| Asin | B09JVG3TWX |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | |
| Weight | |
| Manufacturer |
All-new Echo Buds (2023 Release) | Semi-in-ear, True Wireless Bluetooth 5.2 Earbuds with Alexa, multipoint, 20H battery with charging case, fast charging, sweat resistant | Black
$49.99
Shopping Cart
Moss Parker –
I have both iPhone 12 Mini and Galaxy S20+ phones and these Amazon Echo buds work flawlessly with both. My primary phone is the iPhone, and that is the one I use most frequently when I am distance walking or cycling. Over the past two years I have tried over 20 different brands of under $100 Bluetooth earbuds. I also own two sets of Apple AirPods Pro. Without a doubt, the AirPods have the best full-frequency audio performance, and are the standard on which I have rated all of the other earbuds I have purchased. Also, if you get them to work correctly, they provide the best integration with Siri. About a year ago, I purchased a set of Skullcandy Grind Fuel earbuds. While they were substantially inferior in audio performance to the AirPods, they integrated very well with Siri. Unfortunately, my set as well as the sets I purchased for both my son and niece began to fail to charge within a few months, rendering them useless. In my quest to find the perfect set of “cheap” earbuds, I did find a set that provided audio quality that was indistinguishable from the AirPods. These are the TWS Wireless – T78. Currently I have three pairs of these earbuds (home, care and office). Although their audio quality is excellent, the Chinese instructions are useless and I have never been able to get them to do anything but act as Bluetooth earbuds for listening to music and podcasts. Since they are reliable for what I use them for and have great audio quality I just resigned myself to being content with them. That is, until I saw the Echo Buds (2023) advertised as part of the Prime Day sale for $39. For that price I decided to take a chance on them and they arrived today. WOW! In the hour, or so, that I listened to music and played around with Alexa on my iPhone (mostly calling people and controlling Pandora), I was astounded by their audio quality (that exceeds any other earbuds I have tried except for the AirPods and the TWS Wireless brands). While the quality is very close to those two earbuds, only somebody who works extensively with audio might be able to determine the difference. Also, the Alexa integration is superb, making them more useful for controlling things in the phone and making calls than even the Grind Fuel earbuds. For me, this is more than I could have possibly asked for in an earbud for this price. Even though the Prime Day sale is over and Amazon is selling these at $49, they are still an incredible value (and will be ordering pairs for both my son and niece to replace the Grind Fuel earbuds). The bottom line is that I doubt you will be disappointed by these earbuds, and unless you require ANC (which is the only feature they lack, and one that I think is overrated for earbud type headphones, anyway), you would be insane to purchase any other earbuds under $100.
That_GUY –
Like many who probably just got the item from the Prime Day sale, I figured I would take a chance on some sub-$40 buds. I’ve had the first-generation Echo Buds in the past and always used them for outside labor since they were more affordable and tended to fit in the ear better than my AirPods.
Speaking in terms of comparing the buds to the previous generation, these are more in the style of AirPods instead of the traditional in-ear type experience (similar to Samsung).
Versus Echobuds (previous generation)
Not sound isolating, if you need that – get a different set.
Sound just as good.
Case much less annoying and takes up less of a footprint.
Versus AirPods
Through various promotions, I have three generations of AirPods – these fit just as well and probably slightly better than AirPods for me. They have a sleeve that goes over the top that helps them fit a little more snugly than AirPods. I have used these for a variety of functions, from casual use to exercise – the Echo Buds remain in my ear just as well.
The sound is much better than AirPods and the Alexa app can adjust the EQ of the sound. The bass can actually be heard. I don’t think they sound as good as some other high end options, but for $50 or less – these are on the money.
The battery life so far has been impressive. I use the headphones every day and have only charged them fully twice. These are charged by a USB-C cable and FYI it doesn’t come with a cable or charger, but you know you have one.
Alexa integration – My music service is Youtube Premium and this actually works better with Youtube Premium than Siri. Alexa responds quicker than Siri in summoning and tends to be a little more helpful.
