Is Google Home Max better than Apple’s HomePod – apparently it is, according to this test
Apple’s HomePod is here and the sole purpose of it, while Apple gets Siri up to task, is to outperform the existing options in the space – Amazon Echo and Google Home – in the sound department.
Apple made a big deal about the sound quality its HomePod would produce. It talked about it at launch and, once reviewers got their hands on it, Apple was careful to ensure that all early reviewers were “on message” – and the message was the sound was awesome.
If you look at any reviews online, you will see that most seem to agree that Apple’s HomePod does indeed serve up excellent sound quality. This sound quality, combined with its design, and the fact it is an Apple product, is why the HomePod costs so much – its pricier than the Google Home Max and the Sonos One.
But here’s the thing: Google’s Home Max is apparently better when it comes to overall sound quality than Apple’s HomePod. At least, that was the finding of Yahoo’s David Pogue, who did a blind test of the Google Home Max, Apple HomePod, Sonos One, and Amazon Echo Plus.
This test wasn’t done on a grand scale, however – Pogue appears to have used a few friends and colleagues, just a handful of regular people. According to Pogue, the majority of those in attendance said the Sonos One was the best, closely followed by the Google Home Max.
Where it gets more interesting, however, is when you consider the price of these devices: Google Home Max comes in at $399, compared to the HomePod’s $349 and the Sonos One’s $199 – so the cheapest is actually the best, followed by the second cheapest.
And Pogue’s test isn’t the only one that has placed Google Home Max and the SONOS One above the Apple HomePod. Consumer Reports recently filed a test which showed the same thing – Apple’s HomePod was not as well liked as the One and Home Max.
Plus, Google Home Max runs Google Assistant and, while it is not perfect, it is LEAGUES ahead of Siri in terms of features and abilities.
Interesting stuff, especially since Google Home Max is quite a bit cheaper than Apple’s HomePod. Ditto the Sonos One, which ships with Amazon Alexa.
Dressed for business, built for partying
In keeping with the minimalist aesthetic of products such as the Google Home Mini and Daydream View ($77.46 at Amazon.com), the Google Home Max demonstrates that twill is the new piano black. The whole front of the speaker is covered in a gray (chalk or charcoal) cloth while the back is a smooth, matte plastic.
Surprise: the Max is big. It dwarfs the Google Home, and is roughly the same size as the Sonos Play:5 at 13 inches wide by 7.5 inches high and 6 inches deep. It tips the scales at a hefty 11.7 pounds, which you'll notice if you tip it vertically to form a stereo pair. I love the magnetic silicone base, which keeps the speaker stable in either horizontal or vertical orientation.
Other features include:
- Six onboard microphones for far-field voice control
- Two 4.5-inch (114mm) high-excursion dual voice-coil woofers
- Two 0.7-inch (18mm) custom tweeters
- USB-C input
- 3.5mm auxiliary input
The top of the speaker incorporates slick touch controls. Swipe left or right for volume, tap to pause or play. It seems that Google has dialed the sensitivity of the touch controls down after high-profile problems with the Home Mini. I had mixed results with adjusting volume, although play/pause seemed to work fine.
Is the Google Home Max the speaker that will tempt audiophiles away from their two-channel systems? In a word, no. This is a single-box speaker, and subject to all the compromises that type of form factor introduces. If you prioritize performance and are trying to decide between a pair of Maxes and a stereo system, the choice is easy -- get a stereo system.
For example, a pair of Q Acoustics 3020s, a Yamaha R-S202 and a Google Chromecast Audio will kick the butt of this system in terms of both dynamics and sound stage. Throw in a Google Home Mini for voice control and you're golden.
But let's say you don't want to bother with separates and value the clean look of a single speaker. If you're mostly doing background listening, my advice is to save the money and get a single Sonos One at half the price of the Max -- or even a Google Home or Mini, if you're on a tighter budget.
For bigger spenders, Google's big speaker is right up there with the Sonos Play:5 in terms of sound quality, and it's now the leading speaker we'd recommend at this price if you want a Chomecast-based multiroom system.
No comments:
Post a Comment