No, OnePlus is not working on a OnePlus X2

The OnePlus X2 is fake news.

Of all the phones OnePlus has released, one of the most peculiar was the OnePlus X. The X essentially took the guts of the OnePlus One, put them in a glass slab with a smaller screen, and cut the price to just $249. It was a great budget phone at the time, but it strangely never saw a successor.

A rumor recently popped up suggesting that a OnePlus X2 was finally in the works, and reported specs included the likes of a 5.5-inch display, Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, and a price well under $300. I expect a lot of people would be interested in such a device from OnePlus, but shortly after this rumor started to pick up steam, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei took to Twitter to debunk it.

Nope. 🤷‍♂️ https://t.co/hsFBhDFZ8J

— Carl Pei (@getpeid) February 6, 2018

In a later Tweet, Pei linked to an article about the science of fake news, saying “Fake news is a huge threat to human civilization. Let’s all do our part in stopping it.”

So, it looks like the OnePlus X2 isn’t happening after all. Just like how the Note 8’s S Pen doesn’t give you cancer.

Happy Tuesday, folks.

OnePlus 5T in Lava Red coming to North America and Europe on February 6 ‘while supplies last’

How to clean your PlayStation 4 console

Keeping your console clean is mandatory for the best gaming experience!

Your PlayStation 4 is a behemoth when it comes to delivering awesome games, movies, and even VR content. However, you may start to notice some slow down if you let dust build up over time, and nobody wants that. To keep your console running as efficiently as possible, you definitely need to keep it clean. Thankfully this is an easy task that should only take about 10 minutes of your time.

Compressed Air

The first thing that you want to do while cleaning your system is to go ahead and grab a can of compressed air. Your PlayStation 4 is covered with vents located at the front, sides, and back of the system, and these have a tendency to get absolutely covered in dust. To take care of this all that you need to do is go ahead and point the nozzle of the can at those vents, and then spray in short measured bursts. You ought to see the dust clear out of all the vents very quickly, and since PlayStation 4 consoles are black it’s easy to see where the dust has evacuated the system.

Now when you’re using compressed air you want to keep the nozzle a fair few inches away from the system so that the dust can escape properly. Likewise, you want to ensure that you hit all the vents on the system so you don’t miss built up dust somewhere. By cleaning out all of the vents, you’re ensuring the system is able to expel excess heat which helps reduce strain on the internal components. Also, make sure to hold the can upright so no moisture comes out when you spray it. Moisture is incredibly bad, especially if it gets into the inner components.

PS4 in need of a good dusting? You can order a two-pack of compressed air for $14 via Amazon.

See at Amazon

Microfiber Cloth

Now if your system frequently turns gray with dust, you might be tempted to hit it with a wet wipe of some kind. Do not, we repeat, do not do that. You never want to introduce any kind of moisture to the system. Instead what you’ll want to use is a microfiber cloth. Using the cloth you’ll want to wipe the entire system down. This includes the top, sides, front, and back. Depending on how you have your console set up, wiping down the bottom isn’t a bad call either. Depending on how much dust you are dealing with you may need to clean the cloth off a few times, but the shiny black of a clean console is very easy to differentiate. You can stock up on microfibre clothes for cheap with this Amazon Basics 24-pack for $13.50.

See at Amazon

Swiffer Duster

Any feather duster will work, but these are best for doing gentle dusting for your PlayStation. With the soft feathers and lock-in ability, this is great to get into vents and indents in your PlayStation 4. You won’t have to worry about dust getting pushed into the PlayStation or any scratches that might arise since it’s so soft. You can get your hands on one of these on Amazon for $7.

See at Amazon

Do NOT clean with your vaccuum

If you try to clean your console with a vacuum, there is a chance that you will mess up the inner components because the static with the vacuum can cause problems. Unless you have an anti-static vacuum specifically for something like this, your household vacuum will be sure to ruin your PlayStation.

