https://mondaynote.com/the-trouble-with-homepod-reviews-585075add9d2

by Jean-Louis Gassée

As a testament to Apple’s place in the pantheon of electronics, reviews for a new product from Cupertino come fast and — often — furious. HomePod, Apple’s contribution to the “smart speaker” genre, exacerbates the venomenon, pardon, phenomenon. Tempting as it is to call out reviewers’ contradictions, ignorance of basics, and reflexive opinions passed as authoritative facts, one might try a more empathetic view of the basic challenges in evaluating speakers, including the not-so-new computational audio category now entering the consumer space.