Best Buy is running some of the best discounts available on smart home gadgets and as Black Friday kicks in, it has added a handful of new ones. The retailer slashed $100 off of the Apple HomePod and $50 from the Google Home. The fresh deals bring the Apple HomePod down to $200 from its sticker $300 price and the Google Home is available for $50 instead of its usual $100 cost.
In spite of the fact that Apple launched the HomePod more than two years ago, it still remains one of the best sounding smart speakers on the market. Its cylindrical, fabric exterior produces a balanced and loud sound through an array of seven speakers. The Apple HomePod can also sense the spaces around it and automatically adjust its output for the best listening experience. It has a total of six microphones that you can use to talk to the company’s virtual voice assistant, Siri.
The HomePod’s biggest letdown is that it’s locked in the Apple ecosystem. That means it doesn’t natively support any third-party music streaming services. So, for instance, you can’t directly ask it to play your Spotify or YouTube Music library. You will have to be an Apple Music subscriber to enjoy that perk. As a workaround, you do have the option to cast music from these platforms. In our Apple HomePod review, we concluded that it’s strictly for Apple’s most loyal customers.
The Google Home, on the other hand, is a lot more flexible. Unlike the HomePod, it can plug into the majority of third-party platforms out there. It runs the Google Assistant which always listens for your commands through a pair of microphones. The smart speaker comes equipped with dual 2-inch passive radiators for clear highs and rich bass.
But you don’t have to necessarily settle for these two. If you want, for instance, a smart display instead of a speaker, there is a multitude of more deals you should check out.
In addition, to completely take advantage of these speakers, you will need a few smart appliances. For that, make sure to drop by our smart home Black Friday deals section.
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