Google’s Fancy New ‘Home’ Speaker Undercuts Amazon Echo’s Price

Google has taken aim at Amazon Echo, evidenced by news that its upcoming voice-activated speaker will cost $129, which is $50 less than what Echo costs. The speaker is slated to be unveiled at the #MadebyGoogle event next month, along with other devices under Google’s ‘Pixel’ brand.

According to Android Report, the speaker, dubbed Google ‘Home’, significantly undercuts its nearest competitor in terms of cost, though it’s unclear how well it works yet.

The Google Home speaker is designed to work across multiple rooms and speakers, making it a versatile and adaptive home audio system similar to Google Cast. The relatively small cylindrical speaker plugs into a wall outlet and comes strapped with sensitive microphones that can hear your requests from across the room, according to The Verge. Google Home can answer questions a la Siri and play music and YouTube videos. It can also connect to other smart home devices such as your Chromecast-enabled TV and other smart thermostats and light switches.

The device features a distinctive, yet understated design and has a modular case that you can customize. It also comes equipped with an LED system that can put on an ambient light show. Because it’s always plugged in, Google Home has the juice to support more powerful and resonant sound that fills the room. Whether this device will prove to be an Amazon Echo-killer has yet to be determined.

Manuel Queiroz, VP of product management at Google, is confident that Google Home provides everything that Amazon Echo does and more, according to The Verge: “We’re competing feature for feature in most of the areas. And in the areas that really matter to the consumer, we’re going to do a better job.”