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After I first noticed the $39.99 Echo Pop — Amazon’s newest Alexa-powered good speaker — the phrase “jaunty” popped into my thoughts. It appears enjoyable, cute, and sort of joyful. After testing it for a couple of days, its appears are the principle motive I’d purchase considered one of these over the $49.99 fifth-gen Dot. There aren’t any new options; in truth, it loses a couple of for that $10 value minimize. It additionally doesn’t hear as nicely or sound nearly as good because the Dot.

However if you’d like a wise speaker to take heed to podcasts, management good dwelling units, and reply the occasional math query in smaller rooms like a toilet, laundry room, or visitor room, then the Pop, with its smaller measurement, higher shade choices, and lower cost, will slot in effective. For larger rooms in your home, the Echo Dot can do extra and sounds higher for less than $10 additional.

The Echo Pop is a semi-circular good speaker with three bodily buttons (quantity up and down and mute) and a barrel plug with an extended white energy twine hooked up to a 15-watt energy brick. (Amazon has but to undertake USB-C for energy on any of its Echo good audio system.)

It has Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant baked in and may do all that brings with it — stream music, set a number of timers, set off Alexa Routines, management related good dwelling units, play foolish video games, and inform even sillier jokes. It additionally works as a house intercom and phone. 

The Pop can also be solely the second speaker to get Amazon’s AZ2 Neural Edge processor, which permits for extra native processing of voice instructions, making requests like “What time is it?” and “Flip off the lights” quicker than non-AZ2 Echos. (The most recent Echo Dots and the Echo Present 15 good show even have it).

The Echo Pop is the most affordable Echo speaker, with an inventory value of $40. As with all Echo audio system, it’s prone to see main value cuts as a part of Amazon’s play to get its good voice assistant into each room of your home. However keep in mind, with cheap {hardware} comes many makes an attempt to promote you stuff. Whereas testing the Pop, I set an alarm that provided to upsell me on a louder alarm sound.

However, if you happen to use Alexa, you understand this, and if you happen to’re good with it, then you definately in all probability need Alexa and its extra helpful, much less intrusive options in each room (for extra on these options, try my Echo Dot with Clock assessment).

Whereas solely barely smaller than the Echo Dot, the Pop’s flat face matches in higher on a bookshelf or desk. The addition of teal and purple shade choices, together with black and white, provides to that jaunty issue making it really feel extra like a design alternative and fewer like a chunk of tech in a room. And it’s a lot nicer trying than the hideous Echo Flex, Amazon’s earlier try at a funds speaker to get Alexa into each room. 

Whereas the Pop has all the identical good dwelling radios because the Dot — it’s an extender for an Eero mesh Wi-Fi system, a Matter Controller, and a Sidewalk bridge, it lacks among the Dot’s extra superior sensors. There’s no temperature sensor or ultrasound movement detector, and the accelerometer that powers the tap-to-snooze characteristic solely works for alarms, not for pausing and resuming music because the Dot can. I additionally by accident found you’ll be able to’t snooze or dismiss an alarm by faucet or voice if the web is out, in order that shall be a pull-the-plug second. 

The most important query, although, is if you happen to’re trying to get an inexpensive Echo good speaker, must you get the Pop or the Dot? Right here’s a take a look at how the 2 stack up.

Sound: The Echo Pop is okay for listening to a podcast or the radio and acceptable for listening to music if you happen to’re in a small room and sitting proper subsequent to it. It’s noticeably higher when stereo paired with one other Pop. However this isn’t a tool to purchase for banging tunes. Whereas the Dot isn’t, both, and really has a smaller front-firing speaker, it has a richer sound and higher bass, so if that’s a consideration — spend the additional $10. Plus, with a Dot, you’ll be able to faucet it to pause music rapidly. With the Pop, you must use a voice command.

