Customer Ratings & Reviews

To start with, prior to using the Echo Buds I had never used Alexa, for anything. To use these buds, I needed to install Alexa on my Galaxy Fold 3 - which only took a minute from the Google Play Store. The instructions included with these buds tell you to open the buds charging case and wait until you see a blue light – which puts the buds into pairing mode. Once done, the instructions tell you to go to the Alexa app to finish the installation. Over the years, I have probably used 20 to 30 different earbuds from a variety of vendors. Most have included instructions and are usable immediately without much of a learning curve. And most have an accompanying music app specifically for their buds. The Alexa app is different in that it is a comprehensive tool used for likely hundreds of different functions, not just the Echo Buds. As such, I wasn’t entirely sure what my next step of the installation process should be. Sure, I figured it out, but I didn’t think it was intuitive enough for a first-time user. These buds follow some common conventions regarding the touch controls, like Pause, and the Skip Forward and Backward functions. The default touch control settings for both left and right earbuds are as follows: Single Tap – Pause or play Double Tap – Skip forward a song (or answer/hangup call) Triple Tap – Go backward one song Press and hold – Turn ANC On or Off You can individually customize the left and right buds by assigning actions under Touch Controls in the Alexa app: Play/Pause Next Track Siri or Google Assistant Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) Passthrough Answer/End Call With the 2nd Gen version of the Echo Buds, you can further customize them for the following: Access Google Assistant and Siri Volume up/volume down. Mute microphones. The buds themselves surprised me. I prefer eat-tips with built-in ear-wings to keep the earbuds securely in place. While there are additional ear-tips included in this package that have ear-wings, those installed on the buds when initially received do not. I found them very comfortable, and they stayed firmly in place. Nice! The sound quality of these buds was about average for this price range. The equalizer settings I found in Alexa helped to improve the sound quality somewhat. A nice feature that Alexa has is the ability to quiet the music when you ask Alexa to perform some action. For example, I was listening to music when I asked Alexa “what day is today”. The music went to the background, helping me to hear Alexa clearly. I also had Alexa raise and lower the volume by voice command, which was nice. Still, I didn’t like having to ask Alexa to change the volume or having to go to my phone for that purpose. It was only afterwards that I learned I could customize the earbud touch controls to add Volume Down to my left earbud and Volume Up on my right. As noted above, Alexa is a powerful tool that covers a wide range of functions well beyond just these earbuds. Do note that Alexa, by default, is always in a listening mode when you use these buds, although there is a setting that lets you turn that feature off. One big reason I was interested in these buds was the ANC. I regularly use my buds in noisy locations. ANC, for me, is a necessity. I tested out ANC by toggling between Passthrough and ANC modes while moving between noisy places and very noisy places. Unfortunately, I found very little difference between the two. For example, I chatted with my wife while using the buds. I turned ANC on and off, and I couldn’t hear any difference. I turned the TV up loud and still couldn’t hear any difference. I stood next to a noisy floor cleaning robot and, yep, no difference. In Alexa, there is a Passthrough slide-bar that lets you determine how much ambient noise you want passed through. With that at its highest setting, the difference between Passthrough and ANC was barely noticeable, and at its highest Passthrough level there was a noticeable background hissing sound. I should disclose that I have some buds with exceptionally good ANC, so it is easy for me to distinguish between good ANC and not so good ANC. And it seems that other buds I’ve tried in this same price range do a better job. For me, sound quality and ANC are the two most important basic functions of any earbuds. The sound quality of the 2nd Gen Echo Buds is more than adequate but nothing special, while its ANC implementation is underwhelming. I would rate the Echo Buds, 4 stars; ANC, 2 stars; Alexa, 5 stars. Since Alexa isn’t specific to just these buds, I am giving them a 3-star rating.

We have at least a half dozen tws in our household from all different makers. This unit is just ok. It does everything just ok. Nothing really stands out and nothing really makes me hate it. The only real gripes for me is that it is a touch sensitive controls, which personally, I really hate. The anc, is ok, the sound is ok, the features are ok. This would be a great tws earbud for half the cost. But at this price, there is so many units that are just flat out better. At the time I'm writing this review, my jabra elite 75t are the same price as the amazon and the jabra is better at everything. So much better.

