Credit: Fergus Halliday | IDG
The Verdict
By the end of this whole endeavor, an unsatisfying truth became clear. Despite their accessible and clean aesthetics, both the Sonos One and Apple HomePod are actually gunning for very niche audiences.
As we said in our original review of the Sonos One back in October, buying the Sonos One when it currently has no smarts to offer requires a certain amount of faith that both the smarts will come in due time and that the implementation of those smarts will be every bit as smooth as it is in the Google Home or Amazon Echo.
Likewise - there are over thirty million subscribers to Apple Music worldwide. If you are not one of them, and aren’t willing to cut your ties to your current music streaming service, you should probably not buy a HomePod.
Both of these products sound great, but there’s a good chance that the usability concessions being demanded by both Sonos and Apple here aren’t going to be a good fit for you. That said, if you do want to know which one sounds the best - we're giving our endorsement to the Sonos One.
Credit: Sonos 
