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

[OllyW]

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.

I'd probably buy a reasonably priced Apple version of the echo dot as an add on to my current system but I'd never replace my stereo with a single speaker setup like the HomePod.

 

[kdarling]

YSo 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.

The majority of users still have parents and grandparents

And they're not including a phone jack. It's an optional accessory. I've already preordered for Christmas.

 

[Gherkin]

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.

and don't forget Google. They have the most impressive AI/voice search right now but they seem to be struggling to get people to buy their hardware (except for Chromecast).

 

[Airforcekid]

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.

How so? I can seamlessly push music from my ios devices to my Alexa speakers and send messages/voice calls to my ios devices from an Alexa device only by speaking. I fail to see how it could integrate much better unless Apple gave us the ability to replace Siri with Alexa in a future ios update.

 

[ArcfireHOF]

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.

Lots of elderly people for one. People as they get older are more unlikely to adapt to new technology, the same goes for you 40 years down the road when your kids and grand kids have gone to thought controlled ear implants, you are sticking to your latest gen cell phone because you "want to see it on the screen in front of you".

I am considering getting this for my mom, she has both a land line and an Echo, might be easier for her to just use the echo since every time she uses the phone she puts it on speakerphone.

Another use is for SMB, most businesses have some sort of land line as well, and a hands free mode would work well in many environments!

 

[JRobinsonJr]

If you're using VOIP, why would you need a telephone landline? And if you're still using DSL... why in the name of all that is holy are you still using DSL?

The "land line" is just VoIP with dial-tone. I can use any physical phone I want to.

 

[GDF]

That makes sense, but I have little interest in the music ability of these smart devices. I am talking about telling Alexa to add reminder to my shopping list on the Reminders App on my iPhone or adding an appointment to my iPhone calendar, etc... Unless it has changed, I don’t think Alexa can do that.

How so? I can seamlessly push music from my ios devices to my Alexa speakers and send messages/voice calls to my ios devices from an Alexa device only by speaking. I fail to see how it could integrate much better unless Apple gave us the ability to replace Siri with Alexa in a future ios update.

 

[JRobinsonJr]

Thank you VERY MUCH. My mom is 77 and living alone. Until I can move closer. From what I understand, could my mom say, Hey Alexa, call the 911, if she falls or needs some other help? She could also SS, Hey Alexa, cal Peter? Please let me know if I understanding this correctly. Thx

That is *exactly* the scenario I'm dealing with to, and yes... right now it works for Echo-to-Echo calling, so I'm going to assume (yeah... I know...) that this will address the real calling once we have the Echo Connect.
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Good question... though the average consumer doesn't really care about sound quality like audiophiles do. Compressed MP3s and streaming audio are evidence of that! Though people seem to like to ask Alexa "play so-n-so" despite it not sounding very good.

And you can think about it the other way too... you can get three Echo 2 for $100 less than the price of a single HomePod.

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.

Spot on!

While from a pure audio perspective I'm certain the Echo won't even come close to the HomePod. But so what? In my house we use it to listen to music, podcasts, etc. and for our purposes it's just fine. Plus that is just one use-case for the device. Interactive home control, using Alexa to get information (weather, news, etc.) and Echo-to-Echo calling for my older mother are equally important to me.

I can live with less than stellar audio... and the Echo (full size) is far better than just 'good enough'.

As someone who's bought into the whole Apple ecosystem I certainly wish that Apple would get with the program and do something similar. Will it be HomePod? Maybe in version 3?

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

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.



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.

I've heard the HomePod. It's not vaporware as you keep calling it. Many of us had hands on with it after the Keynote. You might want to look up the definition of vaporware.

Once again I've never said that more expensive means higher quality. What I've continued to say and what you can't seem to comprehend is that a product that has far more extensive components for producing sound will produce better sound.

 

[mudflap]

Ahem, I resemble that remark. Try people over 60. I’m 52 and haven’t had a landline since 2004. In 2004 I was 40

I just turned 47. But I don't look a day over 46.

