Apple earlier this week unveiled its new HomeView smart home hub, and while the reception has generally been favorable, at least one tech reviewer says he is “not convinced” about it.
Popular techie influencer Marques Brownlee said in his HomeView impressions video on his YouTube channel MKBHD, that “I cannot figure any group that this is actually ideal for.”
Brownlee said the HomeView does not provide enough “extra value,” thanks to its lack of an App Store and its overlap with other Apple devices. This has led him to believe that the device should be “a skip for most people.”
Brownlee said that while Apple definitely needed a product like the HomeView to lure people away from Amazon and Google’s similar smart home hubs, after he had some time to spend with Apple’s new hub and had time to digest everything, ” I actually don’t think this first… offering… is very convincing.”
He does admit that even though the HomeView costs $299, while the Google Nest Hub Max is $229 and Amazon’s Echo Hub is $179 it’s not a deal-breaker.
He also finds it a bit odd that Apple sells both a desktop and a wall-mounted version of the HomeView, both for the same price. While both models have speakers built-in to the screen, the wall-mounted version lacks the base of the desktop version, which is where Apple has included a lower-frequency woofer, meaning buyer of the wall-mounted version won’t enjoy the same great sound that the desktop version provides.
Plus, the wall-mounted version doesn’t include a wall adapter to mount it, so buyers will have to shell out $60 for the USB-C wall adapter, $80 for an AC adapter, or $130 for the Power over Ethernet adapter. Adding greatly to the final cost of the device.
Near the end of the video, he says “I’ve been living with this for… all day basically, and I cannot figure any group that this is actually… ideal for.”
Brownlee has plenty to say about the new HomeView, and not all of it is bad. For the full review, check out the video above.