The Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) are a pair of true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC) and Alexa voice assistant capabilities. These earbuds are an upgrade to the first-generation model and offer improved audio quality, better noise cancellation, and a more compact and comfortable design. In this article, we'll take a closer look at the features and specifications of the Echo Buds, as well as their design, battery life, and performance.
Design and Build Quality
The Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) are designed to be compact and
comfortable, with a small and lightweight form factor that makes them easy to
carry around. They have a sealed in-ear design that helps to limit background
noise and improve noise cancellation performance. The earbuds are IPX4 rated
for sweat resistance, making them suitable for use during workouts and other
physical activities.
The earbuds come with three different sizes of ear tips, allowing
you to find the right fit for your ears. The ear tips are made from a soft,
flexible material that conforms to the shape of your ears, providing a
comfortable and secure fit.
Battery Life and Charging
The Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) have a battery life of up to 5
hours on a single charge. The included charging case provides an additional 10
hours of battery life, bringing the total to 15 hours. The case also has a
quick-charge feature that provides 2 hours of playback with just 15 minutes of
charging.
Read: HISOOS WIRELESS EARBUDS WITH CHARGING CASE IPX7
The charging case is available in two configurations: a wired charging
case and a wireless charging case. The wireless charging case supports Qi
wireless charging and can be charged by placing it on a compatible wireless
charging pad.
Features and Performance
The Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) offer a number of features that
make them a versatile and useful addition to your daily life. The earbuds have
active noise cancellation that helps to limit background noise, allowing you to
focus on your music, podcasts, or audiobooks. They also have a Passthrough Mode
that lets you hear what's going on around you, making it easy to stay aware of
your surroundings.
The earbuds work with the Alexa app to stream music, play
podcasts, and read Audible audiobooks. You can also use your voice to make
calls, set reminders, add items to your shopping list, or even start a
meditation session. The earbuds are compatible with both iOS and Android and
support access to Siri and Google Assistant.
Read: BEATS FIT PRO X KIM KARDASHIAN EARBUDS
The Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) also have a feature called Audio
Personalization that helps to tune audio for your unique hearing preferences.
This feature uses machine learning algorithms to analyze your hearing and
adjust the audio settings to provide the best possible sound quality.
Privacy and Security
Amazon is committed to protecting the privacy and security of its
users, and the Echo Buds (2nd Gen) are no exception. The earbuds are built with
multiple layers of privacy controls, including the ability to mute the
microphones with the Alexa app. Amazon is not in the business of selling your
personal information to others, and the Echo Buds are designed to protect your
privacy and security at all times.
Advantages
Comparison with true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation and Alexa
When comparing the Echo Buds (2nd Gen) to true wireless earbuds
with active noise cancellation and Alexa, it's important to consider a few key
factors. Here are a few comparisons that could be made:
➤Sound Quality: The Echo Buds (2nd Gen) have premium speakers that
deliver crisp, balanced sound with dynamic audio and active noise cancellation.
It also offers audio personalization to enhance the user's audio experience
based on their unique hearing preferences.
➤Comfort and Fit: The Echo Buds (2nd Gen) are designed to be compact,
light, and sweat-resistant with a secure, customizable fit. This makes them
suitable for on-the-go use and physical activity.
➤Battery Life: The Echo Buds (2nd Gen) offer up to 5 hours of music
playback on a single charge and up to 15 hours with the charging case. A
15-minute quick charge provides up to 2 hours of music, making it convenient
for users who are constantly on the move.
➤Voice Control: The Echo Buds (2nd Gen) work with the Alexa app,
allowing users to make hands-free calls, set reminders, add items to their
shopping list, and more. Additionally, they are compatible with iOS and Android
and support access to Siri and Google Assistant.
➤Privacy: Amazon is known for protecting customer privacy and the
Echo Buds (2nd Gen) are no exception. They come with multiple layers of privacy
controls, including the ability to mute the mics with the Alexa app.
When comparing the Echo Buds (2nd Gen) to other similar earbuds, it's important to consider the user's specific needs and preferences. Some users may prioritize sound quality over battery life, while others may prefer the convenience of wireless charging over wired charging. The Echo Buds (2nd Gen) offer a well-rounded package of features that make them a strong contender in the true wireless earbud market.
