Professional's Score
Execs
- Wonderful audio high quality
- Join to three units concurrently
- Prolonged battery life
- A great deal of customisability
Cons
- No automated tuning choices
- Chunky case
Our Verdict
Technics’ EAH-AZ80 are among the many finest high-end true wi-fi earbuds round, with class-leading customisability and connectivity backed up by wonderful audio.
Value When Reviewed
$299.99
Greatest Costs In the present day: Technics EAH-AZ80
$299.99
Technics is without doubt one of the huge outdated manufacturers of audio. Half a century’s price of hi-fis hasn’t left the model with a complete lot of intercourse attraction, however as an alternative there’s a reassuring sense that this lot most likely know what they’re doing.
And so it's with the brand new flagship EAH-AZ80 earbuds. It takes confidence to go toe-to-toe with Apple, Bose, and Sony on the $300 finish of the true wi-fi earbud market, however Technics has earned it.
With an understated design, wonderful audio, and the near-unique potential to connect with three units concurrently, these are among the best choices round for individuals who care extra about how their buds sound than what model is on the field.
Design & construct
- Premium construct high quality
- Selection of seven ear tip sizes
- Chunky carry case
The AZ80 buds look easy sufficient. Obtainable in both black or silver, the buds are constructed out of plastic, however with a brushed metal-effect end on the outer touch-sensitive aspect.
That floor space is compact, the buds an almost-circle after they sit within the ear, they usually don’t jut out a lot both.
Technics has prioritised each consolation and safety of slot in two methods. Firstly, the physique of the buds is curved hither and thither in a method that apparently encourages them to sit down snugly contained in the conch, nestling into the organ’s precise form.
Second, the corporate provides the buds not with the customary three pairs of silicon eartips to choose from, however a full set of seven in numerous sizes and shapes, so that you’d need to have actually outlandishly proportioned ears to not discover a match.
Each ear is totally different in fact, however just a little experimentation shortly discovered me setup that’s stayed in place throughout working and weightlifting, and proved snug over multi-hour listening periods.
An IPX4 water-resistance ranking helps, guaranteeing that these can survive a spot of rain or gym-induced sweat with out an excessive amount of hassle.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
My solely actual complaints are to do with the charging case that comes with the buds. It appears to be like adequate, with a prime that matches the brushed impact of the buds and an engraved firm brand, however after only a week it’s already picked up just a few scuffs and scratches that detract from the impact.
It’s additionally on the bigger finish of the spectrum, which is nice for battery life, however does make it really feel cumbersome if you throw it within the pocket of a pair of denims.
Specs & sound
- Massive 10mm aluminium drivers
- Wealthy, expansive sound
- Good noise-cancellation
The sound is the rationale to purchase the AZ80. These earbuds sound incredible, and might maintain their very own towards some other premium pair you’d care to attempt.
Technics has outfitted them with newly designed 10mm drivers constructed from aluminium. Mixed with an acoustic management chamber and a harmoniser, the corporate says the entire setup delivers prolonged response at excessive and low frequencies in comparison with its different high-end earbuds whereas minimising distortion.
Usually I’d let you know to take that with a pinch of salt, however efficiency right here actually is elegant. These have some of the open, expansive soundscapes I’ve heard but from earbuds, with a readability to the sound that’s laborious to search out elsewhere.
Dive into the accompanying app’s EQ settings to crank up the bass and these can ship pulsating low-end with out compromise, bringing out the perfect of the slinky baseline on Males I Belief’s ‘Oncle Jazz’, or propelling a few of The Chemical Brothers’ punchier tracks ahead.
Technics has included help for top decision audio courtesy of the LDAC codec too, with compatibility on Android and sure different units – although iPhones received’t help it. You received’t must compromise on high quality should you’ve received high-res recordsdata, or subscribe to one of many streaming companies that handles that higher-end audio.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
In fact there’s noise-cancelling too. The tech right here is nice, however maybe the primary audio space the place you would possibly discover the likes of Bose and Sony draw back from Technics just a bit.
I discovered it largely good at blocking out my environment, particularly decrease stage background noise, however noisy visitors or the music enjoying at my gymnasium nonetheless tended to interrupt by just a little. You possibly can customise the noise-cancelling stage, however there’s no sensible mode that tunes it to your listening to.
Getting a precise match with the silicon ideas helps although, and this can be the place some folks discover the AZ80 buds higher than rivals, as a result of the seven units might enable these with uncommon ears to discover a match that they couldn’t elsewhere and thus passively block extra noise.
As is customary now there’s additionally an ambient mode, which permits exterior noise and amplifies it barely – excellent when you should hear what’s round you or maintain a dialog.
