Echo Buds vs Galaxy Buds Review: Which is Right for You?
With the introduction of wireless earbuds for smartphones, you don’t have to worry about any tangled cables and inconvenient storage. Among the many available options out there, Samsung and Amazon offer some of the best wireless experiences you can get.
Getting Samsung’s Galaxy Buds or Amazon’s Echo Buds, you can’t go wrong either way. Although both solutions provide almost identical features, there are some differences between the two that might sway your purchase decision.
Both products are fully wireless, meaning there’s no audio cable you can use to connect them to your device once they run out of juice.
Amazon Echo Buds
Ideal for people who use Amazon’s Smart Home ecosystem, Echo Buds seamlessly integrate with Alexa. Without having to pull out your smartphone from the pocket, you can ask Alexa to play your favorite music or any of the podcasts and audiobooks available on Audible. Of course, this also applies to phone calls, as well as getting directions to your destination.
Thanks to the ever-increasing list of Alexa’s skills, you can stream music from various sources, like Amazon Music, Apple Music, Sirius XM, Pandora, and Spotify. It’s important to note that besides Alexa, Echo Buds can also connect to Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri, making them quite a versatile gadget.
Comfort and Audio Quality
The first thing to check when buying wireless earbuds is how comfortable they are. In this area, Echo Buds have you fully covered. Both their wing and ear tips come in three different sizes, allowing you to customize the fit precisely to your needs. That way, the buds stay secure enough not to lose them on the go.
Thanks to the special coating, Echo Buds provide a sweat-resistant experience, as well as a snug fit in your ears. That leads to a pretty decent listening experience since the sound leakage is minimal.
Thanks to a pair of premium drivers, these buds provide crisp audio with clear and well-defined dynamic levels. Including the Active Noise Reduction developed by Bose, the background noises won’t bother you when listening to your favorite music. On the other hand, when walking outside in crowded streets, this kind of isolation may prove not to be the safest thing.
That’s why Echo Buds also have Pass-through mode. You can activate this feature with a simple double-tap, allowing you to hear everything that’s going on around you. It is quite convenient since you don’t have to take the buds out of your ear.
Battery Life
One thing that sets Echo Buds apart from the competition is their battery life. Although five hours of playback on a single charge might not seem as much, their case holds another three full charges. With a total of 20 hours available this way, you can use your Echo Buds all day.
If your buds are low on juice, and you can’t wait for them to charge fully, the case also provides a 15-minute quick-charge that gets you two hours of use time.
Samsung Galaxy Buds
For anyone that uses Samsung’s Galaxy devices, connecting their buds is pretty instantaneous the moment you take them out of their carrying case. Less bulky than Echo Buds, Galaxy Buds come with a modern and ergonomic design.
Comfort and Audio Quality
Compact and lightweight, they provide a secure fit, making them a great companion for any activity. Just like Echo Buds, these also include three sizes of removable tips that allow you to customize the fit. Galaxy Buds are also resistant to splashes, spills, and sweat, allowing you to use them even when doing a heavy workout.
As far as the audio is concerned, Samsung partnered with AKG to provide a great listening experience. Using a two-driver system, Galaxy Buds give an ample amount of bass and a pretty wide dynamic range for tiny speakers such as these.
Compared to Echo Buds, Samsung doesn’t provide active noise cancellation. Instead, they rely on the snug fit of their buds to isolate any outside sounds. If you want to hear what’s going on around you, there’s Ambient mode. With pedestrian safety in mind, these buds give you control of how much of the surrounding sounds you can hear.
Battery Life
Galaxy Buds have an advantage over Apple’s AirPods, providing for an impressive charge of 6 hours. Coupled with an additional 7 hours of charge available in the carrying case, this amounts to more than half a day of autonomy.
True, Galaxy Buds outmatch Echo Buds for one hour on a single charge. However, when you compare the total of 20 hours Echo Buds provide with their case, Galaxy’s 13 hours might not be that impressive.
One thing that works in Galaxy Buds’ favor is that they support wireless charging. Also, compared to Echo Buds’ outdated micro-USB charging cable, Samsung buds come with a USB-C cable, which you can use with many of the currently available devices.
Going Fully Wireless
Although both Galaxy and Echo buds provide exceptional audio quality and customization options, active noise canceling and almost double the battery life may sway people towards Echo Buds.
If you already use other Samsung smart devices, Galaxy Buds are also a great solution. They offer 13 hours of playtime, which is not much when compared to Echo Buds’ 20 hours. However, that’s still plenty enough to get you through the day.
Have you tried one of these earbuds? Do you find them useful in your daily life? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.