I do not normally write reviews but the reviews here aggravate me as they have not done their due diligence, have flat out no idea, just regurgitated their first emotional impulse, or have absolutely nothing to do with the product. I also feel because they don’t carry a big name as Apple or Samsung does on the audio scene, they automatically get cut short because of branding. I experienced this firsthand when I told my brother I picked up a pair of these buds and he immediately responded with “don’t Amazon devices suck with their sound?” Listen, maybe at one point they did, but with every new product, improvements can be made. Just because you had a bad experience once doesn’t mean you always will.
Just a few reviews on here that I want to clarify. Someone said you need to download the Alexa app to use the buds. No, you don’t. If you want an express setup, fine-tune it with the ANC, and the EQ to get the best experience, it would better serve you to download the app. I don’t see why that’s a problem considering every other bud out there asks the same thing. You can use the buds but in order to tune anything, you need to download their corresponding app. I had to do the very same thing with every other bud I tested.
I hear people were baited with the free audible subscription. I didn’t buy these for free audible, if you did, you bought them for the wrong reason. If you already redeemed a free code, why that would be a shock that you can’t keep buying Alexa devices to redeem your months of free (insert subscription offer) only to be able to return the product and basically do that indefinitely baffles me. And why not receiving audible for free has actual anything to do with the product, I will never know. I understand that if you were promised a free gift and didn’t get it, that would be a bummer. But take that up with Amazon, not on the review of the buds that have no bearing on the status of your Audible subscription.
These buds are great. I tested them side by side against the Airpods Pro, Samsung Buds Pro, and the Huawei Freebuds Pro. In sound fidelity, soundstage, and overall roundness of sound, the Echo buds win. For context, I have a studio for voice-over work. I use JBL reference monitors. For headphones, I use the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO. I tested all buds against studio-quality reference speakers and sound engineering software. Of course, none of the buds stood a chance, however one was clearly better than the rest. The one that most clearly represented the music and sounded most closely to the reference monitors were the echo buds by a mile.
Bass:
8.5/10 Echo buds: The bass was very thumpy and rumbly, hit nice and hard when it was supposed to, and did it with a high level of clarity.
9/10 Huawei: Just as good as the Echo Buds, maybe even touch better overall, slightly more precise.
4/10 Samsung: There was bass when there wasn’t supposed to be. Seemed like it was on all the time and was very muddy with no clarity at all.
5/10 Apple: Decently responsive but didn’t have the power to hit hard when the track called for it.
Mids:
9/10 Echo buds: Captured every note of voice and captured the whole orchestral range without anyone instrument dominating due to a lack of quality equalization. The good thing with these I can easily change the equalization if need be.
7/10 Huawei: Good but very bland, clarity wasn’t all there. Still, not bad at all.
5/10 Samsung: That bass is muddying this up something terrible, I even had it on the “clear’ setting in the EQ. The lack of a proper EQ makes it impossible to make these buds work. The presets are garbage.
8/10 Apple: I cannot deny these are very good and capture everything well with a great soundstage for a bud.
Treble:
9/10 Echo buds: Very round, not tinny. Clear and concise.
7/10 Huawei: Gets there but a few notes start to hurt your ears, too much.
4/10 Samsung: I’m starting to hate these now. Once again these are muddied by that awful bass that doesn’t even hit hard. The EQ makes it sound tinny and very high to break past the overblown bass. Didn’t realize they were Beats by Dre. But name sells so…
10/10 Apple: This is where these really shine, the higher notes are perfectly represented on their own. The lack of punchy bass leaves them feeling flat and not rounded out.
The echo buds may not be the best in a particular area. But in my testing, they are without question the overall winner. And for the price, that’s just a bonus.
ANC: Tested with vacuum, exhaust fan, central air AC unit, on a crowded street, and inside an airplane during flight. (ANC hiss and distortion is present on all buds but some more so than others, be objective, not dramatic)
4/10 Echo buds: Yikes, these did not do well. Some reviews say it doesn’t work, it does, stop being dramatic. However, they do not nearly stop incoming noise the way the others do. It stops a lot of the bass but high notes seem to come right through. When you turn the ANC on and off it's clearing stopping all the bass and some mids from coming in. Little bits of hiss and distortion.
8/10 Huawei: Very impressed.
7/10 Samsung: Good job
9/10 Apple: This one easily did the best with the smallest amount of hiss and music distortion.
Passthrough:
7/10 Echo buds: Very present and loud hiss, but realistic, not electronic sounding.
6/10 Huawei: Not a lot of hiss but sounded electronic or robotic.
6/10 Samsung: Hiss is there but not robotic, rather a bit muffled if anything.
8/10 Apple: Does a very good job but a slight electronic sound can be heard.
Some people said the Echo buds are always recording you. Ok, no it isn’t, but you can also turn the microphone off at any time. It even says it in the description. “including the ability to mute the mics with the Alexa app.”
Everything else like customizability preferences, fit and feel, call quality, assistant responsiveness, etc., are all subjective due to the nature of different people and different circumstances and environments.
