The Sonos 5:5:5 Is the Better Sounding Speaker in the HomePod Compared to the Sonos One, Move and Play:5
I found that the overall sound of the HomePod was better than the ones I had tried, such as the Sonos One and the Sonos Move. The Move is portable, which has an advantage.
Both Sonos and Best Buy test and clean all of their certified refurbished products before reselling them. Sonos also includes the original accessories and cables, along with a one-year warranty and a 45-day money-back guarantee. Best Buy’s Geek Squad certified refurbished products come with a 90 day warranty. You have a 15 day return and exchange window for Best Buy Elite and Totaltech members.
It is a good purchase if you want an excellent-sounding speaker that can be put into any room in your home. The features included are waterproof, voice commands, and the ability to integrate with others, such as Apple’s AirPlay 2.
The Sonos One emits rich, detailed sound, but lacks a microphone. The compact smart speaker supports a wide variety of music services, and features good voice microphones.
The Sonos Five starts at $549 and is currently not on sale. However, you can buy a set of two in new condition for around $1,048 instead of $1,098 from Sonos, B&H Photo, and Best Buy. The set includes the Sonos Five and a Pro- Ject T1 PhonoSB Turntable, for $947, which is $50 off the regular price.
If you buy the sound system from Costco it is $50 cheaper than when you buy it from a store like Walmart. You will have to be a member in order to buy it.
The Play5:5 was the best music speaker in the world in 2020 and was actually nearly identical to the Sonos Five. It shares the same six custom-designed drivers inside, so it should offer the same high-quality listening experience as the Play:5, which was ideal for large rooms or parties. Other than that, however, there aren’t many noticeable differences. Compared to the Play:5, Sonos says its successor offers increased memory and processing power, as well as a new wireless radio. There are also all-black or all-white options. Note, however, that the Sonos Five lacks a built-in microphone and support for Alexa and Google Assistant — something most other speakers in the Sonos lineup offer.
However, it’s important to note that as an older model, it lacks features the second-generation Beam offers. For example, it doesn’t offer the second-gen model’s support for Dolby Atmos and an eARC HDMI port. Nevertheless, it remains a competent soundbar that’s currently available in refurbished condition from Sonos for $239 instead of $399, which is the price it sold for when it was new and more readily available.
The Sonos Move offers a loud, powerful sound similar to the Sonos One, but with slightly more volume. Unlike the One, however, you don’t need to find the right spot in your home for it to hear it well, given it’s better at distributing sound throughout a room. We also found that it sounds terrific no matter whether you’re in the living room or outside at the park.
The old one looks a lot like the new one. It does a few new things. It costs $50 less. Should you get one? That depends on how into the Apple ecosystem you are. If you don’t own an iPhone or iPad, don’t bother. For everyone else, here’s what we think after nearly a week of testing Apple’s new smart speaker.
At first glance, it’s hard to see much difference between the new HomePod and the one Apple discontinued in 2021. The new one is a little smaller and has a few design differences, but otherwise looks very similar.
Inside, the second generation HomePod has fewer drivers than the first generation model — five on the new one versus seven on the original — and yet it actually improves on the overall sound. The original HomePod was very bass heavy, but that is not the case with the new one.
A Study of the HomePod and Smart Connectivity for Bossa Nova, Freedom, and other Popsicle Songs in New York
That makes for a pleasing listening experience. The bossa nova rhythms on Steve Lacy’s “Mercury” were resonant but didn’t overwhelm the vocals; when listening to Jon Batiste’s “Freedom,” the bass thumped powerfully, while the horns were warm and realistic.
Its design allows for sound to project 360 degrees, and it features room correction software that will adjust the audio to sound best in the space you put it in.
The second-generation model adds support for Matter, the new smart home standard. That means you can use it as a hub for controlling non-Apple devices and it should be ready for new smart products as they arrive. Matter is open source and is meant to promote interoperability, which includes compatible devices working with popular voice assistants, like Google Assistant and Alexa. The Eve Energy smart plug with the Thread standard will be upgraded to support Matter when it is turned on.
The temperature and humidity sensors on the speaker can be used to adjust a smart thermostat, for example.
And, if you double down on your HomePod purchase, you can create a left-right stereo pair. The sound improvement is significant if you use two speakers, as it creates a wide sound, and makes the music feel like it’s all around you. There is no way to create a stereo pair with a first- and second- generation speaker.
In a very un-2023 move, the HomePod’s price dropped from $349 to $299. A big criticism of the original HomePod was its price. While $299 isn’t cheap, it makes it more competitive with options such as the $219 Sonos One.
You need an iPhone or iPad to set up the HomePod — there’s no way around that requirement. And to get software updates, you need to use the Home app. The Home app is where you can change the settings on the HomePod, set up automations and create a stereo pair. So if you don’t own an iPhone or iPad, skip the HomePod.
The only way to connect to the HomePod is over Wi-Fi. There’s no Bluetooth option and it lacks an auxiliary input. It’s important to have an auxiliary input when using two HomePods as a stereo pair.
The good thing about using Wi-Fii is that the audio quality is higher than you’d get over Bluetooth, but more input options would increase the usefulness of the speaker.
You also can’t do much to adjust the sound. It doesn’t have an equipment that can make noise. The only option you have is to reduce bass (you’ll find this in the Home app).
Siri works just fine most of the time for typical smart speaker commands: asking it to play songs, adjust the volume or set a timer. But it did struggle sometimes to act on my request, and it doesn’t quite have the range of Alexa or Google Assistant. For example, you can get Siri to play music from some services other than Apple Music, such as Pandora and Deezer, but Spotify isn’t one of them (Siri can control Spotify on the iPhone, but Spotify hasn’t enabled that feature on the HomePod).
It’s not for everyone. It is better if you don’t own an iPad or an iPad Mini, but use a music service like Spotify. And the HomePod isn’t portable, which may limit its appeal to you.