Amazon Echo Buds with Active Noise Cancellation (newest model), Wireless charging case, Black

Amazon did a lot right this time around. I had issues with the first gen Echo Buds, enough to not keep them. Their case was large, it used micro-USB, the earbuds were bulky, and the noise reduction was mediocre. However, Amazon improved on nearly every aspect this time around. The charging case is smaller, it charges via USB-C with optional Qi compatibility, the earbuds are smaller, their sound quality is better, and the ANC is effective.I watched and read, what felt like, tons of reviews for these earbuds. Some complained about the ANC, others had issues with the overall build quality, and some reviewers said the earbuds were still bulky. I was worried that these weren't going to be able to compete with other earbuds and fall flat. That hasn't been the case. Amazon's 2nd generation Echo Buds compete with the Galaxy Buds Pro, AirPods Pro, and other premium ANC earbuds. Yeah, the ANC isn't as good as the AirPods Pro (or new Sony XM4 earbuds) but they're also at least twice as expensive as these (at least during Prime Day).The Amazon Echo app is required for setup, but you don't have to give Amazon access to everything. It requested my location when using the app (not all the time), it wanted access to my microphone but only uses it when the app is open and I trigger Alexa, and that's about it. Nothing was out of the ordinary and you aren't signing your life away to Amazon, unlike what some reviewers are making the Echo app out to be.I like the audio quality of the earbuds themselves. They have a decent amount of bass out of the box with details in the mids and highs. I adjusted their EQ to increase the bass and highs a couple of notches, which was about it. The audio quality still isn't as "thunderous" and booming as my PowerBeats Pro but it is better than standard AirPods, my Galaxy Buds+, and other earbuds in the $100-$150 range. I even like it better than my wife's AirPods Pros. The ANC is good, it's enough to cancel out office chatter, the fan in my office, and other things. It dulls the sound my keyboard makes and, when music is playing, I can't really hear anything. The earbuds get nice and loud as well. I haven't used these on a plane, but I think they would get the job done. The ANC isn't as good as $280 earbuds from Bose or Sony but that should be expected when buying $80-$100 earbuds (or even at their full price).I disabled Alexa from the get-go. I have an iPhone and prefer to use Siri. I adjusted the tapping controls, which actually work unlike the controls on earbuds from other manufacturers (I'm looking at you UE), so that tapping and holding on the right earbud triggers Siri. It works without issues. I may eventually enable Alexa once Amazon rolls out the feature allowing me to select which apps Alexa will read notifications from. Until then, I'll keep it disabled.The earbuds are comfortable, and I've been able to wear them for hours on end without issues. The medium ear tips fit my ears, but I did need to add the medium sport fins. Three different size fins and four different ear tips come in the box, the medium for everything fit my ears. It doesn't matter if I'm walking, bending over, laying down, or sitting upright. The earbuds comfortably stay put without me having to adjust them or feeling like they're falling out of my ears.My only real complaint is battery life. The Echo Buds 2 compete with the AirPods Pro in terms of battery life, but 5 hours isn't much when compared to other earbuds. It's not bad but it could have been better. Amazon went with RealTek for the bluetooth in these instead of Qualcomm, the latter focuses more on efficiency. Amazon could have sacrificed efficiency for having a solid connection. These have skipped once on me when I was outside walking next to electrical equipment, I don't think that's bad at all. Still, 5 hours with ANC isn't much and the two additional charges out of the case aren't a lot either. I would expect at least 3 additional charges out of the case at this point.That's my only gripe against these. Amazon made a solid pair of earbuds that have become my daily drivers. They would have been fine at $140 but are even better at $100. Definitely pick up a pair this Prime Day or the next time they're on sale. I also recoomend buying the companion Anker charging pad. These will work with any Qi charger but the Anker pad is small, has an indendation for the Buds 2 case, and there are status lights for the earbuds and case on the pad.

