As one of the top three players in the domestic smart speaker market, Tmall Genie's iconic greeting "你好，我在" (Hello, I'm here) has become the first impression for many users of smart speakers. In addition, Tmall Genie's emphasis on "sound performance" since X1 has significantly raised the industry's average level of smart speakers.
However, as the positioning of smart assistants evolves, people's demands for smart speakers have also changed. In the early days of product development, people simply desired voice interaction and voice control from smart speakers, such as the most common "voice-activated song selection." But with the advancement of AI technology and smart home integration, people are no longer satisfied with simple voice interactions, and smart speakers and their underlying smart assistants are taking on more responsibilities.
It is against this backdrop that Tmall Genie has ushered in what could be "the biggest change since its inception":
On May 23, 2024, in Hangzhou, Tmall Genie unveiled its latest smart speaker product - Tmall Genie X6, along with the announcement of the brand's new logo and slogan.
Image Source: Lei Technology
Although the new Tmall Genie logo still retains the original cat ear lines, compared to the original dot matrix cat ear pattern, the new logo is obviously sharper in its lines. In addition, the new logo also incorporates the letter elements of "AI" in its composition, reflecting the core of Tmall Genie's artificial intelligence. Furthermore, the iconic response phrase of Tmall Genie, "I'm here, you speak," has officially become the brand slogan of Tmall Genie.
Sound quality and sincerity are fully optimized
As for the Tmall Genie X6 officially released today, it is the latest masterpiece of Tmall Genie in the smart speaker field. In terms of product design, the Tmall Genie X6 is still a coaxial omnidirectional speaker. However, in terms of sound performance, the Tmall Genie X6 has made a qualitative leap compared to other similar products.
In terms of high frequencies, the Tmall Genie X6 uses a 10W top-mounted unit, with a working frequency increased to 40kHz. Although high-frequency units usually do not need to pay attention to heat dissipation issues due to volume and energy levels, the high-frequency unit of the Tmall Genie X6 still uses magnetic fluid heat dissipation materials derived from the aviation field.
Source: Lei Technology
In terms of bass, the Tmall Genie X6 features a 3-inch 30W rubidium magnetic bottom-facing unit with a four-layer voice coil providing up to 15mm of travel. Coupled with the desktop resonance reflection design, it enhances the low-frequency performance of the Tmall Genie X6. Additionally, the middle part of the Tmall Genie X6 body is equipped with four passive diaphragm units, which, while maintaining a compact size, further enhance the low-frequency extension of the Tmall Genie X6.
Image Source: Lei Technology
In addition to the heavy-duty unit below, the Tmall Genie X6 also shows creativity in its cavity design: The high-frequency unit of the Tmall Genie X6 does not use an independent sound cavity, but instead adopts a design called "exquisite cavity." The top-to-bottom structure brings a larger sound cavity volume to the Tmall Genie X6. Although this design may introduce more phase interference and resonance, under the clever suspended design of the Tmall Genie X6, both the high and low frequencies of the Tmall Genie X6 remain clean and crisp.
Source: Lei Technology
At the exhibition area of the press conference, Tmall Genie used 19 Tmall Genie X6 units to form a "large formation," challenging the shortcomings of small wireless speakers - classical music. The fact is, even with emotionally rich "Four Seasons Suite," Tmall Genie X6 can easily handle it. By the way, this demonstration of multi-speaker wireless grouping playback posed significant challenges to the product's wireless transmission stability and latency control, suggesting that all future speaker product launches should consider incorporating this setup.
Image Source: Lei Technology
Additionally, the clever suspended structure enables the Tmall Genie X6 to achieve a sky sound design. The precise sound expansion structure allows the Tmall Genie X6's high-frequency sound to effectively diffuse in all directions, enhancing sound delivery efficiency.
Image Source: Lei Technology
When it comes to omnidirectional diffusion, Xiao Lei believes that the Tmall Genie X6 actually has some clever tricks: in the blind listening comparison, the two speakers compared with the Tmall Genie X6 (Harman Kardon Luna, Bose SoundLink Mini2) are both "directed speakers," and compared to the Tmall Genie X6, they have a clear disadvantage when playing in the backward direction.
