Here's how Apple's HomePod speaker compares to the Amazon Echo and Google Home
Apple wants the HomePod to be hard to classify.
More than anything else, the company that made the iPod and iTunes wants its new speaker to be about music. Take a look at the HomePod's product page and you'll get an idea: The focus is on sound and speaker specs first and foremost, with nods to Siri and Apple's HomeKit smart home platform tucked underneath.
Still, the HomePod costs a bit more than many of the traditional speakers with which it wants to compete. What sets it apart are its smarts; that puts it up against other "smart" speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home.
With that in mind, we've put together a quick overview of how the major smart speakers now compare. Note that there's still a good deal we don't know about the HomePod yet - Apple declined to comment on if the device will support multiple users, for instance, and it's not clear if it'll integrate with Spotify.
So far, though, Apple has good reason to focus on sound: Siri isn't the most knowledgeable assistant, and HomeKit supports far fewer devices than its peers. But if you don't need your speaker to go that deep, the HomePod may be worth the plunge when it arrives in December.
