Completely wireless earbuds are everywhere at IFA this year, and so is the voice assistant war. While Google Assistant is busy getting its foothold into many speakers, Alexa is expanding into headphones and earbuds and the latest to join its rank is Bragi's The Dash series.

Both The Dash and the newer The Dash Pro will get a software update in October to Bragi OS 3.1 that will enable Alexa integration. You'll also need to update your Bragi app on Android (or iOS) and link an Amazon account obviously, so that The Dash knows which credentials to use. Once that's done, you can use The Dash's gestures and movement sensors to trigger Alexa, either by a "tap of the cheek" or a "nod of the head." The former seems a little ridiculous and the latter could be falsely triggered during vigorous exercise, so I hope The Dash's sensitivity has been more appropriately tuned for these.

Alexa isn't the first voice assistant accessible from The Dash series though. Since its release, The Dash has been able to trigger OK Google (Android) or Siri (iOS) with a tap and hold on the right earbud. The Alexa integration is an addition to those. However, in all cases you have to use The Dash in Bluetooth mode (and not completely disconnected from your phone) since it's your device's connectivity that's required to make any command work.

PRESS RELEASE