But then again, even in the forward playback segment, the performance of the Tmall Genie X6 is no less than Luna, while leaving Bose SL Mini2 far behind. In addition, the sound direction of the mid-frequency gain in the Tmall Genie X6 is more pleasing to the user's ears, making people "fall in love at first listen."
Image Source: Lei Technology
Of course, you could also say that the sound of Tmall Genie X6 is not quite "authentic," with some "seasoning" added in. However, considering that Tmall Genie X6 can deliver such low-distortion sound in such a compact size, while also having its own unique characteristics, I think Tmall Genie X6 has done a good job.
In terms of pricing, the Tmall Genie X6 "Standard Edition" is available in two colors, Space Shuttle and Art Sea Shell, priced at 399 yuan, with a limited-time offer of 369 yuan. Additionally, Tmall Genie X6 has also launched the "Zhou Shen Exclusive Custom Edition" with a Zhou Shen peripheral gift pack and customized interactive voice, priced at 429 yuan, with a limited-time offer of 399 yuan.
Image Source: Lei Technology
Before the official release of Tmall Genie X6, Lei had a brief trial of this smart speaker. Although Lei was not aware of the specific price of Tmall Genie X6 at that time, both Lei and colleagues believed that the sound performance of Tmall Genie X6 was "quite impressive," with Lei even estimating a psychological price of up to 800 yuan. With the current price of 399 yuan, in my opinion, it is definitely worth the value.
Sound quality and intelligence should not be a choice between the two
In fact, Lei's high praise for Tmall Genie X6 is closely related to the "outstanding contributions" in the smart speaker industry in recent years. Apart from today's protagonist Tmall Genie X6, Lei has tried various smart speakers from different brands and ecosystems. Except for HomePods, which have a similar size and price tag, most smart speakers give Lei the feeling of "prioritizing intelligence over sound quality."
I do not think that the route of "prioritizing intelligence over sound quality" is wrong, after all, the application scope of smart assistants is not limited to smart speakers alone; products in other categories such as phones, projectors, TVs, and computers can all benefit from the intelligence dividend brought by smart assistants. Lei also does not oppose the practice of lowering product prices and reducing the purchase threshold, as a lower price can allow more users to experience the convenience of smart speakers.
Image Source: Lei Technology
The issue is that some brands cut corners on sound quality to "lower costs," resulting in smart speakers that just "make noise." In my view, this approach will only decrease the competitiveness of the entire smart speaker category. If the sound quality of smart speakers degrades to the level of smartphones, why would we still buy smart speakers? Why not just turn up the volume on our phones?
Thanks to the "industry backdrop," Xiao Lei has a favorable view of the recently released Tmall Genie X6. The emergence of Tmall Genie X6 proves that "high intelligence," "good sound quality," and "low price" are not an impossible trio for smart speakers. Even with a budget of only 400 yuan, we don't need to choose between intelligence and sound quality.
Of course, the reason why Tmall Genie X6 can be priced at 399 yuan is due to the strong financial and technological investment behind Tmall Genie. However, "backgrounded" smart speakers are not limited to just Tmall Genie X6. Tmall Genie X6 can represent "affordable, good-sounding, and highly intelligent" products, backed by industry support and its own efforts.
According to data released by Loto Technology in April 2024, the Chinese smart speaker market showed a significant decline in January and February 2024:
Loto believes that excessive brand concentration is one of the key factors contributing to the decline in sales. However, in my opinion, high brand concentration and declining sales indicate that smart speaker products have moved past the "incremental era," and the focus of future development will shift from incremental markets to existing markets.
Image Source: Lei Technology
This also means that smart speakers will end the era of "price competition" and start focusing on "enhancing sound quality" and "enhancing intelligence." The emergence of Tmall Genie X6 signifies that Tmall Genie is prepared for future market changes.
"No sound quality, no speaker" - this conclusion holds true regardless of the intelligence of the speaker.
