The much-missed HomePod is back – and it sounds better than ever
Wireless speaker | £299 | whf.cm/HomePod2
Almost two years since Apple’s surprising decision to retire the original HomePod, the wireless speaker’s second generation is finally here. And, at first glance, it looks as if very little has changed.
The familiar exterior of the HomePod 2 hides a number of enhancements – most importantly, at least for us, to the sound. That’s right; the new HomePod sounds even better than its predecessor, and that makes it one of the very best wireless speakers you can buy – as long as you are a dedicated Apple user, that is.
The new HomePod bucks the increased cost-of-living trend by actually launching at a lower price than its predecessor did in 2018. It is still a fair bit more expensive than many of the smart speakers that some people will be considering as alternatives, such as the Amazon Echo Studio (£190) and Sonos One (£199); but it’s right in the ballpark of the Award-winning Audio Pro C10 MkII (£329) which also boasts smart capabilities.
The squat dimensions remain more or less the same (it’s just a smidge shorter) as the original. At 200g lighter, the new model is less dense than the old version, but it still feels very solid.
The near-identical mesh coating has the diamonds in the pattern run vertically rather than horizontally, which helps to make the speaker look a little less chunky. The pattern is just slightly see-through, though, so at certain angles the white model looks as though it has some darker patches that are a bit unsightly.
The best part of the HomePod’s design has always been the glossy touch panel on the top. This has shrunk a few millimetres for the new model. The ‘+’ and ‘-’ icons that lit up when you were playing music on the old model are now simply low-tech markings on the panel, which is slightly disappointing. The new model also now has a detachable cable, so owners can switch to a longer cable if necessary.
Within the familiar but not identical shell lies a familiar but not identical hardware arrangement. Like the original, the HomePod 2 features a woofer at the top and tweeters at the bottom, a configuration that is still unusual. As before, the woofer is a high-excursion design that is capable of moving by an impressive 20mm. This allows it to shift more air than a typical wireless speaker’s driver, in theory resulting in louder, weightier sound. The woofer bounces audio off the underside of the glossy top panel so that it can then escape the casework evenly around its circum