Pros:Earbuds stay in ear during running even with heavy sweatVery good sound quality, especially for earbudsTap controls work well (except in rain)App works well for device setup and settings managementCons:Not reliable to use in rainActive Noise Cancellation (ANC) inconsistentPoor sound isolation in the device itself300MB app that can use over 500MB of memory, may slow down some phonesPotential privacy issues (app wants access to lots of data)Neutral (pro/con depends on your perspective):Many extra features in app that may be useful to some peopleAlexa Hands-Free supportFYI: I am using the Echo earbuds on a Samsung Galaxy S9 Android phone.General impression:My primary use for earbuds is to listen to a wide range of content while exercising, and especially when running. Every earbud I have tried previously - wired or wireless - tends to fall out of my right ear when I get sweaty. No combination of inserts and eartips has solved this issue for me.Fortunately, the Echo earbuds are a strong improvement. I have exercised a half-dozen times using these earbuds. The earbuds stayed firmly in my ear even when sweating heavily thanks to the eartip design along with the helpful setup & testing walkthrough. The earbuds are not the most comfortable I have used, but it is more important to me to keep the device in my ear. An earbud did fall out once when running in moderate rain – I will discuss problems with rain below.Audio quality for music is very good with excellent frequency range for earbuds. I listen to rock, pop, and classical music and am happy with the music quality. I am especially happy with the range of voices I can hear in classical music. I have not adjusted the equalizer in the app.Audio quality for audiobooks/podcasts is good, but not great. Spoken audio is not as clear and crisp as I would like. I have not adjusted the equalizer in the app, but I do not expect them to help because almost all spoken audio will be controlled by a single equalizer slider. Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) can help when it works well, but is inconsistent as described below.Battery life is long enough that I do not notice. I can listen to music & talk on the phone for hours and the earbuds still have over 50% battery. I could use these 4-5 hours a day and make it through a work week. However, I have all advanced features disabled, so this is best-case battery life.Using Echo earbuds for phone calls and work meetings:These earbuds generally work well for calls. The audio I hear is good - perhaps slightly better than the audiobook/podcast audio I mentioned above. The other people on the phone call can hear me well. There are a couple of caveats:1. The beamforming microphones are not exceptional - the people on the phone call can hear some of the noises around me.2. If you have passthrough enabled, the other person on the call will hear all of the passthrough content.A couple times I have had issues where it sounds like I drop out of the call briefly, or where the audio is clearly delayed. I have not verified that the issues are caused by the Echo earbuds, but it happened in locations where I have not had problems with other bluetooth devices.Using Echo earbuds in the rain:I was caught in moderate rain during one of my runs with the Echo earbuds. This caused two problems:1. The right earbud fell out once2. The water triggered the "tap" actionsI went into the app and disabled all of the "tap" actions to work around the 2nd issue.Amazon Alexa and Setup:The Amazon Alexa android app is very large, nearly 300MB, has used over 500MB of memory, and has far more functionality than is needed to manage earbud settings. I generally view this as a negative. There are some interesting features that may take the place of other apps you use and provide niche benefits when with the Echo earbuds. However, most of them seem to be designed to provide more of your personal data to Amazon. I have dismissed/disabled all of those extra features.As other reviewers have mentioned, you must enable location sharing when you activate the Echo earbuds. Fortunately, I was able to revoke that permission after earbud activation and have seen no negative impact on functionality. I have also disabled Alexa Hands-Free and have not seen any evidence that the device is listening for verbal commands.I like how the app walked through device pairing, device setup, and testing for fit except for location sharing being required. For me, the eartips are a pain to pull onto each earbud. It took me a minute or two per eartip per earbud, and I chose the wrong eartip initially. The tight fit is probably good in the long-term but is annoying in the short-term.The app used a lot of battery power during the initial setup. Power usage has been negligble since then.There is an Amazon Alexa notification bar item whenever the Echo earbuds are connected. This entry is a waste for most users. It duplicates the bluetooth OS notification, and selecting it does nothing. It would be useful if selecting it took you to the earbuds setting screen. Amazon probably includes this notification item to prevent the OS from auto-closing the app in the background, which may be needed for some of the app features. However, I don't use those features, so I would prefer not to have the notification bar clutter.Another frustration is the app takes about five seconds to recognize that the Echo earbuds are connected before the earbud settings become accessible within the app. This happens every time the app is opened, even if the app was opened ten seconds earlier and the earbuds were connected the entire time. The notification bar item telling me the earbuds are connected is present - why are the earbud settings not immediately available in the app?I like how Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Passthrough are managed in the settings. Unfortunately, I do not get much value from either one.- Passthrough works quite well, but these earbuds do not provide enough sound isolation to need passthrough at the listening volumes that I use. There is so much sound leakage through the earbuds that I can hear what is happening around me while running outdoors without using passthrough. On occasion, passthrough also adds noise on the higher settings.- ANC is inconsistent. In some situations it works well - that is, I hear less background noise and I don't notice it. In other situations I can "hear" the ANC, including shifts in the compensation, and it seems like the devices are applying maximum ANC even when it is not needed. Hopefully a software update can improve the consistency of ANC. As a workaround, an option to manually control the amount of ANC would help.Conclusion:Overall I like these earbuds. They are the best earbuds I have tested for running, and I will keep using them for running and exercising except when I am in rain. I am hopeful that future updates will make Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) more consistent and enjoyable.