The Amazon Echo Buds 2nd generation are really good if you need a pair of light weight wireless noise canceling ear buds but they are really great for the price as well as the bonus of Alexa built-in. If you already use Alexa then these are a no-brainer. They are more comfortable in my ears and in my wife's ears than other more expensive ear buds when wearing them for a longer time. The sound quality is probably not as good as the top competitors but the bass is pronounced and the sound is still good. The tap-ability of these ear buds are good when changing songs or changing from noise cancelling to passthrough mode. If you don't like tapping then you can always ask Alexa to stop, play, skip the song or go back or change from noise cancelling to passthrough modes and back. You can also ask Alexa to add items to your shopping list, turn the lights on and unlock the door when you are getting close to the house at night or early in the morning when exercising or you can use any other commands you have setup with the Alexa app. The app also shows you the battery and noise cancelling status. The charging case is a good small size that fits in your pocket easily and it keeps the buds charged for a long time. The USB-C port and cable are a nice upgrade which will go into the port either way and gone is the micro-USB port that sometimes is frustrating to connect. I am impressed with the connect-ability with my iPhone and Apple TV. I have connected it to multiple iPhones and Apple TV and there is no problem switching from one to the other. Nice!

I expected more. The voice controls work well and you don't have to talk very loud. I wanted it to control more outside the Amazon ecosystem. If I am listening to a podcast or SiriusXM, nothing. Won't pause things, cannot ask to open them. The sound is good, but added features kill battery life. The different sized ear cups help customize the fit. The outside wraps are really hard to put on. If you are staying in the Amazon system, they are great. If you use different ecosystems, think before you buy.

I actually really like these earbuds after I put in the work to get them working great for me. I actually had to change the ear tips to get a better fit. Fortunately it does come with four different sizes of tips and the built in software has the function to test the fit. That helped with the sound quality. I also had to adjust the EQ in the software but then the sound is pretty good close to incredible. The foot print is pretty small and that is a nice feature if you don't want something to be too showy. I would say that Alexa is more of a feature if you are already using Alexa with other devices or have your digital library coordinated through Amazon. I was shocked the price seemed a little high for the actual product you are getting and the fact the batteries only last so long. There are similar products that have longer battery life and that are a little easier to fit. If you are an Amazon fan and you want these types of earbuds then go for it but these days there is are other options that also support Alexa. I think if you can get these on sale then go for it.

Amazon - Echo Buds came pretty close to being perfect. But the Alexa works when it wants to. Alexa rarely recognizes me. But they have great sound and a pretty nice battery life. I like the sound, so not a total deal-breaker. Setup was quick through the Alexa app. I like these with time I might lovethem.

They have a decent sound. Having Alexa on your ears is very convenient. In my case, I couldn't get them to stay connected to my phone without the Alexa app being able to run in the background on my Android phone. The app was being optimized, going to sleep when not in use. The ear tips are a bit on the hard side. Because of this, they don't fit the best in my ears, resulting in a bad seal. The test within the app was helpful finding the tips to give me the best seal/fit. The battery life is on the short side, but rarely am I listening to music or podcasts for 5 straight hours. They do tend to recharge quickly in the case. Overall I like them. Likes: 1.) Decent sound 2.) Noise canceling 3.) Alexa wherever you are Dislikes: 1.) Not the best battery life 2.) Don't fit my ears the best 3.) Requires the app to connect

