Amazon Launches New $99 Echo Speaker With Better Sound and $149 Echo Plus Smart Home Hub

[Piggie]

What seems odd, and being missed is ANYONE.
Pretty much any company, or any of us can buy or put together a good sounding speaker system.
Hell, even a 5.1 computer speaker system can sound amazing for most people at a good price.

The speaker bit is easy.

It's the other aspect of it. Siri, Alexa etc that's the hard bit.

It's like saying Apple's car is sooooo amazingly comfy, the seats are luxury, all leather, with ait blowing on your from 20 vents etc etc, and super soft suspension.
But the engine that moves the car is junk.

Google or Amazon can build their AI system into any speaker setup in moments and set price points all over the place.
It's easy.
They could both make $400 versions with amazing speakers.

They are going down the good enough for most people day to day route at a great price.

If they see the HomePod selling due to sound quality, they could kick their own version out in moments

 

[kshitijshah]

Echo Connect? Really betting on landlines taking over again, eh? Amazon is trying to find a product that no one wants... are they laundering mob money over there or something?

"Introducing the new Echo Connect, now with real-time rotary dialing and vinyl 45 playback!"

Its just a USD 35 accessory. Great Value for people who have landline phones. Plus Alexa platform is getting stronger by the day. Wonder what the world's largest company is doing with Siri?

 

[ersan191]

What seems odd, and being missed is ANYONE.
Pretty much any company, or any of us can buy or put together a good sounding speaker system.
Hell, even a 5.1 computer speaker system can sound amazing for most people at a good price.

The speaker bit is easy.

It's the other aspect of it. Siri, Alexa etc that's the hard bit.

It's like saying Apple's car is sooooo amazingly comfy, the seats are luxury, all leather, with ait blowing on your from 20 vents etc etc, and super soft suspension.
But the engine that moves the car is junk.

Google or Amazon can build their AI system into any speaker setup in moments and set price points all over the place.
It's easy.
They could both make $400 versions with amazing speakers.

They are going down the good enough for most people day to day route at a great price.

If they see the HomePod selling due to sound quality, they could kick their own version out in moments

I agree with some of your points, but making a small speaker that sits on your nightstand that sounds as good as a 5.1 system is an enormous feat in itself (and I doubt think Apple would be making claims of 'room filling sound' if they thought it would fall flat). I don't think Amazon has the technical ability to do so, and they are one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Personally I'm not nearly as interested in the speaker aspect as I am in the home assistant, but to dismiss the speaker technology they are working on so callously would be in error.
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Its just a USD 35 accessory. Great Value for people who have landline phones. Plus Alexa platform is getting stronger by the day. Wonder what the world's largest company is doing with Siri?

I can also buy a used Verizon Home Connect for $12 on eBay (or $30 new) and suddenly my whole house is tied into my mobile phone for next to nothing. It's a very roundabout way to solve the problem but it's not out of the question. I'd much rather Amazon work with mobile providers to integrate their functionalities, but I don't see it happening anytime soon, and this is the next best thing.

 

[Dunkrag]

Or you can get the 3-pack of Echo 2 for $250 + an extra one for $100 which would be the same price as a HomePod.

Do you want Alexa in 3 or 4 rooms... or just one room with the HomePod?

I think that's what people will be more concerned with rather than outright sound quality.

This is exactly why the Echo will sell by the bucket load compared to the HomePod.

NO-ONE gives a **** about sound quality from these things or they wouldn't be buying them in the first place..

 

[woody74]

Laughing at the Echo connect, who still has a home phone these days? I know there are some, but really, it is very few people.

Maybe in the US, but in the UK you have to have one to get broadband, so every home has one.

 

[Richard28]

I was waiting for Apple to make a move before making a home assistant purchase... and as soon as the apple homepod announced it was clear they were barking up the wrong tree and I bought an echo the same day.

Most people I know (including me) have these devices in their kitchen... here you do not need amazing sound quality in my opinion - the echo is more than sufficient - and the new one looks better still whilst retaining the competitive price point.

Apple are losing the plot, I now have a fire tv that has replaced my apple tv (rubbish content on apple tv in the UK), have also now moved over to Amazon music. Just my iphone, mac, watch and ipad left. but even here we use the Amazon Fire tablets more than the ipad around the house, so doubt I will ever replace this ipad with a new one.

