Count this one as a hell of a deal. In fact, if you look it up in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, you’ll see a picture of the Echo Buds sketched right there in ink on the page.
I’m just kidding. No one consults paper dictionaries anymore. But at $45, this Prime Day deal is $95 off its normal price. Even during its own perennial sales debutante (that it throws for itself), during which Amazon likes to brag about huge discounts to its own Amazon-branded devices, that’s a surprisingly large discount.
a viable airpods competitor
Apple’s AirPods 4 (the ones with active noise cancellation), on a frequent “sale” for $149, are most often cross-shopped against the Echo Buds. Both sell for about the same price, and both occupy a similar place in the market.
Never mind the AirPods Pro 2, which normally sell for $200 on another fake, eternal “sale” (but are currently on a real sale for $160). Those are a bit more premium than either the AirPods 4 and the Echo Buds.
The wireless AirPods 4 earbuds have active noise cancellation, just as the Echo Buds do. When you take into the massive discount that the Echo Buds are on right now, though, they just blow the AirPods 4 out of the water.
Unless you’re a dedicated Apple user who’s bought completely into the Apple/Siri ecosystem, the Echo Buds are the better value right now during Prime Day.
The Echo Buds’ (up to) five hours of playback matches the AirPods 4, although the former’s charging case only offers an additional 10 hours of charge compared to the latter’s additional 24 hours.
The AirPods 4 also come with an IP54 rating that provides similar protection against splashing water compared to the Echo Buds’ IPX4 rating, but they add greater dust resistance that the Amazon earbuds don’t have.
For the $104 difference in their prices present right now, though, those issues become minor quibbles.
The post The Amazon Echo Buds Noise-Canceling Earbuds Haven’t Been This Cheap in 10 Months appeared first on VICE.