Amazon has achieved a remarkable milestone with the sale of over 500 million Alexa-enabled devices worldwide. To enhance customer accessibility to Alexa both at home and on the go, Amazon has unveiled four new additions to its Echo lineup. These innovative devices, available at an affordable price point, include the all-new Echo Pop, featuring two vibrant color options, Lavender Bloom and Midnight Teal.
Additionally, the next-generation Echo Show 5 boasts an upgraded speaker system that delivers double the bass compared to its predecessor. For the younger audience, the Echo Show 5 Kids comes in a captivating space-themed design. Lastly, the all-new Echo Buds provide users with exceptional audio quality and the convenience of accessing Alexa while on the move.
These latest Echo devices offer an impressive array of features in compact designs, providing customers with an expanded range of options to interact with Alexa. With the global sales of Alexa-enabled devices surpassing the half-billion mark, it is evident that customers are increasingly embracing this technology. Alexa engagement witnessed a remarkable growth of over 35% in 2022, further demonstrating the widespread popularity and increased usage of this voice assistant.
Echo Pop
Introducing the Echo Pop, a groundbreaking addition to the Echo lineup that offers a fresh form factor, a front-facing directional speaker, and seamless access to Alexa, all at an affordable price of just $39.99. This compact yet powerful smart speaker is a perfect fit for dorm rooms and apartments, or for expanding Alexa’s presence throughout your home.
With a simple voice command, Alexa can play your favorite music or podcast, manage compatible smart home devices, provide answers to your queries, and even share a few jokes. The Echo Pop is available in the classic Charcoal and Glacier White colors, as well as two exciting new options—Lavender Bloom and Midnight Teal.
Rajesh Parthasarathy, the principal product manager behind the development of the Echo Pop, expressed the team’s enthusiasm for overcoming the challenge of creating a robust smart speaker at such an affordable price point. The team crafted a unique form factor and introduced two captivating color choices, confident that customers will be delighted with the results.
Notably, the Echo Pop goes beyond its compact size by offering support for eero Built-in. This means it can seamlessly extend the coverage of your existing Eero Wi-Fi network by up to 1,000 square feet, further enhancing its value and utility.
Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 5 Kids
The Echo Show 5 has garnered immense popularity as the leading Echo Show device. With the introduction of the next-generation Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 5 Kids, a sleek and modern appearance takes center stage.
The speaker system has undergone a complete overhaul, delivering double the bass compared to its predecessor and ensuring enhanced clarity for an immersive entertainment experience encompassing music, Audible audiobooks, video content, and podcasts. Both the Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 5 Kids incorporate the advanced AZ2 Neural Edge processor and feature a re-engineered microphone array.
Christina Cao, a senior product manager at Amazon, shared insights from extensive customer opinion research, revealing sound quality as a paramount consideration for such devices. Utilizing this valuable customer feedback, Amazon has crafted the best-sounding and fastest Echo Show 5 to date.
Designed with children in mind, the new Echo Show 5 Kids boasts the same hardware enhancements while sporting an extraordinary space-themed galaxy design. Additionally, it provides kid-friendly Alexa responses, humorous jokes, homework assistance, and explicit lyric filtering. Kids can engage in lively dance parties, enjoy audiobooks, play captivating games, and make video calls to contacts approved by their parents. Furthermore, they can unleash their creativity by co-creating visually captivating stories using the Create with Alexa feature, which now offers two exciting themes: Dinosaurs and Jazzy Jungle.
Echo Buds
Introducing Echo Buds, the wireless earbuds that offer a remarkable blend of rich, balanced sound and seamless access to Alexa on the go. With Alexa by your side, you can effortlessly control your music playback, resume podcasts, continue listening to your Audible audiobooks, set reminders, or make hands-free calls.
Anuj Dron, a senior product manager on Amazon’s Echo team, expressed excitement about the new Echo Buds, emphasizing their ability to deliver high-quality audio, long-lasting battery life, and premium features, all at an unbelievable price. These earbuds provide customers with convenient access to audio content and Alexa, no matter where they find themselves.
Echo Buds feature outstanding audio quality and a lightweight, semi-in-ear design, allowing you to stay connected to your surroundings while enjoying music or taking calls. They are sweat-resistant, equipped with a battery that offers up to five hours of music playback per charge and can provide a total of up to 20 hours with a fully charged case. Additionally, just a 15-minute charge can provide up to two hours of usage.
With the multipoint pairing feature, you can effortlessly connect Echo Buds to two devices simultaneously. The earbuds intelligently recognize which device is playing audio and seamlessly switch between them. This means you can make a video call on your laptop and seamlessly switch to listening to music on your phone without missing a beat. Furthermore, you have the flexibility to customize tap controls on your Echo Buds through the Alexa app, allowing you to perform actions such as long-press or double-tap to listen to music, answer calls, mute your microphones, and more.
In addition to the Echo Buds, Amazon has announced the availability of Echo Auto, which brings the convenience of Alexa to your vehicle, in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan. This latest generation of Echo Auto features a slim design with an adhesive mount for enhanced placement flexibility in your car. Equipped with five microphones, it allows you to keep your focus on the road while easily accessing features such as music playback, making calls, and managing your calendar or to-do list with Alexa.