 

[Michael Scrip]

To everybody who is arguing about sound quality... remember the types of devices that many people use to play music in their homes:

https://ig.***************/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/iHome-iP46-Portable-30-Pin-iPod-touch.jpg

These things don't sound particularly great... yet they are a billion dollar industry.

The term "good enough" applies here.

I have no doubt that Apple's HomePod sounds amazing for its size. But the average consumer doesn't care... nor will they want to spend $300+ for a speaker solution anyway.

As for the Echo... don't forget the 15,000 Alexa skills, the integration with home-automation things, the personal assistant stuff... Amazon Echo is quite a device. Oh and it plays music too.

I think Amazon has another hit on their hands.

 

[576316]

I’ve had an Echo since December and will be upgrading to one of these. It’ll be interesting to see how much better it sounds.

This, and Google Home, make HomePod look like a very expensive home assistant option. But I know HomePod is aiming for a slightly different audience. Though I can see Apple eventually coming out with something smaller and cheaper to compete in this market.

 

[bobenhaus]

I didn't say that. But do you honestly believe a $99 voice assistant is really going to outperform a $349 home music device? This isn't about price tag, it's about the purpose and design of the product.

The Echo wasn't designed specifically to play music. It doesn't have a powerful processor with optimized audio playback software. It has a single small tweeter and a small sub. The HomePod has an A8X processor, beam-forming tech for high quality music playback, 7 tweeters and a 4" high-precision sub, all designed to work together and created specifically to play music.

Do you honestly believe that this new Echo Plus will produce better quality audio than the HomePod?

I think the echo and other competitor smart devices are going to be used for Audio fanatics. I think they will just be attached to those type of devices in general. So basically they are just smart assistance's and that it at least for now

 

[VMMan]

Jeff Bezos is a great CEO. I wish Apple had a CEO one tenth as good.
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Apple, wtf are you doing... Echo Plus, Echo Spot, Echo Show... and that's from a company who became a hardware company just 10 years ago and the Echo itself is just 3 years old. Amazon bakes Echo devices like hot cakes.

And here comes Apple with the bulky pathetic HomePod whose only advantages are presumably better sound and definitely higher price. No, there's no HomePod Video, HomePod Spot, HomePod Dot. Maybe in 5 years, or 10. Who knows.
By the time Amazon releases a holographic Echo 3D, we'll probably get a HomePod Gold Edition with some luxury fabric shells at $99 each.

I wish it weren’t so, but I love this post.

 

[vipergts2207]

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.

My arguement was never based on cost, only the physics associated with the speakers. And sure, Apple could source the cheapest low quality 4” driver they can find and Amazon could use the nicest 2.5” driver they can find. However, if we’re being honest rather than disingenuous, we both know that’s now how it’s going to play out. I’m sure Apple will be using a decent quality driver in the HomePod. And you can use the nicest 2.5” driver you can find, but it’s still not going to produce bass in any reasonable quantities. There’s a reason real subwoofers start at 8” drivers.

 

[Airforcekid]

That makes sense, but I have little interest in the music ability of these smart devices. I am talking about telling Alexa to add reminder to my shopping list on the Reminders App on my iPhone or adding an appointment to my iPhone calendar, etc... Unless it has changed, I don’t think Alexa can do that.

Yeah its possible to integrate calendar/reminders via skills I use this https://ifttt.com/connect/amazon_alexa/ios_reminders but a couple of options exist. I'm starting to prefer 3rd party systems as my ecosystem branches out for this reason. It just works ironically compared to Apples locked down system.

 

[jerryk]

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.

Agreed. Office 365 is killer. 1 low price for full Office on 5 devices. With huge storage file all emails, document, spreadsheets from forever are on all your devices. Killer product
[doublepost=1506621226][/doublepost]

The "land line" is just VoIP with dial-tone. I can use any physical phone I want to.