Technics has additionally labored on its noise cancellation and voice isolation tech for calls, and that is spectacular. Name high quality in noisy environments is healthier right here than on most different buds, making these an particularly good selection for distant staff who might need to take calls or conferences on the go.
Good options & app
- Join to 3 units directly
- Totally customisable controls
- Constructed-in Alexa
The sensible aspect of the EAH-AZ80 buds is dealt with by Technics’ Audio Join app, obtainable on Android or iOS.
Essentially the most thrilling characteristic right here is help for three-way multi-point connections. That’s a number of jargon for saying you possibly can join to 3 units concurrently, reasonably than the one or two often supported elsewhere, so you possibly can, say, change seamlessly between telephone, pill, and laptop computer.
The one caveat right here is that you just received’t have the ability to take full benefit of each this and the buds’ LDAC hi-res help. In case you change on LDAC then you definitely’ll be restricted to 2 simultaneous connections, and in reality the app will even encourage you to restrict your self to 1 machine at a time, so there’s a trade-off to be made.
The app permits extra management than simply that although. Sound will be tweaked, with six default sonic profiles plus a five-track customized EQ possibility, and you may as well modify the depth of the noise cancellation and ambient modes.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Impressively, the buds’ contact controls are additionally totally customisable – a rarity. You possibly can change the impact of single, double, triple, and lengthy faucets for every bud independently, providing you with a complete of eight attainable interactions, with 9 attainable controls to assign to them (plus the choice to disable some inputs, should you’d reasonably hold issues easy).
Smaller choices embrace swapping between a spoken notification or a easy sound if you change ANC modes; adjusting the auto energy off settings; and tweaking how the buds behave when one is taken out of your ear throughout playback.
In brief, the app delivers a lot of flexibility.
What it doesn’t ship are any intelligent instruments to optimise the sound for you. Rival buds now usually embrace exams to assist right the buds’ match, fine-tune noise cancellation, or optimise the EQ round your listening to and ear form – right here, all the things is guide.
Lastly, Amazon Alexa help is baked into the buds, although you may as well use your telephone’s default digital assistant by them – or, in fact, none in any respect.
Battery & charging
- As much as seven hours on a single cost
- 24 hours together with case
- Wired or wi-fi charging
Battery life is one other spectacular power right here. Technics’ official numbers are that the earbuds can last as long as seven hours of continuous use, with a complete of 24 hours of battery between the buds and case.
These figures are based mostly on listening with noise cancellation on, however the extra power-intensive LDAC codec off, so figures may go up or down relying in your use.
Flitting round between settings, I used to be all the time impressed with how slowly battery drops on the buds – simply seen inside the official app, which additionally reveals the case’s battery, and most Android telephones may even show this robotically.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
It took a full week of standard use earlier than I felt the necessity to join the case to a charger. Even higher, at that time you get the selection between wired USB-C charging or just dropping the case down on any Qi wi-fi charger.
Value & availability
At $299/£259, obtainable from Amazon and elsewhere, the Technics EAH-AZ80 buds are under no circumstances reasonably priced – however they provide wonderful worth within the sense that they’re pretty much as good as the rest you possibly can spend this a lot on.
The plain opponents are the likes of the Sony WF-1000XM4, Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II, and naturally the AirPods Professional 2.
On sound high quality the Technics buds simply rival these opponents, and have an edge on battery life and luxury too – and of these three, solely the Sonys additionally provide hi-res LDAC audio.
The AZ80s most likely lag only a contact behind on the standard of the noise-cancellation tech, however is likely to be essentially the most well-rounded bundle out of the lot.
For extra choices, be sure that to check out our full rating of the perfect true wi-fi earbuds.
Verdict
The Technics EAH-AZ80 earbuds are an sudden delight.
There’s not a number of room for error in earbuds this costly, and Technics has delivered a set that nails all the important thing areas: audio, noise cancellation, connectivity, and battery life.
Different pairs would possibly look a bit flashier, and whereas the ANC right here is nice it’s not fairly the perfect about, however few rivals are as well-rounded as these – and the mixture of hi-res audio help and three-way connectivity is genuinely distinctive.
Specs
- 10mm aluminium drivers
- SBC, AAC, and LDAC codecs
- Bluetooth 5.3
- Lively Noise Cancellation (ANC)
- As much as 7 hours battery with ANC
- As much as 24 hours whole battery with ANC
- Wired (USB-C) and wi-fi charging
- 3-way multi-point pairing
- IPX4 ranking
- 7 units of ear ideas
- 69 mm x 36 mm x 29 mm charging case
- 7g per earbud
- 50g charging case