Currently in the smart speaker market, Amazon has been dominating with their assistance device; the Echo. The online retail giant not only dominates the market but has several variations of the Echo that attends to different budgets.
The different variations of Amazon’s Alex devices include:
- Dot – $49
- Echo Tap – $129
- Echo – $179
- Echo Show – $229
The trends of this market are only going to increase as reports have shown that by the end of 2017, there will be 30 million devices in homes across the country. To keep up with this market, broaden Google’s market share, and to target different audiences, Google has announced they will be launching the Google Home Mini.
This device will be the answer to the low-cost Amazon Echo Dot. The pricing has yet to be determined but it is said to be priced comparably at $49 to compete fully with the dot. The Google Home Mini will also be available in three colors, giving it a personal feel with its intended audience. The Mini will support Google Assistant and have the same functionality as Google Home.
The downside to this new device launch is that you will need to take into consideration the size and price. With the smaller frame and build, there may be some hardware compromises to fit the size. This is also true, in order to meet the price of $49, that there will be some hardware compromises and speaker quality issues.