Cleaning your Dualshock 4 controllers

Much like your system, if your controllers sit on a rack all day long they are going to accumulate dust. All that you need to do is go ahead and use a cleaning cloth to wipe down the controller. While wet wipes are still a general no-no, they can be used on the controller so long as you are avoiding the headphone jack, and charge port. When wiping down the controller you’ll want to pay special attention to all of the buttons, the analog sticks, and the light bar at the back of the controller.

Specifically, you want to ensure theres no dust or grime blocking that light bar, especially if you are playing PlayStation VR games, since the camera needs to be able to properly see that light bar. Likewise, nobody wants to use a controller with sticky buttons caused by dust or debris. If that’s exactly what you’re dealing with, your best bet is to turn off the controller and then use a wet wipe to clean away the dust and grime. This can also be particularly handy for those times when you can’t actually see what is causing a button of analog stick to get stuck. Just ensure that the controller has plenty of time to dry out before use, and limit the amount of moisture as much as possible to avoid damage.

If you’re still a little anxious using that kind of moisture on a controller, your best bet is to use the compressed air on the buttons and analog sticks. Keeping it at a safe distance where you’re still able to blow out the dust, this will be the easiest way to get the dust out. It’s great for your controllers, and there is less of a chance of any harm to them since it’s much harder to get to the inside of them.

Cleaning your PlayStation Move controllers

The first thing that you want to do is pick your compressed air back up. With controlled bursts, spray all of the ports and crevices on the controller to make sure there isn’t any dust hiding in a sneaky spot. From there, all you need to do is go ahead and wipe down the rest of the controller with a microfiber cloth. If there is any sticky residue, use a slightly damp paper towel or wet wipe while avoiding all ports.

If you have a pair of Move controller that you want to bust out, but that are particularly dusty, there are a few things to remember. The PlayStation camera reads Move controllers by tracking the lights in the bulb of each controller, so you want to ensure that they are as clean of dust and debris as possible. Likewise, cleaning out the ports, and around the button ensures that you won’t get distracted while playing a game.

Tips

It’s basically impossible to keep your system entirely clear of dust, but there are a few things that you can do to help minimize the amount of dust or debris you need to clean. Just keep in mind that the PlayStation 4 console is essentially a dust magnet thanks to that shiny black exterior.

• Keep it away from pets: If you have dogs or cats, try to keep the console as far from the floor as possible so that animal hair isn’t getting stuck on your system.
• Avoid glass entertainment centers: Glass already has a tendency to attract dust, so if you set up your PS4 on a glass entertainment center you can expect your system to need a good cleaning about once a week or so. You can set your system in vertical orientation or invest in a dust cover to help keep the dust to a minimum.
• Don’t smoke in the house: Cigarette smoke causes faster dirt accumulation, and this definitely includes your console.
• Don’t take your PlayStation apart to try to clean the inside: Not only will this completely void your warranty, there is a higher chance of hurting your PlayStation, especially if you’re not a professional.

Keep it clean

PlayStation 4 consoles are going to get dirty; it doesn’t matter if they are sitting up on a shelf or hanging out on the entertainment center. What matters is knowing how to properly clean it up and get it back up and running in tip-top shape after it’s gone gray with dust. Armed with just a microfiber cloth and some compressed air, you can easily dispatch the army of dust bunnies that has taken up residence on your console and its controllers. Do you have a particular tip for cleaning your system? Is there something we missed? Be sure to drop us a comment below and tell us about it!

PlayStation 4

• PS4 vs. PS4 Slim vs. PS4 Pro: Which should you buy?
• PlayStation VR Review
• Playing PS4 games through your phone is awesome

Amazon

Updated February 2018: We’ve updated this guide with all the latest information for keeping your console clean!

This $30 iPad stylus senses pressure via headphone jack

Stylus manufacturers have been working hard to replicate the sensation of writing and sketching on tablets over the years, hence the handful of styli that support pressure sensing and palm rejection these days. Unfortunately, these pens don’t come cheap, with the Apple Pencil asking for $99 but is still only compatible with the iPad Pro series. Even the other good styli with greater iPad compatibility start at around $50. However, Hong Kong-based GreenBulb has come up with a cunning solution dubbed SonarPen that only costs $30, yet it supports both pressure sensing and palm rejection by making use of the headphone jack. No charging nor wireless connectivity required here, just plug it in and sketch away.

