Pop of the world

Amazon has a patchy history with new Echo devices. Is there really room below the Dot for a cheaper smart speaker?

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■ At first, your entry-level Echo was the Dot. But then it got more capable, and Amazon filled the gap with the no-speaker Echo Input (RIP) and cheapo Alexa-in-a-plug Echo Flex. This new device now fills that gap below the Dot but above the Flex. Hope that’s clear?

■ The Pop is available in a couple of more interesting hues (lavender and teal) as well as the standard charcoal and white. You can get sleeves for it too, to give it more trad colour finishes such as red, blue and pink. It will surely find a home in kids’ bedrooms – make sure you turn the sweariness filter on – and bedside tables.

■ It might not be that cheap right now, but you can be sure that by Diwali it’ll be half the price… and it’s worth bearing that in mind when judging the sound quality of the Pop. Because compared to the standard Echo or Echo Dot, the audio here is a little rough and doesn’t have a lot of range. It’s not tinny but it is flat, and lacks any kind of dynamism. Amazon offers significantly better sound than this for also-reasonable money.

■ What is good, of course, is this device’s smart capability: it’s got full Alexa compatibility and nothing is missed out from the usual Echo experience. It’ll also work fine with Spotify Connect. Setup is easy in the Alexa app – it’ll be detected automatically, and if you’re already sorted with Alexa it just copies your account and Wi-Fi details across. It doesn’t have support for Zigbee devices, though.