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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2024
The Amazon Echo Pop was my first experience with an Alexa device, and I could kick myself for not buying 2 of these at the sale price of just under $23. At that price, these little smart speakers are well worth it. However, at the list price, you might do better to spend another $10 and go for the Echo Dot. Better still, if you can pick up an Echo Gen4 as certified refurbished, then that is quite a good deal at around $50.
Prior to purchasing the Echo Pop, I installed the Alexa App on my iPhone, and during order time, I did the pre-configuration. Upon arrival, the setup was a breeze, and in a matter of just a few minutes I was greeted by a pleasant sounding female voice. The audio quality of this little speaker was amazing. I asked it a few questions, then said “Alexa, play Peaceful Current Radio.” It was a truly Hi-Fidelity experience, even though it was monophonic. On that station, a great deal of the music is solo acoustic, so stereo , 3D, or surround sound isn’t necessary to hear the clear and faithful reproduction of a piano, guitar, or cello. The bass from this speaker isn’t going to rattle the walls, but the little speaker was able to fill my master bedroom with beautiful music, that sounded like the instruments were in the same room.
That should cover the good points about this smart device. I rarely give any product 5 stars, but if I could give it a rating of 4.5 I would, primarily because of what it can do at such a low sell price. There are some issues that you might want to consider if you are looking for a good Echo Device. It is far from perfect. Its smarts are at the low end, and a good Wi-Fi connection is needed if you want a fast response. It can’t function as a hub, so if you want to control various smart devices in your home, you will likely need an Echo Gen4 or better. It doesn’t have a 3.5 mm audio jack, so if you want to connect to headphones or external speakers, you will need to use Bluetooth. The Bluetooth connection can be tricky, but once you pair with speakers, it quickly disconnects and reconnects by just turning off the speakers and turning them back on. I also found out that after doing this several times, it began to experience streaming problems, and I had to unplug it and plug it back in to fix the problem.
Bluetooth streaming seems to suffer a bit in fidelity. I paired it with some Logitech Bluetooth computer speakers, and even though it produced stereo sound, the frequency response was not as good, and the stereo separation was weak. Some of this was likely due to the Logitech speakers. They aren’t exactly the best computer speakers and I am not too fond of the passive radiator design that gives the base an unnatural sound.
I tried a separate GT Bluetooth to 3.5 mm adaptor, which I connected to my retro audio system, and the sound quality was a little better, but I had to crank the volume knob up pretty high. When I connected the Bluetooth adaptor to wired headphones it sounded pretty good, so using Bluetooth headphones seems a good alternative listening method.
One other issue is with the alarm level. I can’t seem to set it to a level that will override the music, and alert me that it’s time to take medications or walk the dog. It usually takes me awhile to realize that it is sounding a wake-up. It is loud enough when not playing music, but too low of a level when music is playing.
Overall, it is a very good device, and its small size makes it easy to place in an out of the way location, such as in the kitchen or bathroom. It has great sounding audio that can fill a small room, but not quite good enough to fill a large family or living room. It really shines at playing relaxing music such as from an Internet radio station such as “Peaceful Current Radio,” or other similar music stations. However, for Rock- and Roll or party music, you will likely want something with a little more punch.
Update:
I just had to do a follow up to my previous review. I caught a sell and picked up another Echo Pop for just under $20. That means I acquired 2 of these for around $45 with tax. They make a great stereo pair. Two speakers are better than one. You get double the sound. This means a great improvement in the base response. With 2 drivers pushing the air, they do a better job. I just tweak the bass response 2 notches, and the treble 1 notch, and these rival the audio quality of my much larger and more expensive JBL studio monitor bookshelf speakers with a 100 watt per channel amplifier pushing them. Of course they can’t match the power, but 2 of these in a stereo pair can do a pretty good job in my 13 by 13 master bedroom with vaulted ceiling. I’m considering adding an Echo Sub hidden away under my bed.
Alexa does a much better job at finding my favorite Internet radio stations as well. Siri keeps telling me she can’t find that in my Apple music library.
I have a database of URLs to over 9000 radio stations. Alexa easily finds most of my favorites such as:
Peaceful current Radio
New Standard WNYC
IPR Studio 1
KTUX FM
KSRY FM
WJIB FM
Café Del Mar Radio
Americana Boogey Radio
Aloha Joe
Quiet Village Radio
WSBZ FM
Smooth Jazz 101
WABE Classical
Just ask Alexa to play any of these, and get ready for a treat.
