Brand: Amazon
Product: Echo Buds
Release Date: October 30, 2019
Price: $130
From: amazon.com
When Amazon announced the Echo Buds ($130), its first truly wireless earbuds, there was a little bit of confusion. At the initial announcement, Amazon implied it had partnered with Bose to integrated its renown noise-cancelation technology into the Echo Buds. It was later clarified that the Echo Buds had Bose’s “active noise-reduction” technology, evidently distinct from Bose’s “active noise-cancellation” technology, with Bose reps claiming the Echo Buds’ tech was different and less effective that what will be found in the first-party earbuds Bose plans to release in 2020. Still, at $130, which is wildly cheap compared to other noise-canceling wireless earbuds on the market, such as Sony WF-1000XM3 ($228+) and Apple’s AirPods Pro ($249), putting the Echo Buds in a position to really shake up the market if their noise-canceling powers can pull through.
What We Like
The good news is that, in practice, the Echo Buds are impressive. Their noise-canceling ability is on par with the likes of Sony’s and Apple’s new wireless earbuds, which I think has a lot to do with Bose’s technology, but also to do with the way the Echo Buds fit in your ears. Each earbud is rather large, similar to the Jabra Elite Active 65t ($138+) or the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless ($299), and they create a very tight seal against your ear; in this way they’re able to passively and actively reduce noise.
There are more layers than just noise-canceling, too. The Echo Buds have an easy-to-access transparency mode (called passthrough mode), which you can switch to by double-tapping the right or left earbud. They are also pretty interwoven with the Alexa app. Here, you can adjust the EQ of the audio you’re listening to, turn the built-in microphones off (which is good if you don’t ever want to talk to Alexa, and bad if you plan on taking calls with the earbuds), adjust the strength of the transparency mode and, just like with the new AirPods Pro, have the earbuds run a “eartip sizing test.”
Lastly, the Echo Buds are IPX4 water and sweat resistant, just like the AirPods Pro and Powerbeats Pro ($200+), so you can wear them working out or running. In addition to coming with multiple silicone ear tips, the Echo Buds also come with silicone ear wings in case you want that extra layer of snugness for working out. If you attach the ear wings, there’s no issue fitting the Echo Buds back in the charging case.