Here’s how the SonarPen works: as the name suggests, it relies on audio signal to relay touch and pressure data back to the tablet. And since there is also touch input on the touchscreen itself, the SonarPen supports palm rejection by matching signals from both sides. The interesting part here is that the pressure detection is all analog up to the headphone jack, which is why SonarPen doesn’t have a figure for its pressure sensitivity levels; it all depends on the audio-to-digital signal conversion on the iPad.

Two weeks earlier, I got to try 3D-printed prototypes on three iPad models (a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, an iPad Air and a third-gen iPad), and they were consistently responsive in both Zen Brush 2 and GoodNotes. There were a few occasions when the SonarPen wasn’t detected after being plugged back in, which required us to relaunch the apps, but that should be fixed well before launch. According to inventor Elton Leung, SonarPen doesn’t need its own app; you just have to select SonarPen in supported sketching or note-taking apps, and apparently more apps will join the list soon. Likewise, you can customize the SonarPen’s shortcut button in those apps. When in other apps, though, the SonarPen still serves as a “dumb” stylus sans pressure sensitivity.

As for general usage, the size and shape of the SonarPen felt just like any ordinary pen, and the transparent disc around the replaceable conductive tip didn’t bother me at all. Similarly, the cable didn’t get in the way as long as the headphone jack was on the same side as my writing hand. The pen has a groove that cuts through the middle of the body for wrapping up the sturdy flat cable, so you don’t have to worry about it tangling up. Better yet, each SonarPen comes with a handy magnetic pen holder, which can be stuck to the back of your iPad via its 3M adhesive.

For a $30 stylus, the SonarPen is surprisingly capable with minimal fuss, and it’s compatible with all iPads except for the first-gen model, so this is a relatively cheap and cheerful way to turn your old iPads into sketchpads. For now, SonarPen is available for backing on Kickstarter with the usual early-bird discounts, and it’s expected to ship in June later this year.

Source: Kickstarter

Tesla’s big battery is undercutting Australia’s energy cartels

When Tesla installed the world’s largest lithium-ion battery in South Australia last year, it came with the promise that it would revolutionize the way electricity is produced, stored and sold in a region known for blackouts and market monopolizing. Less than two months later, that promise has been delivered to the tune of a multimillion-dollar saving, as the Tesla big battery essentially noped an attempt by Australia’s energy cartel to capitalize on power fluctuations and send the market into overdrive.

Traditionally, what happens during planned maintenance or system faults is that the Australian Energy Market Operator asks energy companies to contribute some of their network services, known as FCAS (frequency control and ancillary services). On January 14, it asked for 35MW. The major players — AGL, Origin and Engie — could only find 30MW of “low-priced” capacity (despite having more than 400MW available), so prices were set to go into orbit just as they had on 10 other occasions in the past 12 months. During these events prices reached AU$14,000/MW, with generators charging up to $7 million a day for a service that usually costs one-tenth of that.

Not this time, though, as the Tesla big battery rode in on a white horse and bid into the market, keeping prices down to around $270/MW. Experts say Tesla’s role probably saved around $3 million or more — good news for market players and consumers alike. According to Powershop Australia CEO Ed McManus, the Tesla big battery is already having a “phenomenal” impact. In this week’s RenewEconomy’s Energy Insider podcast, he said that January 14’s events “plays into the thinking of new players looking to come into South Australia to challenge the incumbents”, and that it’s been a “very, very significant development for generation investment and generation competition” in the area. Tesla’s not done turning the tide down under yet, either, as it this week announced further plans to create the largest-ever “virtual power plant” in the Australian state.

Source: RenewEconomy

So you bought a smartwatch. Now what?

Now that smartwatches are actually useful enough for the general populace, setting them up isn’t as pedestrian a task as pairing with your phone and calling it a day. On the surface, customizing your new device may not seem like a complicated task, but people often overlook some of the tools that can potentially make wearables more helpful. From recommended settings to the apps worth downloading, here’s a walkthrough of what you should look out for when setting up your new wearable.

