Amazon has cornered the market on cheap and easy-to-use good house units with its Echo lineup. Two of its tiniest (but nonetheless feature-packed) choices are the Echo Dot, now on its fifth technology, and the Echo Pop, which debuted in 2023. Each Alexa good audio system price beneath $50 and repeatedly go on sale throughout Prime Day occasions.
And whereas the 2 units are remarkably related, there are some key variations you need to know earlier than you decide one. Right here’s how the Echo Dot (fifth gen) and the Echo Pop examine, based mostly on my first-hand insights utilizing them each.
Echo Dot vs. Echo Pop: Specs
Credit score: Chart: SaVanna Shoemaker / Mashable
Design: We like shade choices
The Echo Dot and the Echo Pop are practically the identical dimension, however whereas the Echo Dot is spherical, the Echo Pop has a flat face. It principally appears to be like like a cross-section of the Dot.
The Echo Dot (left) and Echo Pop (proper) — as you’ll be able to see, the Dot has been graced by toddler spaghetti fingers.
Credit score: SaVanna Shoemaker / Mashable
The Echo Dot additionally is available in three pretty muted colours (grey, white, and blue), however the Echo Pop is accessible in some, effectively, poppier colours (lavender and teal along with grey and white).
Total, I like the looks of the Echo Pop a bit of higher. The brighter colours add a cute splash of shade to a nook shelf. The Pop can function a extra discreet Alexa assistant than the Echo Dot (which is pretty universally acknowledged as a wise house gadget).
Each have a contemporary, smooth look that may simply complement or mix into your own home decor.
Winner: Echo Pop
Setup and ease of use
Amazon has made establishing these units extraordinarily simple. You’ll want the Alexa app in your telephone, and it walks you thru setup step-by-step. The app can also be the place you’ll join different apps like Spotify or Audible to stream them in your Echo units utilizing Alexa voice instructions.
The units themselves are additionally very easy. The bodily buttons on them mean you can mute and unmute the microphone and modify the quantity. Every part else is finished via voice instructions or via the Alexa app. I had no issues establishing both system and each had been extremely aware of my “Hey, Alexa’s.”
Winner: Tie
Sound high quality is sort of an identical
Amazon describes the Echo Pop’s sound as a “full sound” that’s an excellent match for bedrooms and small areas and the Echo Dot’s sound as a “larger vibrant sound” for any room.
In my side-by-side comparisons of the Echo Dot and the Echo Pop, I couldn’t detect a distinction in sound high quality between the 2 units. Each units had been wonderful for taking part in background music in my workplace or listening to podcasts whereas doing home tasks, offering fuller, clearer sound and elevated quantity in comparison with my smartphone.
The Echo Pop does have an ever-so-slightly bigger speaker. Nevertheless, the Dot’s spherical form may also help it to fill an area with sound regardless of the place it’s positioned.
Winner: Echo Dot
Alexa integration and good house connectivity
Each the Echo Dot and the Echo Pop combine with Alexa via the Amazon Alexa app. You should use Alexa to ask questions, verify the climate, set timers and alarms, and open linked apps (like music or streaming apps together with Spotify, Pandora, Audible, and Amazon Music).
Personally, I’ve all the time discovered Alexa units most helpful within the workplace and within the kitchen. They supply a hands-free, screen-free strategy to set timers (for productiveness or pizza) or to stream audio. A centrally-located Echo system can also be a good way to liberate house in your mind. I’ve used Alexa to remind me to water my vegetation, put birthday playing cards within the mail, and verify the water stage within the pool at common intervals when filling it up for the season.
Nevertheless, the Echo Dot edges out the Echo Pop right here in two key methods: temperature sensing and movement detection. So your Echo Dot can execute Alexa Routines that contain temperature or movement, whereas the Echo Pop can’t. Some examples:
Winner: Echo Dot
Contemplating further options
The Echo Dot and the Echo Pop can each function WiFi extenders when you’ve got an present Amazon Eero community, including as much as 1,000 sq. ft of further WiFi protection.
Nevertheless, as soon as once more the Echo Dot edges out the Echo Pop by way of further options. As talked about above, the Dot comes geared up with movement and temperature detection capabilities.
Winner: Echo Dot
