I see a lot of talk about Apple music on their web page for the HomePod, but nothing about Pandora, Spotify, etc. I think that will be a deal killer for a lot of us, not that I was interested in another home assistant to collect dust on a shelf! I think anything it does I can pretty much do now with my iPhone and iPads. Nothing really appeals to me with it, or with my Echo and Dot as far as that goes. Meh, just another expensive device I don't need or want.

Siri might be better than Alexis. I rarely use Siri, so I cannot compare them.

The speakers and sound quality might be better on the HomePod. But cannot really tell without listening to one. The Echo has been a disappointment as far as sound quality.