1. All-new Echo Buds (2023 Release) | Semi-in-ear, True Wireless Bluetooth 5.2 Earbuds with Alexa
Introduction: The All-new Echo
Buds by Amazon represent a versatile and affordable option in the true wireless
earbuds market. Released in 2023, these earbuds feature a semi-in-ear design,
offering a balance between comfort and awareness of your surroundings. With integrated
Alexa support, a long-lasting battery, and customizable tap controls, they aim
to provide a seamless and personalized audio experience.
Key Features:
✔Rich, Balanced Sound: Equipped
with 12mm drivers for crisp audio, balanced bass, and full sound.
✔Semi-in-ear Design: Helps
reduce outside noise while keeping you connected to your surroundings.
✔Multipoint Pairing: Connect to
two devices simultaneously, seamlessly switching between them.
✔Alexa Integration: Access
Alexa on-the-go for various tasks, compatible with iOS and Android.
✔Long-lasting Battery: Up to 5
hours of music playback, 20 hours with the charging case, and quick charge
support.
✔Customizable Tap Controls: Use
the Alexa app to set up tap controls for individual earbuds.
2. Apple AirPods (2nd Generation) Wireless Ear Buds
Introduction: Apple AirPods
(2nd Generation) continue the legacy of delivering high-quality sound with the
convenience of effortless setup and seamless integration with Apple devices.
Powered by the Apple H1 headphone chip, these wireless earbuds offer a robust
combination of sound performance, Siri voice control, and an extended battery
life.
Key Features:
✔High-quality Sound: Powered by
the Apple H1 chip for rich and vivid audio.
✔Effortless Setup: Simple
one-tap setup, automatic on/off, and seamless switching between Apple devices.
✔Voice Control with Siri:
Activate Siri hands-free by saying "Hey Siri."
✔24-Hour Battery Life: Over 24
hours of total listening time with the included Charging Case.
✔Audio Sharing: Easily share
audio between two sets of AirPods on Apple devices.
3. Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus, True Wireless Earbuds Bluetooth 5.0
Introduction: The Samsung
Galaxy Buds Plus offer a premium true wireless experience with features like
Ambient Aware2, delivering clear audio while keeping you connected to your
surroundings. With an impressive 22 hours of total playtime, dual internal and
external microphones, and compatibility with Android and iOS devices, these
earbuds cater to a diverse range of user preferences.
Key Features:
✔Ambient Aware2: Allows you to
filter in outside sounds for awareness of your surroundings.
✔22 Hours of Playtime: Up to 11
hours on a single charge, with an additional 11 hours from the wireless
charging case.
✔Clear Voice Pickup: Dedicated
internal and external microphones for clear voice transmission during calls.
✔Android and iOS Compatibility: Seamless pairing with smart devices via Bluetooth, supported by dedicated apps.
Conclusion
The Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) are a high-quality pair of true
wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation and Alexa voice assistant
capabilities. They offer excellent sound quality, a compact and comfortable
design, and long battery life. Whether you're looking for a versatile pair of
earbuds for your daily life or a high-quality pair of earbuds for your workouts
and other physical activities, the Echo Buds are an excellent choice.
Call to action
If you're interested in purchasing the Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen), it's important to consider your personal preferences and needs, such as the type of activities you'll use them for and how important noise cancellation and audio quality are to you. Consider reading reviews and comparing them to other true wireless earbuds in the market to ensure that the Echo Buds are
the right choice for you. Additionally, it's always a good idea
to take advantage of any deals or promotions that may be available to help you
save money on your purchase.
FAQs
What are the Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen)?
The Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) are a
pair of true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC) and Alexa
voice assistant capabilities. They are an upgrade to the first-generation model
and offer improved audio quality, better noise cancellation, and a more compact
and comfortable design.
How does the active noise cancellation work on the Echo Buds?
The Echo Buds (2nd Gen) feature active
noise cancellation (ANC) technology that uses microphones to detect external
noise and generate sound waves that cancel out the noise, allowing you to enjoy
your music, podcasts, or phone calls in peace. The level of noise cancellation
can be adjusted in the Alexa app or by using touch controls on the earbuds.
Can I use the Echo Buds with Siri or Google Assistant?
The Echo Buds (2nd Gen) are primarily
designed to work with Alexa, Amazon's virtual assistant. However, you can use
them with Siri or Google Assistant by pressing and holding the touch control on
the earbuds to activate your smartphone's voice assistant.
How long does the battery last on the Echo Buds?
The Echo Buds (2nd Gen) offer up to 5
hours of battery life with active noise cancellation on and up to 7 hours with
it off. The charging case provides an additional 20 hours of battery life, so
you can recharge your earbuds on the go.
