All-new Echo Buds (2023 Release) | Semi-in-ear, True Wireless Bluetooth 5.2 Earbuds with Alexa, multipoint, 20H battery with charging case, fast charging, sweat resistant | Black

Blows out it’s market segment. Preface:I bought these not for the intention of daily driving, but as a pair of simple TV listening headphones that my father can use with our Fire TV Cube, so as not to distract my mother who is usually reading peacefully in the living room. His current pair of earbuds, are the powerbeats pro, but they have a few disadvantages, like their lightning charging port, the rubber eartip that rarely stays attached to the bud, or their lack of multipoint bluetooth.These seemed to fit the bill in terms of simplicity, and I was glad to get them for him. Intentionally, I decided to wear them for a day or two just to get the hang of them, so I could help out my father later when problems inevitably showed up.Case:This is one area which needs desperate improvement. The case is nearly perfect, save for the indent which is supposed to allow one’s finger to hook on the lip of the lid to open it. It’s not deep enough, and the hinge has a bit of flex in it, meaning that when it’s closed and I’m pressing down hard to get some purchase on the lid, I’ll wind up pushing the lid backwards, making the lip created by the indent disappear. This is severely irritating, and I’ll likely put a trimming of grip-tape on the lid just to make it easier to open.Outside of my qualms with opening it, the case has a matte but pretty finish, a little lightweight, and I can hear the earbuds rattle around inside when I shake it.Sound Quality:Flipping amazing. I compared these to my 2nd Gen Echo Buds (2021), and the bass is deeper, but the mids and trebles are not washed out in comparison. The sound is tightly controlled, rich and lovely to listen to, moreso than my 2021 buds which seem almost tinny in comparison. Even without sealing on my ear, I can hear everything, and whilst it might not sound the way the recording studio made it, it certainly sounds pleasant to my ears.Fit:Irritating to say the least… I do not like the silicone sleeve, so I took it off, but it seems Amazon is going in a particularly stupid direction here. The first-gen buds had a loop for the wingtip, which was difficult to get aligned properly but wasn’t nearly as complex as the veritable harness that you have to slide on the 2nd gen buds. Now we have a sock of silicone, made of sticky, un-sliding silicone. Of course, the instructions say not to use the fingernail tip, but the thought is definitely there as I press and pull with my fingers all day to try and get the unmoving sleeve off. I got rid of them for a better fit, but not after a few requisite tries putting them on and pulling them off, to gauge how they felt on.The sleeve irritation aside, they fit well, much easier on the ears than the 2nd gen ones, even when I did get the sizing right. They don’t go into one’s ear canal, so there’s a lot less pressure on that part of my ear, and it actually makes the listening experience surprisingly more enjoyable.Battery:Pretty good, the battery lasts fairly long… The sticker says 5 hours, but my intermittent usage says a bit longer. Amazon says you can push it farther if you disable Alexa handsfree, which I just might in favor of the long-press gesture since single/double/triple-tap take care of the rest of my desired media control maneuvers.Charging:It’s a USB-C port. It seems to charge in less than an hour from fully dead when plugged in. I really wish they sold an upgraded version with wireless charging like they did for the 2021 buds, since they will otherwise turn into landfill the moment the USB-C port dies, which is thankfully less likely than the micro-USB only 2019 buds.Connectivity/Smarts:They connect just fine, although I get less Alexa info on the buds. My 2nd gen buds not only tell me when they connect or disconnect from a device, but I get an Alexa response telling me *what* device I am connected to (ex: “Connected to phone, connected to computer…”). These just play accompanying sounds that indicate they’ve connected to…. something.Outside of that, the rest of the smarts work perfectly fine, albeit missing the workout tracking feature. I feel that was mostly because of Amazon recently giving the Halo devices the Axe recently, which makes me sad since I really liked my Halo View.Microphones:They’re serviceable, but nothing outstanding… This is mostly because the Bluetooth profile/protocol used for bidirectional audio is of significantly lower bitrate than the one used for one-way audio. I cannot tell the difference between these and my 2nd gen Echo buds.Conclusion:This puts me in an awkward position, because I really like the fit, sound, and battery of these new earbuds, but they’re supposed to go to my father, and I already have a pair of 2nd gen Echo buds, which have the wireless charging and ANC that I also desire.In a perfect world, I would like to have an around-the-house pair of buds, wireless charging since they’re frequently used, very nice sound, a lightweight battery, perhaps deliberately avoided noise isolation (eg: sound passes right through), and very comfortable. I would also have a pair of travel buds, with huge batteries, strong ANC for planes and trains, and an easy price so I don’t have to worry too much about loosing them.So far, I have 2 pairs of buds, neither of which fit neatly into my preferred categories, but that’s ok. I’ve placed an order for a second pair, for myself, since these are still going to be given to my father – I really don’t want to give up on that sound quality, and that lazy fit for lazing about the house.