Had apple bought out a good home product and tv product they would own my house... but their grasp is slipping, and I am slowly moving away from apple devices/eco-system....

I cant be the only one?

 

[dilbert99]

Meh. For $99 you it may have better sound than their previous speakers but it's not going to be on the level of the HomePod.

I wouldn't even go as far as to call it direct competition. Then intentions of the two devices are much different.

Yeah, for the homepod to be on the same level, siri would have to work and Apple would have to change its policies to allow its device to do more...

 

[BillGates1969]

I am Apple all over. My wife and I between us have 3 iPhones (two 7+ & one 7 from work), 2 MackBooks, 1 iMac, iPad pro 12", iPad mini, 4 ATV4s, 2 Apple Watches.

I am also big time into my Home Automation and have everything I can automated (lights, TV, Tivo, Thermostat, motion sensors for automations, presence detectors etc, etc). For controlling the home I have 1 Echo and 3 Dots. I also run something on a Raspberry Pi called Homebridge, that enables me to run the non home kit devices (including Wemos, Nest) using Siri.

I use Alexa 99% of the time. "Alexa, turn on the kettle", "Alexa turn on Sky Sports", "Alexa, turn on the Lounge Lights" etc, etc. Siri just isn't there yet, even with my Raspberry Pi allowing me to control the same devices.

I do use Airplay though and have speakers in the kitchen, lounge, office and front room...these are my chosen speakers connected to Raspberry Pis that have replaced my Apple Airports.

So with £700 worth of Apple vouchers that I have accumulated from Fathers Day and my Birthday, do I buy two HomePods? I don't think I will. Maybe an Apple Watch S3. Maybe I'll just wait until I get some more for a new mac or an iPhone Xs next year.

What my point is that I love Apple and all things Apple, but even I am getting to the stage where the Apple premium is too much. The Echos are inferior speakers, but as Home Automation devices they are excellent. The Raspberry Pi's do a good job with my speakers for Airplay. I'm hoping once Airplay 2 is out, someone will program them to support it, then I just update them to get the multi room. On the rare occasion I need multi room, I have set up my Echos as 'upstairs' and 'downstairs', so I can listen to stuff...albeit in not as good quality as the Airplay.

Everyone has different use cases. For me the sound quality isn't the main thing, it is the intelligence of the voice control. There is no right or wrong here. Amazon have done an amazing job of bringing Home Automation to the masses (on the front end at least, as I use a system called Home Assistant running off another raspberry pi as the 'hub'), so good that my totally technophobe wife walks around the house asking for the TV to be turned on, to set an alarm, ask about the weather (lol I have my own Netatmo weather station too). Siri still isn't there yet.

Just my 2p worth

 

[splogue]

Laughing at the Echo connect, who still has a home phone these days? I know there are some, but really, it is very few people.

I do, but I use a wireless bluetooth phone system to tie it all together, not an adapter that plugs into an Echo. I'm guessing this is (maybe) for older folks who are using an Echo to keep in touch? Maybe?

Honestly, a lot of this stuff seems very niche. Like, let's make a bunch of stuff after a brainstorming session and see what sells.

I told my daughter about the light up Jeopardy buttons. She looked at me very seriously and said, "You aren't actually going to buy those, are you?"

"No, they are ridiculous!"

And I buy all sorts of crazy things, so I'm going to go on record now and say nobody will buy those silly buttons until they give them away on clearance.

The hidden gem here wasn't even on the list. The new Fire video streaming dongle thingy is in there, but the bigger Fire replacement is not. It is rumored to be a cube shape, hence the odd dongle square design. It must have needed more refinement before announcing it.

 

[cyanite]

And if you're still using DSL... why in the name of all that is holy are you still using DSL?

In many places DSL is the only option, or the best option. It doesn't have to be rural America. I live in Denmark in Copenhagen (the capital), and DSL will often be the only or best option, especially in older buildings. DSL can go pretty high up in downstream, 80-100Mbps, so it's fine.

 

[NachoGrande]

Apple has no shot competing unless they come down in price. i have Echos all over my house and I use them everyday. The play music everywhere feature is perfect..