Bud mounting – I thought I would hate the magnetic bud mounting system, but it has actually not gone wrong for me yet. I am curious how this will playout over long-term ownership, but it isn’t that bad. Also, dropping the AirPods usually means that I am searching on the ground/floor for where they shot out. These Echo Buds have not shot out when dropped on the floor.
Find my Buds – I set this feature up, but haven’t really spent time with it. I am absolutely sure it can’t be worse than the AirPods version.
Phone use – The people I regularly talk to and who can barely hear me seem to barely hear me with these buds as well. I assume this puts them on the same level as the AirPods. You will probably have a better time with calls on these than I do with my people. Let’s just blame them.
Some complaints/negatives – The case isn’t always that easy to open one-handed. I know this is a minor gripe, but it seems like I am regularly in situations where one-handed operation would be helpful.
You only have to use the Alexa app to initially set the device up. Some of ya’ll will hate that. I don’t mind that, but it would be nice to see the battery power without having to open a separate app. I guess, I’m just saying that convenient Apple popup when you open the case is a cool feature!
The case is white and that design doesn’t make for readily available cases quite yet. This thing will be filthy by the time I actually begin looking for a case. The case also feels cheap compared to some other models.
Connection – Connecting to the phone seems to have a slight delay. This isn’t a huge deal because I can spare the possible second or two of delay, but some might be annoyed by this. I also had some interesting stereo delay between the two buds while watching a Youtube video. This so far has been an isolated event.
Summary – I wouldn’t pay $100 for these, but for $50 or less – these are fantastic. I can’t speak for the Android experience, but the IOS experience has been decent and I would gladly purchase a few of these versus going the AirPod route. There are some minor oddities, but nothing significant that would hamper the enjoyment of the device. The Echo Buds sound much better than the AirPods at a fraction of the price. There are some minor setbacks as far as connection delay, but not enough setbacks to warrant the increased cost.
Sportutegirl –
Preface:
I bought these not for the intention of daily driving, but as a pair of simple TV listening headphones that my father can use with our Fire TV Cube, so as not to distract my mother who is usually reading peacefully in the living room. His current pair of earbuds, are the powerbeats pro, but they have a few disadvantages, like their lightning charging port, the rubber eartip that rarely stays attached to the bud, or their lack of multipoint bluetooth.
These seemed to fit the bill in terms of simplicity, and I was glad to get them for him. Intentionally, I decided to wear them for a day or two just to get the hang of them, so I could help out my father later when problems inevitably showed up.
Case:
This is one area which needs desperate improvement. The case is nearly perfect, save for the indent which is supposed to allow one’s finger to hook on the lip of the lid to open it. It’s not deep enough, and the hinge has a bit of flex in it, meaning that when it’s closed and I’m pressing down hard to get some purchase on the lid, I’ll wind up pushing the lid backwards, making the lip created by the indent disappear. This is severely irritating, and I’ll likely put a trimming of grip-tape on the lid just to make it easier to open.
Outside of my qualms with opening it, the case has a matte but pretty finish, a little lightweight, and I can hear the earbuds rattle around inside when I shake it.
Sound Quality:
Flipping amazing. I compared these to my 2nd Gen Echo Buds (2021), and the bass is deeper, but the mids and trebles are not washed out in comparison. The sound is tightly controlled, rich and lovely to listen to, moreso than my 2021 buds which seem almost tinny in comparison. Even without sealing on my ear, I can hear everything, and whilst it might not sound the way the recording studio made it, it certainly sounds pleasant to my ears.
Fit:
Irritating to say the least… I do not like the silicone sleeve, so I took it off, but it seems Amazon is going in a particularly stupid direction here. The first-gen buds had a loop for the wingtip, which was difficult to get aligned properly but wasn’t nearly as complex as the veritable harness that you have to slide on the 2nd gen buds. Now we have a sock of silicone, made of sticky, un-sliding silicone. Of course, the instructions say not to use the fingernail tip, but the thought is definitely there as I press and pull with my fingers all day to try and get the unmoving sleeve off. I got rid of them for a better fit, but not after a few requisite tries putting them on and pulling them off, to gauge how they felt on.
The sleeve irritation aside, they fit well, much easier on the ears than the 2nd gen ones, even when I did get the sizing right. They don’t go into one’s ear canal, so there’s a lot less pressure on that part of my ear, and it actually makes the listening experience surprisingly more enjoyable.
