Amazon unveils a low-cost 'full sound' Echo Pop smart speaker and an upgraded Echo Show 5
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It's no secret that Amazon is by far the most active player in the smart speaker space, with a product lineup that easily surpasses all competitors in diversity, but evidently the e-commerce giant felt like its Echo roster was still not broad or complete enough, adding an entirely new member to the family yesterday, as well as a couple of upgrades of existing models and a somewhat confusing third Echo Buds edition.
Just like the ultra-affordable new true wireless earbuds, Amazon's first-ever Echo Pop, third-gen Echo Show 5, and third-gen Echo Show 5 Kids are all up for pre-orders already, although their shipments will kick off a little earlier than those of the Echo Buds (2023).
The best smart speaker for small spaces?
While the fifth-gen Echo Dot, released just last year, is already pretty compact, powerful (for its size), and affordable, Amazon is throwing another diminutive smart speaker in the ring to fend off Apple's hugely popular HomePod mini and Google's second-gen Nest Mini, the latter of which badly needs an upgrade after seeing daylight all the way back in 2019.
The "full sound" Echo Pop is somehow cheaper than all of those devices (including the Echo Dot), at a recommended price of $39.99, looking essentially like half of a full-sized $99.99 Echo (4th Gen).
That obviously makes this thing perfect for bedrooms, dorm rooms, bathrooms, and other small spaces where you might feel like a "standard" Echo is not needed or would look out of place. Despite its lilliputian footprint, the Echo Pop promises to deliver solid audio quality with a 1.95-inch front-firing speaker that's incredibly larger than what the latest Echo Dot holds under its hood.
The Echo Pop's "loveable" semi-spherical design is nicely complemented by a few fresh colors like "Lavender Bloom" and "Midnight Teal", although more classic "Charcoal" and "Glacier White" options also exist, with each and every one of the four flavors being scheduled for an official May 31 release.
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The "all-new" Echo Show 5 may not seem radically redesigned at first glance, but if you look closely, you'll undoubtedly notice a couple of important revisions adding a touch of personality and likely to improve durability for Amazon's smallest smart speaker with a touchscreen.
Said 5.5-inch screen, by the way, is unchanged from the 2021-released Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen), and the same goes for the 2MP front-facing camera allowing you to make (pretty blurry) video calls.
Amazon clearly sacrificed that department to be able to vastly improve the Echo Show 5's audio performance without hiking the price point... too much. Yes, the Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen) is $5 costlier than its predecessor, at $89.99, and just like the Echo Pop and the new kid-friendly Echo Show 5, it's set to reach its earliest adopters on May 31.
Both the upgraded Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 5 Kids Edition also come with an additional microphone compared to previous generations to enhance Alexa responsiveness, as well as a faster processor to improve, well, overall responsiveness and power.
The "all-new" $99.99 Echo Show 5 (2023) Kids rocks an eye-catching space-themed design, and much like all other children-oriented Amazon products, includes a two-year worry-free guarantee, as well as a complimentary year of premium Amazon Kids+ access.
Both the third-gen Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 5 Kids are a bit larger and heavier than previous editions, which sounds like a downgrade but is of course easily explained by the housing of a radically upgraded speaker system with deeper bass and clearer vocals.
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