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

At an event in Seattle this morning, Amazon unveiled (https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/27/amazon-announces-a-high-end-99-echo-to-compete-with-apples-homepod/) its next-generation Amazon Echo speaker, which features a new smaller design and better sound than the original Echo to compete with products like Apple's upcoming HomePod.





Apple focused heavily on sound quality as a way to differentiate the HomePod from existing smart speakers like the Google Home and the Amazon Echo, with a 7 tweeter array, a 4-inch upward-facing woofer, and an A8 processor capable of advanced acoustic modeling and spatial awareness. Shortly after the HomePod was unveiled, rumors of a higher-end Echo surfaced (https://www.macrumors.com/2017/07/13/amazon-next-echo-rival-apple-homepod/).





<img src="(http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2017/09/amazonechoeventtechcrunch-800x538.jpg)" alt="" width="800" height="538" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-593039" /><center>Amazon's new Echo, image via TechCrunch (https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/27/amazon-announces-a-high-end-99-echo-to-compete-with-apples-homepod/)</center>


Amazon's new Echo supports Dolby Audio and it has a dedicated woofer and tweeter, features Amazon says bring better sound. It also includes second-generation voice recognition capabilities, second-generation far-field microphone technology, and support for multi-room audio so several Echo devices can be used together.





The Echo is made from metal and is wrapped in a fabric shell, which can be swapped out with other shells for customization much like the Google Home. Amazon is offering six shells for the Echo.





Amazon plans to charge $99 for the new Echo, making it much more affordable than the HomePod, which will be priced at $349 when it launches in December. Pre-orders for the new Echo are available today.





There's also a new Echo Plus (https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/27/amazons-echo-plus-features-a-built-in-smart-home-hub-for-149/), with built-in Zigbee functionality for smart home hub functionality and all of the same improvements in the new Echo model. It's designed to work with a wide range of smart home products right out of the box, with over 100 partners signed up. Echo Plus is similar in design to the original Echo, while the new $99 Echo is smaller and shorter. Amazon is charging $149 for the Echo Plus, and it comes with a free Philips Hue bulb.





Echo Buttons, also new, are priced at $20 and are designed to allow Echo owners to play trivia games with the Echo, and the Echo Spot is a new Echo device that features a 2.5-inch circular display. It's a cross between an Echo and a smart alarm clock with a price tag of $130.





Along with the new Echo models, Amazon announced the $35 Echo Connect (https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/27/amazon-echo-connect), a device that's designed to plug into a phone jack on one side and an Echo on the other, allowing the Echo to be used as a telephone able to accept calls from a person's standard home phone number. The Echo Connect is also available for pre-order today. Amazon Echo speakers are also gaining call functionality that will let them make phone calls to any number.

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Source: Amazon Launches New $99 Echo Speaker With Better Sound and $149 Echo Plus Smart Home Hub (https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/27/amazon-new-echo-speaker-better-sound/)