Hearables are a booming market. All you have to do is look at the success of Apple AirPods. Plus, there's the likes of Google and Samsung chasing with the Pixel Buds and Galaxy Buds.
Now Amazon wants to get in the game, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The company is working on a truly wireless pair of earbuds that would work similarly to AirPods. Although instead of "Hey Siri" functionality, they would allow you to bring up Amazon's assistant with a quick "Alexa".
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Alexa would be able to do everything it can do on your phone, like giving you the weather, controlling your smart home, reading your flash briefings and even calling people. However, this means that Amazon needs to lean on Apple and Google to make this happen. Seeing how there are already Alexa-enabled gadgets for both iOS and Android, that shouldn't be too much of a problem.
The earbuds won't have a clip like the recently-announced PowerBeats Pro, but it is trying to give it better sound quality than the AirPods in an effort to create some differentiation. There are also touch controls to pick up calls and switch between songs.
Amazon tends to undercut its competitors on price, but it's too early to say whether Amazon will be able to best AirPods' price point. Especially as Bloomberg says Amazon has faced some development delays. It's not clear how or why there have been delays, but the report says Amazon is working on roping in suppliers and manufacturing partners in the past couple of months.
Alexa is already in other hearables, like the ill-fated Bragi Dash (pictured above) and headphones from Bose, so Amazon's assistant isn't a stranger to the world of hearables. Still, a flagship product would help Amazon.
The Alexa earbuds will come with a charging case that uses standard USB, and it's testing black and grey colorways. As for a release date, Amazon typically announces a bevy of new devices in September, so it's possible we could see them before the end of the year, according to Bloomberg.
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By Husain Sumra
Husain joined Wareable in 2017 as a member of our San Fransisco based team. Husain is a movies expert, and runs his own blog, and contributes to MacRumors.
He has spent hours in the world of virtual reality, getting eyes on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Samsung Gear VR.
At Wareable, Husain's role is to investigate, report and write features and news about the wearable industry – from smartwatches and fitness trackers to health devices, virtual reality, augmented reality and more.
He writes buyers guides, how-to content, hardware reviews and more.