Amazon Echo Buds 2 review: More for your money

David Carnoy/CNET

The true-wireless earbud arena is a crowded market these days. So what do Amazon's second-gen noise-canceling Echo Buds ($120, £120) bring to the table that would make you buy them over competing models in their price range? Frankly, they don't necessarily have much of an edge, if any. But here's the thing: They're an appealing set of earbuds that have a relatively premium design and are all-around good performers with the added benefit of featuring hands-free Alexa, Amazon's popular voice assistant. That makes them a good value, particularly when they go on sale for $100, which should happen more than a few times this year. (Friendly reminder: Prime Day 2021 is coming in June.)

Improved design, more comfortable fit

Unlike some Amazon devices that have received small upgrades over time, the second-generation Echo Buds are indeed completely new and cost $10 less than the original Echo Buds. The Echo Buds 2, in black or glacier white, feature a smaller, more polished design, improved sound and noise canceling and slightly better voice-calling performance. It's also worth noting that they have a shorter nozzle, so the tips don't dip into your ear canal as deeply as the original Echo Buds. I like the shape of the tips, which are are more convex and similar in style to those found on the Jabra Elite 75t. A version with a wireless charging case costs $20 (£20) more.

I also appreciated the smooth matte finish on both the buds and their compact charging case -- it's 40% smaller the charging case for the original Echo Buds, which had a tendency to show scratches. While the buds have a fairly standard, slightly bulbous design, they did fit my ears well, even without applying one of the three different sizes of sport fins that are included. I usually go with a large ear tip but for these the medium tips fit me best. Like Apple, Amazon has a fit test in its companion Alexa app for iOS and Android that lets you know how good a seal you've achieved.

I had a little trouble pairing the earbuds with my iPhone 12 Pro, but I was told that may be because I have too many devices saved to my Bluetooth list (the hazards of being a wireless headphone and speaker tester). I didn't have any trouble pairing them with a Pixel 4 XL that only has a handful of Bluetooth devices saved to it. The pairing process should work smoothly for most people, but note that the Echo Buds do not offer multipoint Bluetooth pairing, so these headphones can't be simultaneously paired with two source devices, say, a phone and a laptop.

You have to use the Alexa app for pairing to enable the hands-free Alexa feature. Simply say the Alexa wake word and Amazon's voice-assistant will be all ars, ready to accept your voice command (one of the many it understands, anyway). I've had mainly good experiences with the Alexa app but it isn't without its snafus.

The only other problem I encountered -- I'll get the small criticisms out of the way early -- was that when I put one of the silicone sport fins on and put the bud back in the charging case, the left bud didn't quite make contact with the charging pins (there's a magnet in the case that draws the bud to the charging pins) so the bud ended up not charging. Also, if the bud isn't sitting right on the charging pin, the bud won't turn off and will stay connected to your phone. You can use a single bud, left or right, in mono mode if you want to leave one ear open.

I couldn't figure out why the buds were still connected at first because they were in the case, but then I realized the bud wasn't really making a connection with the charging pin. So just make sure the sport fin isn't interfering with charging. It takes a little finesse to get the sleeve on correctly.

In the end, I decided to forgo using the sport fins because the buds stayed in my ears securely without them, even when I went running, but it's good that Amazon includes the fins because they may help some people get a more secure fit. The earbuds are IPX4 water-resistant like the AirPods Pro, which means they're splash-resistant but not fully waterproof.