Closing thoughts:
I understand the music and sound people enjoy is subjective and that’s not how this is rated. This is rated objectively, using the onboard EQ of the buds to get them the closest to reference as possible. I prefer to listen to my music as the artist intended. The echo buds objectively got the closest to reference while maintaining their roundness and soundstage overall. However, if ANC is the biggest factor in your decision, might I suggest the Sony WH-1000XM4. I do not mean to sound dismissive but we are talking about buds and they have limitations. If you are looking for buds and the intended purpose of them therein, the Echo Buds deliver. They also include the most ear and wingtips to cater to almost every ear type. They are the best overall package and at half the price, win-win.
Amazon Echo Buds with Active Noise Cancellation (2021 release, 2nd gen) | Wired charging case | Black
3.9 | 19,232 ratings
Price: 62.98
Last update: 12-06-2024
About this item
Dynamic audio and active noise cancellation (ANC) - Premium speakers deliver crisp, balanced sound. Sealed in-ear design and ANC limit background noise.
Customize your audio - Audio Personalization helps tune audio for your unique hearing preferences to enhance your enjoyment of music and more.
Compact and comfortable - Echo Buds are small, light, and sweat-resistant, with a secure, customizable fit that's made to move with you.
Hands-free entertainment - Echo Buds work with the Alexa app to stream music, play podcasts, and read Audible audiobooks—just ask.
Long-lasting battery - Get up to 5 hrs music playback per charge and up to 15 hrs with the charging case. A 15-min quick charge provides up to 2 hrs of music.
Leave your phone in your pocket - Use your voice to make calls, set reminders, add items to your shopping list, or even start a meditation session.
Works with other assistants - Compatible with iOS and Android, and supports access to Siri and Google Assistant.
Designed to protect your privacy - Amazon is not in the business of selling your personal information to others. Echo Buds are built with multiple layers of privacy controls, including the ability to mute the mics with the Alexa app.
Customize your audio - Audio Personalization helps tune audio for your unique hearing preferences to enhance your enjoyment of music and more.
Compact and comfortable - Echo Buds are small, light, and sweat-resistant, with a secure, customizable fit that's made to move with you.
Hands-free entertainment - Echo Buds work with the Alexa app to stream music, play podcasts, and read Audible audiobooks—just ask.
Long-lasting battery - Get up to 5 hrs music playback per charge and up to 15 hrs with the charging case. A 15-min quick charge provides up to 2 hrs of music.
Leave your phone in your pocket - Use your voice to make calls, set reminders, add items to your shopping list, or even start a meditation session.
Works with other assistants - Compatible with iOS and Android, and supports access to Siri and Google Assistant.
Designed to protect your privacy - Amazon is not in the business of selling your personal information to others. Echo Buds are built with multiple layers of privacy controls, including the ability to mute the mics with the Alexa app.
Top reviews from the United States
Michael S.
Stands tall against other name brands, at half the price.
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2021
Tennesota
Working good after some trial and error
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2024Mike
Pretty awesome! ***Update*** "2nd Update and yelling ALEXA!"
Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2021
Mike
Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2021
***Update*** Though it says I just bought the "charging case" version in my heading (I don't know why/tried to correct it 3 times), I actually bought the wireless charging case and the optional pad that it sits in that has the built in indentation just for the case. The whole time it was supposed to be here the day after the release, Friday, May 14. I am now getting a notice from Amazon that it won't be here until July 21...and that pretty much ticks me off. I did check the case against a wireless charger that I have but don't trust, because I saw a review of someone getting a normal case by accident...and it does work as a wireless charger. One other little inconvenience, if you are buying new wall plugs (because these buds as well as the 2 month backlogged charging pad do not come with them) it should be noted that the cables are USB-C to USB-A. I purchased 2 Anker wall plugs with the C plugs thinking that the cables coming with these items would be "C to C"...now I need to buy extra adapters, new cables or new plugs. Just something to think about before you buy any extras and end up with mismatched pieces such as myself.
"2nd Update and yelling ALEXA" I used the Echo buds today (Friday, May 14) while cutting the grass for about an hour. No problems with power, as the battery life was great. I decided to use the ANC to drown out the mower's noise, and it effectively did that...so much so that I actually stalled my mower because I didn't realize how thick/high the grass was and how the mower was struggling with it. I normally base those things on the sound of the mower, as that is what I listen for...but I really couldn't hear those nuances at all. Don't get me wrong, it didn't get rid of all the mower's sound entirely by itself, but with the music playing loudly I really didn't hear it until it wasn't running.
HOWEVER...I really have no desire to pull out my phone to change channels, songs or the volume...so this is why I wanted these buds, so I could just tell Alexa to do that (maybe not on a plane, but you get my point). The problem is that maybe the ANC works too well, as I was yelling "ALEXA" and she just couldn't hear me most of the time. As good as these were at canceling out the mower sound, they were canceling out my voice as well. It was truly pretty bad and annoying, so much so that I shut it off and went with the pass through sound option, and then Alexa was able to hear me ask to play a song or change the channel...all without yelling. But then the mower's sound was there again...so I don't have an answer or a solution to this little predicament. Maybe there is an easy way to fix this, but nothing that I could figure out as of yet. I still would highly recommend these, no "warm ear feeling", Alexa ready to help and great overall sound.
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