Amazon Launches $40 Eero-Equipped Echo Pop Speaker, $50 Echo Buds

pcmag.com:

Amazon has a handful of new Alexa-enabled devices, including low-priced alternatives to the Echo Dot smart speaker and Echo Buds earphones, and an updated Echo Show 5 smart display.

The Echo Pop is a $39.99 smart speaker with an angled, circular design. It's effectively a cheaper version of the $49.99, orb-shaped Echo Dot with a slightly different look but all the Alexa-powered voice assistant features. The Echo Pop also features Amazon's AZ2 Neural Edge processor for voice processing, and like the Dot can serve as a network extender for Eero mesh networks. Unfortunately, no version with a clock has been announced.

Last year's Echo Dot update also added Eero support, meaning the speaker can serve as a node for your Eero network if you use one. Amazon says the node allows for up to 1,000 square feet of Eero Wi-Fi coverage, with speeds up to 100Mbps for up to 10 devices at a time.

At $49.99, the new Echo Buds true wireless earphones are less than half the price of the previous-gen Echo Buds. They achieve this, however, by completely omitting the active noise cancellation (ANC) found on their more expensive siblings, which will now be known as the Echo Buds with ANC. While they don't have ANC, the new Echo Buds still feature hands-free access to Alexa.

Amazon also unveiled the latest version of the $89.99 Echo Show 5 smart display. According to the company, the new model features a new speaker design that enables deeper bass and is 20% faster to respond to requests.

Of particular interest to parents, Amazon now offers an Echo Show 5 Kids variant for $99.99. This version of the device has all of the same hardware as the standard Echo Show 5, but with a colorful, star-filled design and a one-year membership to Amazon Kids+.