Basic setup

This part you probably already know. Turn on your watch, pair it with your phone and follow the onscreen instructions. If you’re setting up an Android Wear device, check to see if the company that made it, like Michael Kors or Huawei or ASUS, has its own app. These often offer more customizable watch faces (like Kate Spade’s New York Minute cab skin), along with tools like ASUS’ flashlight and compass.

Once you’ve gone through the installation, you’ll find a vanilla version of the wearable OS with a variety of preloaded apps. Start making your device yours by picking and tweaking your home screen. Choose the background, dials and hands that suit your fancy, and add widgets to show things like your daily activity progress, a weather report, calendar appointments and more, depending on the OS. (For Android Wear, you may have to download additional faces to get more options.)

Activating the complications (the alerts on the watch face) that you’ll use the most can save you a lot of accumulated time every day that you’d spend swiping through pages and apps to get a quick update. After squaring away these basics, you can play with additional tools to make your watch more useful.

Mobile payments

In addition to the obvious stuff, like queuing up your daily alarms and choosing which notifications to allow on your watch, you should also set up mobile payments. Whether it’s Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, Fitbit Pay or Garmin Pay, contactless payments aren’t just a trivial convenience — they can be helpful when you’re traveling very light or have your hands full. You’ll usually have to set a default card to use on your watch, so make sure to pick your primary account.

Millions of stores accept Apple Pay, and many also take Android Pay and Samsung Pay via NFC terminals. Fitbit Pay is accepted in most of the same places as Mastercard contactless payments. You can use Samsung’s Gear S3 at stores that accept only traditional magnetic swipe transactions (MST), which are more common than NFC-compatible locations.

Refine your messaging replies

Most smartwatch screens range between 38mm and 44mm wide, which is barely big enough to comfortably read your notifications on, let alone type out messages. Which is why most of these devices offer alternative methods of input, including canned responses, dictation and handwriting recognition. (The Fitbit Ionic does not let you reply to messages from your watch, so you’ll have to whip out your phone for that.)

It’s best to set a quick reply that succinctly explains that you’ve seen a message and will respond later. You can use the default options, of course, which are usually variants of “Yes,” “No” and “Can’t talk now.” They’re impersonal, but adequate. You can create something more human, like “Hey, saw ur msg, will reply later” for Apple Watches.

If you can’t use your hands, reading out your reply is a good alternative. Apple and Google’s voice recognition are accurate most of the time, although it does help if you enunciate carefully. Still, they’re not good enough to be your primary choice for input yet (unless you don’t mind sending messages with the odd misheard word here and there) and can sometimes take a while to process.

Connect your headphones and prepare your music

Most newer smartwatches can stream music to Bluetooth headphones, making it easier to go on a run or a quick errand without your phone. You should save your playlist on your watch in advance so you can listen without an internet connection, as this will prevent battery drain. For Apple Watch, Android Wear and Samsung Gear, you can sync playlists via the Apple Music, Play Music and Spotify apps, respectively, while Fitbit requires a more tedious setup involving either a Pandora Premium account or a connection to your laptop.

While you can’t natively stream podcasts from most watches, you can download a third-party app like Wear Casts or Watchplayer (for Apple Watch) to play them. You’ll generally have to use your phone to transfer episodes over to your watch, but the resulting convenience is worth the trouble.

Set fitness goals and reminders

Your watch likely came with a preset daily step goal, but those who are more conscientious about their fitness will want to tweak their daily objective. Whether it’s calories burned, distance traveled or steps taken, setting your activity targets right when you get your smartwatch is the best way to keep yourself on track. You’ll typically do this via the companion app on your smartphone, which is also where you can set the frequency of reminders to try and hit your goals.

Engadget

Smart home remote control

If you’ve bought a smartwatch, chances are you’ve also invested in connected devices at home. Some of these can be controlled from your smartwatch, like Samsung’s SmartThing appliances via the Gear or the Apple TV Remote on the Watch. These are a little functionally limited right now — Apple’s offering works only with its TV, while Samsung’s feature isn’t live yet. Plus, the Gear watches will enable only simple controls like turning your lights on or off, whereas you’ll have to go to your phone to change things like brightness and colors. Still, it’s nice not to have to carry your phone around your home for little tasks like these.

