Stuff - UK (2020-02)

STUFF SAYS Not the finest you can buy, but you won’t

match their feature set at this price ++++,

Amazon Echo Buds

Price £120 / stuff.tv/EchoBuds

BEST FOR

VOICE

CONTROL

GROUP TEST WIRELESS BUDS

These sub-£200 options might make you want to switch

to true wireless earphones sooner than you thought

A rush of

buds to

the head

What’s the story?

Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant

has been making herself at home

in wireless headphones of various

shapes and sizes for a while now,

so it was only a matter of time

before Amazon itself got involved

at the hardware end.

These true wireless buds come

packed with mics to accurately

pick up voice commands, meaning

you can summon Alexa to control

your music, podcast or audiobook,

check the weather or depress

yourself with the news headlines,

all without lifting a finger.

Amazon has also teamed up

with the ambient noise-banishing

wizards at Bose to ensure you

can listen on public transport. You

are, then, getting a whole lot of

functionality for the price – plus

sonic ability that, while far from

mind-blowing, is more than good

enough for the price.

Are they any good?

Chunkier than Apple’s AirPods

and fashioned mainly from plastic,

these aren’t going to win any Red

Dot Design Awards soon, while a

lack of physical controls (there’s

not so much as a volume rocker)

makes interacting with the units

a little tricky.

But voice control is the star

of the show here, with each bud

packing outer microphones and

one inner mic that work in unison

to reduce ambient noise and

ensure Alexa can always hear

you clearly.

Being able to ask for a quick

news blast or weather forecast

as you head out is genuinely

useful and allows you to keep

your phone in your pocket, while

Bose’s noise-cancelling tech is

really impressive here. It’s just

a shame the sound quality isn’t

great, the charging case is massive

and the battery life is average.

Tech specs

O 5hrs + 15hrs with case

O IPX4

O Bluetooth 5.0

O 7.6g