The Amazon Echo Pop Speaker: A Budget-Friendly Option?

The new Amazon Echo Pop speaker is a budget-friendly option that's perfect for those who want to get into the Amazon Alexa ecosystem without breaking the bank. With its compact design and affordable price tag, it's an excellent choice for anyone looking to upgrade their home entertainment system.

My first impression of the screen was that it looked fine. The resolution was adequate for the size, but I did notice some lag when trying to interact with it. This made me hesitant to use it extensively, as I didn't want to deal with the frustration of a slow and unresponsive touch interface. In contrast, watching something on Amazon Prime Video was a seamless experience, just like you'd expect.

Another issue I encountered was the video playback experience. While watching videos was smooth, I did notice that the device would sometimes kick me into the Silk browser, which wasn't exactly what I wanted. If I'm going to use this for YouTube or other services, I'd recommend opting for the Nest Hub, which is built by Google and offers a much better experience.

One feature that's worth mentioning is the 2-megapixel camera built into the Echo Show 5. While it may not be the most impressive camera, it does have a physical shutter on it, which provides complete and total privacy when taking photos or making video calls. I love this feature, as it gives me peace of mind knowing that my personal moments are safe.

Another consideration is the price. The Amazon Echo Show 5 retails for $90, but sales happen, and if you can get an Amazon Echo Show 8 for less than that, it's a no-brainer. The larger screen and better overall experience make it worth the extra cost.

Finally, there's the new Amazon Echo buds. While they're priced at $50, which is already a steal, I do have some reservations about them. The lack of active noise cancellation and limited features make them more suited for basic music listening rather than audiophile-grade sound quality. That being said, they don't sound half bad, especially considering the price point.

My only real issue with the Echo buds is the requirement to use the Amazon Alexa app in order to connect them to your phone. This seems like a hassle, as I wouldn't want to be tied to an app just to use basic Bluetooth earbuds. It's one thing to have extra features like EQ and a "Find My" app, but requiring an app for basic functionality is just not the way it should work.

If you're considering purchasing the Echo buds, I'd recommend taking this into account. While they might be perfect as backup earbuds or for someone who already uses the Alexa app, I wouldn't want to use them as my main earbuds due to this requirement.

In conclusion, the Amazon Echo Pop speaker and the new Echo Show 5 are both excellent options for those looking to get into the Amazon Alexa ecosystem. The Echo Pop speaker is a great choice for its budget-friendly price and compact design, while the Echo Show 5 offers a larger screen and better overall experience. However, the Echo buds leave me a bit underwhelmed due to their limited features and requirement for an app.

That being said, I do think these devices are worth considering, especially when they're on sale. The key is finding the right balance between price and features. If you can get the Echo Show 8 for less than the Echo Show 5, it's definitely the better choice. As for the Echo buds, while they might not be perfect, they do offer great value at $50.

