At under $40 (frequently under $20 on sale), the Echo Pop is Amazon's cheapest way to get Alexa in a room. After four months, I understand the price - the sound is mediocre, and Alexa's declining quality makes me question the value even at this price point.
Design & Build
A half-sphere design that's compact and inoffensive. Available in several colors. It's clearly budget compared to the spherical Echo Dot, but it doesn't look bad.
Build quality is plastic and basic. The fabric grille is similar to other Echos but thinner material.
Small enough to fit anywhere - nightstand, kitchen counter, bathroom shelf.
Features
Alexa does Alexa things: timers, alarms, weather, smart home control, music playback. For basic voice commands, it works.
Single front-firing speaker limits sound quality significantly. No auxiliary output to connect better speakers.
Smart home control works with most Zigbee and WiFi devices through Alexa. The Echo Pop itself doesn't have a Zigbee hub built-in (unlike some other Echos).
Amazon's increasing push for Alexa subscriptions and declining quality of free features concerns me. The "free" Alexa is getting worse over time.
Performance
Sound quality is... bad. Thin, tinny, no bass whatsoever. Fine for voice responses and spoken content, inadequate for music. Even as background noise, music sounds hollow.
Voice recognition works well in quiet rooms. In noisy environments (kitchen while cooking), it struggles more than the Echo Dot.
Response time is typical Alexa - a second or two for most queries.
I've had occasional failures where Alexa doesn't hear the wake word or gives unhelpful responses to standard commands.
Ease of Use
Setup is standard Echo: plug in, download Alexa app, connect to WiFi. Takes 5 minutes.
The Alexa app works fine for basic control. The clutter of shopping suggestions and subscription prompts is annoying but manageable.
My wife uses it for kitchen timers and weather. It serves that purpose adequately.
Value
At full price ($40), it's overpriced for what you get. At sale price ($18-25), it's acceptable for basic Alexa functionality.
But what are you trading for that low price? Amazon's data collection, an ecosystem pushing subscriptions, and a speaker that sounds bad.
A used Echo Dot 4th gen often costs the same and sounds better. Or consider whether you need Alexa in that room at all.
Pros
- Very affordable (especially on sale)
- Compact size fits anywhere
- Basic Alexa functionality works
- Easy setup
- Multiple color options
Cons
- Poor sound quality
- No Zigbee hub built-in
- Amazon data collection concerns
- Alexa free tier declining
- Voice recognition struggles in noise
- Feels cheap
Final Grade
The Echo Pop is Alexa at its most basic and least impressive. For $20 on sale, it's an acceptable way to add voice timers and weather to a bathroom or closet. For anything involving audio quality or sophisticated smart home control, it falls short. The broader concern is Alexa's direction - more subscription pushes, declining free functionality, and Amazon's data practices. At this price, you get what you pay for: cheap entry to an ecosystem that's getting worse over time.