Prior to purchasing the Echo Pop, I installed the Alexa App on my iPhone, and during order time, I did the pre-configuration. Upon arrival, the setup was a breeze, and in a matter of just a few minutes I was greeted by a pleasant sounding female voice. The audio quality of this little speaker was amazing. I asked it a few questions, then said “Alexa, play Peaceful Current Radio.” It was a truly Hi-Fidelity experience, even though it was monophonic. On that station, a great deal of the music is solo acoustic, so stereo , 3D, or surround sound isn’t necessary to hear the clear and faithful reproduction of a piano, guitar, or cello. The bass from this speaker isn’t going to rattle the walls, but the little speaker was able to fill my master bedroom with beautiful music, that sounded like the instruments were in the same room.
That should cover the good points about this smart device. I rarely give any product 5 stars, but if I could give it a rating of 4.5 I would, primarily because of what it can do at such a low sell price. There are some issues that you might want to consider if you are looking for a good Echo Device. It is far from perfect. Its smarts are at the low end, and a good Wi-Fi connection is needed if you want a fast response. It can’t function as a hub, so if you want to control various smart devices in your home, you will likely need an Echo Gen4 or better. It doesn’t have a 3.5 mm audio jack, so if you want to connect to headphones or external speakers, you will need to use Bluetooth. The Bluetooth connection can be tricky, but once you pair with speakers, it quickly disconnects and reconnects by just turning off the speakers and turning them back on. I also found out that after doing this several times, it began to experience streaming problems, and I had to unplug it and plug it back in to fix the problem.
Bluetooth streaming seems to suffer a bit in fidelity. I paired it with some Logitech Bluetooth computer speakers, and even though it produced stereo sound, the frequency response was not as good, and the stereo separation was weak. Some of this was likely due to the Logitech speakers. They aren’t exactly the best computer speakers and I am not too fond of the passive radiator design that gives the base an unnatural sound.
I tried a separate GT Bluetooth to 3.5 mm adaptor, which I connected to my retro audio system, and the sound quality was a little better, but I had to crank the volume knob up pretty high. When I connected the Bluetooth adaptor to wired headphones it sounded pretty good, so using Bluetooth headphones seems a good alternative listening method.
One other issue is with the alarm level. I can’t seem to set it to a level that will override the music, and alert me that it’s time to take medications or walk the dog. It usually takes me awhile to realize that it is sounding a wake-up. It is loud enough when not playing music, but too low of a level when music is playing.
Overall, it is a very good device, and its small size makes it easy to place in an out of the way location, such as in the kitchen or bathroom. It has great sounding audio that can fill a small room, but not quite good enough to fill a large family or living room. It really shines at playing relaxing music such as from an Internet radio station such as “Peaceful Current Radio,” or other similar music stations. However, for Rock- and Roll or party music, you will likely want something with a little more punch.
Update:
I just had to do a follow up to my previous review. I caught a sell and picked up another Echo Pop for just under $20. That means I acquired 2 of these for around $45 with tax. They make a great stereo pair. Two speakers are better than one. You get double the sound. This means a great improvement in the base response. With 2 drivers pushing the air, they do a better job. I just tweak the bass response 2 notches, and the treble 1 notch, and these rival the audio quality of my much larger and more expensive JBL studio monitor bookshelf speakers with a 100 watt per channel amplifier pushing them. Of course they can’t match the power, but 2 of these in a stereo pair can do a pretty good job in my 13 by 13 master bedroom with vaulted ceiling. I’m considering adding an Echo Sub hidden away under my bed.
Alexa does a much better job at finding my favorite Internet radio stations as well. Siri keeps telling me she can’t find that in my Apple music library.
I have a database of URLs to over 9000 radio stations. Alexa easily finds most of my favorites such as:
Peaceful current Radio
New Standard WNYC
IPR Studio 1
KTUX FM
KSRY FM
WJIB FM
Café Del Mar Radio
Americana Boogey Radio
Aloha Joe
Quiet Village Radio
WSBZ FM
Smooth Jazz 101
WABE Classical
Just ask Alexa to play any of these, and get ready for a treat.
