Brits may face a wait for Samsung Galaxy Home smart speaker
Brits could initially miss out on the Samsung Galaxy Home speaker, according to reports. The Bixby-powered rival to Apple’s HomePod will only be available in the United States, South Korea and China at launch, SamMobile sources say.
That may be a disappointment to UK residents who took a shine to the device during its unveiling at the Galaxy Note 9 launch this summer. However, this perhaps isn’t all that surprising, considering the three rumoured launch countries were the first to get the Bixby Voice assistant while Brits had to make to with the image recognition tools.
Samsung is yet to officially announce the price, official release date or launch countries for the Galaxy Home speaker, so it’s unclear how long those outside of the respective launch territories will have to wait.
When it does arrive, users can expect a premium product, not unlike Apple’s entry into the market. Beyond the Bixby voice support and integration with SmartThings, the company has revealed the audio will be tuned by AKG.
It also includes eight far-field microphones to pick up voice commands, while it can optimise the sound depending on where you are in the room.
Related: Amazon Echo vs Apple HomePod
The table top speaker, which unlike others in the market will have legs, will also feature integration with Spotify. Samsung called Spotify its “go-to music partner for its multi-device ecosystem,” and promised this was a long-term commitment from both parties. It’ll be really interesting to see how this plays out when the Galaxy Home goes on sale.
Samsung has hinted that more information might be around at its Developer Conference, which kicks off on November 7. You can see Samsung’s own preview from the Unpacked Event from around 55:30 in the video below.
Do you think Samsung could rule the smart speaker landscape with its Galaxy Home device when it eventually arrives? Drop us a line @TrustedReviews on Twitter.