Amazon releases its first portable smart speaker in years, but you can't have it in the US yet
Amazon sells a lot of Echo-branded devices nowadays in the US and many other markets around the world, most of which are designed to smarten up your home. But while there’s definitely plenty to choose from in terms of size, form factor, price point, and yes, even touchscreen-sporting models, one important thing that the world’s most popular smart speaker family does not cover is portability.
The Amazon Tap was tall, cylindrical, and not very popular
Instead of “tapping” a button, Echo Input Portable owners will be able to activate the voice assistant… by voice right off the bat. Interestingly, the portable new speaker is billed as an “Echo for your home” that you can easily carry from “room to room.” That’s not to say it’s very heavy, weighing in at 448 grams, but for some reason, Amazon doesn’t envision this as an outdoor-friendly product.
The Echo Input Portable comes with a modern fabric design and hands-free Alexa integration
Perhaps the audio power is not particularly impressive, as the company only mentions “360 degree sound”, not even going to the trouble of vaguely promoting a “crisp sound” experience or anything. All in all, this feels largely like an experiment meant to gauge interest in portable and compact smart speakers, which is why it’s not that shocking to see the Echo Input Portable Smart Speaker Edition exclusively released in one (big) market… for now.