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Amazon Echo Pop
The Amazon Echo Pop is the newest entry to the extensive lineup of Amazon Echo speakers. It brings a refreshed design and a very affordable price, but does it have enough features to hold up against the best smart speakers? Find out in SoundGuys’ Amazon Echo Pop review.
Editors note: This review was updated on August 12, 2024, to include mention of the new Amazon Echo Spot (2024).
Amazon Echo Pop review: At a glance
- What is it? The Amazon Echo Pop is a new budget-friendly smart speaker with Alexa integration.
- What is the price? The Amazon Echo Pop has a starting price of $39.99 USD, but is often on sale or packaged in a bundle with other smart home products.
- Where can you buy it? The Amazon Echo Pop was released in May 2023, and you can find it in a variety of retailers.
- How did we test it? I tested the Amazon Echo Pop for two weeks. The review unit was purchased by SoundGuys.
- Is it worth it? If you are looking for a cheap and easy entry to the smart home world, the Amazon Echo Pop is a good starting point. It also makes for a great addition to an existing Alexa smart home setup, as you could buy a couple of these speakers and place them in various rooms around your house.
What I like about the Amazon Echo Pop
The first thing you’ll notice about the Amazon Echo Pop is its design. It kind of looks like Amazon just took the Echo Dot (5th gen), and sliced a chunk off the front of it. I’m a big fan of this sleeker and more modern design, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It also comes in a few fun and modern color options including Lavender Bloom, Charcoal, Glacier White, and Midnight Teal. Measuring only a few inches in every direction, the Echo Pop sits discreetly on any desk, table, or shelf.
There are buttons on top of the speaker to control the volume and disable the microphone. There is also a lightbar on top of the speaker that shines blue when Alexa is listening. Aside from that, you’ll be interacting with the Amazon Echo Pop using your voice.
The Alexa integration makes it easy to control other smart home devices, play music, ask questions, and more. If you’ve never used a smart speaker before, you’ll be amazed. If you have used a smart speaker before, you’ll find the Echo Pop is an easy addition to your setup. The Echo Pop uses the Amazon AZ2 Neural Edge processor found on the more premium Echo devices for quicker local processing of voice commands. Typically, you get a response from Alexa within only one or two seconds. A few other bonus smart home perks that come with the Echo Pop are that it functions as an Eero mesh Wi-Fi extender, and is compatible with the Matter smart device standard.
Considering how cheap and tiny the Amazon Echo Pop is, I was impressed by the sound quality. The front-firing speaker is angled slightly upward, which in most setups directs the sound at your ears. The speaker has a neutral sound, without any over-emphasis on bass, mids, or highs. If you just need a speaker for casual listening to music or podcasts at your desk or in your bedroom, the Echo Dot works great.
What I don’t like about the Amazon Echo Dot
There are some key drawbacks to making a smart speaker this cheap and tiny. First of all, there are obvious limitations with loudness and bass response. You simply can’t expect a driver this small to deliver enough volume to provide music for a large room or a party of people. Similarly, you aren’t going to get a chest-pounding bass response (or any sub-bass at all) with the Amazon Echo Pop. If you need more oomph from your music, check out the slightly larger Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen), or take a look at the best Bluetooth speakers.
This design doesn’t include any sort of display. For only a bit more money, you can get the Amazon Echo Spot (2024), which has a small display for $44.99 at Amazon. There’s also no water resistance on the Echo Pop, which means you should probably look elsewhere for a bathroom speaker.
The Echo Pop doesn’t provide much for connectivity options. There’s no Bluetooth connectivity or 3.5mm audio input. This means the only way to connect to the speaker and play music is over Wi-Fi. The speaker also doesn’t carry a battery charge, so it has to be plugged into the charger all the time. Speaking of charging, the Echo Pop uses a proprietary power cable rather than something more universal like USB-C.
Finally, as with all smart speakers, there is reason to be wary about your privacy with the Echo Spot. Amazon’s ecosystem depends on data collection to deliver personalized content, product recommendations, and advertisements. You can view all of your voice recordings from within your Amazon account, and delete some or all if you wish.
Amazon Echo Pop specs
| Amazon Echo Pop | |
|---|---|
Size | 99 x 84 x 91 mm |
Weight | 196g |
Audio specs | 1.95” front-firing speaker |
Audio inputs | Wi-Fi only |
Wireless audio connection | Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz) |
Streaming services | Spotify Apple Music Amazon Music + more |
App | Amazon Alexa app (iOS/Android) |
Controls | Voice, volume buttons, mute microphone button |
Price | $39.99 USD |
Should you buy the Amazon Echo Pop?
While the Amazon Echo Pop has a starting price of $39.99, you can usually find it on sale for less than half of that. As of writing, there are multiple bundle offers for the Echo Pop plus a bonus smart light for only $17.99. At that price, the Echo Pop is a no-brainer.
With full Alexa integration, a sleek modern design, and decent sound, the Amazon Echo Pop packs a ton of bang for your buck. There’s no display and limited volume, but as an affordable smart speaker, the Echo Pop is definitely worth the money.
Amazon Echo Pop review: FAQs
You will need an Amazon account to use your Echo Pop, but you do not need a Prime subscription.
Yes, the Amazon Echo Pop must remain connected to power to function.
No, you can not connect to the Echo Pop over Bluetooth, you can only connect over Wi-Fi.
Kind of. You can make calls with an Echo speaker, but only if you set up contacts in the Alexa app and the person you are calling has an Echo speaker and has set up contacts in the Alexa app. This is helpful for frequent calls with the same friend or family member, but not practical most of the time.
Yes, but you will need to connect your Apple Music account to the Alexa app. You can make Apple Music the default music app on your Echo speaker by following these steps:
- Open the Amazon Alexa app.
- In the lower-right corner, tap More.
- Tap Settings.
- Scroll down and tap Music & Podcasts.
- Tap Default Services.
- Under Music, tap Apple Music.
Yes, you can use the Echo Pop to control your smart lights. You can often buy the Echo Pop in a bundle with a smart light included.