Amazon is launching a high-end Echo smart speaker to take on Apple's HomePod and the Google Home Max
- Amazon's got a new high-end version of its ubiquitous Amazon Echo smart speakers: the Echo Studio.
- With Echo Studio, which costs $200, Amazon appears to be going after Apple's HomePod and Google's Home Max smart speakers.
- The device is intended for people who want a richer music experience than what can be had on a standard Echo or Echo Dot.
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Amazon's Alexa-powered smart speaker line is getting a new entrant: the Amazon Echo Studio.
The $200 smart speaker was announced on Wednesday during a press briefing at Amazon's Seattle headquarters. With the Echo Studio, Amazon intends to provide an updated option in its Echo line for people who want a richer music experience.
It's the latest in the line of higher-end, more expensive Alexa-powered smart speakers that began with the Echo Plus.
One of the most important features of the Echo Studio is Dolby Atmos 3D audio support. Both music and movies with Dolby Atmos support will be playable through the Echo Studio - and, presumably, they'll sound pretty good.
Like similar high-end smart speakers from Apple and Google, the Echo Studio is able to "read your room" using the built-in microphones; the sound it produces is intentionally modeled around the room to which it's calibrated.
Here's a look at the specs, straight from Amazon:
"Echo Studio includes left, right and top mid-range speakers that create directional sound, a directional tweeter for great, high end performance and a built-in 5.25-inch bass driver coupled with a bass port to give you the best bass response we knew how to deliver."
Amazon's Echo Studio goes up for preorder today, and starts at $200.