If you have already got a greater Alexa speaker and / or a good Bluetooth speaker, you’ll be able to pair the Pop to both of these and save the $10. However neither the Pop nor the Dot has a 3.5mm audio jack. If you wish to add voice management to a dumb speaker utilizing a wire, the third-gen Dot was your least expensive choice. However Amazon has discontinued that mannequin, so if you happen to want that characteristic and may discover one, seize it. (The $100 fourth-gen Echo additionally has an audio jack).

Pace and efficiency: The Pop and the Dot have the identical AZ2 Neural Edge processor, so execute most instructions quicker than older Echos. However the Dot responded marginally quicker in side-by-side testing, choosing up my voice faster from farther away. In case you’re placing a Pop in your desk or bedside desk, although, you gained’t discover the distinction.

Sensors: The shortage of a temperature and ultrasound sensor makes the Pop much less helpful as a wise dwelling controller. With the fifth-gen Echo Dot, you need to use its temperature sensor to do issues comparable to regulate your good thermostat when a room will get too heat or have its ultrasound sensor flip lights on if you stroll in. Each the Pop and the Dot can set off Alexa Routines based mostly on sound detection, comparable to a canine barking, water operating, or somebody loud night breathing.

Measurement and form: As talked about, I favor the Pop’s look to the Dot’s. Whereas it’s solely barely smaller (3.9” x 3.3” x 3.6” in comparison with 3.9” x 3.9” x 3.5” ), the design matches higher on a desk or bedside desk. I’m a giant fan of the brand new purple shade, too, however I’ve at all times had a penchant for purple merchandise. The teal is a bit muddy trying, extra grey than inexperienced, but additionally extra discreet than any of the opposite Dot colours.

What the Pop? Oddly, the Pop doesn’t have the Motion button, which nearly each different Echo does. This allows you to name Alexa with out saying its title. I truly use it so much and missed it right here. The one different Echo with out it’s the Echo Spot, which this system closely resembles in type issue (though there’s no display screen or digital camera).

There may be additionally no choice for a clock show with the Pop. My favourite Dot is the Echo Dot with Clock, which makes use of a dot matrix show to point out the time and some different bits of helpful information. That’s not an choice right here, though Amazon did relocate the Alexa LED gentle from the underside, the place it’s within the Dot, to the highest, the place it seems as a small strip (you’ll be able to regulate its brightness within the Alexa app).  

In case you are already deep into an Alexa-powered good dwelling, the Pop is smart for the one or two rooms the place you’ll be able to’t justify spending $50 on one other speaker (or couldn’t watch for considered one of Amazon’s frequent gross sales).

It’s additionally a superb improve for any ageing early-gen Echos you continue to have, something older than the third-gen that got here out in 2018. It’s value upgrading from the third-gen, too, if you happen to don’t want that 3.5mm jack, because the Pop is quicker, sounds higher, and appears means nicer. I wouldn’t substitute a fourth- or fifth-gen Dot with a Pop, although, as you lose options.

In case you’re new to Amazon Alexa, get the Pop if you wish to check out this good speaker malarkey — $40 is a steal for a chunk of tech that may do every thing the Pop can. Additionally, think about this if you wish to begin including good units to your house and are intrigued by the brand new Matter good dwelling commonplace. That is the most affordable Matter controller you should purchase — though it’s Wi-Fi solely, so it gained’t work with all Matter units. For full Matter compatibility, you’d have to bump as much as one which provides help for the Thread protocol, such because the bigger Echo (4th Gen). 

The Echo (4th Gen) continues to be my prime advice for an Echo speaker, and it’s been on sale for as little as $50. If it’s a alternative between a fourth-gen Echo and an Echo Pop — there’s no contest. Whereas the Echo (4th Gen) nonetheless doesn’t have Amazon’s newest processor, it is a superb good speaker and a extra helpful good dwelling hub. It does every thing the Dot can, plus provides Zigbee compatibility in addition to Thread, and it sounds actually good. 

Photographs by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Correction, Wednesday, Could 31, 2:20 PM: An earlier model of this text stated the Echo Dot (fifth gen) had 4 far-field microphones. Actually, it has three, the identical because the Echo Pop. We remorse the error.