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Get a refurbished Apple HomePod for $194

That's the lowest price to date on a refurbished Apple smart speaker.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
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Rick Broida
2 min read
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Stool not included.

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As a general rule, Apple products and "Cheapskate" don't belong in the same sentence. But obviously zillions of people love Apple gear, price be damned.

Read more: Will HomeKit and HomePod get any attention at WWDC?

I like Apple gear, too, but damned if I'm going to pay full retail for it. That's why I always advise people to choose refurbished Apple hardware whenever possible. It's usually good as new or darn close to it.

Case in point: For a limited time, and while supplies last, Overstock has the refurbished Apple HomePod smart speaker for $194.39 shipped (plus tax). That's the lowest price I can recall seeing; the HomePod sells new for $299 (and was originally $349).

See it at Overstock

Yes, even at $194, the HomePod is on the expensive side for what it is: a Siri-powered answer to the Amazon Echo , though the latter rarely scores accolades for its sound quality. The HomePod, on the other hand, offers "excellent bass and consistently superior sound quality across a wide variety of music genres."

That's according to CNET's HomePod review, which praised not only the sound quality but also the across-the-room Siri recognition. However, this smart speaker is definitely less smart than competing models from Amazon and Google, and of course it's limited to iOS.

The only $.02 I can add (because I haven't used one) is that I consider the HomePod one of the uglier products Apple has designed. Did this really come from the same company that gave us the iPhone and MacBook Air ?

None of that matters. Some folks just want the Apple HomePod because it's the Apple HomePod, and that's OK. But there's no need to pay $299 when a perfectly good refurb is $194. Take note, however, that the warranty is just 90 days, not the full year you'd get from an Apple-certified refurb.

Your thoughts?

Read More: All the latest Overstock coupons

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