Hey, Cortana, $99 is the Right Price (Premium)

I was surprised by the quality of the Harman Kardon Invoke. But I had one big issue: The price.

I first wrote about my hands-on experience with the Invoke back in late October, and it is an impressive design.

"The speaker itself is a well-made, premium device that should appeal to technophiles and modern design enthusiasts," I wrote at the time. "It provides stunning sound for a single conical smart speaker, much better than that of the Google Home. And Cortana’s voice is crisp, clear, and deep. It’s easily the highest-quality assistant voice I’ve heard in my home."

Of course, the Invoke---and the Cortana digital personal assistant that powers it---do not exist in a vacuum. This space is already crowded with high-quality contenders like the Amazon Echo and Google Home devices. And Apple is about to leap in with both feet with its audiophile-quality HomePod. Microsoft, as has been typical for a while now, is late to the game.

So my advice for Microsoft---and for Harman Kardon, of course---is the same as ever: You need to lower the price in order to attract consumers who would otherwise choose one of the more obvious market leaders. $199 is simply too expensive for anyone to take a chance on this speaker. Especially when you can dabble in smart speakers for as cheaply as $50 with the Echo Dot or Google Home Mini.

But how does a $100 price cut sound?

As Mehedi reported earlier today, Microsoft has unveiled its Black Friday sale items, and among them is the Harman Kardon Invoke. There are two offers: Buy it outright for half-price, at $99. Or buy a Surface Laptop and get in Invoke for free. (Google has a similar offer when you buy a Pixel 2 XL: You get a Google Home Mini for free.)

At $99, the Invoke is a serious contender. It will offer much better sound quality than any other smart speaker at that (or a lower) price. And it covers all the smart speaker basics about as ably as the competition. Suddenly, the big question mark is erased.

Two more thoughts.

That $99 price tag is a temporary deal. So if you think you want to take advantage of it, you will need to move quickly: This and Microsoft's other deals go live on Thursday night, November 23 at 12:00 AM ET. It's going to sell out quickly, for sure.

Second, this deal is US only because the Invoke itself is currently available only the US. And that is a problem that Microsoft may never solve to your satisfaction. Sorry.