Are the Echo Buds (2nd Gen) sweat and water-resistant?
Yes, the Echo Buds (2nd Gen) are IPX7
rated, which means they are sweat and water-resistant. They are designed to
withstand rain, splashes, and sweat, making them ideal for use during
activities such as exercising, running, or working out.
How do I control the volume and playback on the Echo Buds?
You can control the volume and playback on the Echo Buds by tapping and holding the touch controls on the earbuds or by using voice commands with Alexa. You can also control volume and playback from your smartphone or tablet using the Alexa app or your device's native music app.
Top reviews from the United States
5.0 out of 5 stars Ticks
every box well, but not quite the best. - improving.
Reviewed in
the United States 🇺🇸 on May 23, 2022
Color:
BlackStyle: Wireless Charging CaseConfiguration: Echo BudsVerified Purchase
EDIT/UPDATE:
I cannot say this was a result of my own review, but I have raised my review
rating by a star to account for this - it seems Amazon through a software
update was able to add support for multipoint bluetooth connectivity. As my
millennial friends would say, this is an absolute flex on Google, for they only
months ago released their Pixel Buds Pro, with multipoint BT connectivity as a
flagship feature, but leaving their a-series, gen 1 and gen 2 Pixel Buds users
without the feature.
Coming from a technical background, I know this can be difficult for other
bluetooth device manufacturers to do, most of the time they're using
off-the-shelf BT adapters which they cannot update the firmware on themselves
(they have to talk with whoever manufactured the bluetooth adapter), and in
other cases, its impossible to update it without ripping it out of the device
first.
Amazon is showing Google up by using their control over the hardware and
software of the buds to add features never even dreamed of by the team who
designed and released these buds (as evidenced by the lack of mention on the
product page), and the fact that I received this in a free software update
makes my day.
For those curious, my buds are on software version 603267242 and the case is on
602808458. You can enable multipoint by going to the settings page for your
Echo Buds and using the "connected devices" section to put them in
pairing mode. Using the normal pairing mode method (buds in case, lid open,
pressing and holding button until blue light flashes), might not cause them to
pair in multipoint mode.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Having owned my current pair of Echo buds for nearly a year
now, I feel I can give a sufficiently detailed review on them.
Case/Chassis:
The case itself has a nice sleek design with a slight indent on the side that
the lid opens from, allowing you to easily pull the lid open. It's small enough
to fit into my jeans pocket alongside my keys and wallet, without falling or
sliding out. It can fit into the vestigial pocketwatch pocket, but only barely
and peeks out to a degree. The hinge feels a little weak, as if a strong enough
force applied to the lid could bend its connection out of snap it entirely, and
it feels a touch loose, the main body of the case has a sort of raised section
that fits into an indented section of the lid. This gives the lid strength when
held closed by its magnets and redirects any forces applied to the lid into the
main body of the case.
Sound Quality:
Better than my car speakers; with the listening modes such as ANC and
passthrough turned off, the sound quality is actually rather pleasant. I have
unpaired my phone from my 2019 car and use my Echo Buds exclusively in the car
when driving, for music and calls since it sounds so much better. Mind, it is
recommended that you use the in-app EQ to turn down mids and treble by one or
two ticks to even out the sound profile, especially if you listen to bass-heavy
music.
Fit:
Good enough, there are a few pressure points where the body of the earbuds press
against my ears and to achieve the recommended fit I have to use tips that are
slightly larger than preferred. I could improve comfort by under-sizing the
tips and using the wings to keep them stable, but the wing design would worsen
the pressure points between my earlobe and the main body, making that the
pain-point. I love the color-matched mesh inside the tips, making it easy to
tell which size each tip is, and if I am using asymmetric tips (because some
people have asymmetric ears), it can help keep track of which bud goes in which
ear. In short, I have a listening time of 1-3 hours before the pain gets to me
and I have to give my ears a rest... This isn't too bad since the battery is
supposed to last 4-5 hours (depending on ANC being enabled, and if I reduce the
depth of discharge then it can improve battery lifespan (ex: discharging a
battery from 100% to 75% twice is better than going from 100% to 50% once).
Battery:
Truly wireless earbuds have some of the smallest batteries found in
electronics, and manufacturers will push them to the limit to hit lovely
marketing figures. Google's new pixel buds pro advertise a listening time with
ANC of 7 hours. After a year of use, I can confirm that my Echo Buds are still
hitting at least 3-4 hours of listening time with ANC enabled. The case holds
about 2 spare charges in it, and I find the combined 9-15 hours of listening to
be more than enough for most purposes, especially considering I have to take
breaks every 3 hours anyhow.
