Editors' Note: The Amazon Echo Buds With Active Noise Cancellation were previously sold as the Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen). Amazon now offers a separate pair of earphones without noise cancellation known as simply the Echo Buds. Read our original review of the Echo Buds With Noise Cancellation from May 13, 2021 below.
We've been recommending the first-generation Amazon Echo Buds ($129.99) for nearly two years now thanks to their combination of hands-free Alexa voice control and solid active noise reduction in a true wireless design. While there's not much reason to upgrade if you already own a pair of the originals, the second-generation Echo Buds are smaller, lighter, and offer genuine active noise cancellation for $119.99 (or $139.99 if you opt for the model with a wireless charging case). While the noise cancellation here can't compete with the likes of Bose, the second-gen Echo Buds offer enough functionality for the price that they're easy to recommend to Alexa fans looking for a relatively affordable pair of noise-cancelling wire-free earphones.
A Smaller, Lighter Design
The Echo Buds themselves are short, rounded cylinders with nozzles extending at an angle for the eartips. According to Amazon, they’re 21% smaller than the previous model, with shorter nozzles to improve ear comfort. The casings of the earpieces are covered in matte black or white plastic, with large touch-sensitive surfaces across the back panels.
Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) ReviewThe touch surfaces provide basic controls, with one tap controlling play/pause, two taps skipping forward a track and answering/ending calls, three taps going back a track, and tapping and holding to switch between active noise cancellation and pass-through audio (which lets you hear your surroundings without remove the earpieces). You can change what the tap-and-hold gesture does through the Alexa app (available for Android and iOS), with different commands for either ear. This is the only way to enable any volume control on the Echo Buds, and if you want to have both volume up and volume down gestures enabled, you lose the ability to physically switch between ANC and pass-through audio modes. You can’t customize the tap gestures, but you can toggle them on and off.
These controls work well when the earphones are in your ears, but the touch-sensitive surfaces are so large that it’s easy to accidentally tap them when inserting or removing an earpiece. I also found that my hoodie occasionally accidentally triggered the sensors, as did raindrops when I wore them in the rain.
A fit kit is included, with four different pairs of eartips and two pairs of silicone sleeves with short earfins in different sizes, to provide a comfortable, secure fit. You can use the Alexa app to perform an ear fit test, playing a tone and measuring how well the sound isolation is in your ears. I found the most comfortable fit with the extra-large eartips and small fins, but I couldn’t get better than a “good” score with the ear fit test. In fact, I found the smaller design of the earphones to have a slightly harder time staying in my (slightly big) ears than the originals, but you may not have this problem depending on the size and shape of your ears.
The charging case is a pill-shaped flip-top box covered with the same matte black or white plastic as the Echo Buds. The recesses for the earpieces magnetically pull them in and align them with the charging contacts, and are large enough to hold them even with the largest eartips and earfins in place. A small status light sits on the front of the case, just under the seam of the lid. A USB-C port for charging (a cable is included) and a pairing button sit on the back of the case. The wireless charging case, available for $20 more, looks the same but is compatible with Qi wireless chargers.
According to Amazon, the Echo Buds can last up to five hours with noise cancellation and Alexa enabled, and up to 6.5 hours with them turned off. Either version of the charging case provides an additional 15 hours with Alexa and noise cancellation enabled, or 19.5 hours without them.
Like their predecessor, the second-gen Echo Buds have an IPX4 rating. This means they’re splash resistant, but not waterproof, and shouldn’t be rinsed off or submerged. We haven't yet seen any fully waterproof noise-cancelling true wireless earphones.
Hands-Free Alexa
The second-generation Echo Buds feature hands-free access to Alexa voice control. Amazon's voice assistant can answer general questions, let you know about upcoming appointments, check your email, set reminders, control compatible smart home devices, and perform a variety of other tasks. If you have an account, Alexa can also load streaming audio from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, SiriusXM, and Spotify, as well as play ebooks from Audible.
The hands-free voice control here is just like using a smart speaker, which means you can simply say “Alexa” and your command, and Alexa will respond. While the wake word only works with Alexa, you can set the Echo Buds to trigger Apple Siri, Google Assistant, or Samsung Bixby (depending on your phone's native voice assistant) with a tap-and-hold gesture through the Alexa app.
Echo Buds Noise Cancellation and Audio Performance
Whereas the original Echo Buds featured active noise reduction, the second-generation model levels up to full active noise cancellation (ANC). That said, the Bose-tuned sound-dampening functionality was already pretty good on the first Echo Buds, even if wasn't technically active noise cancelltion, and it is doesn't seem all that different here.
The ANC certainly tamps down distracting noises a bit, though it doesn’t come anywhere near the effectiveness of models like the $250 Apple AirPods Pro and the $280 Bose QuietComfort Earbuds—then again, for the price, you shouldn't expect it to. In testing, the Echo Buds softened the sound of my computer fan, but I could still hear a gentle hiss from it, and they cut out a little bit of street noise, but not nearly all of it. On the bright side, the ANC doesn’t produce a noticeable hiss, and it doesn’t seem to impact sound quality, which are common pitfalls we often experience with affordable ANC.
When it comes to audio performance, the Echo Buds handle our bass test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” with aplomb. The bass drum hits sound deep and round, though they don’t reach down into sub-bass levels, and neither they nor the deep synth notes produce any distortion at maximum volume.
See How We Test Noise-Cancelling Headphones
Yes’ “Roundabout” better demonstrates the Echo Buds’ overall sound signature. The acoustic guitar plucks in the opening get a good amount of resonance and a bit of string texture despite not offering loads of high-frequency finesse. When the track properly picks up, the bassline and vocals stand at the front of the mix, while the guitar strums and drums settle slightly in the background. It’s a very mids-focused sound, with less emphasis on the highs. There's a good balance, though, and no element of the mix is neglected.
The Crystal Method’s “Born Too Slow” and “Busy Child” also sound good through the Echo Buds. The backbeat in “Born Too Slow” gets enough low and low-mid presence to feel a bit ominous and drive the track, though it doesn’t reach quite low enough to truly thump. The riffs and vocals stay comfortably on top of the mix, complementing the backbeat without overshadowing it. “Busy Child” has a similar balance, with a driving backbeat and a strong high-mid presence for the synths and samples.
Affordable Earbuds for Alexa Fans
The second-generation Amazon Echo Buds offer a lot of compelling features for a reasonable price, even if they don't feel all that different from the orignal model. For $129.99, Anker's Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro earphones offer better noise cancellation and a bit more bass power, so they remain our Editors' Choice winner among affordable noise-cancelling true wireless models. If you want the best ANC in the category, you'll have to spend significantly more on the $280 Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, while iPhone users might prefer the $250 AirPods Pro. But if you're all-in on Alexa and looking for a pair of true wireless earphones that can help soften the noise around you, the Echo Buds offer plenty to like for the price.