Apple HomePod smart speaker with Siri launched in India with a hefty price tag

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Apple HomePod smart speaker with Siri launched in India with a hefty price tag
Apple
  • Apple HomePod was first launched in the US two years back.
  • Apple added support for Indian English Siri voices just in time for the India launch.
  • In India, the HomePod competes with Google Home and Amazon Echo Plus smart speakers.
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Apple HomePod smart speaker was quietly launched in India today, almost two years after the US launch. The HomePod page on the Apple India page is now live with the price, although availability details are not known just yet.

The HomePod is powered by Siri and competes directly with Google Home and Amazon Echo smart speakers. Apple has also rolled out iOS 13.3.1 and iPadOS 13.3.1 updates. Siri will now support Indian English accent too, which coincides with its India launch.

Apple HomePod smart speaker price in India

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The Apple HomePod price in India is ₹19,900, which is a shade lower than its price in the US ($299 approx. ₹21,900). In spite of that, it is the costliest such product in India.

Here’s a quick comparison of the prices of Apple, Google and Amazon’s smart speakers in India:

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ProductPrice
Apple HomePod ₹ 19,900.00
Google Home ₹ 7,999.00
Amazon Echo Plus ₹ 14,999.00


The Apple Universe

The HomePod is expensive even when it is compared to the most premium Google Home and Amazon Echo speakers. It is also designed to work in Apple’s walled garden, which makes matters worse in a country like India where Apple has a market share of 2%.

Activating the HomePod requires an Apple device. It also restricts music streaming with its AirPlay protocol, which is not accessible by Android devices.

There are third-party apps like CloudPlayer that let you stream music on HomePod from an Android device, but it’s more of a workaround for a highly expensive smart speaker.

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Apple HomePod features

The Apple HomePod smart speaker is 7-inch in height. It is powered by Apple’s A8 chip and has a large woofer for outputting deep bass. This woofer is assisted by seven tweeters, which improves the sound quality immensely.

The HomePod also has Siri assistant built in which processes, stores and encrypts all the voice commands locally. It means what happens within your home, remains inside the Homepod.

See also:

Apple's HomePod is too expensive, too limited, too late to market, and few people are buying it

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