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There’s no shortage of excellent wireless earbuds you can buy, including Apple’s AirPods Pro, but even when they’re on sale for less than the $ 250 (249, AU $ 249) retail price, they might still be out of your budget. Amazon’s less expensive Echo Buds 2 might be fine if you’re looking for noise-canceling earbuds with similar features. While they were on sale for as low as $ 80 on Prime Day, their regular price is $ 120 (120), half the price of the AirPods Pro. I have been testing both sets of earbuds for several weeks to compare their design, comfort, sound quality, calls and feature sets.
Watch the video on this page for a full breakdown of the comparison of these earbuds, including microphone samples, or read on for the smaller version.
Learn more: The best true wireless noise canceling earbuds for 2021
The AirPods Pro have excellent active noise cancellation and work perfectly with Apple devices. With spatial audio support for movies and music (also known as virtual surround sound) and balanced sound quality, they are a versatile set of earphones for a variety of listening scenarios. They also have excellent call quality. You can also use AirPods Pro with Android phones, even if you miss out on some features like spatial audio and fast switching.
Read our AirPods Pro review.
David Carnoy / CNET
Amazon has completely redesigned the second-generation Echo Buds with a more comfortable fit and better noise cancellation than the original Echo Buds. They also have the benefit of hands-free Alexa, so if you’re already familiar with Amazon’s voice assistant, these are a natural extension. They have stronger bass response than AirPods, but call and microphone quality aren’t nearly as good. But for the price, especially on discount, they are excellent value for money.
Read our Echo Buds 2 review.
Now Playing: Watch this: Apple AirPods Pro vs Amazon Echo Buds 2 comparison
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Do you want bass? Get the Echo Buds 2. Want balanced calls and audio? Get the AirPods Pro
Both earphones sound great when listening to music from a wide range of genres. The Echo Buds 2 have stronger bass than the AirPods Pro, so if you like a heavier response on the lower frequencies, you may prefer these earbuds. I also found that I had to reduce the treble in the equalizer a little bit within the Alexa app (iOS and Android) to get the best performance from the Echo Buds 2. The AirPods Pro are more balanced to my ears and sound great when listen to music, make calls or listen to podcasts. The adaptive equalizer on the AirPods Pro dynamically changes the sound based on how the earbuds fit your ears, but if you’d like to further tweak the sound profile, you can do this in your favorite music app or headphone setup settings in iOS.
Lexy Savvides / CNET
The ANC in the Echo Buds 2 is improved over the original Echo Buds and they suppress noise much better than before. I found that they both did a great job when trying to block out the sound of a ceiling fan and air conditioning unit, so that I could really focus on my music. You’ll also be able to stream sounds from the outside world to hear your surroundings better, called transparency mode on AirPods Pro or passthrough mode on Echo Buds 2. Transparency mode feels a lot more natural to me, but I love how you can adjust the strength of the passthrough in the Alexa app on Echo Buds 2.
I could hear a faint hiss in Echo Buds 2 without playing music, both in ANC and passthrough modes, so if you have sensitive hearing, you may also hear this sound. The AirPods Pro have no hiss in either ANC mode or transparency mode.
The AirPods Pro have slightly better battery life
Apple’s official rating says you’ll get 4.5 hours of listening from AirPods Pro with ANC, but in my tests, I regularly get close to 5 hours when listening at 50% volume. Amazon’s rating cites 5 hours, but my listening time also differed from the official number, approaching 4.5 hours under the same conditions.
The charging cases also offer some extra juice: up to 24 hours of total listening on AirPods Pro or 15 with Echo Buds 2. Wireless charging is supported on both, so you can use a pad to charge the case, but you do. pay an extra $ 20 to get it on the Echo Buds 2. AirPods Pro comes with a wireless charging case as standard.
The 2nd generation Echo Buds case (left) and AirPods Pro case (right)
David Carnoy / CNET Echo Buds 2 are really flexible with Alexa support
While both earbuds allow you to summon their respective voice assistant by simply saying the wake word, Alexa on Echo Buds 2 is more robust than Siri on AirPods Pro. You’ll be able to make calls, change music playback volume, open skills Alexa, listen to training metrics or get directions and use the navigation guidance with your voice.
Echo Buds 2 lets you use Alexa regardless of platform, or you can replace it with Google Assistant on Android or Siri on iOS if you prefer. If you’re using AirPods Pro on Android, you won’t be able to use Siri hands-free.
Both pairs allow you to use each earbud independently, which is useful if you want to charge one earbud in the case while answering calls or listening to music on the other. Echo Buds 2 also offers a microphone mute switch that you can turn on or off in the Alexa app.
David Carnoy / CNET Echo Buds 2 has more fitting options than the AirPods Pro
This is because they come with three sizes of earbuds and three sizes of fins to lock them in your ears more securely. I found that the wingtips were really helpful when running with the Echo Buds 2 to provide a snug, secure fit. The AirPods Pro only come with three interchangeable earbuds.
In addition to using the voice assistant, you can interact with these buds via touch controls. The AirPods Pro have a clickable stem, while the Echo Buds 2 have touch panels. Both work well, although I prefer the AirPods Pro stem for more precise control. Long press on Echo Buds 2 to switch from ANC mode to passthrough mode takes up to 5 seconds to register. Both earbuds are IPX4 rated, which means they are splash and dust resistant, but keep in mind that this is for the earbuds themselves, not the charging cases.
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