Costco Members: Pre-Order: Apple HomePod 2nd Gen Smart Speaker Expired

I'll take them! I can use them for a high school music program. Pm me

I will take them and pay for the shipping

When it comes to speakers, the sound to your ears is important. There are speakers made in the 80s are highly sought after vs speakers made in 2020 or beyond.

I doubt you've actually listened to a HomePod Mini or done any comparison whatsoever. Lucky for you, I have.

I have a Sonos Arc with Sonos 1's and sub in my loft. Sonos 1 in stereo in my kitchen and garage. My ex has the original Sonos Soundbar, sub and Sonos 1's in her living room. Latest gen Echo in stereo in my kitchen as well.

Lets get this out of the way… the Echoes are NOT in the same league as any of these… PERIOD. Mediocre at best.

My daughter's room has 2 Gen 1 HomePods hooked to her Apple TV 4K and a HomePod mini in her bathroom. My other daughter has 2 HomePod minis in her room.

My living room has a really good legacy Home Theater system.

For MUSIC, the Gen 1 HomePods in stereo, sound wise, blow away anything Sonos, whether the arc "5.1" or a stereo pair. Better fidelity, surprisingly good bass. The Sonos are pretty good, just not as good as the HomePods. My daughter and her friends concur (16 & 17yr olds)

I have heard Sonos 3's and 5's in stereo. Awesome! But I have not done a direct comparison in my home.

For MUSIC, Sonos in stereo pair vs HomePod Mini stereo pair is a toss up. I find the Minis have better fidelity while the Sonos have more bass. Listener's choice here. My daughter and friends also had their faves.

For Movies… My living room setup blows away the HomePods and Sonos Arc. Not even a contest.

Sonos Arc vs HomePod for movies… the HomePods sound amazing for just 2 speakers. But I'll give it to the Sonos for the true surround sound. But for less than half the cost of the Arc system, the HomePods are not losers here.

Notice I wrote Sonos 1's not Ones. The 1's are basically One's without Alexa

My 2 cents

On a side note, I bought a NAD Bluetooth speaker off eBay for about $120, regular price I think $1K. Also uses AirPlay first gen. Now that speaker has incredible sound and is louder than most Home Theater Systems. Literally shakes the walls. I was expecting a small Bluetooth speaker, it's about as big as 3 HomePod side by side

And there are some really bad ones made in the 80s to. A lot of people need their expectations reset.

My thesis is that the chip and new tech means absolutely nothing. It all comes down to a single point "does it sound better with the new tech, or not". That is it.

you need logic to drive the speaker. The chip is relevant even though you don't want to accept it.

Appreciate your effort to share all the details.

Do you have any inputs on comparing gen 1 homepods in stereo pair with sonos 1s in stereo pair along with a sonos sub? Or I missed that comparison in your post?

This thing is trash. Still have 2 of the first gens I picked up for $100 each and have no need for them. Would glady give them away if i could.

A bit of research shows:

- Both Gen 1 and Gen 2 has no Spotify native software support. (Spotify connects through Airplay, which means Siri cannot communicate back and forth with the Spotify App)

- Gen 1 (2018) pricing was cut down due to lackluster sales from $349 to $299 then later discontinued in 2021. Pricing rumors had it start at $199. But Gen 2 (2023) pricing is at $299, again.

- Gen 2 has the S7 chip which Apple shares usage for their Apple watch series. The S7 shares the same SoC architecture with Apple Watch S6, S7 and S8 series. These are based off the A13 bionic chip. For context, the same A13 bionic chip is in the iPhone 11 (2020), iPhone SE 2nd Gen (2020), and iPad 9th Gen (2021). HomePod Gen 1 had the A8 chip, which was a powerful chip at that time but now discontinued.

- Supports Bluetooth 5.0

- Gen 1 had WiFi 5. Gen 2 has WiFi 4.

- Gen 1 had 7 tweeters and Gen 2 has 5.

- Gen 1 had 6 mics and Gen 2 has 4.

- Slightly shorter and noticeably lighter than Gen 1.

- New color Midnight available on the Gen 2.

- Gen 2 has the new temperature and humidity sensors, in which the HomePod Mini will also acquire through a software update. Temp and humidity hardware on the HomePod Mini was secretly available. HomePod Gen 1 support is unknown.

- Listens and sends alert based on Smoke and Monoxide alarms.

- Full-screen, and now bigger display located at the top of the device compared to Gen 1.

- No headphone jack.

- Thread support.

- Matter compatible.

- Dolby Atmos capable.

- Gen 2 has now a detachable power cord.

This thing is trash. Still have 2 of the first gens I picked up for $100 each and have no need for them. Would glady give them away if i could.

Smells like BS since before the announcement these were selling for $300 easily. I'd see them for $400+ on FB Marketplace. I have 5 and other than Siri and its loud voice (can't whisper like Alexa), I love them.

This sounds like a bit of a downgrade a lot of the stuff you wrote. Quite odd.