But even if you’re not using an Apple or Samsung watch, you can still use voice control for Google Assistant or Siri from your wrist to interact with your home. That’s a nifty convenience if you don’t already have an always listening speaker at home to obey your commands, but bear in mind that smartwatches tend to be slower to react than speakers, since they typically use less powerful processors.

Install your most used third-party apps

Chris Velazco / Engadget

Whether you’re an avid runner or prefer traveling by Lyft, you’ll find that your favorite services already have an app for your watch. Fitness tools like Runkeeper, Strava and MapMyRun work with Apple Watch, Android Wear and Samsung Gear and integrate with other major fitness wearables. Ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft have apps for Apple Watch, Android Wear and Fitbit OS, while Uber is also on Samsung’s Tizen OS.

You’ll also appreciate note-keeping options like Evernote and Todoist for Apple Watch and Android Wear, as well as Yelp, which is available on all platforms except Android Wear. Bear is a good note-keeping app for the Apple Watch, too. Frequent travelers should look for airline apps — having your ticket on your wrist means one less thing to keep an eye on in the chaos that is airport security. Smart home apps like Nest (Apple and Android) and Philips Hue (Apple only) are musts for those who own appliances from those companies, and you can also control your Philips Hue lights on Android Wear via the Google Assistant.

If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, use IFTTT to create custom recipes that automate how your gadgets behave. Set your lights to turn off when your smartwatch leaves your WiFi network, or create an alert for when you’ve left your phone’s Bluetooth range. IFTTT works well with Android Wear, but it also offers the Do Button app for both Google and Apple devices to build tasks that run when you push a button on your screen.

Seattle demands Facebook disclose campaign ad information

Seattle has launched the first attempt in the US to regulate political ads on the internet. According to Reuters, Seattle’s election authority is accusing Facebook of violating a city law that requires entities to disclose the identities of people buying campaign ads. It wants the social network to reveal info on the accounts that purchased ads for last year’s city elections, and it’s threatening to slap Facebook with penalties if it doesn’t comply.

Facebook VP Will Castleberry said his company already provided the info Seattle’s Ethics and Elections Commission asked for, stressing that the social network is a “strong supporter of transparency in political advertising.” Commission chief Wayne Barnett opposed that claim, though, telling Reuters that the details Facebook provided don’t “come close to meeting their public obligation.” Apparently, the social network only turned in partial spending numbers, but it didn’t provide copies of the ads that ran and the data detailing the ads’ targets. Seattle also asked Google to turn in relevant data for ads that ran on its network, but the tech titan asked for more time to comply.

A potential penalty of $5,000 per advertisement is a drop in the bucket for one of the biggest companies in the world. But refusing to comply would reflect poorly on the social network, considering its role in disseminating Russian troll ads during the 2016 Presidential elections. The company even had to roll out transparency tools and to require people buying campaign ads to disclose their identities after being hit by a wave of criticism following its Russian ads revelation.

That said, internet companies like Facebook and Google aren’t required by federal law to disclose the identities of people buying political ads in the way cable, TV and radio broadcasters are. The FEC is currently reviewing a stricter set of rules on campaign ads posted on social networks, and it’s hoping to move the rule-making forward within the 2018 midterm elections.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Reuters

Botched tsunami warning test is the latest false alarm

It’s only been a few weeks since a false warning told Hawaiians that a missile attack was headed for their state, but another mistaken alert has been sent out into the world. Earlier this morning, an emergency tsunami alert was issued to East Coast residents via the widely-used Accuweather service. According to various tweets, the alert stretched as far north as Portland, Maine; an Engadget editor much further south in Jersey City also received the alert. Accuweather confirmed in a tweet that the original alert was a “test,” though it certainly wasn’t presented to those alerted in that fashion.

The National Weather Service Tsunami Warning this morning was a TEST. No Tsunami warning is in effect for the East Coast of the U.S.