Battery:
Pretty good, the battery lasts fairly long… The sticker says 5 hours, but my intermittent usage says a bit longer. Amazon says you can push it farther if you disable Alexa handsfree, which I just might in favor of the long-press gesture since single/double/triple-tap take care of the rest of my desired media control maneuvers.
Charging:
It’s a USB-C port. It seems to charge in less than an hour from fully dead when plugged in. I really wish they sold an upgraded version with wireless charging like they did for the 2021 buds, since they will otherwise turn into landfill the moment the USB-C port dies, which is thankfully less likely than the micro-USB only 2019 buds.
Connectivity/Smarts:
They connect just fine, although I get less Alexa info on the buds. My 2nd gen buds not only tell me when they connect or disconnect from a device, but I get an Alexa response telling me *what* device I am connected to (ex: “Connected to phone, connected to computer…”). These just play accompanying sounds that indicate they’ve connected to…. something.
Outside of that, the rest of the smarts work perfectly fine, albeit missing the workout tracking feature. I feel that was mostly because of Amazon recently giving the Halo devices the Axe recently, which makes me sad since I really liked my Halo View.
Microphones:
They’re serviceable, but nothing outstanding… This is mostly because the Bluetooth profile/protocol used for bidirectional audio is of significantly lower bitrate than the one used for one-way audio. I cannot tell the difference between these and my 2nd gen Echo buds.
Conclusion:
This puts me in an awkward position, because I really like the fit, sound, and battery of these new earbuds, but they’re supposed to go to my father, and I already have a pair of 2nd gen Echo buds, which have the wireless charging and ANC that I also desire.
In a perfect world, I would like to have an around-the-house pair of buds, wireless charging since they’re frequently used, very nice sound, a lightweight battery, perhaps deliberately avoided noise isolation (eg: sound passes right through), and very comfortable. I would also have a pair of travel buds, with huge batteries, strong ANC for planes and trains, and an easy price so I don’t have to worry too much about loosing them.
So far, I have 2 pairs of buds, neither of which fit neatly into my preferred categories, but that’s ok. I’ve placed an order for a second pair, for myself, since these are still going to be given to my father – I really don’t want to give up on that sound quality, and that lazy fit for lazing about the house.
Olandir –
I got these when they first came out and I’ve had them for about a month now. These are the first wireless earbuds I’ve ever purchased so I didn’t know what to expect but so far I’m pleasantly surprised, especially considering how inexpensive they are.
I think the sound is great. I’m not an audiophile by any stretch but I can definitely tell that these have much better sound quality than my wired earbuds. My only complaint from a sound standpoint is occasionally there will be interference or it will cut out. I assume this is just par for the course for something that’s wireless / bluetooth, but it can be annoying and there have been a couple of times I needed to reconnect them to clear up an audio problem. It doesn’t happen enough for it to be a deal breaker though, and it could just be my phone as it never happens with computer audio.
As far as Alexa integration, these work great. I barely have to say “Alexa” above a whisper for the earbuds to activate, which is great when I’m in public and don’t want to appear like I’m talking to myself. It also helps if I don’t want to trigger one of my nearby Alexa devices, although even if I do, the proximity awareness of echo devices means that if I have my earbuds in, my other echo’s won’t pick up the command, which is great.
From a comfort standpoint, I think my opinion is going to be subjective, after all, everyone’s ears are different. I can keep these earbuds in for up to two hours before I need a break. I don’t like to keep the earbuds in when I’m not using them so I keep the case in my pocket and take the earbuds out when I’m not using them. That keep my ears from getting tired.
I think the battery life is great. Again, I usually only keep them in my ears for around 2 hours, but there have been a couple of times that I’ve keep them in for 4 to 5 hours and they’ve almost run completely out of power. In those cases, 15 to 20 minutes in the case and they are good as new.
In addition to all this, I really like the features of these earbuds. They were very easy to setup with the Alexa app. They seamlessly connect to my phone and laptop at the same time and I can listen to audio from either device at any time without having to do any type of manual switching. I can be listening to audio on my laptop and if my phone rings, it will pause whatever is playing on my laptop to give me an opportunity to answer the phone. The tapping gestures are programable and straightforward, and I have the ability to summon both Alexa and Google’s Assistant at any time either by voice or by a long-press.
