Anker’s Eufey Genie is a $35 Echo Dot clone

When it was first rumored that Samsung would include a digital assistant called Bixby in the Galaxy S8, I snickered at that name. I couldn’t think of a worse product name at the time, but it seems like the executives over at Anker have my back. They’ve announced a new Echo Dot competitor called Eufy Genie.

It’s only a competitor in the sense that at $35, it costs less than the Echo Dot does at $50 while offering the same access to Alexa. There are a few noteworthy differences between the Echo Dot and the Eufy Genie worth pointing out, however.

The Eufy Genie only features two microphones compared to the seven included in the Echo Dot, but Anker promises that the sound quality and the device’s ability to pick up your voice won’t be compromised. The Genie utilizes Amazon’s Far-Field voice recognition technology, so it plays nice with other devices.

Anker says the new smart speaker will be available on Amazon for $35 starting August 16th. Do you think you’ll be picking one of these up to see how well it performs? I’m tempted just because it’s in that impulse buy territory and most Anker accessories I’ve bought in the past have been dependable.