— AccuWeather (@breakingweather) February 6, 2018

While the full details of the alert said it was a test, the notification that hit people’s home screens made no such notice of that fact. As such, it was understandably alarming to those that received the alert. Since then, various national weather service Twitter accounts also have confirmed that there’s no tsunami warning in effect, including the official NWS tsunami alerts account:

The National Tsunami Warning Center did NOT issue a tsunami Warning, Watch, or Advisory for any part of the United States or Canada this morning.

— NWS Tsunami Alerts (@NWS_NTWC) February 6, 2018

As of now, there’s still no word as to how or why this false alert went out. But the timing is particularly ironic: This morning, there’s a congressional hearing on the effectiveness of mobile alerts in emergencies. Between today’s gaff and the Hawaii missile emergency alert, it’s clear that things could stand to be tightened up with how these alerts are released.

Via: Gizmodo

Walmart’s latest acquisition shows it’s serious about VR

Walmart isn’t just interested in bringing tech into its stores — it might change how you shop at home as well. The company has acquired a virtual reality startup, Spatialand, to form the cornerstone of its VR initiatives both in stores and out. The team had already been working with Walmart’s Store No. 8 tech incubator and will be folded into that group as part of a new VR company, with incubator head Katie Finnegan serving as the VR firm’s interim chief. But just what will this company be working on, exactly?

Unfortunately, Walmart isn’t saying. Finnegan wouldn’t tell Recode what Spatialand staffers would be doing at Walmart, and didn’t expect to show the first fruits of their work for 12 to 18 months. There are some clues, however. The Store No. 8 team typically focuses on projects that might not go public for another 5 to 10 years, and Finnegan believed VR might qualify. Also, Spatialand’s focus has been on turning existing content into VR experiences, so this may be more about turning its store content into VR than creating something from scratch.

Whatever comes out of the project, it’ll likely be venturing into uncharted territory. Most current VR shopping experiences are novelties — they’re frequently about advertising more than helping you make informed decisions. If Walmart can make VR shopping practical, even in niche cases, that could be a significant step forward.

Source: Recode

HomePod Reviews: Outstanding Sound Quality, but Siri ‘Struggles at Smart’

Three days ahead of the HomePod’s launch in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, Apple has now allowed the first full reviews of the device to be shared online. While opinions regarding specific features of the smart speaker fluctuate among reviewers, it appears that one constant remains: HomePod provides great, high-quality sound that beats most devices in the price range, at the cost of an underperforming AI assistant and the user getting further tangled into Apple’s walled garden.

Image via The Verge
Nilay Patel with The Verge emphasized this feeling of being trapped in Apple’s ecosystem by stating that he thought the HomePod as one of the “loneliest” of Apple’s devices. He liked the audio and build quality of the speaker, which he said provided an impressive amount of bass that never overwhelms, and ultimately sounded “richer and fuller than almost every other speaker we’ve tested.”

Still, his recommendation for HomePod was specific: it’s only for those who live in Apple’s walled garden and “prioritize sound quality over everything else.”

All of this is why I started thinking of the HomePod as “lonely.” It feels like it was designed for a very demanding person to use while living alone entirely inside Apple’s ecosystem. It’s tied more closely to a single iPhone and iCloud account than any other smart speaker, and Siri has none of the capability or vibrancy of what’s happening with Alexa. Apple can try to move mountains by itself, or it can recognize that the HomePod is a little iOS computer for the home and let developers build on it as they have for so long and with such great success with the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

The HomePod is a remarkable new kind of audio device. It does more to make music sound better than any other speaker of this kind has ever done before, and it really, truly works. But unless you live entirely inside Apple’s walled garden and prioritize sound quality over everything else, I think you’re better served by other smart speakers that sound almost as good and offer the services and capabilities that actually fit your life.

Joanna Stern with The Wall Street Journal noted that during her week of testing the HomePod, Apple’s device “nails the speaker but struggles at smart.” Stern noted that while Siri is a “good butler” for various HomeKit tasks, all of the usual issues remain when asking Siri other normal questions.

The HomePod has an iPhone processor and pairs with your iPhone—yet it can’t make a phone call? To use it as a speakerphone, you need to start the call on your iPhone then select the HomePod as an audio source. You can, however, send text messages from the HomePod with just your voice.