Ultimately, my advice would be to stick with the Amazon Alexa ecosystem if you're already invested in it. The devices just seem to work so much better when you're already familiar with the app and its features.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso Amazon has dropped a trio of new devices on us in typical Amazon fashion none of them is overly expensive all of them has access to Amazon Alexa and for the most part they're all fine okay they build on what's come before them is there anything new yeah kind of not really and I know that doesn't really sound exciting I get it but that's not to say there's nothing here to talk about so let's go get into it thank you foreign I'm Phil nickinson this is Digital Trends before you do anything else go subscribe to the channel hit the notification Bell thing so you can see all the new videos just as soon as they come out including yeah more TV stuff it's coming all right you ready that's it let's go do this so first up we've got the Amazon Echo pop This is actually brand new and as the name implies it's an echo speaker right the pop part doesn't really tell you anything but one look at it and you see the front of the face cut off and along with that Amazon has also sliced off a good bit of the price that sort of tells you everything you need to know about the echo pop it's a less expensive Amazon Echo speaker and because it's less expensive it doesn't sound quite as good as an echo Dot and definitely not as good as a full Echo now two other sort of major things that Amazon has cut out here are temperature sensors and motion sensors so if you have some sort of Alexa bass integration that relies on those well they're not here now one good feature that is here though is the ability to use the echo pop as an extender for your network if you're using an aero mesh system now ero of course is owned by Amazon so all that kind of makes sense there are a couple caveats here though it's not as good not as quick not as fast as if you're using a dedicated network extender so just keep that in mind it's a nice little bonus but not something I would rely on for my home network otherwise it's a perfectly good Amazon Echo speaker just keep an eye on the price okay the echo pop retails at 50 we've already seen it on sale for less than that but we've also seen the full Amazon Echo dot which sounds better than the pop on sale for less than the pop and oh no I've gone cross-eyed it's keep an eye on the price okay if you can get a better speaker for less money do it next up is the Amazon Echo Show 5. now this is a continuation of the previous Amazon Echo Show five all right now if you're new to the Amazon Echo Show 5 the show 5 part of it means it's got a five inch display on it that's kind of cool the echo part means it's got all the other Echo stuff you know Alexa music news smart home whatever you want now this is another entry level device into this segment but it's also one that I think runs in into some hiccups first is that the screen is just okay I mean it looks fine the resolution is adequate for the size but the touch part can be a little laggy and that makes me never actually want to do anything that makes me have to touch the screen then there's the video part of the equation so watching something on Amazon Prime video is exactly as easy as you would expect same goes if you have a fleet of ring devices and ring by the way is also owned by Amazon but it's hit and miss for other services and pretty often will kick you into the silk browser that's on board this thing and that's not a fun experience at all if you're going to use this for something like YouTube by all means go for the nest Hub which is built by Google in so much better experience speaking of video The Echo Show 5 still has a 2 megapixel camera built in and it still has a physical shutter on it if you want complete and total privacy and the physical shutter is the only way to do this love that now will you ever use it I don't know do you use Amazon messaging video stuff today if not probably not then there's the same problem with price the Amazon Echo Show 5 retails for ninety dollars but sales happen and if you can get an Amazon Echo Show eight for less than that just do it you're gonna get a better screen a bigger screen and just an overall better experience and finally there's the new Amazon Echo buds now these look a good bit different than the second generation Buzz that released in 2021 they're also a good bit less expensive retailing at fifty dollars but we've already seen these on sale too but that price means you definitely need to adjust your expectations there's no active noise cancellation anymore you don't get some long list of features or fancy codecs for all kinds of audio quality these are basic No Frills earbuds and you know what they don't sound awful especially at that price there may be a bit bass heavy and there's not a ton of room in the sound Spectrum especially as the volume gets higher but they get the job done and again they're just fifty dollars and that's before sales prices my only real issue here has to do with the Amazon Alexa app these buds don't work at all if you don't use the Amazon Alexa app with them they won't even connect to your phone now I get it there's a pretty good chance if you're buying these earbuds that you already have the Amazon Alexa app on your phone fine but you have to have the app in order to get these earbuds to work in the first place and that's just not the way things should work it's one thing that you need an app to have some extra features like an EQ and by the way this does have an EQ that's good it's also a cool little find my app so you can find the buds if and when you lose them also good but to require an app to use basic bluetooth earbuds at all not crazy about that imagine if you had wired headphones that you had to have an app to use again basic connection one's wired one's Wireless but now you have to have an app that's not the way it should work it's definitely the sort of thing that's going to make me think twice if I'm going to give these earbuds to say a kid 50 earbuds Perfect Price having to require the Amazon Alexa app and everything that comes with it for my kids phone I'm not crazy about that at all and all that brings me back to what I really think is the bottom line here if you're in the Amazon Alexa ecosystem the ecosystem as I'm taking and calling it just stick with me it'll catch on maybe probably not well then all these things just sort of make sense to you right the echo Pop speaker is a cheaper speaker the Echo Show 5 is a cheaper little Amazon Echo with a display the echo buds perfectly reasonable 50 earbuds you got to make sure you get the price right between sales and all that but you get the idea these things are inexpensive and they're going to work really well the echo buds that are just harder for me to justify in this case they're going to work fine but they need that app and that just really really rubs me the wrong way I wouldn't use them for my main earbuds but I might well get them as just sort of backup buds that live in my gear bag that's it on the new Amazon Echo pop Echo Show 5 and the new very inexpensive but annoyingly requiring an app Amazon Echo buds if you got any more questions if you completely disagree with me go let me know down in the comments