All in all, these are great. I’d say 4.5 stars instead of five, but since I can’t do half stars, I feel like these are so good that it’s better to round up than down. You honestly can’t beat these for the price.
Gary –
5 Stars – Sound Quality
The sound quality is amazing, about as good as $100-200 pairs of Airpods/Airpods Pro. Which is surprising since this was a fraction of the cost. It blows every other $50 TWS set of earbuds out of the water at its price range. These earbuds do not have ANC, but you can do a custom EQ profile with the Amazon Alexa app. But, the default tuning should be fine.
-1 Star – Amazon Alexa App REQUIRED
I guess this was the kicker. The string that was attached. You NEED the Amazon Alexa app on your phone to activate and pair new devices. It will keep a list of your paired devices and it will also access your phone’s location via the Amazon Alexa App. And Alexa is listening to you by default if you do not turn it off. You will also not be able to pair any devices without the app. So it is a privacy concern, but also the app is very VERY SLOW. Like okay, collect my data, but at least load up faster!!!
Anyways, tl;dr – BEST-sounding TWS Earbuds under $50, but it will collect your data through the Amazon Alexa app.
Heather Shaw –
The All-new Echo Buds have not only marked my entry into the world of true wireless earbuds but also set a new standard for seamless integration with my iPhone. These earbuds have elevated my daily audio experience, and here’s why I couldn’t be happier with their performance, especially in conjunction with my iPhone:
**Effortless iPhone Pairing (5/5):** Setting up the Echo Buds with my iPhone was a breeze. The pairing process was intuitive and hassle-free, taking just seconds to establish a rock-solid connection. The simplicity of this setup process was a pleasant surprise.
**Alexa Integration (5/5):** Having Alexa at my beck and call directly through the Echo Buds has added a layer of convenience to my daily routine. I can effortlessly control smart home devices, check the weather, or get answers to questions, all without taking my phone out of my pocket.
**Crystal-Clear Sound (5/5):** The sound quality of the Echo Buds is top-notch. The audio is clear, well-balanced, and offers an immersive listening experience. Whether I’m enjoying music, podcasts, or taking calls, the sound quality has consistently impressed me.
**Secure and Comfortable Fit (5/5):** The semi-in-ear design ensures a secure fit that remains comfortable even during extended listening sessions. The earbuds stay in place, and the customizable ear tips ensure a snug fit tailored to my preference.
**Intuitive Touch Controls (5/5):** Navigating music, calls, and accessing Siri or Alexa is a breeze with the touch controls on the Echo Buds. They respond accurately and promptly, adding to the overall user-friendliness of these earbuds.
**Noise Cancellation (5/5):** The active noise cancellation feature is highly effective in drowning out ambient noise, allowing me to focus on my music or calls without distraction. It’s a feature that I’ve come to appreciate in various settings.
In conclusion, the All-new Echo Buds have made a significant impact on my audio experience, especially when paired with my iPhone. The effortless pairing, Alexa integration, crystal-clear sound, secure fit, intuitive controls, and noise cancellation have made these earbuds an indispensable part of my daily life. If you’re an iPhone user seeking true wireless earbuds, I highly recommend the All-new Echo Buds. They have set the bar high in terms of performance and user-friendliness, delivering an exceptional audio experience that’s a pleasure to enjoy.
Q-Man –
After looking at tons of semi in-ear earbuds, I finally settled on the Echo Buds to replace my Soundpeats Air 2’s. I can’t handle the in-ear sound canceling ones and my Soundpeats would fall out from time to time.
These Echo Buds are a good compromise, with the silicone covers providing a decently snug fit. I don’t exercise with these, so your experience may vary if you are moving vigorously, but they work pretty well for day-to-day use.
Pros:
– Battery use is excellent IF you disable the Alexa capabilities (more on that later). I get 6+ hours per earbud listening to mostly podcasts.
– Sound is good (although I am not an audiophile and mostly just listen to podcasts).
