I’ve been lucky enough to hang out with Amazon’s newest robotic sidekick, Astro, over the past week.
Presumably named Astro for Amazon’s fondness for the lovable dog from 1960s cartoon series “The Jetsons,” he’s now available by invite-only for $1,000. However, the price will eventually climb to $1,450 when it opens to the public.
Seven days is a short time to evaluate a new technology, but I think it’s enough to form a first opinion on this ambitious hardware.
After spending a week with the product, I have concluded that it largely succeeds as a luxury item, especially for consumers with disposable income to experience the latest cutting-edge robotic technology, although the models of use are limited.
To be clear, this is not a slam against Astro. Products like this pave the way for more compelling future solutions to eventually hit the market with wider mainstream appeal. Astro is a fascinating solution with great potential. Still, it probably won’t find a significant following given its high price tag and, more importantly, limited cases with what it can be used for.
What is Amazon Astro?
If we didn’t know better, we could mistake the new Amazon Astro for the Echo Show 10 smart display on oversized wheels. From a side perspective, it almost looks like a scaled-down, passengerless version of the iconic Segway personal transportation devices commonly seen in airports or shopping malls.
Astro has a 10.1″ motorized display and a 5 MP camera that makes video chatting and video/image capture easy. Two 55mm speakers built into the front deliver surprisingly good sound with excellent bass. Astro packs a punch, weighing in at 20.6 pounds and about the size of a footstool.
Like popular Echo Show models, Astro is fully compatible with Alexa with the ability to stream TV show content, play music, answer questions on almost any topic, and control any smart home device. based on Alexa.
Astro is equipped with several highly sensitive array microphones and its listening capabilities are exceptional. This is notable as array microphones have traditionally been used to measure and locate sources of noise, an essential attribute for its home security monitoring capabilities.
However, what separates Astro from a stationary Echo Show is its ability to move around and change its viewing perspective. Astro has a periscope designed inside that rises from its pivoting head and provides additional support for the 12 MP camera.
The obvious usefulness of the cameras is that Astro can travel around your house when you’re on the go to capture video and images. The Periscope also includes manual mute and volume buttons, although you probably won’t use those as it can respond to voice commands like any Alexa-class speaker.
One of the things the engineering team at Amazon deserves kudos for is Astro’s browsing performance.
While the out-of-the-box setup process is surprisingly easy, it takes Astro about 30 minutes on its first run to learn all the rooms on your ground floor.
Once the setup was complete, Astro could effortlessly go to the room I designated by voice command. At no time did Astro hit anything in his path, and he never met the beloved Miniature Pinscher who lives in my house. Its large wheels also allow Astro to move across carpets and hardwood floors without any obvious difficulty.
Caramel never seemed threatened by Astro traveling through my house. (Image credit: SmartTech Research)
Last month, Amazon announced that Astro would eventually acquire pet monitoring capability and check your doors and windows to warn you if they are unsecured. Amazon also provides several colleges with an Astro software development kit to create even more automated procedures.
Something to keep in mind: Astro exhibits bizarre behavior, even when docked to its charging station and seemingly asleep. Although luckily he didn’t do it late at night, Astro used two animated eyes and animated beeps, I guess, to make sure you’re aware he’s at your beck and call.
Some people might find this off-putting, but it’s clear that Amazon wants Astro to have a distinct personality that differentiates itself from its family of smart displays.
Does Astro provide useful tasks?
The $64,000 question that mainstream users want answered is about Astro’s usefulness. As mentioned above, the setup process was remarkably sleek with on-screen instructions, and pairing it to my home network took just seconds.
While having an Astro is undoubtedly one of the most interesting conversation starters an owner will have at a cocktail party in their home, what can they actually do?
Astro has a dual cup holder that lets you carry drinks from room to room, although I can’t imagine being so lazy that I’d use that feature. Sure, it’s easy to give Astro a voice command to get to the kitchen, but he can’t get drinks out of the fridge. It’s the kind of Jetsons-like feature that would be a game-changer.
Astro’s dual cup holders (Image credit: SmartTech Research)
Astro’s most serious use pattern is its ability to act as a mobile sentinel in your home. A camera-equipped robot that can travel throughout your home and work synergistically with Ring smart door locks and external cameras via Alexa Guard might be compelling.
I think taking advantage of Astro’s remote camera functionality will appeal to many mainstream consumers. When the live stream feature is activated through its app, Astro plays a ringtone to let others nearby let people know they are about to be filmed.
The periscope extends out of Astro to provide a clear, live view of home. The app also offers manual support for controlling the robot’s movement in different directions for different views – even dragging the periscope up or down for varying perspectives.
Astro really excels as a security device when you’re away from home. After pairing it with a Ring Protect Pro subscription, Astro can monitor your home and send notifications to your smartphone when it identifies strangers or hears a loud noise like breaking glass.
It is also possible to activate a siren on Astro to scare away intruders. I managed to fake a loud noise by having someone throw a tennis ball through a nearby window, and Astro dutifully drove to where he believed the noise was located.
It triggered the siren and sent an alert to my phone. My testing was unscientific and I can’t confirm that Astro will work flawlessly in comparable security scenarios, but the use case is promising.
Final Thoughts
Besides being a mobile security platform inside your home – and that alone might be enough for many people to buy one – its other use cases are limited and rare.
After all, Astro can’t take out the trash and doesn’t work like a robot vacuum. Amazon also touts Astro as a device that can play with kids, as it can sing and dance, but $1,500 is a hefty price tag for this novelty that would quickly wear off with kids.
A stronger case can be made for Astro’s entertainment and video conferencing features, as having a mobile device to video chat with other Echo Show owners is intriguing. Plus, the great-sounding speakers could come in handy at parties as Astro can follow you around your house playing music.
The bottom line is that Astro is a fascinating device that Amazon has much to be proud of. Here is a short video I made of Astro in action:
Even in the context of a limited security use case, Astro has significant potential. It will be enticing to see other use cases developed (perhaps by parties outside of Amazon) currently not considered.
Its navigation ability is superb, and Astro’s overall build quality and materials are excellent, which is reassuring for such an expensive device.
Finally, Amazon deserves props for doing a stellar job of protecting your privacy with Astro. Given Amazon’s patchy privacy record, it’s a step in the right direction for Astro to store and process most of its browsing and facial recognition data locally on the device itself.
In line with other Alexa-based smart speakers and displays, users can also clear query history through the Alexa app. This capability is critical given that video devices, which are increasingly appearing inside people’s homes, have the potential to record very personal and intimate moments. For this new category to gain traction, eliminating the privacy concerns that many consumers have is non-negotiable.
Still, $1,500 is a considerable discretionary expense for a significant portion of the population, especially with skyrocketing gas prices and inflation still hovering around 9%.
It’s hard to recommend Astro at this price point until it becomes more useful than a mobile inside-the-home security platform.
Astro is an exciting solution demonstrating Amazon’s considerable technological chops in the burgeoning consumer robotics space. At the very least, the first users to get one will be the talk of the town.
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