The smart speaker market isn’t exactly welcoming to newcomers. Google and Amazon have dominated the competition with their Home and Echo device lines, respectively.
The smart speaker market isn’t exactly welcoming to newcomers. Google and Amazon have dominated the competition with their Home and Echo device lines, respectively.
Though part of their success likely comes from the two companies simply being the first to hit the market with solid products, both companies‘ devices sport feature-rich voice assistants, as well.
Apple tried to chip away at their lead with the HomePod, but despite the device’s excellent sound quality, it hasn’t quite reached the level of success Echo and Home devices have. Indeed, for now, it seems like most smart speaker owners have picked their team and stuck to it, seeing little reason to switch.
Despite this reality, Samsung confirmed that they were working on a smart speaker of their own.
Details about the device were scarce, but Samsung’s mobile division president DJ Koh told The Wall Street Journal that the focus would be on “ more premium, “ though it’s not clear what he meant at the time.
Now, however, we finally have some additional details about the device, courtesy of another WSJ report. The report claims the device, codenamed „Lux,“ will be bowl-shaped with a stand at the bottom and lights at the top. It will also use Samsung’s proprietary Bixby voice assistant.
Lux is expected to hit the market with a $300 price tag, lending credence to Koh’s „premium“ claim. Samsung is hoping to justify the speaker’s high cost with an intriguing „sound shifting“ feature, which lets the device send audio directly in a user’s direction – similar to what Apple offers with the HomePod.
It’s still not clear precisely when Lux will officially be unveiled, but there’s a good chance it will debut at Samsung’s upcoming event on August 9.
