Amazon Echo Pop review

About the Amazon Echo Pop

• Color: Charcoal, Glacier White, Lavender, Midnight Teal
• Speakers: 1.95” (49.5 mm) front-firing speaker
• Size:3.9 inches x 3.3 inches x 3.6 inches
• Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Connectivity: Dual-band Wi-Fi supports 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz) networks, Bluetooth
• Warranty: 90-day limited warranty and service

The setup for the Echo Pop is in the Alexa app, available for iOS and Android devices, and takes about five minutes to complete.

The Echo Pop has a small light bar on the top of the speaker that illuminates when the speaker is activated (blue), muted (red), or there are notifications to review (yellow). The top of the speaker has press buttons to turn the volume up/down, and mute the mic. The Echo Pop is built with Amazon’s AZ2 Neural Edge processor, allowing for more local processing of voice commands.

It does not have an audio jack on the back like the Echo Dot does—it only has one port for power meant for use with the included 15W power cord.

What we like

The sound quality is decent for the size

The Echo Pop delivers decent sound quality for a speaker that isn't much larger than my morning cup of espresso. The audio is crisp, clear, and just fine for listening to in the background.

The tiny smart speaker is great for podcasts, sleep sounds, or playing music at a medium-to-low volume throughout the day or when getting ready in the morning. It also supports multi-room audio with other Echo speakers to create more powerful sound throughout a room or multiple rooms.

However, when the volume is all the way up, the Echo Pop struggles a bit with that clear crisp audio, and it sounds a bit tinny, especially on heavy rock songs (like pretty much anything from the new Matchbox Twenty album).

But if you want to jam out or are looking for a speaker that packs in big sound in a tiny package, the Echo Dot, which offers clearer sound and deeper bass than the Pop, is worth a look.

One thing to keep in mind is that the new Echo Pop speaker is designed for small spaces, like bedrooms and dorm rooms. This compact Alexa speaker is not supposed to offer the same room-filling sound that bigger and beefier speakers like the Echo Studio or the Sonos Era 100 offers.

The design is fun and stylish

With a name like Echo Pop, this smart speaker deserves fun color options. Lavender and Midnight Teal are two cheerful colors that are a welcomed addition to what’s been a muted and neutral Echo speaker design space up until now.

The Echo Pop also comes in two basic colors, Charcoal and Glacier White.

Looks aren’t everything, but it’s certainly one area where Apple and Google Nest smart speakers have led the pack. For example, the Nest Audio comes in fun color options like Sage and Sky, and the Apple HomePod Mini is available for purchase in bright colors like Yellow and Orange.

It's nice to see Amazon adding more color options to Echo speakers, and hopefully it's a trend that continues.

The Echo Pop is a good smart home controller

Amazon switched on Matter support for most of its Echo devices earlier this year and the Amazon Echo Pop works as a Matter controller, so you can use Alexa to control your Matter-enabled smart devices.

Matter is shaping up to be the future of smart homes and is an increasingly important feature to look for when purchasing smart devices.

The new Echo Pop also works as an Eero Mesh Wi-Fi extender for existing networks (up to 1,000 square feet of coverage). This is an appealing feature to Eero users like myself, who don’t want to invest in additional beacons for spotty coverage areas at home.

With the Echo Pop, you’re getting a lot more than just an Eero extender, adding to the value this speaker offers. I set up the Echo Pop as an Eero extender at my house and had no issues when using it to further my internet’s reach.

The Echo Pop is also compatible with Amazon Sidewalk. During the Echo Pop setup, you can opt out of Amazon Sidewalk. If no selection is made at this time, Amazon Sidewalk will be automatically enabled for your Alexa account unless you've previously opted out.

What we don’t like

It’s missing certain sensors the Echo Dot has

The Echo Pop isn't the smart home powerhouse that the fourth- and fifth-gen Echo Dots are. The Pop's lack of motion and temperature sensors is one of the biggest differences between the two features.

For example, with the Echo Dot, you can create Alexa routines that execute tasks like turning on your smart thermostat when the speaker detects the temperature in the room has gone above or below a certain threshold. The Echo Dot also has a built-in motion sensor, allowing you to automate your smart lights to turn on when someone enters the room.

Since the Echo Pop lacks these sensors, it cannot perform these home automations like other Alexa smart speakers can.

However, the Echo Pop can be used for sound detection when it comes to Alexa routines, adding to what it can do for your smart home.

The power cord doesn’t match the speaker's color

It’s a small gripe, but for such a design-forward speaker, I wish the included power cord matched the color of the speaker.

For example, I have a Charcoal speaker, but the power cord is white. This is less of an issue if you have the speaker somewhere the power cord is hidden away, but I found it to be a little jarring.

For the record, other smart speakers, like the Apple HomePod Mini and Google Nest Audio don’t come with power cords that match the exterior color. So, it’s not like this is a dealbreaker, and it happens to be the case with Amazon’s other Echo devices, like the Echo Show 10.

However the thick white power cord on such a small speaker felt more noticeable than not this time around.

It doesn’t have a clock face

For a speaker designed for bedrooms and dorm rooms, the lack of a clock face, which is available on the current Echo Dot, is kind of an odd omission.

Again, this isn’t a dealbreaker, as the Echo Pop is still a great smart speaker for the money. But it does feel like a slight oversight for a smart speaker designed for small spaces like bedrooms and dorm rooms, where clocks are essential.

Privacy

The Amazon Echo Pop has a mic mute button on the top. When enabled, the light on the front of the speaker turns red, so you know that Alexa is not listening to your conversations.

You can also view and delete your Alexa voice recordings stored by the device as needed.

Should you buy the Amazon Echo Pop?

Yes, this a fun smart speaker that offers good value

The Echo Pop smart speaker is priced just right for what it offers: decent sound quality, it works as a Matter controller, and offers a compact size that can fit anywhere. It comes in fun colors and can also be used to extend the coverage of Eero Wi-Fi networks.

On the other hand, there are a few tradeoffs with the Echo Pop that come with other more expensive Echo speakers. The Pop lacks the motion and temperature sensors that the Echo Dot speakers have. These sensors help further the smart speaker’s capabilities through home automation like Alexa routines. But, the Echo Pop does still support sound detection for Alexa routines.

If you’re looking for a compact Alexa smart speaker with a bigger audio punch, check out the fifth-gen Echo Dot. The Dot isn’t much bigger but the orb-shaped speaker offers better overall sound quality for the size. However, the Echo Dot is more expensive, making the low price of the Echo Pop an enticing option for anyone who needs a basic smart speaker with Alexa controls.

For less than $40, the bright and cheerful Echo Pop offers quick and easy access to Alexa in one compact size.

$40 at Amazon