Agreed. All my home and office phones are VOIP. They do everything I need and email be transcripts and wav files for any messages someone leaves.

 

[mikosk]

Amazon is actually taking a great approach. They are pricing these products so that you end up buying more than one. A few dots, couple of firesticks, an echo or two and scatter them around the house.

I think HomePod is competing more with Sonos than the Echo suite of products.

 

[dvdchance]

I’ve had an Echo since December and will be upgrading to one of these. It’ll be interesting to see how much better it sounds.

This, and Google Home, make HomePod look like a very expensive home assistant option. But I know HomePod is aiming for a slightly different audience. Though I can see Apple eventually coming out with something smaller and cheaper to compete in this market.

Does Apple ever want to compete at the lower end of the market? They could make a killing by releasing a competitive Mac Mini but, I'm only assuming here, they are worried about having their higher priced iMacs and MacBooks cannibalised.

 

[collegitdept]

Jeff Bezos is a great CEO. I wish Apple had a CEO one tenth as good.
[doublepost=1506617892][/doublepost]

I wish it weren’t so, but I love this post.

THIS!!!!

With the absolute disastrous supply chain management and planning of the iPhone X.... and complete lack of necessary skills (and understanding) of what's important NOW and in the future around CLOUD SERVICES and AI..... Tim Cook is really poor candidate to run Apple going forward.

Considering Apple's deficiencies and the importance of them going forward.... can *anyone* really argue [with a straight face] that Tim Cook would rank mediocre let a lone good/best to lead Apple in the next era?? I mean seriously.

We're witnessing Microsoft's stagnation under Ballmer - at Apple right now with Cook.

What Apple really needs is a complete restructuring of management and employees ASAP... (IE: a repeat of what happened to Microsoft with Satnya being appointed as CEO).



Apple fanboys, it's time to let Tim Cook go. Let him do what his dreams truly are:
- political ambition in government or most likely at an NGO


Tim Cook doesn't care as much about Apple, he checked out mentally 2 years ago after he came out (good for him that he now wants to push for social change).

Let him go!

He's an awful CEO for what Apple needs now and going forward (he was the right choice after Steve Jobs died, just no longer anymore... And that's okay)

 

[576316]

THIS!!!!

With the absolute disastrous supply chain management and planning of the iPhone X.... and complete lack of necessary skills (and understanding) of what's important NOW and in the future around CLOUD SERVICES and AI..... Tim Cook is really poor candidate to run Apple going forward.

Considering Apple's deficiencies and the importance of them going forward.... can *anyone* really argue [with a straight face] that Tim Cook would rank mediocre let a lone good/best to lead Apple in the next era?? I mean seriously.

We're witnessing Microsoft's stagnation under Ballmer - at Apple right now with Cook.

What Apple really needs is a complete restructuring of management and employees ASAP... (IE: a repeat of what happened to Microsoft with Satnya being appointed as CEO).



Apple fanboys, it's time to let Tim Cook go. Let him do what his dreams truly are:
- political ambition in government or most likely at an NGO


Tim Cook doesn't care as much about Apple, he checked out mentally 2 years ago after he came out (good for him that he now wants to push for social change).

Let him go!

He's an awful CEO for what Apple needs now and going forward (he was the right choice after Steve Jobs died, just no longer anymore... And that's okay)

I love this post so much. I agree with every statement you made. People need to stop apologising for Apple's incompetence and stop excusing Tim Cook's visionless leadership with garbage about how hard it is to run such a company and that rising profits/sales means he's doing a great job - you're only lying to yourselves and it's not healthy.

Tim will remove himself of his own accord when he runs for President in 2020. He'll have done that whole Apple gig for long enough and he's clearly gagging for a political role. I think at the same time Jony Ive will pull out entirely and Apple will have new management and a new vision, when it can finally get back on track. Hopefully a nice price drop across the board will come at that time too, as the new leadership team realise their prices are too heady and unrealistic going forward. Apple needs a completely new vision and a creative at the top who is capable of thinking even 1/10th the thoughts of Steve Jobs - because Cook was never there, he's not a products guy. Heck, Apple could probably do with an entirely new group of share holders.

