Four smart speakers comparison： PHICOM, Xiaomi, Tencent, Tmall
In a 2018 Quarter 1 global smart speaker research report released by foreign media recently, it was mentioned that although Amazon and Google together account for nearly 70% of the global market, their share is gradually declining.
The reason is that this is inseparable from the rise of domestic smart speakers. At present, Ali and Xiaomi have ranked among the top five in the world.
However, the game around smart speakers has only just begun. The domestic smart speaker market has shown a blooming attitude, and each product is naturally unique.
Now we have selected four high-end products on the domestic market, namely, PHICOM AI smart speaker R1, Xiaomi AI speaker, Tencent Ting smart speaker, and Tmall Genie X1, which represent the masterpieces of PHICOM, Xiaomi, Tencent, and Ali.
Now let’s unpack and disassemble them separately to see what’s worth considering between them.
1. PHICOM AI smart speaker R1, a new work in 2018, a new member of the PHICOM family purchased for 0 yuan, equipped with the Infinity speaker unit of HARMAN International, with outstanding sound quality.
2. Xiaomi AI speaker, listed in 2017, is Xiaomi’s first masterpiece in the field of smart speakers. It has built-in its own Xiao Ai classmate and has super independent learning ability.
3. Tencent Listen to Smart Speakers, a new work in 2018, as one of the three major Internet Tech Giants in China, Tencent has also joined the smart speaker war, equipped with rich content resources that can be bound to WeChat for use.
4. Tmall Genie X1, listed in 2017, one of the three major Internet Tech Giants in China, produced by Ali artificial intelligence laboratory, equipped with voiceprint recognition technology, can perform online shopping, takeout and other operations through voice commands.
First, unpacking comparison
1. PHICOM AI speaker R1 unpacking
The packaging of the PHICOM AI speaker R1 we got is in a cuboid shape as a whole, which continues the previous simple style. There are not many elements that interfere with the line of sight, and it looks very simple and intuitive. The top of the box is the product model – R1, and the bottom is the main view of the product.
The back of the package is printed with several main function points of this product, namely, extreme visual enjoyment, massive audio content, intelligent voice interaction, life assistant, voice control home, and continuous function upgrades. Below is the product information of R1.
After opening the package, the Feixun AI speaker R1 is like the display picture on the outer package. The whole is similar to a round table shape, the top section is slightly smaller, and the base part is slightly larger. Our style is a starry sky gray color scheme with a nylon woven fabric material on the surface, which can ensure the overall sound transmission effect of the speaker. After careful observation, we can find that the speaker is seamlessly woven as a whole, with no splicing marks, and the integrity of the fuselage is still very good.
The charger shell is made of white polycarbonate as a whole, and the wire is noodle-shaped, which is soft in texture and not easy to tie in daily use.
The charger model is SOY-1700200CN-214, the output power is 17V/3A, and the manufacturer is Shenzhen Suoyuan Technology Co., Ltd.
With an Infinity HARMAN logo on the top of the PHICOM AI speaker, the PHICOM R1 uses a sound unit customized with HARMAN Infinity. According to the official, the R1 performs well in terms of speaker bandwidth, loudness, distortion, and timbre.
The bottom of the speaker is designed with a "colorful scene light", which is a bit like an open "big mouth". With different lighting effects, it can present users with different feelings. At the same time, this part is also the most recognizable part of the Fixun AI speaker R1. This iconic "mouth" allows you to recognize it as a Fixun AI speaker at a glance.
The bottom of the speaker has a layer of non-slip rubber pad, and the power interface is a hidden design, which will not appear particularly obtrusive after insertion.
The top of the speaker adopts a four-microphone array to pick up sound, and the middle is a multi-function button. The single machine can issue voice commands, double-click to enter hibernation, and press three times to turn on the Bluetooth connection. The surrounding part of the button can be touched, and the volume can be adjusted by sliding the ring area with your finger.
2. Xiaomi AI speakers are unpacked.
The back of the Xiaomi AI speaker package is printed with the main functions of Xiao Ai. In addition to the basic functions of listening to music to stabilize the weather, it also includes checking road conditions, finding mobile phones, translating between Chinese and English, etc., and is still being updated.
