I don’t disagree that 299 is still high. I expected the HomePod 2 to be released but was hoping price would come in at 249.
With that said the writer makes a few errors.
-More or less tweeters does not mean better or worse sound. That’s glib spec watching.
-put the mortgage payment down as a sure bet, the HomePod will have substantially better sound than the Echo Studio.
-far too dismissive of the privacy issue. Does anyone know why they make money on your data? Hint, the ability to see what you do day in and day out to predict what you can be enticed to buy…i.e. spend more money.
-Alexa is the best imho at internet search provided answers. Ask even strange questions and it’ll find good strange answers. Yet Amazon themselves have admitted this is very infrequent user use cases. Otoh Siri working with your other Apple devices and HomeKit. It’s Siri.