 

[ArneK]

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.

I think they and you are making a big mistake here. The HomePod is first and foremost about music? Well then it is first and foremost for people who love music who dont have good speakers at home. Most people who love music have really good speakers already. Is Apple really thinking music lovers will give up their Bose sound system for an inferior HomePod? Whats the selling point then, good but not excellent speakers that have a mostly badly working voice assistant? Additionally, you will only be able to use Apple Music to it and not any other service. In contrast, the Echo gives you all these choices. You can choose to use Spotify or Amazon Music. You can listen to the okay-ish speakers of the Echo or if you love music you plug it into the awesome sound system you already own and have the best of two worlds.

I really dont get who they try to attract with this product. Because it can't be music lovers nor people who are keen on having a good voice assistant.

 

[Abazigal]

THIS!!!!

With the absolute disastrous supply chain management and planning of the iPhone X.... and complete lack of necessary skills (and understanding) of what's important NOW and in the future around CLOUD SERVICES and AI..... Tim Cook is really poor candidate to run Apple going forward.

Considering Apple's deficiencies and the importance of them going forward.... can *anyone* really argue [with a straight face] that Tim Cook would rank mediocre let a lone good/best to lead Apple in the next era?? I mean seriously.

We're witnessing Microsoft's stagnation under Ballmer - at Apple right now with Cook.

What Apple really needs is a complete restructuring of management and employees ASAP... (IE: a repeat of what happened to Microsoft with Satnya being appointed as CEO).



Apple fanboys, it's time to let Tim Cook go. Let him do what his dreams truly are:
- political ambition in government or most likely at an NGO


Tim Cook doesn't care as much about Apple, he checked out mentally 2 years ago after he came out (good for him that he now wants to push for social change).

Let him go!

He's an awful CEO for what Apple needs now and going forward (he was the right choice after Steve Jobs died, just no longer anymore... And that's okay)

Moreso than ever, Apple needs a steady hand at the deck. And like it or not, Tim Cook is the best that Apple’s got.

 

[vipergts2207]

I think they and you are making a big mistake here. The HomePod is first and foremost about music? Well then it is first and foremost for people who love music who dont have good speakers at home. Most people who love music have really good speakers already. Is Apple really thinking music lovers will give up their Bose sound system for an inferior HomePod? Whats the selling point then, good but not excellent speakers that have a mostly badly working voice assistant? Additionally, you will only be able to use Apple Music to it and not any other service. In contrast, the Echo gives you all these choices. You can choose to use Spotify or Amazon Music. You can listen to the okay-ish speakers of the Echo or if you love music you plug it into the awesome sound system you already own and have the best of two worlds.

I really dont get who they try to attract with this product. Because it can't be music lovers nor people who are keen on having a good voice assistant.

I need to interject that music lovers do not own a Bose sound system. Bose is garbage and I would take a HomePod over a Bose sound system because at least I'm only playing $350 and I get a voice assistant with it. I say this as someone who's not buying a HomePod either.

 

[ArneK]

I need to interject that music lovers do not own a Bose sound system. Bose is garbage and I would take a HomePod over a Bose sound system because at least I'm only playing $350 and I get a voice assistant with it. I say this as someone who's not buying a HomePod either.

What you’re saying is not really an argument against what I’m saying. Echo works with any music system (we can say B&O or teufel if you don’t like Bose) and HomePod with none. Echo supports a variety of streaming services. HomePod one. For Music lovers the echo is the clear choice because they will have some audio system at home already. And that doesn’t even take into account that alexa is much better than Siri or that the price is 7x as much for the HomePod
[doublepost=1506642602][/doublepost]BTW: the bose soundbar 5 plus an echo dot is still saving money vs the HomePod with probably similar sound experience