Apple Renewed HomePod Smart Speaker | Voice Activated with Siri | Space Grey £183.96 with code @ eBay

Homepods are frustrating in my opinion. General connectivity is sketchy in my experience.
I've tried a couple and connecting them to my network in the first instance took ages. From there, getting the homepod to play music from a phone was very hit and miss using airplay in control centre.
These are only really any use if you have an Apple music sub, and even then, you're relying on Siri to get it to play, and Siri is bad at recognizing requests.
A decent Bluetooth speaker is much less hassle.

I expect the price of these 1st gens to drop significantly now the 2nd gen is out. I’m guessing you’ll be able to pick up a new 2nd gen for £250 at some point this year, and these will be nearer £100-£150.

Been debating for a little while whether to buy the new HomePod being released or the Amazon Echo Studio. Currently have a 20% off code with Very Catalogue which would get me the Echo Studio for £152 which makes it attractive  but as a bit of an Apple enthusiast still leaning towards the new HomePod. This deal very tempting though. Also not sure if the Echo Studio will have any connectivity issues through my Apple TV box/Apple Music. (edited)

These sound really good and have been great in my room where I use them. Siri does not not have the same depth and breath as the other smarter assistants, however, it works for simple everyday tasks and works well with other Apple products.
Compared to the homepod minis, functionally the same with only a few new bells and whistles on that mini. Like the newly activated temperature and humidity sensors and better handoff capabilities. Asides that, sound is better than the mini (expectedly) and stereo pairing makes it even better. I believe it should be cheaper too considering there’s a newer (HomePods mini like in features) version

If you have Apple TV then these are a must, I have 2 set up with my Apple TV box and the sound is fantastic. No sync issues. also great as a sound system to stream music and I find siri to be excellent on mine, not slow at all as some mentioned. They also look good