The side is the smart home devices supported by Xiaomi AI speakers. At present, Mijia’s smart hardware is relatively abundant, thanks to the constantly enriching Mijia ecological chain. The advantages of advanced layout are reflected.
After opening the package, the box includes a Xiaomi AI speaker, a charger, as well as a warranty card and product description.
The charger interface adopts bidirectional 8-character type and supports 12V1.75A power output. The charger cable is one-piece and a cable belt is provided.
The charger model is AY21AA-BF1201752, the input is 100-240V, and the output is 12V 1.75A. The manufacturer is Dongguan Aoyuan Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. Passed CCC certification.
The Xiaomi AI speaker adopts a cuboid-like design as a whole, and it looks like an oversized thermos cup in the hand. The bottom is densely packed with speaker openings, and the sound unit is undoubtedly placed at the bottom of the speaker.
The top of the Xiaomi AI speaker adopts a 6-microphone array, and the middle is a regular operation button. With beamforming technology, it can effectively reduce the noise interference of the surrounding environment, and theoretically can have better pickup ability.
There is a gray non-slip rubber pad at the bottom of the speaker, and the product information of the speaker is also printed on the rubber pad. Inside the small hole in the middle are two metal connecting contacts, which are used to connect with the power cord.
3. Tencent listens to the speakers unpacking
The packaging of the Tencent Listening Speaker is designed with a black cylinder as a whole, with the English logo of Tencent in front and the Chinese words of the Tencent Listening Speaker in Tencent font.
On the back of the package is the words "9420, just love you". This time, Tencent uses 9420 as the wake-up word for listening to the speaker, which is very different from the anthropomorphic wake-up word of the other three products. This name gives us a feeling more like a tangible hardware device than an intangible artificial intelligence.
The top of the package is the logo of Tencent Listen, which is inspired by the audio waveform and equalizer. The designer has made a lot of efforts.
As can be seen at the bottom of the package, the specific model of this product is TS-T1. We got the white version, and the production date is April 2018.
The power cable is made of white rubber, and the output is a Micro-USB interface. The other side is a regular A interface.
The power adapter model is A215-050210U-CN1, the output power is 5V/2.1A specifications, and the manufacturer is Dongguan Aohai Technology joint stock company.
We used ChargerLAB POWER-Z KT001 to test, and the charging voltage was 5.26V, the current was 2.16A, and the power was about 11.4W.
In the middle of the back is the power button/Bluetooth switch button, next to the Tencent logo above, and below is the audio output hole and Micro-USB power interface.
The top of the speaker is the operation area, and the operation panel has an inclination angle of 10. This design is for the convenience of operation. From top to bottom are the mute button, the volume plus/minus button, and the message function button. The circular opening around is 6 array microphones. The official said that this part of the paint originated in Sweden, which can effectively reduce touch marks. The outermost periphery is the ambient light, with a variety of colors, which is mainly used for reminders of different states.
The bottom of the speaker is product information, with a circle of rubber non-slip pads around it, which is relatively stable and reliable on the desktop. Look carefully, the small print on it indicates that the standard name of the product is Tencent Listen Speaker, and the device model is TS-T1. There is a very small RESET hole in the middle, which is often referred to as the reset button.
4, Tmall Genie TG_X1 unpacking
The bottom of the back of the package is the product information, you can see that the product model is TG_X1. The product size is 83 * 83 * 126mm. The product manufacturer is from Zhejiang Tmall Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. The color scheme of this Tmall Genie X1 we got is black.
The inside of the packaging box is also very simple. The main body of Tmall Genie plus an independent paper packaging box is fixed with foam.
The independent paper packaging box has paper instructions inside and the standard power supply of Tmall Genie, and the power cord cannot be separated from the power supply main body.
The main shell of Tmall Genie is made of engineering plastic, surrounded by the dark black part in the middle and lower part is the dust net cloth of the speaker, and the thinnest part at the bottom is the speaker base.
The top cover of Tmall Genie is covered with a layer of skin-like rubber, which feels comfortable but is easy to stain fingerprints. There is only one microphone on/off physical button in the center of the top cover. For the specific use of the microphone button, please refer to the user manual section in the picture above. The six round holes located on the edge of the top cover are the pickup microphones.