Charging:
This is the only failure of the Echo Buds. I like the use of a USB-C charging
port, and the optional upgrade for a wireless charging case. After losing
multiple phones to charging port failure, I resolve to only purchase devices
with wireless charging from now on, and that resolution is why I held off on
getting the first-generation Echo Buds. Since the case is more vertical than
it's predecessor, that limits the size of the internal wireless charging coil,
and resultingly, the buds have issues trying to charge on a charging pad with
too large an internal coil. It will handshake, and initiate the charge, giving
the user a pleasant blinking green light, and then fail minutes later - this is
an issue I saw even with the official Anker charging pad. Worse yet, for some
reason the buds seem to always be warm after wirelessly charging for any length
of time longer than 5 minutes. I have deducted one star from my review as a
result of this.
Connectivity / Smarts:
The buds are actually fairly nice when it comes to connecting via bluetooth and
integration with the Alexa app, Alexa is a pleasant enough assistant and it is
nice to be able to turn on and off lights, heaters, AC units, etc as I'm
driving away from or towards my home. I have found no issue with the bluetooth
connectivity, even in densely crowded areas such as an airplane. Triggering an
assistant via a voice command requires their wake-algorithm be running on the
receiving device, and since Google and Apple are not going to give Amazon the
algorithm required to trigger their assistants via a wake word, this means
you're limited to Alexa for truly hands-free operation. That being said, you
can setup the Alexa app to trigger your phone's native assistant by pressing
and holding one of the buds for 2-3 seconds.
***THIS POINT IS MOOT, SEE ABOVE***
Despite this, there is room for improvement in regards to bluetooth... They
need multi-point bluetooth to be really useful. Amazon should want me to be
able to swap between my cell phone, and a Fire Tablet, or a Fire TV at will,
and ideally even my PC or steamdeck when mine finally ships. Currently, the
best option is to pair and unpair it with multiple devices at a time, which is
annoying since to pair (without resetting), you must hold the lid open whilst
pressing the button until the light flashes blue. This isn't enough to deduct a
star, but Amazon should take it into consideration with the third-gen buds, or
in the form of a software update if at all possible.
***THIS POINT IS MOOT, SEE ABOVE***
Touch controls:
At launch, the touch controls were laughably limited in scope, you could only
customize what the long touch+hold did. After a few updates, the other touch
patterns (single, double, triple) can be customized to an extent, and they're
acceptable if barely. Unfortunately, they're capacitive sensors, so they can be
triggered by anything touching the buds. The Alexa app also provided limited
guidance on how best to trigger them, which caused some frustration at first.
For those with these buds: you will want to gently but assertively (eg: the
minimum amount of force needed for your finger pad to flatten against the
surface) press your finger against it for about a half second per press/tap. Do
not angrily tap it like you're hitting a key on your keyboard, it'll only miss
the touch.
Microphones:
They work, but they're not the best. They do a good job of filtering out
external noise, when talking to someone, but the quality isn't as good as a
wired boom mic, or a wired in-line mic from a wired set of earbuds.
Unfortunately, I don't think this is Amazon's fault as much as it is just the
limitations of the bluetooth protocols and the location of the mics. Apple and
their copycats with stems on their earbuds may get a better sound if only
because there is a dumb-looking stem bringing the microphones closer to your
mouth.
Passthrough/ANC:
I'll rate these together since they're basically inverses of eachother; ANC
does a decent job of bringing down some of the perceived sound in your
environment... it can make me forget my in-window AC or fan is running. It
makes my car and airplane rides quieter, which is always pleasant. Passthrough,
is sort of like a budget hearing aid: I can customize how powerful it is, and I
set it to be more sensitive than my ears normally would be so I can use them to
help hear people far away, or who are wearing a mask. It's a surprisingly
useful tool to have. My only gripe is that there is a soft, but audible level
of white noise than can be heard at all times if either mode is on. This
disappears if you disable both listening modes, so I feel it is just a result
of the processing the buds are doing, and they're getting confused.
Conclusion:
Honestly, unless multi-point bluetooth is something you need or want, get
these. I'd say get them now, but since it's Amazon, they'll go on sale when
prime day comes around in July, or whenever else they feel like having a sale.
It ticks all the boxes I had for a pair of earbuds when purchasing them, and
(with the exception of multi-point bluetooth), it still does after I have
experienced them for a year.
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