Apple unveiled its second-gen HomePod on Wednesday, astir 2 years aft it discontinued the archetypal HomePod. CNET was connected manus astatine the company's lawsuit successful New York City to perceive the caller talker successful person.

So, archetypal off, what has changed? The caller mentation is simply a full-size astute talker with "improved acoustics" and caller smart-home capabilities, including somesthesia and humidity sensors and the quality to notify you if it hears a fume oregon c monoxide alarm.

Both the caller HomePod and the existing HomePod Mini rely connected Siri, the company's dependable assistant, to perceive for and execute "Hey, Siri" commands.

Called the HomePod similar the erstwhile model, the caller talker is now disposable for preorder astatine the Apple Store for $299 (£299, AU$479) and volition beryllium disposable Feb. 3. It comes successful achromatic oregon white.

The plan is precise akin to the archetypal full-size HomePod. At 6.6 inches gangly and 5.6 inches wide, the caller talker is astir the aforesaid size arsenic its predecessor too. But the caller HomePod has a scope of cardinal upgrades. 

Inside is simply a customized woofer and 5 tweeters that usage beamforming to nonstop audio and amended immersion, according to Apple. You tin nexus 2 HomePod speakers to make a stereo pair, though doing truthful requires 2 HomePods of the aforesaid model. You can't harvester an archetypal HomePod and a caller 1 to make a pair, for example. Multiple HomePods tin beryllium linked passim the location for multiroom audio with AirPlay 2. 

The talker besides supports spatial audio, Apple's word for 360-degree effects that include Dolby Atmos music disposable connected Apple Music. Atmos is simply a surround-sound modular utilized some successful movie theaters and the home, and much precocious has been utilized to remix albums.

Inside the caller Apple HomePod is the high-excursion woofer interior bass-EQ mic and beamforming five-tweeter array.

Apple

The talker has a mates of caller smart-home extras up its sleeve, too. A diagnostic called Smart Recognition, coming via a bundle update this spring, "can perceive for fume and c monoxide alarms, and nonstop a notification straight to the user's iPhone if a dependable is identified," according to Apple. The talker besides has sensors for somesthesia and humidity, and you tin acceptable up triggers to adjacent the blinds oregon crook connected a instrumentality automatically erstwhile the country reaches a definite temperature. 

The somesthesia and humidity sensor and Smart Recognition features person besides been announced arsenic upcoming for the HomePod Mini.

In summation to supporting Apple's HomeKit, the full-sized HomePod besides supports the caller Matter standard, an open-source protocol that works with galore smart-home devices.

Bringing an iPhone adjacent the HomePod allows you to manus disconnected songs, dependable calls and much to the speaker.

Apple

You tin determination an iPhone adjacent to the talker to manus disconnected immoderate is producing audio, from a opus to a podcast to a dependable call, to the speaker. (That diagnostic requires iOS 16.3.) The telephone volition besides aboveground personalized opus and podcast suggestions erstwhile held adjacent the speaker. The HomePod supports Apple's Find My diagnostic truthful you tin inquire Siri to play a dependable connected a misplaced device, oregon inquire for the determination of friends oregon household who stock it via the Find My app.

Owners of the Apple TV 4K streaming instrumentality tin marque the HomePod their TV talker for each devices connected to the TV, acknowledgment to eARC linking via HDMI. Siri dependable commands heard by a HomePod tin besides power the Apple TV hands free.

Ears-on with the caller HomePod

CNET's Ty Pendlebury attended Apple's lawsuit and offers an in-person perspective.

It's ever hard to ascertain a speaker's dependable prime successful a canned demo similar this, and I'll reserve immoderate definitive thoughts until I get a reappraisal portion to trial for myself. Generally, though, the opus snippets I heard sounded good, and the talker should entreaty to radical who already have, had oregon were funny successful the original.

The institution began proceedings astatine its Tribeca loft with immoderate popular euphony -- including The Weeknd -- and I was initially amazed to perceive however tiny the talker sounded. Despite offering 360-surround sound, I recovered the audio clung beauteous intimately to the talker itself. With the adjacent way Boomerang by Yebba, the institution wanted to stress the HomePod's spatial audio compatibility. And portion determination was a swirling effect successful the 30 seconds they played, it wasn't precise obvious.

The astir awesome portion of the demo, though, was erstwhile the institution added a 2nd speaker, which made it a HomePod stereo pair. When playing Mystery Lady by Masego and Don Toliver the pallet instantly expanded -- and not conscionable by creating a stereo field. A percussion effect could beryllium heard to the utmost near extracurricular of the carnal determination of the cabinets.

Finally, I heard the archetypal HomePod backmost successful 2017 erstwhile the company's representatives utilized the unrecorded mentation of The Eagles' Hotel California to item its bass response. However, erstwhile the bass drum entered astir a infinitesimal into the song, the dependable was unintentionally terrible. The immense drum seemed to overload the talker and resulted successful a "blet" sound. 

At today's event, determination were nary specified issues, and the drum sounded conscionable arsenic tremendous and heavy arsenic the institution would person hoped for.

Entering a competitory market

Apple had been rumored to moving connected a "HomePod 2" since astatine slightest June 2022, and this volition lone beryllium the company's 4th talker successful the past 20 years. The institution has lone released 3 different speakers  -- the iPod Hi-Fi, the archetypal $350 Apple HomePod and the HomePod Mini, which remains connected merchantability for $99. 

The caller $299 HomePod volition vie straight with higher-end astute speakers similar the Amazon Echo Studio and Sonos One, some of which outgo $200. Meanwhile, the existent HomePod Mini is priced competitively with Google's larger Nest Audio, though it is undercut by the $49 Google Nest Mini and astir Amazon Echo models.

Apple's Siri dependable adjunct whitethorn beryllium ascendant successful mobile, but the institution has struggled to construe this occurrence into astute speakers. In presumption of competition, Amazon's Echo bid and Google Nest speakers jostle each different for archetypal and 2nd place. 

I look guardant to reviewing the caller Apple HomePod soon.

CNET's Sean Keane contributed to this report.