 

[GDF]

Does not matter to apple eco systems, if Alexa does not integrate well though. I tried Alexa and unless it got better, it had poor integration to my iPhone, iPad, etc, which makes it a no go for me. Wish it would work better, as they are way a head of Apple right now.

Its just a USD 35 accessory. Great Value for people who have landline phones. Plus Alexa platform is getting stronger by the day. Wonder what the world's largest company is doing with Siri?

 

[JustMartin]

Laughing at the Echo connect, who still has a home phone these days? I know there are some, but really, it is very few people.

Don't know what country you're from - but 50% of US households have a landline and 88% UK households also. Whatever way you cut it - that's more than 'very few' (see https://www.statista.com/statistics/289158/telephone-presence-in-households-in-the-uk/ and https://www.verdict.co.uk/cutting-cord-majority-us-households-dont-landline-uk/)

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Apple has no shot competing unless they come down in price. i have Echos all over my house and I use them everyday. The play music everywhere feature is perfect..

You're missing the entire point of the HomePod if you think it's in direct competition with the Echo.

The HomePod is first and foremost about music. Look at the Apple site. That's the focus for most of the page. The voice assistant is just a small part of the product.

The Echo is the opposite. It's all about the voice assistant. The fact that it can also play music is very much secondary to its purpose.

This is like comparing a sports car to a economy car. Both can get you from point A to B and share many of the same features but they're built for entirely different purposes.
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Don't know what country you're from - but 50% of US households have a landline and 88% UK households also. Whatever way you cut it - that's more than 'very few' (see https://www.statista.com/statistics/289158/telephone-presence-in-households-in-the-uk/ and https://www.verdict.co.uk/cutting-cord-majority-us-households-dont-landline-uk/)

You need to dig a bit further into those numbers. It's largely dependent on the age group.

50.8 of US households are now wireless only, but that number rises to 72.7% of adults 25-29 and 71% adults 30-34.

If we look at older adults those numbers decrease. 62.5% for adults 34-44, 45.2% for those 45-64, and 23.5% for those 65 and over.

83.7% of adults living in households with unrelated adult roommates had wireless only and 71.5% of adults living in rented houses. Considering nearly 40% of those in the US rent, that's a huge percentage.

So we have to consider who the target audience of these devices is. It's likely the majority of the customers are going to be those 25-45. Those in that age range are generally the largest adopters of new technology.

With that said, it doesn't make the most sense to include a phone jack on something the majority of your users will have no use for.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/wireless201705.pdf
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tan...ds-are-renting-than-at-any-point-in-50-years/

 

[HoosBruce]

People still think the HomePod is a direct competitor to the Echo devices? Christ....

 

[jadot]

This just brings me one step closer to dumping Apple Music, and eventually all and any of iCloud subscriptions.

Don't get me wrong - I actually really like Apple Music, but they can't get iCloud sharing working, and their storage pricing is more expensive than anyone else's. If I can have all of my music and photos on either Amazon or google, AND link up a few echo dots (Linked to existing speakers) throughout my house, and share photo storage with my wife a la google, and get massive shareable collaborative storage from office 365 (1TB for each of us), then why am I paying for iCloud again? Sure, I can share a file with my wife, but she has to share it back to me if she does any work on it.

The Homepod doesn't even come into it for me. I have speakers, and they're cheaper than the homepod anyway.

 

[DevNull0]

Here’s something we do know though. The HomePod uses a 4” driver and the echo plus uses a 2.5” driver. Now don’t get me wrong, both are piddly little things compared to a real speaker, but the 4” driver is over 2.5x the area of the 2.5” driver. Amazon can’t break the laws of physics. The larger driver and larger enclosure means the HomePod will move more air, play lower and louder, and because of those things will easily sound better.

But you don't know that the the 4" speaker Apple chooses to use is better (or more expensive for them to source) than the 2.5" speaker. It's easier to make a big speaker sound good, and for a given sound quality smaller speakers cost more.

And before you twist what I'm trying to say....I'm not saying this is the case here; all I'm saying is that we know nothing about the HomePod except that it will have a bigger margin than Amazon's speaker. You're the one that keeps making the assumption Apples will be better just because it costs more.

 

[NachoGrande]

People still think the HomePod is a direct competitor to the Echo devices? Christ....

Keep telling yourself that it's not Apples goal to get into that market. But that obnoxious condescending "Christ" at the end of your sentence isn't going to change that.

