Best Home Automation Devices: Apple HomePod Review
Today we will be taking a look at the Apple HomePod, a voice-enabled smart home control device, and also compare it to Google Home, an Alarm.com powered smart assistant. Let’s dive right in!
There are a lot of great products on the market currently that will work great with your home automation and security products. Over the past decade there has been a big trend by consumers, particularly home owners, to start using smart home assistants to incorporate and tie their security and home automation products together. There are several great assistants out on the market that have a lot of great features that will make your home into a smart home while allowing you to control your security products. Today we will be taking a look at what the Apple HomePod has to offer.
Basic Features
We are pretty sure that you have heard the name Apple before so we are not going to go too much into their history, but as we all know they have been around for a while now. Apple first made a name for itself with their computers, and now they are widely known for the phones, watches, and tablets. In recent years Apple has expanded their product line to include some home automation devices which have become very popular with consumers. Their most popular line of home automation products is their Apple Home Kit that easily turns your home into a smart home, and works great with their Apple HomePod smart assistant.
Apple, over the years, saw the rise in popularity of other smart home assistants such as Alexa and Google Home and decided to make their very own smart home assistant called the Apple HomePod. The Apple HomePod is shaped like many of the modern smart home assistants, and it has a circular cylinder-shaped design that looks very sleek, and its dimensions are 6.8 inches X 5.6 inches x 5.6 inches which is super compact making it easy to place. You can get the Apple HomePod in either space gray or white which are two colors that will look great with any style of interior décor. It has only two buttons which are a home and wake button which are included for simple and easy control. The Apple HomePod works by connecting directly to your home’s WIFI network. It is powered by being plugged directly into an outlet. The Apple HomePod has 8 built-in speakers and you can stream your music directly from your Apple devices. Siri is accessible from the Apple HomePod’s 6 built-in microphones, and Sirs advanced speech software makes communicating with her a breeze.
Our take: Apple’s HomePod doesn’t have any out of the box basic features that makes it standout from other home assistants. We do really love its design, and how sleek it looks inside any home. We also like that fact that it has some many speakers which allows for a crisper clearer sound. The one thing we didn’t really care for when testing this product is that Siri was a bit slow to respond when asked to do a task.
Advanced Features
Apple’s HomePod has some really great advanced features that are designed to make your life easier. The Apple HomePod works with the Apple Home Kit, which allows you to turn your home into a smart home.
You can control various smart home automation devices through your Apple HomePod with voice commands. When you access Siri through a voice command the top of the Apple HomePod illuminates a circle of various colors which is a nice design touch. Many home security systems and security products such as Arlo cameras can be connected and controlled through your Apple HomePod. Voice commands can be used to control compatible home security systems, and you can use voice commands to allow you to do things like arm and disarm your system, check sensor status, and access video. If you are looking to find answers to any queries, just ask the Apple HomePod to find the information for you, and you will have what you need in a matter of seconds. The Apple HomePod uses Google as its main search engine, and can find the answer to almost any question you may have. The Apple HomePod uses YouTube as another search engine to find any entertainment you and your family could want. If you and your family are setting down streaming your favorite shows, you can use your Apple HomePod’s built-chrome cast to directly control your family’s entertainment. These are just some of the advanced features of the Apple HomePod, and for a more complete list you can visit Apple’s website directly.
Our take: The Apple HomePod has a lot of features that really makes it stand out for its competitors. We really like all the built-in features that it includes, and being able to use your Chromecast makes it particularly appealing. The Apple Home Kit is a popular home automation control platform, and it allows you to incorporate a lot of home automation device control with it making for a cohesive smart home. If you have a security system, being able to control it using voice commands is another really nice added feature that you can use with your Apple HomePod.
Apple HomePod vs Google Home
The Apple HomePod is a really great smart assistant, but it does come with its limitations. Apple has become extremely competitive in the smart home device market, and this competition has left Apple a lit bit behind its competitors. Apple's response was to make major partnerships with other companies like Arlo, giving Apple the use of exclusive features that other smart home assistants don’t have. Due to Apple being competitive they made their Apple HomePod’s compatibility extremely limited to Apple or Apple partnered devices which limits the expandability of their HomePod. Make sure that you check the compatibility of any devices you may own or may be interesting owning before going with the Apple HomePod.
Apple HomePod or Google Home?
One of great things about Google Home is that it can be used with Alarm.com home security services. This is not possible with the Apple HomePod, as the Apple HomePod is not compatible with Alarm.com. Many top security companies use Alarm.com to power their app, which means that if you go with the Google Home device instead of the Apple HomePod, you should be able to integrate the Google Home device with your Alarm.com powered home alarm system. At Link Interactive, we use Alarm.com to power our security systems. With Google Home you’ll be able to control the features of your Link Interactive home security system using voice commands. You can activate any cameras that are powered through Alarm.com using voice commands as well as stream live and recorded video using voice commands. Any smart home devices such as smart lights can be controlled using voice commands as well. Google Home will also allow you to check the status of your security system and the equipment connected to it using voice commands.
Meet Voice Control w/ Link Interactive
Technology has come a long way during the last decade. Smart home assistants are probably the most popular tech gadget out on the market. Smart home assistants such as the Apple HomePod and Google Home are designed to make our lives easier, and are a great investment. If you are looking to purchase one of these smart assistants so you can use it to control your home security smart home system, give Link Interactive a shot. At Link Interactive, our home security and home automation systems are fully compatible with Amazon Echo and Google Home.
Go to our offer page for more information on all of smart home plans. You can also get a quote here, or call us at (877) 826-5443.
;