The Amazon Echo Buds gen 2 headphones are a decent entry into an already saturated wireless earbud market. These look like your average in-ear buds. Black, nondescript, except for a very light Amazon "A to Z" logo on the earbud that you have to really look to see. For me, the fit is just OK. There are a number of fit options, including four different sizes of ear canal tips, as well as what they call "wingtips" which fit over the earbud and attempt to keep the earbud from falling out. I tried three different sizes of the tips and used the ear tip fitment test in the Alexa app to get the top fitment rating of excellent, I was able to get excellent on one ear and good on the other - but overall they seemed pretty stable in my ear and I have not had one come out unexpectedly. I did have to sometimes push them in after a while to get the best sound quality. The sound quality is good - good enough for casual listening. In this price range and with bluetooth audio in general, you aren't buying for audiophile quality. When the eartips are sealed in your ear canal, they deliver the best sound, and as I would walk, talk, chew, etc.. the earbud would slightly move around and not seal in the ear canal as well and I would notice a loss of fidelity, typically in the bass region. Noise cancelling on these is good, but if you're not used to noise cancelling or the noise cancelling level that these headphones use, you may find it a bit uncomfortable at first. When I first put on the headphones and activated noise cancelling, I was met with an uncomfortable pressure-like sensation. It largely went away after turning up the music, but it is still something that takes getting used to. My primary set of buds also has noise cancelling, but apparently the amount, style, or configuration of this noise cancelling is different and gave me that pressure like feeling. Usually after a bit it will go away - so don't give up immediately! I did try these on my recent flight and they did a good job at blocking out most airplane noise in the cabin. Another thing to note, noise cancelling will eat through the battery faster than without it on - so that does subtract from the listening time. We are an Alexa household, which is what made these buds attractive. The headphones are really responsive to the "Alexa" wake word, and what is cool is that if I am in an area of our home with Alexa coverage (which is basically everywhere), I will hear the headphones make the response tone, as well as the Echo device that covers that area, but the Alexa platform is smart enough to take commands from the headphones and ignore the command that came through the Echo device. With that being said, it takes a bit of getting used to - if I'm in my office with the buds on and say "Turn on the lights" - nothing happens. Without the buds, the office Echo show is associated with that room and turns on the office lights - so the buds are not room/group aware and you will need to get specific with your Alexa voice commands to control your smart home. These do require the Alexa app to set up, and as such the Alexa app wants a ton of privileges on your device like access to your location, use the mic, etc.. For someone who just wants a set of decent buds, I can see where this would raise a brow - "Why do I need to give location and mic privileges to an app just to use these headphones?" but such is life in the smart connected device world. If this is a show stopper issue for you, you may want to look at buds without a voice assistant built in. Setup was fairly straightforward - open the Alexa app, add a device, open your buds, and in a few seconds they show up on screen and you click the name to pair. You are then walked through some basic instructions and the ear tip fitment test. Overall, the setup experience is good and easy enough for even the most tech un-savvy to follow along with. One downside I found of the reliance on the Echo app is that some features like getting battery status and changing noise cancelling modes on the earbuds via the phone is done via the Alexa app. Unfortunately, when I was on the plane and did not buy the in-flight wi-fi I was not able to interact with the earbuds via the app because the app refused to function without connection to the Alexa services via the Internet. You can still activate and de-activate noise cancelling via pressing the side of the earbuds, but this is kind of a miss. An update to the app to allow interaction with the buds when not connected would be a welcome addition. Charging the buds is done by placing them back in their case. The case is nice and small, so it fits well in your pocket. It does charge via USB-C, so if you haven't made the switch to USB-C, this will be another cable you're carrying around. There's also a wireless charging case version available for a slightly higher price, so if you're a Qi charging person, that may be for you as well. Overall, these buds get the job done. If you're not in the Alexa ecosystem already, I'd probably look at other options - but if you are an Alexa user - this is a great way to take Alexa on the go as well as get good sound from noise cancelling buds.

The Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) True Wireless In-Ear Headphones are reasonably comfortable and pair easily with my iPhone. Pros: compact, true wireless, charge with supplied USB-A to USB-C cable, hard case with magnetic lid. Works with Alexa and Amazon Music, so you have the flexibility of hands-free voice connection to your phone, plus music streaming from the Cloud. Easy to charge. Supplied with four different size ear bud covers and two sizes of wing tips for a custom fit. Tap on either ear bud to answer your phone, go forward one track, go back one track, etc. You can set the ear buds for noise pass-through, when you are talking on the phone, or without pass-through when you want to listen to music. Use the up and down buttons on your phone to control the volume, or use the volume control in your music app. Cons: Must use Amazon Alexa app to connect ear buds, though you can see the ear buds are connected in your phone's Bluetooth settings. The ear bud fit test failed twice while I tried out the different ear bud covers. When the test was a success, I saw only one bar ("Fair" test result). However, the sound is good, especially at moderate volume. A nice set of true wireless earbuds at a good price.

I have posted my review on amazon, but they did not want to post it. They did not like the facts that I stated after almost a year of having them. They over heat to the point you feel it on your ear. There is an annoying squeaky sound it makes when it separates from your ear. IF you cant find one, the other one is useless, they do not work alone unless the other bud is close by. If you barely touch the bud, alexa starts talking for no reason, It takes a ridiculous amount of time to connect these buds by bluetooth, when they do work, the sound is great and so is the Bose noise cancelling feature. It will overheat on you, keep that in mind. You will be hanging up on plenty of calls using these buds just by trying to adjust them.

Gave as a gift. She loved them. Hasn't gotten to use much as of yet.