Amazon today launched its newest Echo speaker and it's got one feature that makes it different from most every other model Amazon has released.
The Amazon Echo Input Portable Smart Speaker Edition is a portable smart speaker with a rechargeable battery. It looks a bit like you stacked two Echo Dots on top of each other and it includes just about every feature you get with Amazon's other speakers. That includes access to Alexa skills, smart home controls, music streaming, 360-degree sound, and more.
Since it's portable, the Echo Input Portable Smart Speaker Edition includes a 4800mAh battery that Amazon says will get you up to 10 hours of continuous music playback or up to 11 hours of standby time. You can tap the power button to see the current battery level.
Amazon's portable Echo speaker is exclusive to India right now, but company executives have told TechCrunch that they plan to bring it to other markets eventually. For now, it's available for pre-order in India at the introductory price of ₹ 4,999 ($70 USD) ahead of its December 18th launch. It'll soon go up to its normal price of ₹ 5,999 ($84 USD).
This actually isn't the first portable Alexa speaker that Amazon has released. Back in 2016, the Amazon Tap gave you access to Alexa on the go but it required you to push a button whenever you want to speak to the assistant, though Amazon eventually updated the Tap to give it an always-listening mode. The Amazon Tap never seemed to catch on like other Alexa smart speakers, but now that it's a couple years later and Amazon is making the Echo Input Portable Smart Speaker Edition able to be always listening from the start, it'll have more success.
Would you buy the Amazon Echo Input Portable Smart Speaker Edition if it were available in your country?