Stan Horaczek

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Apple’s $299 smart display has been sitting on my kitchen counter for about a week. It looks like a hybrid between an old-school iMac and a giant Apple Watch , but it’s a dedicated home for the recently revamped Siri. It’s an easy addition for anyone already committed to Apple gear. If your smart home runs on cameras, locks, or sensors that don’t work with Apple Home, though, you’ll want an upgrade plan before you buy one.

The HomeView comes in two versions, and both cost $299 in the US. I tested the tabletop model , which mounts a 7-inch square touchscreen on a domed aluminum speaker base and includes a 30W power adapter and USB-C cable in the box. You can have it in any color you want, as long as it’s silver, starlight, rose pink, or space gray.…