There are more things the HomePod can’t do, despite being hooked to your iCloud account and iPhone. It can’t tell you your next calendar appointment. It can’t alert you to new emails or texts. It’s also missing crucial third-party apps like Uber and Venmo.

Matthew Panzarino with TechCrunch noted that HomePod’s ability to recognize commands at a distance, even while music is playing, is one of the device’s strong suits, but also explained that most of these commands are still limited by Siri. Panzarino provided a few further details of other parts of HomePod, favoring the attention that Apple paid to the flexible, braided power cord and “seamless” ability to move HomePod from room to room and have it automatically connect to “any network known by your phone” within a few seconds.

Image via TechCrunch
Panzarino also went further into details about the sound quality of HomePod, describing it as “precise.”

The sound that comes from the HomePod can best be described as precise. It’s not as loud as some others like Google Home Max or as bright (and versatile) as the Sonos Play 1, but it destroys the muddy sound of less sophisticated options like the Amazon Echo. To genuinely fill a large room you need two but anyone in a small house or apartment will get great sound from one.

The HomePod was the “best” sounding. It’s nuanced and subtle with great separation and clarity across all kinds of music. The Play 1, for instance, had decent mid range but an overly bright high end with just the out of the box calibration. At maximum volume, the Play 1 became shrill and painful where the HomePod maintained balance.

There are plenty of other reviews and opinions on HomePod coming out today, so below we’ll list a few other reviewers and a quick snapshot from their respective articles.

Megan Wollerton with CNET:

With the HomePod in the center of the room, for example, I heard distinct wedges of good (and less good) sound around the speaker. Sometimes the front sounded great and the back not so much. Sometimes the best sound came from 90 degrees on either side.

Apple says the speaker adjusts itself based on room position, and as I moved the speaker around I could hear the difference as it recalibrated. Overall I found that the HomePod sounded best placed against a wall or in a corner, which is fine since that’s where most people will probably place it anyway.

Jim Dalrymple with The Loop:

To be absolutely clear, there was no comparison in sound quality. HomePod offered so much more quality that it was quite literally laughable to hear the others. The only speaker that sounded decent was the Sonos One, but even it couldn’t compete with HomePod.

It’s hard to explain the sound of HomePod, but you get a feeling that the sound is enveloping you, even when using just one speaker. There is a sense that this is how the songwriter and producer wanted the song to be heard when they recorded it.

Brian X. Chen with The New York Times:

The result is a speaker with a deep bass and rich treble that is loud enough to fill a large room with superb sound. HomePod makes the Amazon Echo and Google’s Home sound muffled and tinny in comparison.

But Siri on HomePod is embarrassingly inadequate, even though that is the primary way you interact with it. Siri is sorely lacking in capabilities compared with Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Assistant. Siri doesn’t even work as well on HomePod as it does on the iPhone.

Other reviews: USA Today, iMore, Telegraph, Pocket Lint, The Independent, and iJustine.

Related Roundup: HomePodBuyer’s Guide: HomePod (Buy Now)
Discuss this article in our forums

HomePod’s Stereo-Like Sound is Called ‘FullRoom’ and Coming Soon, Multi-Room Audio Available Later

Apple has given a name to its technology that will enable a pair of HomePods to automatically detect and balance each other to create stereo-like sound following an upcoming software update: FullRoom.

Emphasis should be placed on stereo-like sound, as HomePod reviews published today confirm that users won’t be able to set one speaker as the right channel and another as the left channel. Instead, as Apple notes, HomePods will use advanced beamforming capabilities to create a more immersive soundstage.

Apple also confirmed that FullRoom is coming first, according to Matthew Panzarino, while the HomePod’s multi-room audio support via AirPlay 2 will be available at a later date. Both features are currently listed as “coming later this year” on Apple’s website, so it was assumed they would be released in tandem.

HomePod launches this Friday in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, and availability of the speaker is beginning to tighten ahead of time.

Related Roundup: HomePodBuyer’s Guide: HomePod (Buy Now)
Discuss this article in our forums