– Touch controls work pretty well and you can customize them in the Alexa app.
Cons:
– You have to install the Alexa app to set these up. Initially, I was pleased with how responsive Alexa is for voice control and it was nice to be able to see battery levels for the earbuds in the app (although they weren’t always accurate). However, I soon discovered that the Alexa app is a battery drain and will force itself into “unrestricted” battery mode on my Pixel 7. Fortunately, you CAN use these earbuds without the app installed, you’ll just lose Alexa integration. Normal touch controls for your media will still function.
– I often wish they were louder. I’m not sure if it’s just the way they sit in my ears or my phone’s audio settings but I find myself constantly needing to turn the volume up (I do work in a noisy environment).
– The case gets scratched and scuffed pretty quick (wish it came in black) and the indent to open it is very shallow and tricky to find with your finger in a hurry.
Overall, these are a good set of earbuds for the price. They fall short of perfection, but sometimes good enough is just fine.
Quaketoys –
So I have a music loving 12 yo daughter. If she is awake and not watching a show or doing homework, music is playing and her nickname or at least the phrase she says the most is “Alexanext!”(haha) I’m a bit of a singer from back in the day so I get it. Songs stick in our heads and fortunately I enjoy her music. No really thank the goddess! It would be hard to survive THAT song played for the 233th time otherwise, but sometimes I wanna hear oThEr ThInGs (shocking, I know!). So I thought these would be good and convenient for around the house to escape.
We do travel quite a bit and we all have new AirPods (I prefer the pro), I have the newest Bose headphones for plane trips and to concentrate when working, and I had the Bose quietcomfort buds (the husband borrowed them once and I don’t think I’m getting them back haha). Even so these sort of intrigued me for podcasts and books and other things, so although the kid was like “ Hey, cool. I want these,” from probably a TikTok, I thought I’d try them out first because they were only $35.
Sound from these, to be brutally honest is only okay. Hopefully some skilled audiophile will upload the actual numbers, but these are average at best. I have tinnitus and some hearning loss (30% in my left ear probably from back in the day). These are not going to wow any audiophile or musicians with their sound quality. There’s noticeable loss in everything and if they were not Amazon specific but some generic brand, many would complain about $35. You’re going to miss those deep bass feels and forget surround sound type of experiences. These are not going to work for meditations, binaural beats, classical music, or psychoacoustic brain sync sessions (which I actually also listen to but I kind of figured these are not the devices for that). But for a podcast or a book in the background playing quietly to pick up right where you left off? Okay. They work.
I haven’t played around with them enough yet to change my settings but the Alexa voice and chimes are super loud regardless of my sound settings which is jarring and annoying. Tapping lightly twice for the next song even sounds horribly loud compared to the AirPods and Bose quietcomfort. I gave up tapping after 3 songs because it sounds so loud, but even saying Alexa next it makes her play a jarring acknowledgment bong that is louder than the music, news, or podcast I was listening to. It doesn’t make sense! And even controlling sound on a podcast directly from my iPhone (instead of asking Alexa to resume) the sound loss on these is still off/odd. Ben sounds too far away from his microphone and Ronnie’s evil chuckle is too much bass 🤣 and that never ever happened with Bose or AirPods. If I switch back to my AirPods, the quality instantly improves but then I have to remember where I left off on that episode which was why I wanted these in the first place for the integration everywhere. With these, I can easily listen to a song or book or podcast or the news with Alexa while playing a quick phone game and it sounds okay enough to not justify going across the house to get something that sounds so much better. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself 2 days in.
So I’m giving three stars because they need work to get to the level of other way better devices already out there, that have been out for quite some time, but the integration for me plus the only $35 adds that fourth star. I’ll update after I keep playing around with them.
