Amazon sent us a version of the Echo Buds to review a few weeks ago. While writing a review of theon Tuesday, I paired the review unit Echo Buds to listen to some music. As I was moving through the Alexa app on the tablet, which is how you manage the Echo Buds connected to a device, I saw something I didn't see when I first reviewed the Echo Buds a couple of weeks ago.
Inside the Alexa app, under where you would normally manage the equalizer settings for the Echo Buds, was a whole new "Fitness" section.Todd Haselton | CNBC The section included the option to track a workout, a fitness profile that included only a space for my height, and a Workouts heading.Under the Workouts heading, it suggested I could start tracking a workout by speaking "Alexa, start a workout."
I said this and it said "OK, starting your workout." I walked around the office with the Echo Buds in my ears, and it appeared to have tracked my movement, telling me, "You've worked out for 1 minute and 37 seconds. You've logged 0.04 miles with an average pace of 44 minutes and 13 seconds per mile. You took 114 steps."Todd Haselton | CNBC
There was no heart rate monitoring function in this test version of the app, so it appears that the functionality is limited to step tracking at this time.last month. It appeared only in the Alexa app on a review tablet from Amazon and my personal iPhone. We paired the Echo Buds with another editor's phone and the options did not appear.