Amazon has unveiled a new range of Echo products, including the all-new Pop smart speaker that brings Alexa to an even lower price point than the Echo Dot. Alongside the Echo Pop, the company also announced the Echo Show 5, Echo Show 5 Kids, and the all-new Echo Buds. According to Amazon, the new products are designed to give customers even more options to access Alexa at different price points and in different form factors.
Starting off with the Echo Pop the device comes with a semi-spherical form factor and is available in Charcoal, Glacier White, Lavender Bloom, and Midnight Teal color options. At just $39.99, it undercuts the Echo Dot, which, at $49.99 apiece, was the company's most affordable Echo device until now. The Pop comes with a front-facing directional speaker and is meant for small rooms in houses and apartments. It is powered by the Amazon AZ2 Neural Edge processor and comes with a built-in Wi-Fi extender that enables it to add up to 1,000 square feet of coverage to an existing Eero Wi-Fi network. It also supports Matter, meaning it can be used to connect and control compatible smart home products across various brands.
Next up is Amazon's new entry-level smart display, the third-gen Echo Show 5, which comes with a new speaker system that Amazon says offers twice the bass of the previous model and delivers clearer sound when listening to music or watching videos. The microphone array has also been completely re-engineered, and the device also supports Matter like the Echo Pop. In addition, the new Echo Show 5 also supports Alexa video calling via the built-in camera. It also includes the AZ2 Neural Edge processor and is said to be 20 percent faster than the last-generation model. The 3rd-gen Echo Show 5 is priced at $89.99.
Alongside the standard Echo Show 5, Amazon also announced the Echo Show 5 Kids, which comes with "kid-friendly responses, jokes, homework help, explicit lyric filtering," and more. It also has a colorful new space-themed design that children should find appealing. The device comes with a Privacy Dashboard that offers a slew of parental controls to adjust age settings, review activity, and set bedtime limits. To sweeten the deal, Amazon is offering a free one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+, which includes thousands of ad-free and age-appropriate audiobooks, videos, games, and Alexa skills. It is priced at $99.99 in the U.S. and is also available in the U.K. and Germany.
The final hardware item announced today is the all-new Echo Buds which come with a semi-in-ear design and is priced at a very affordable $49.99. Thanks to Alexa support, you can use voice commands to cue music, make a call, or set a reminder while on the go. In terms of components, each earbud has a 12mm dynamic driver, two microphones, and a voice-detection accelerometer to distinguish between the caller's voice and background noise. Features include customizable tap controls, VIP Filter, and multipoint pairing that allows the earbuds to pair with and switch between two devices seamlessly. The device is capable of up to five hours of music playback on a single charge and up to 20 hours of total usage with the charging case.
Apart from the four Echo devices, Amazon also announced the expansion of Echo Auto to eight additional markets, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the U.K. The company also revealed that more than half a billion Alexa-enabled devices have been sold globally until now and claimed that the use of its voice-based personal assistant increased 35 percent last year.