Seems pretty mundane, the headphones can overheat while charging in rare cases and it's fixed with a software update. It's not like they're burning people's ears during regular use or catching on fire.
Lots of comments taking the opportunity to complain about Amazon the storefront, and issues with fake reviews, counterfeiting, etc. but that doesn't really have anything to do with this story. Amazon's hardware generally has a pretty decent reputation, from Kindle and Echo that have been huge successes and basically created brand new product categories, to amazon basics cables and batteries and whatnot that are reliable at a good price.
They may catch on fire but I don't necessary think they're lesser quality. I'm pretty sure they're using bose proprietary tech which probably wasn't cheap.
I don't know if that's true. I bought my pair on the day they were released, and they're decent quality. They're not cheaply made, and everything works. (pairing took a little bit to get right, but not a deal breaker).
What do you mean when you say they're of "lesser quality"? What dimensions do you mean?
The fact that they might overheat alone? (but it got patched today; it's amazing to me that you can patch firmware on ear buds)
Meanwhile I couldn't be happier with my $16 earbuds that I got for free. Sound quality isn't great but for watching streaming video, podcasts or a quick workout they're fantastic. If I lose them or they break, no big deal.
I like that you're happy with the ones you have, but it's a weird flex to say that you "couldn't be happier" _and_ that "sound quality isn't great". Would you not be any happier if sound quality _were_ great?
I know that there's a kind of pleasure from not worrying about disposably cheap products, but there's also a kind of pleasure from having nice things with extra features where the trade is usually just taking care of them slightly better.
Personally I'll never go back to wired headphones after experiencing the freedom of wireless ones. Know of any wireless $16 throwaways?
Amazon is the new Walmart. Low quality products. Increasingly the top brands aren't even available on the site and all you have is Chinese no-name crap.
For me its even worse than Walmart. No matter how shitty it is, at least I know what I'm getting at there.
With Amazon its pretty much a gamble whether or not I'm getting what I actually ordered or some cheap knock-off crap.
For the entirety of quarantine I've been ordering directly from companies and its saved a lot of headache, sure theres no 2-day shipping, but I'm no longer receiving a fake Anker charger four times in a row.
I've been shopping online directly lately and the service and shipping times have been phenomenal. It's almost as though Amazon and small ecommerce shops have swapped places when it comes to quality assurance, service and shipping times.
What you’re describing has been Amazon for at least a decade and it’s transparently what they offer and how they market themselves, so the Walmart comparison is not even necessary.
If you are using Amazon to find top premium brands / products, you’re shopping in the wrong place to begin with.
I think it's worse than Walmart. At Walmart you get cheap garbage for low prices. At Amazon you have cheap garbage for high prices because masquerading as a premium brand with high prices and drop shipping from (ex:) AliExpress is super lucrative if you can corner a market.
Amazon knowingly sells tons of products that maim or children, and refuses to take them down even when reported. I literally saw an Amazon recommended product the other day where the #1 review was that it gave the person's kid lead poisoning. Even at it's worst Wal-Mart wasn't that bad.
At this point brand names seem to be very weak indicators of value, except a few exceptions in a specific niches with exclusive technology.
Most brands that get any traction seem to abuse that halo to also shove mediocre product to the middle/lower market. In the end we still need to do a ton of research to see which product is individually good, and looking at reviews is a way better indicator than brand marketing.
I hit this issue when trying to buy a vacuum cleaner. Perhaps it would be different if I was willing to pay a grand for the top of the line, but otherwise house name brands had at most mediocre reviews, often with documented cheaping out on important parts. We had to go through video reviews of each specific model of the price range targeted to get a decent idea of what we were buying.
I've been trying to find a decent webcam for a while now on Amazon, if you want prime and not ridiculously over priced it's all no name off brands. Really frustrating.
Some people may not take your comment seriously, but I don't understand how a software update fixes this unless something like this is going on. When I put my earbuds in the charging case, they power off (which disconnects from bluetooth) which means they shouldn't be running software to the best of my knowledge. Do the Amazon ones not do this?
I would be interested to know. If you have these can you please let me know if the bluetooth disconnects from your phone when you put them in the charging case?
They could still be storing audio on the earbuds or charging station itself then transmitting when connected but that seems somewhat unlikely.
[+] [-] cactus2093|5 years ago|reply
Lots of comments taking the opportunity to complain about Amazon the storefront, and issues with fake reviews, counterfeiting, etc. but that doesn't really have anything to do with this story. Amazon's hardware generally has a pretty decent reputation, from Kindle and Echo that have been huge successes and basically created brand new product categories, to amazon basics cables and batteries and whatnot that are reliable at a good price.
[+] [-] sulam|5 years ago|reply
“We recently determined that in very rare cases it is possible for Echo Buds to overheat while in the charging case."
Good job as usual, HN community.
[+] [-] choward|5 years ago|reply
How is it fixed with a software update? Why is it running software when charging?
[+] [-] rmdashrfstar|5 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] bearjaws|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bowmessage|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xeromal|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wenc|5 years ago|reply
I don't know if that's true. I bought my pair on the day they were released, and they're decent quality. They're not cheaply made, and everything works. (pairing took a little bit to get right, but not a deal breaker).
What do you mean when you say they're of "lesser quality"? What dimensions do you mean?
The fact that they might overheat alone? (but it got patched today; it's amazing to me that you can patch firmware on ear buds)
[+] [-] stronglikedan|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] beervirus|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] josefresco|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ebg13|5 years ago|reply
I know that there's a kind of pleasure from not worrying about disposably cheap products, but there's also a kind of pleasure from having nice things with extra features where the trade is usually just taking care of them slightly better.
Personally I'll never go back to wired headphones after experiencing the freedom of wireless ones. Know of any wireless $16 throwaways?
[+] [-] venki80|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] evanriley|5 years ago|reply
With Amazon its pretty much a gamble whether or not I'm getting what I actually ordered or some cheap knock-off crap.
For the entirety of quarantine I've been ordering directly from companies and its saved a lot of headache, sure theres no 2-day shipping, but I'm no longer receiving a fake Anker charger four times in a row.
[+] [-] josefresco|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] whoisjuan|5 years ago|reply
If you are using Amazon to find top premium brands / products, you’re shopping in the wrong place to begin with.
[+] [-] donmcronald|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Alex3917|5 years ago|reply
Example: https://www.amazon.com/Star-Right-Flash-Cards-Set/dp/B073GBD...
[+] [-] hrktb|5 years ago|reply
Most brands that get any traction seem to abuse that halo to also shove mediocre product to the middle/lower market. In the end we still need to do a ton of research to see which product is individually good, and looking at reviews is a way better indicator than brand marketing.
I hit this issue when trying to buy a vacuum cleaner. Perhaps it would be different if I was willing to pay a grand for the top of the line, but otherwise house name brands had at most mediocre reviews, often with documented cheaping out on important parts. We had to go through video reviews of each specific model of the price range targeted to get a decent idea of what we were buying.
[+] [-] SketchySeaBeast|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bitwize|5 years ago|reply
(I was shopping for a replacement power brick for a ThinkPad.)
[+] [-] jb775|5 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] delecti|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] m3kw9|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] MegaDeKay|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] orthecreedence|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] choward|5 years ago|reply
I would be interested to know. If you have these can you please let me know if the bluetooth disconnects from your phone when you put them in the charging case?
They could still be storing audio on the earbuds or charging station itself then transmitting when connected but that seems somewhat unlikely.