One of the star products to be announced at Amazon’s big hardware event today was the Echo Buds ($130), the company’s first true wireless earbuds. Not only do they undercut the cost of most true wireless earbuds, including AirPods, but Amazon revealed that they’ve partnered with Bose to integrate its noise-canceling technology into the Echo Buds. That’s right, these are noise-canceling wireless earbuds that cost just $130.

After the event, I was able to get a little hands-on time with Echo Buds and was even able to listen to two songs (“Trampoline by Shaed” and Bruce Springsteen’s “For You”) and here are my initial thoughts.

The sound quality of the Echo Buds immediately impressed me, especially considering that they are $130 earbuds. It was loud with good mids and strong bass. I’ve tested many affordable true wireless earbuds in the past two-plus years and these were right in the middle of the pack.

The noise-canceling ability was also good, but I think I’m still skeptical about it. I tested the Echo Buds in a crowded room with many journalists and product managers, and I could barely hear the noise around me – which is exactly what you want. That said, these earbuds fit really snug, meaning I’m not sure if it was Bose’s noise-canceling technology that was working its magic or it was just the natural noise isolation of the earbuds pressing right against in my ears. I’ll have to wait until I get to test the Echo Buds for a bit longer to confirm.

If sound quality and noise-canceling abilities of the Echo Buds were the two good things that jumped out at me, there were a few other things that gave me pause for concern.

First, the Echo Buds require you to download and use the Alexa app to get the most out of them, which I’m not sure many people actually want to do. You need the Echo Buds setup properly in your Alexa app to enable the noise-cancellation and the “Hey Alexa” features. That said, if you use them straight out of the box without using the Alexa app, they’ll still work just like traditional Bluetooth earbuds.

Second, why micro-USB? Almost every company making new true wireless earbuds now have gone with a USB-C port. It charges the case (and, thus, the earbuds) faster. It also allows you to charge your earbuds with the same charger you use with a new laptop, Nintendo Switch or even a new pair of headphones. Everybody is using USB-C and Amazon should have too.

Third, I’m not sure that many people want Alexa to be integrated in their wireless earbuds. Most headphones are already compatible with the virtual assistant on your smartphone, to do things like play/pause music or call people in your phone book, so there’s really little need to have another virtual assistant listening to you. (Although, you can of course stop Alexa from listening to you within the Alexa app.)

Lastly, the Echo Buds are priced affordably because they don’t exactly look premium. They’re nowhere near as good looking as Master & Dynamic MW07s or Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless. And they also feel pretty inexpensive, too (plastic).

I can’t help but be impressed by Amazon’s first true wireless earbuds. They have Bose’s noise-canceling technology, after all, even before Bose has been able to put noise-canceling into their own true wireless earbuds, which is just crazy to think about. Then again, there might be a reason for that. Bose is gearing up to release the Bose Noise Cancelling Earbuds 700 in early 2020, and they’re likely to be much better (and much more expensive) than Amazon’s Echo Buds.

The Echo Buds ($130) are available for pre-order right now. Amazon will release them by October 30.