that's it for now be sure to subscribe to the channel hit the notification Bell and we will be back real soon see ya thank youso Amazon has dropped a trio of new devices on us in typical Amazon fashion none of them is overly expensive all of them has access to Amazon Alexa and for the most part they're all fine okay they build on what's come before them is there anything new yeah kind of not really and I know that doesn't really sound exciting I get it but that's not to say there's nothing here to talk about so let's go get into it thank you foreign I'm Phil nickinson this is Digital Trends before you do anything else go subscribe to the channel hit the notification Bell thing so you can see all the new videos just as soon as they come out including yeah more TV stuff it's coming all right you ready that's it let's go do this so first up we've got the Amazon Echo pop This is actually brand new and as the name implies it's an echo speaker right the pop part doesn't really tell you anything but one look at it and you see the front of the face cut off and along with that Amazon has also sliced off a good bit of the price that sort of tells you everything you need to know about the echo pop it's a less expensive Amazon Echo speaker and because it's less expensive it doesn't sound quite as good as an echo Dot and definitely not as good as a full Echo now two other sort of major things that Amazon has cut out here are temperature sensors and motion sensors so if you have some sort of Alexa bass integration that relies on those well they're not here now one good feature that is here though is the ability to use the echo pop as an extender for your network if you're using an aero mesh system now ero of course is owned by Amazon so all that kind of makes sense there are a couple caveats here though it's not as good not as quick not as fast as if you're using a dedicated network extender so just keep that in mind it's a nice little bonus but not something I would rely on for my home network otherwise it's a perfectly good Amazon Echo speaker just keep an eye on the price okay the echo pop retails at 50 we've already seen it on sale for less than that but we've also seen the full Amazon Echo dot which sounds better than the pop on sale for less than the pop and oh no I've gone cross-eyed it's keep an eye on the price okay if you can get a better speaker for less money do it next up is the Amazon Echo Show 5. now this is a continuation of the previous Amazon Echo Show five all right now if you're new to the Amazon Echo Show 5 the show 5 part of it means it's got a five inch display on it that's kind of cool the echo part means it's got all the other Echo stuff you know Alexa music news smart home whatever you want now this is another entry level device into this segment but it's also one that I think runs in into some hiccups first is that the screen is just okay I mean it looks fine the resolution is adequate for the size but the touch part can be a little laggy and that makes me never actually want to do anything that makes me have to touch the screen then there's the video part of the equation so watching something on Amazon Prime video is exactly as easy as you would expect same goes if you have a fleet of ring devices and ring by the way is also owned by Amazon but it's hit and miss for other services and pretty often will kick you into the silk browser that's on board this thing and that's not a fun experience at all if you're going to use this for something like YouTube by all means go for the nest Hub which is built by Google in so much better experience speaking of video The Echo Show 5 still has a 2 megapixel camera built in and it still has a physical shutter on it if you want complete and total privacy and the physical shutter is the only way to do this love that now will you ever use it I don't know do you use Amazon messaging video stuff today if not probably not then there's the same problem with price the Amazon Echo Show 5 retails for ninety dollars but sales happen and if you can get an Amazon Echo Show eight for less than that just do it you're gonna get a better screen a bigger screen and just an overall better experience and finally there's the new Amazon Echo buds now these look a good bit different than the second generation Buzz that released in 2021 they're also a good bit less expensive retailing at fifty dollars but we've already seen these on sale too but that price means you definitely need to adjust your expectations there's no active noise cancellation anymore you don't get some long list of features or fancy codecs for all kinds of audio quality these are basic No Frills earbuds and you know what they don't sound awful especially at that price there may be a bit bass heavy and there's not a ton of room in the sound Spectrum especially as the volume gets higher but they get the job done and again they're just fifty dollars and that's before sales prices my only real issue here has to do with the Amazon Alexa app these buds don't work at all if you don't use the Amazon Alexa app with them they won't even connect to your phone now I get it there's a pretty good chance if you're buying these earbuds that you already have the Amazon Alexa app on your phone fine but you have to have the app in order to get these earbuds to work in the first place and that's just not the way things should work it's one thing that you need an app to have some extra features like an EQ and by the way this does have an EQ that's good it's also a cool little find my app so you can find the buds if and when you lose them also good but to require an app to use basic bluetooth earbuds at all not crazy about that imagine if you had wired headphones that you had to have an app to use again basic connection one's wired one's Wireless but now you have to have an app that's not the way it should work it's definitely the sort of thing that's going to make me think twice if I'm going to give these earbuds to say a kid 50 earbuds Perfect Price having to require the Amazon Alexa app and everything that comes with it for my kids phone I'm not crazy about that at all and all that brings me back to what I really think is the bottom line here if you're in the Amazon Alexa ecosystem the ecosystem as I'm taking and calling it just stick with me it'll catch on maybe probably not well then all these things just sort of make sense to you right the echo Pop speaker is a cheaper speaker the Echo Show 5 is a cheaper little Amazon Echo with a display the echo buds perfectly reasonable 50 earbuds you got to make sure you get the price right between sales and all that but you get the idea these things are inexpensive and they're going to work really well the echo buds that are just harder for me to justify in this case they're going to work fine but they need that app and that just really really rubs me the wrong way I wouldn't use them for my main earbuds but I might well get them as just sort of backup buds that live in my gear bag that's it on the new Amazon Echo pop Echo Show 5 and the new very inexpensive but annoyingly requiring an app Amazon Echo buds if you got any more questions if you completely disagree with me go let me know down in the comments that's it for now be sure to subscribe to the channel hit the notification Bell and we will be back real soon see ya thank you\n"