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 have a value level below $50 and commonly go on sale for $20 to $30 — particularly throughout Prime Day.
And whereas the 2 units are remarkably comparable, there are some key variations you must know before you purchase. Right here’s how the Echo Dot (fifth gen) and the Echo Pop examine, primarily based on my first-hand insights as somebody who’s used 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 around the Echo Pop has a flat face. It mainly appears like a cross-section of the Dot.
The Echo Dot (left) and Echo Pop (proper) — as you’ll be able to see, the Echo Dot has been graced with 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 just a little higher. The brighter colours can add a cute splash of shade to a nook shelf, or the Pop can function a extra discreet Alexa assistant than the Echo Dot (which is pretty universally acknowledged as a sensible house system).
Each have a contemporary, glossy look that may simply complement or mix into any type of 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 cellphone, and it walks you thru setup step-by-step. The app can 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 permit you to mute and unmute the microphone and alter the quantity. The whole lot else is completed by way of voice instructions or by way of the Alexa app. I had no issues establishing both system and each had been extremely conscious of my “Hey, Alexa’s.”
Winner: Tie
Sound high quality is nearly an identical
Amazon describes the Echo Pop’s sound as a “full sound” that’s a very good match for bedrooms and small areas and the Echo Dot’s sound as a “greater 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 glorious for enjoying background music in my workplace or listening to podcasts whereas doing house responsibilities, 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 will help it to fill an area with sound irrespective 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 by way of the Amazon Alexa app. You need to 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 at all times discovered Alexa units most useful within the workplace and within the kitchen. They supply a hands-free, screen-free method to set timers (for productiveness or pizza) or to stream audio. A centrally-located Echo system can be an effective way to liberate area in your mind. I’ve used Alexa to remind me to water my crops, 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 you probably have an current Amazon Eero community, including as much as 1,000 sq. toes of further WiFi protection.
Nevertheless, as soon as once more the Echo Dot edges out the Echo Pop when it comes to further options. As talked about above, the Dot comes outfitted with movement and temperature detection capabilities.
Additionally, the Echo Dot with Clock ($59.99) comes with all of the options of the fifth gen Echo Dot and a easy LED show that may present the time, temperature, and timer countdowns. The Echo Dot With Clock served me effectively for a time as my alarm clock, but it surely wouldn’t have earned that spot on my nightstand with out the LED show so I may look on the time.
Winner: Echo Dot
Our winner: Echo Dot vs. Echo Pop
The Echo Dot and the Echo Pop are far more comparable than they’re completely different. The Echo Pop is about $10 inexpensive and just a little bit cuter (and out there in additional enjoyable colours). Nevertheless, it lacks the movement detection and temperature sensing that might permit it to execute among the most useful and sensible Alexa instructions and Routines.
Should you’re simply searching for an easy-to-use speaker to play music or set alarms in a room in your house, the Echo Pop is a positive alternative. Nevertheless, for a extra practical good house assistant, it’s greatest to pay the additional $10 and buy the Echo Dot.
