Amazon is making its own AirPods rival: report

Not content to simply run the world’s largest online retailer, it looks like Amazon is ready to take its growing hardware division even further in an attempt to compete with Apple.

Amazon will bring its own version of the AirPods to market sometime later this year, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Bloomberg’s sources said Amazon’s wireless earbuds will come with many of the same features that Apple’s AirPods have, but possibly in grey or black color configurations.

That means they will fit into users’ ears without clips just like AirPods and will work with a combination of voice control and physical gesture support. Users will be able to use their voices to work with Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant, similar to the hands-free Siri support in the new AirPods released last week.

They would also come with a charging case, just like the AirPods. Last but not least, it sounds like Amazon wants to surpass the audio quality present in the AirPods.

The biggest practical difference could be the price. Amazon doesn’t put the same premium on its hardware that Apple does, and could potentially discount the earbuds for Amazon Prime subscribers.

Image: David Ryder / Getty Images

Amazon has done well in the hardware space with its Echo line of home assistant products, but it hasn’t been able to replicate Apple’s success with mobile devices. The Fire Phone was a failure for Amazon, being discontinued in 2015 just a year after its release. 

Bloomberg reported Amazon’s Airpods alternative would work equally well with iOS and Android devices. The report also pointed out Amazon’s tendency to release new hardware in September, so that could be when we get our hands on Amazon’s earbuds.

This could be a savvy move for Amazon, provided the audio quality is comparable to the AirPods at least. Amazon’s AirPods competitor could be enticing for consumers who want what Apple is selling, but are unwilling to pay nearly $200 for a pair of wireless earbuds.