There’s a new Amazon Echo speaker on the block, the Alexa-powered Echo Pop with a hemispherical design and affordable price.
Amazon also announced today. The anticipated Echo Show 5 upgrade with a faster processor (finally) and a discounted version of the in-ear Echo Buds.
This news is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart speakers.
The just-announced Echo Pop is a surprise, with the $39.99 speaker boasting a hemispherical shape that looks roughly like an Echo Dot cut in half.
Available in four colors (Lavender Bloom, Midnight Teal, Charcoal and Glacier White), the flat side of the Pop includes a speaker grill that conceals a “custom-designed” forward-facing driver.
The new Echo Pop has a hemispherical design, with a slim Alexa indicator lighting up at the top.
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The Pop will deliver “full sound” that’s ideal for small spaces like bedrooms and dorms, Amazon says.
Powered by Amazon’s AZ2 Neural Edge processor, the Pop comes with Alexa, with a slim Alexa indicator light moving to the top edge of the speaker.
Like most of Amazon’s other Echo speakers, the Echo Pop will act as a Matter controller, and it also doubles as an Eero extender, boosting the signal of Amazon’s Eero routers up to 1,000 feet.
Next comes an update to the Echo Show 5 that recently appeared on Amazon’s help page.
The third-generation Echo Show 10 retails for $89.99 (a price that will no doubt be discounted in the coming weeks and months), looks almost identical to its predecessors, including the same 5.5-inch screen and fabric-covered, wedge. shaped design.
The third-generation Echo Show 5 should be up to 20 percent faster than its predecessors, Amazon says.
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More compelling is Amazon’s promise that the AZ2 Neural Edge-powered Echo Show 10 will be 20 percent faster than the first- and second-generation versions, which both ran Arm-based MediaTek processors.
That aging Arm chip led to increasingly poor performance on older Echo Show 5 models, so we’re hoping the new Show 5 feels brighter.
Amazon also claims that the third-generation Echo Show 5 will sound better with an “all-new speaker system” (Amazon didn’t provide specifics) designed to deliver twice the bass and “even clearer sound” for music. : The display also boasts a redesigned microphone array.
The updated Echo Show 5 will have the same two-megapixel camera as the previous Show 5, complete with a physical privacy cover.
Matter support is also carried over from the previous Echo Show 5, with the third-generation Echo Show 5 acting as a Matter controller for other Matter-enabled devices, like the new Echo Pop.
The optional USB-C equipped dock for the new Echo Show 5 costs $26.99.
Also on sale today is a “Kids” version of the Echo Show 5 with a “colorful space design,” a two-year warranty (vs. one year for the standard Echo Show 5), and one year on Amazon. Kids+, a subscription service that offers thousands of kid-friendly audiobooks, games, videos, and Alexa skills.
The latest version of the Echo Show 5 Kids comes with a year’s worth of Amazon Kids+.
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The third-generation Echo Show 5 retails for $99.99, a $10 premium over the standard Echo Show 5, but keep in mind that a year of Kids+ normally costs $49 for Prime members or $79 for non-Prime users for:
Moving on, Amazon also announced a new and cheaper version of its Echo Buds.
Unlike previous Echo Buds, which packed active noise reduction and (later) noise cancellation technology, the latest Buds are in-ear models that work without ANC.
Available now for $49.99 (significantly cheaper than the $120 second-generation Echo Buds with ANC), the new Echo Buds feature 12mm dynamic drivers in each earbud for “rich sound and balanced bass.” says Amazon.
The new Echo Buds lack ANC, but they’re also cheaper than previous Echo Buds models.
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The Echo Buds also come with dual microphones and a “voice detection accelerometer” that can help prevent passersby from drowning out your calls.
The new Buds are rated for up to five hours of music playback on a single charge, or up to 20 hours with the included charging case.
Finally, Amazon announced that the second-generation Echo Auto is coming to eight more countries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan.
We’ll have in-depth reviews of the Amazon Echo Pop, the third-generation Echo Show 5, and the new Echo Buds once we’ve tested some sample units.