The Amazon Echo is a gadget everyone wants get their hands on, but the $180 price tag is a turn off. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Amazon will soon offer a cheaper Echo codenamed ‘Fox.’ The smaller wireless speaker and digital assistant will reportedly be released in the coming weeks.
Sourcing the usual “people familiar with the plans,” the WSJ reports the mini Echo is shaped to fit in your hand like a beer can. With a smaller body and cost, the affordable ‘Fox’ will likely lose some its big sister’s core features.
It is unclear how the sound will compare to the Echo’s, but a device half the size may lose a bit of audio quality. More concerning, you may not be able to activate Alexa with your voice. WSJ’s report claims ‘Fox’ will be battery powered and to conserve energy, Alexa won't be able to listen for her command. Instead, you will need to push a button to prompt her to recognize your voice. Hopefully, Alexa will work like she does for the Echo if plugged into a power source. Perhaps an accompanying app, like Alexa’s, could solve the problem. A ‘Fox’ app could act as a remote control and voice assistant on behalf of the mini gadget.
The portability of ‘Fox’ would be its advantage over the Echo, which has to be plugged in to work. The Echo is also a bit too clunky to carry around. For Amazon’s first go-around with a Bluetooth speaker, they not only nailed the hardware, but the cylinder futuristic design which gives it the feel of a premium device. Hopefully those aesthetics will carry over to the ‘Fox.’
The Amazon Echo is an innovative hands-free personal assistant unlike anything else on the market. The ability to seamlessly control speakers without lifting a finger is essentially the purpose of the device. If the ‘Fox’ loses some of the features that make Echo one of the best gadgets this year, its release may not go so well. Amazon has not commented on WSJ’s report, so for now these speculations should be considered rumors.
