Yep, and there's good reasons for that, although that particular price is a good bit more than I paid for mine. You will be hard-pressed to find another 6.2 hp saw that weighs 14.6 lb. or less, and has the same reliability and parts availability as the 064/066 series. The various flavors of 064 alone run just 2.2 - 2.3 lb/hp, which is really impressive by the standard of any decade. Stihl has made newer saws since then that
match this, but only at substantially higher cost ($1600+), and I don't think they've ever actually
outdone the 064 by any significant measure.
Echo doesn't publish HP numbers like Stihl and Husqvarna do, you can draw your own conclusions from that. But just comparing weight and displacement, why does a 40 year old
90cc Stihl, made out of mostly metal and older materials, weigh less than a brand new
75cc Echo?
No comparison.
Tying this way back to the OP, Stihl is not "just hype". But, there's also something to be said for trading a little performance for maximizing reliability. I honestly have never had a single problem with any of my Stihl's or my one Husqvarna. But I
would believe that by backing off on peaking performance, it might be reasonable to assume Echo is maximizing reliability, on a large fleet scale. Individual opinions from individual users on individual saws are not very useful in determining that.