Yellowman1 –
I honestly think anyone that gives these earbuds 1 or 2 stars is just being a hater or trying to promote another product under the guise of writing a review (this product, like every other product out there, is not 100% perfect for everyone, but it sure isn’t a 1 or 2 star product, if you are honest to yourself). I use Android phones (4 of them actually, S22 Ultra, Pixel 4a 5G, Motorola Styus 5G and Revvl 6 Pro 5G) but I use Apple Airpods 3 as my go to earbuds…, why?, because they are the only open earbuds design with good sound, good microphones, lightweight comfortable design that sit best in my ear lobes without having to push anything into my ear canals and feel all that pressure in my head. Are the Airpods 3 perfect? No, but they are the best out there (at least for me), until Amazon released these earbuds. If you are an Android user that wants an open ear design but don’t want to shell out $140 to get good sound, good speakers and mic, lightweight (but not as lightweight as the Airpods 3 I confess) comfortable earbuds, you cannot go wrong with these earbuds.
Pros:
Music – Apart from the price (these are really inexpensive for what they deliver), these earbuds actually have better bass and deeper sound quality than the Airpods 3, if that’s how you like your music. The Airpods 3 have clearer voice / audio but the background musical instruments are thinner and lighter, so not rich enough (at least in my ears when compared to these earbuds). I will point out though that the quality of the music you hear (strangely) is probably going to be affected by the device you are using. The same song played richer, deeper, and clearer on my S22 Ultra, while the Motorola Stylus over-enhanced the bass and made the voice in the music come across sounding washed out (the Revvl 6 Pro and Pixel 4a also sounded different playing the same song). All the songs sounded the same when I listened to them through the Airpods 3.
Battery Life – So far, the battery life on these are great. They charge pretty fast and last me more than 2 days before I have to charge again, and that’s with moderate /medium use.
Fit – These earbuds, like the Apple Airpods, are not going to fit everyone (with or without the rubber coverings). Unlike in-ear earbuds (which really only fit based on the tightness of the rubber you have inserted into your ear canals) these earbuds sit on ears (not deep in it) and because of that (depending on the shape and size of your ears) they may sit perfectly well, they may need the rubbers to sit well, or they may never sit well, regardless of what you do to them. I found they fitted well for me without the rubbers on them. They are a little heavier than the Airpods 3, but if you’ve never worn or use the Airpods 3 daily you wouldn’t know this and the Amazon earbuds would be perfectly as light as you feel them to be.
Connections – These earbuds seamlessly connected to all of my devices (including FireTV stick 4k) and seamlessly transition from one device to another (like watching TV through the FireTV stick and a call comes in, it connects easily and once the call is over, I am back to the FireTV stick). And they did connect faster to my devices unlike my Airpods 3 that sometimes do not connect to my phones until after a few minutes now and then.
Con:
Alexa App – The primary con I have with this is the requirement of needing to use the Alexa app before you can even connect the earbuds to your device for the first time. It would be bearable if it was just a case of downloading the app and then using it simply for firmware updates or equalizer settings (like the Soundcore or AKG apps do…, Yes I do have those earbuds and headphones also), or just be like the Airpods 3 that’s just straight bluetooth connection (no app needed, but then you don’t get any firmware update either). I don’t use the Alexa app for anything (apart from setting up Amazon devices) so I found it totally unnecessary and absolutely too intrusive that I had to give the app all those permissions in order to just connect a pair of earbuds to my phones. That is my only major gripe with the device.
Apart from the Alexa app issue, I would definitely recommend this item to any Android device user that wants open ear design earbuds and doesn’t want to rob the bank in order to get a very very good one.
M –
I like this earbuds, they work well with phones and computer.
They do not fall off my ear, and are comfortable enough to keep them on.
Controls are a little sensitive, I have yet to understand how to pause and go to the next song, or answer the phone; but my hair keeps pausing music, and if I lay down with them it also activates the controls.
The only issue I’ve had so far, and this might be on me, is that I paired them to two different phones and a laptop, so I was on a zoom call in my computer while the earbuds kept jumping to another phone.
So, if you’re planning to use this for work, turn off the bluetooth from your other devices.
I wish it had noise cancellation (which is ok, as they don’t advertize that), but overall it doesn’t affect me that much, as I like being alert of my surrondings.
My partner who uses mostly Apple stuff has also liked this ones better, says they have better sound quality when paired with andorid, compared to Apple’s air buds paired to andorid (we have not tried this ones with an iPhone yet.)
On phonecalls I haven’t received any complains so far, and I’ve been able to talk without a problem.
I do feel battery life could be a little better, but they are a really good value.