressive
5:15
I wasn't expecting it to be quite that good. Even at full volume I didn't have to raise my voice, it heard me perfectly and I was
5:21
able to pause the song no problem. So on top we've also got some control
5:27
Hitting in the centre will play or pause the song. Double tapping will skip to the next one
5:39
And then a triple tap, I think that's what we call it. Tapping it three times will go back a song
5:45
So we've also got the volume control. Hey Siri, read me my last message
5:59
There are no new messages. Hey Siri, send a text to Holly
6:05
What do you want to say? Just testing out the HomePod, seeing how well it dictates what I say
6:14
Your message to Holly Stoyle says Just testing out the HomePod, seeing how well it dictates what I say
6:22
Ready to send it? No, cancel. Okay, I won't send it. Hey Siri, tell me a joke
6:31
The past, present and future walk into a bar. It was tense
6:38
Hey Siri, set a timer for ten seconds. Ten seconds and counting
6:44
Hey Siri, what's 30 miles an hour in kilometres? 30 miles per hour is 48.28 kilometres per hour
6:53
Okay, I think that's enough questions for now. So in case you're wondering, you manage the HomePod through the Home app
6:59
where you can play and pause. And if you click edit and then on the HomePod, you can get to the settings
7:06
Here you can change the name in case you do move it to a different location. Here you can change the name in case you do move it to a different room
7:11
Here you can change the name in case you do move it to a different room. Here you can change the name in case you do move it to a different room
7:15
You can change Apple accounts. Turn on sound check. Enable or disable lights and sounds
7:25
Change Siri's voice and disconnect if you want to set it up to another phone
7:31
Overall, I'm initially impressed with the HomePod. The sound quality for its size is really impressive
7:36
It sounds crisp and clear with really balanced bass. I'll be taking a proper listen and trying all different types of music
7:41
and in different locations over the next few days. So I only want to give a brief overview of my initial thoughts
7:47
Although straight off the bat, I am super impressed with how well it can hear me, even on full volume
7:51
It's hard to judge when recording sound for the video, but I didn't have to raise my voice for Siri to hear me
7:57
For a fair and proper opinion, I'm going to spend the next few days with the HomePod. But so far, you can call me impressed
8:03
There's still a lot of features for me to test out and play with and unfortunately, there's some missing at launch
8:07
which I was excited to try out such as AirPlay 2 where you can pair multiple speakers around your house
8:12
or two speakers for left and right channels. But the HomePod is available now in both white and the space grey I have here for $349
8:22
Well, that's it for this video. If you enjoyed it, go ahead and hit that like button down below
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And if you'd like to see more videos on the HomePod, make sure to stick around and subscribe
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as we've got tons planned including a full review and a comparison to the Sonos One
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Also, if you've got any questions, make sure to leave them in the comments section down below or tweet me directly at SteveSmith10
8:40
and we might just make one of the next videos. I'll catch you in the next one
8:46
Hey Siri. Hmm
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