HomePod is a _much_ better speaker than the Amazon Echo. For playing music, the Echo is terrible. The more appropriate comparisons would be to the Google Home Max ($400) or the Sonos line (Play:1 is $200, Play:3 is $250 and Play:5 is $500, with the HomePod probably somewhere in between the 3 and 5 in terms of sound quality).

All that said, Apple is foregoing a big opportunity by not making a cheaper equivalent of the HomePod like Echo Dot or Google Home Mini. Those devices sound terrible, but consumers are happy enough with them given the price point.