It may well have Siri‘s smarts, but Apple wants you to know that the new HomePodspeaker is all about great sound quality. It’s also about the promise of spatially-aware sound-projecting speakers, and how that may or may not matter for home audio.

That was my quick takeaway after getting to hear a quick demo of Apple’s new speaker in a controlled environment versus the $180 Amazon Echo (£150, US price converts to AU$240) and the $300 Sonos Play:3 (£300, AU$450).