 

[jadot]

People still think the HomePod is a direct competitor to the Echo devices? Christ....

No. I see the homepod as direct competition for better speakers that I can buy for less, but with Apple Music built in. If I already have some speakers then then the Homepod is redundant - I'd just be buying it for the 'assistant'. If I want an assistant, I'd buy an echo dot (or 3).
That's what the homepod is competing with.
If Apple produced an echo dot sized Home assistant (which I doubt) then they might get in to this market, but selling a single speaker to replace a similarly priced stereo pair of powered bluetooth (or otherwise) speakers to music fans is going to be a tall order no matter how much they dress it up. Smart features as an after thought aren't going to be enough for most people, I'd guess.

 

[DevNull0]

I'm saying the HomePod has superior components and is built for a far different purpose than the Echo. Amazon doesn't mean for the Echo to be a specialized music playback device and as thus it's simply not on the level with the HomePod when it comes to music playback which was designed for that specific purpose.

You don't know that the HomePod has superior components, it doesn't exist yet. For all you know the manufacturing cost is higher on the $100 Amazon speaker. They've had razor thin margins on kindles and other products, and based on the manufacturing cost of other Apple products, it's a given that the HomePod will cost Apple under $100.

Put your money where your mouth is. $100 bet the HomePod will be rated to have superior music sound quality compared to the Echo Plus by the major review sites.

Funny. You're still ignoring what I'm saying and ranting about what you want to argue about. I never said the Echo Plus would be better. You know nothing at all about the vapourware HomePod except that it will cost $349 and have a fat Apple margin. Yet, you're so adamant that that $349 speaker *must* be better than a $99 speaker based only on price.

I didn't same Echo Plus would sound better, only that nobody knows yet, including you. So, unless you can point me to "the major review sites" right now saying the release version of the HomePod in their own testing environments sounds better than the Echo Plus, you lose your $100 bet.

You're just assuming more expensive = better. Which is exactly where we started.

 

[NIKKG]

Sticking with Apple on this category. I have an Echo but I am too deep in with Apple's Eco system that it makes sense to go with Apple's unreleased future speaker product.

Be adventurous and don't be afraid to try new things.

 

[Gherkin]

Laughing at the Echo connect, who still has a home phone these days? I know there are some, but really, it is very few people.

Millions of people.
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Keep telling yourself that it's not Apples goal to get into that market. But that obnoxious condescending "Christ" at the end of your sentence isn't going to change that.

isn't it obvious? The HomePod is actually competing with fidget spinners.

Saying the HomePod isn't a direct response to the Echo is so far removed from reality. It's literally the same exact product but Apple knows they can't compete with all the 3rd party smart home compatibility the Echo currently enjoys so they had to make the value proposition excellent audio quality on their first try.

 

[huffhuff]

My main problem with this are the shadows in the image.

 

[RickInHouston]

What seems odd, and being missed is ANYONE.
Pretty much any company, or any of us can buy or put together a good sounding speaker system.
Hell, even a 5.1 computer speaker system can sound amazing for most people at a good price.

The speaker bit is easy.

It's the other aspect of it. Siri, Alexa etc that's the hard bit.

It's like saying Apple's car is sooooo amazingly comfy, the seats are luxury, all leather, with ait blowing on your from 20 vents etc etc, and super soft suspension.
But the engine that moves the car is junk.

Google or Amazon can build their AI system into any speaker setup in moments and set price points all over the place.
It's easy.
They could both make $400 versions with amazing speakers.

They are going down the good enough for most people day to day route at a great price.

If they see the HomePod selling due to sound quality, they could kick their own version out in moments

And there's nothing wrong with that approach. Happens all the time and it's a very acceptable business strategy.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

The Braves have a “bit” where a fan gets to run against a track star dubbed “The Flash.” The fan gets a 10 second head start and is usually half way to the finish line by the time Flash starts. No matter — Flash rapidly catches up and goes to beat the fan. I think Flash has only lost once this season because he stumbled out of the gate.

From my perspective Amazon is half way to the finish line in the home voice control segment. Apple has yet to leave the gate. Will it rapidly catch up to win? I don’t know the answer but Amazon has game. This might be like the one time the Flash stumbled out the gate.