The apps
HomePod allows to set automation depending on people present in the house-hold. On the other hand, playing music with a timer is much easier in S2 app, than with Apple where you have to set an extra timer with action "Stop Playing".
Using AppleMusic finally allows me to add a song I like directly to one of my play lists. When I used the S2 app, then I had to remember the name of title and search it in AppleMusic or run Shazam. That always struck me as odd.
On the other hands AppleMusic doesn't play radio stations like my local ones. S2 could play radio, etc. from so many services. Sonos Radio as a "free" service is actually very good.
Being limited to AppleMusic goes beyond the choice of streaming services: Being limited to AppleMusic means that you have to launch audio books or radio stations from different apps and Sonos is more integrative.
Changing volume via buttons at the phone is possible from Apple Music, if you started song from your iPhone/iPad, else it requires going into the Home app.
When playing a track on one speaker, then adding other speakers via AirPlay takes noticeably longer than with S2 app. In S2 adding/removing speakers is close to instantly happening. Forget this with AirPlay: There are lags when adding/removing speakers, and the same goes for simple things like lowering volume on one speaker. Everything takes like 1 or 2 seconds to happen.
Different scenario: When playing different tracks on different speakers then changing volume/tracks on the various speakers requires going via Home app. This, too, was much easier with the Sonos S2 app.
On the other hand: In the Home app, per speaker, you see a selection of most recently played play lists. So starting from this selection, different by speaker, is really easy.
Staying on Home app: In my house we have different Apple Music accounts and in our personal rooms the HomePods run on the respective accounts. This means we don't pollute "the most played songs" counters for each other. In S2 there was one Apple Music account for all speakers on the same network. HomePods are a real improvement for multi-persons households.
Generally, the Sonos S2 app as dedicated app for speakers is the better, more convenient solution.
And whether people prefer Alexa or Google over Siri is a complete different story. Siri can do things which Alexa cannot, I don’t think it’s better at all than Alexa, which I used with Sonos.
One convenient Siri action is "Play the music playing in kitchen also in the living room." This works and quick compared to open app, select speaker, select second speaker, reply to if you want to replace the music playing in the living room, etc.
Different strengths, surely, but none is truly good and dealt me a fair amount of frustration and still do. Even in my house we don't agree if Alexa or Siri is better.
The ears
HomePod sounds clearer/brighter on the high-tones, comparable base, perhaps stronger/louder base on HomePod than Sonos Play:5. Sonos sounds very balanced, and almost softer, across all volumes. Strangely, I find that at lower volume on the HomePod become almost too dominant. In the bedroom I have activated “reduce loudness” options at times.
The Sonos sound really cannot be faulted, but this is a matter of taste. I would understand why other people prefer HomePod out-of-the-box. And then: Can we really compare two speakers types next to each other?
Sonos Play:5 might well have been “better” (whatever subjectively this means) when I had both in the household. But I can no longer compare Sonos Play:5 with HomePod next to each other.
Personally, I think that when you use Sonos or HomePod as background music then HomePod is more pleasant, not because of sound quality per se but because of the way sound is distributed.
I think this is an important point: A lot will depend on in which camp you fall? There are those who sit in front of perfectly positioned speakers and listen to music. And those who listen to music and do other things at the same time.
The sound from Sonos Play:5 is directional, there is a sweet-spot in terms of listening position. After listening to HomePod I understand the meaning of surround sound. I believe Era 300 can achieve the same, but the Ones and Fives which I replaced couldn't.
One of the most beautiful experiences is to hear the same music at different positions/angles towards the loudspeakers. I notice this most when going from room to room, the sound is more present everywhere.
Last point: Volume, I mean the type of how loud speakers can get. I never ran Play:5 at 100% because I just didn’t have the space for this type of loudness (lacking tolerance of neighbors, too, I presume). The HomePods don’t max out neither. So both can become sufficiently loud for me.
Installation (Getting Started)
HomePod set-up is significantly easier than Sonos. HomePods are beautifully represented in Home app.
Moving around HomePod is hassle free because there is no request to perform Trueplay. I think that Trueplay is working well, but Sonos needs to have room sensing technology like Apple has, to be on par. Trueplay is presented as a solution, but really it's more like a patch of a solution. Trueplay always required for me to remove the iPhone cover, multiple attempts, hoping that no plane flies above house, heating doesn't start. A lot of work, and the difference between before/after wasn't always noticeable. It worked best in the home cinema, and I still use only Sonos there. This is not to say that I notice much of a difference with HomePof room-sensing. It’s just that when I move them I don’t get questions from the app to re-do room-sensing.
Sonos has more placement options: Sonos can be set against any place, scotched against a wall, or at a distance. This is true even for the newest surround sound Era 300. Sonos sells wall mounts for that reason; in the case of Era 300 they only need overhead space.
Apple HomePods on the other hand require a minimum distance of at least 6 inches (13 cm) to the next surface, which I believe are measured from the surface of the HomePod. So it's apparently not ideal to put them in a corner, or into a bookshelf, for example. I ignore this requirement because of place constraints in one room, and I think they sound still good.
The eyes
Beyond ears: Visually, in terms of fitting into the decor and finding a place on furniture the HomePod with the small foot-print and height is a really easy proposal. It just looks nicer. This is part of the misunderstanding in this type of comparison: Comparing speakers which cannot be used identically has limited sense. There was simply no way that I could place two Play:5 where I have some of the HomePods now.
Last Point
For the energy conscious, environmental conscious: HomePods have low stand-by consumption. Sonos has improved in newer models, but tracks higher than HomePods.
