As I mentioned, you’ve got the same chip and much of the same radio technology as the Dot, but the Pop lacks an accelerometer and motion and temperature sensors, which means you can’t tap to pause music playback. It’s OK for alarms or vocal interaction, but for listening to music, you’d be better off with the Dot, which is only $10 more.Īnd there’s even a lack of functions. It can’t produce the rich bass that makes music so enjoyable, and its highs feel cramped and sunken. However, when it comes to how the speaker sounds, the Pop struggles. Like the Dot, the Pop uses Amazon’s AZ2 chip, which means faster Alexa responses, and it has the Dot’s wireless capabilities: It can extend an Eero mesh Wi-Fi network, it’s a Matter controller and it hooks into Amazon’s Sidewalk network. Overall, the pixie-like design gives the Pop more style than its older sibling, the industrial-looking Dot, which costs $10 more. And yet, it draws the eye with its distinctive colors: teal, purple, black and white. Its rounded shape and compact 3.9-by-3.3-inch footprint make it an unobtrusive deskside or bedside companion. Yep, for less than a dinner for two at The Cheesecake Factory, you can have a smart speaker in just about any room of the house - especially small rooms like bathrooms or home offices. The most distinctive thing about the Pop, though, is its price tag: $40. You can connect your Spotify, connect a Roomba vacuum cleaner, ask medical questions of WebMD, get your calendar read back to you and even have a “chat” with Chewbacca. It’s fun and purple, which is not something I thought I’d ever say about an Alexa smart speaker.īy now, most people are familiar with Alexa and its galaxy of “skills” you can add to any Alexa-enabled speaker. For many, a smart speaker is an Amazon Alexa device, much like Kleenex is synonymous with tissues.Īnd just this week, Amazon introduced its least expensive smart speaker yet: the Echo Pop, a fun, cute desktop companion that gives off an up-for-anything, buzzy vibe. However, Amazon retained its first-mover advantage by pumping out new Echo models with upgraded features and designs. Soon Echos were sprinkled throughout homes and apartments, demonstrating AI’s potential for enhancing everyday tasks and routines.Īmazon’s success sparked a Cambrian explosion of smart speakers from competitors like Google, Apple and Bose. It skillfully merged the AI assistant and smart speaker concepts into an affordable, user-friendly device. Armed with Alexa’s growing list of skills and capabilities, the Echo proved irresistible. Amazon took a gamble on the “always-on, always-listening” concept that seemed creepy at the time, but promised deep integration with its AI assistant, Alexa. Before that, smart home devices were largely niche items, unproven and unfamiliar to most consumers. In 2014, Amazon effectively launched the smart speaker market with the introduction of the original Echo. Your CNN account Log in to your CNN account

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