Tested: Echo Buds (2nd Gen) | Win by betting on Alexa

The Echo Buds of 2^and Amazon’s generation not only have good sound, a responsive design and ambient noise cancellation, but they can also do without Siri and the Google Assistant by relying on their own voice assistant, Alexa. At this price, hard to do better.

Karim Benessaieh
The Press

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For an iPhone owner, Bluetooth headphones that aren’t made by Apple suffer from the same problem: they don’t have access to the voice assistant Siri. Amazon has found the solution with its Echo Buds headphones, which rely on Alexa for all queries.

And its capabilities, especially in home automation control, are far superior to Apple’s voice assistant.

Once taken out of their charging case, paired with a phone and inserted into the ears, the Echo Buds of 2^and generation wake up when you say “Alexa”. You can then advance or pause the music, control the volume, request a group or a particular musical genre. All the usual requests that Alexa can manage are offered: weather forecast, next appointments, general knowledge or current affairs questions, mathematical calculations, jokes of the day.

It can be asked to call anyone in our contacts or spell out a phone number. Obviously, we can ask Alexa to buy products on Amazon. These appear in a list on the phone, where you have to complete the purchase.

Crucially, Alexa can manage virtually any home automation device, unlike Siri, which is limited to the much rarer HomeKit-enabled devices.

Note that Android users have the same access, but they could count on dozens of models of Bluetooth headphones capable of summoning the Google Assistant. For an iPhone owner, it’s almost an event to have access to these functions without having to buy AirPods or Beats Fit.

On the sound side, the Echo Buds have a very good bass and the definition is clear. Without being the champions, let’s say that they are doing very well. They are helped by their button configuration, which closes the ears and which has been reduced by 21% compared to the first models, and to which we can add rubber fins for more stability. The first few times, without these fins, we lost them twice while jogging. The problem was solved with this little accessory.

The active ambient noise cancellation feature isn’t exceptional, some rivals like Jabra and headsets do better, but it’s more than enough to create a bubble on public transport.

All configuration of the Echo Buds goes through the mobile application Amazon-Alexa. This is where you can deactivate ambient noise cancellation, adjust the equalizer and choose the four key configurations. Depending on whether you tap once or three times, or long, you can play with the volume, answer a call or hear your surroundings. These functions, remember, are also accessible with the voice assistant, always waiting for the activation word “Alexa”, a mode that can be deactivated for more confidentiality. If you accept that the application uses your location at all times, we have a function to find them and ring them if they are within Bluetooth range.

For autonomy, we have about four and a half hours of active listening, which is below the norm, and three recharges with the case. This one charges with its USB-C input or, if you’re willing to pay the extra $25, with a magnetic charger.

Finally, a convincing argument to which we have become accustomed to Amazon, which seems to have more interest in enriching its ecosystem than in making profits with its devices: the Echo Buds are offered at a very affordable price for this quality, $ 154.99 .

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Installing the rubber fins is tricky. Badly placed, they prevent the headphones from being correctly reinstalled in the case, which makes them impossible to recharge.

It has happened to us a few times that our headphones no longer respond to the “Alexa” command. It is then necessary to put them back in the ear.

One buys ?

For a consumer who uses Amazon products and home automation devices, whether they have an iPhone or an Android phone, the Echo Buds are definitely an excellent choice. AirPods die-hards will prefer the golf club-shaped design, which clogs the ears less, but this is probably the first time we’ve tried headphones that aren’t from Apple and can claim to replace them.

And their price is hard to beat.