While you’re looking for new earbuds, it’s straightforward to reside with blinders on and repair most of your consideration on the heavyweight manufacturers like Sony, Apple, Samsung, Bose, Sennheiser, and others. Which means lacking out on some interesting finances choices like these from EarFun, Soundpeats, and Anker’s Soundcore division. Nevertheless it can also result in you glossing proper over some premium earbuds which can be value severe consideration. Over the previous few weeks, I’ve been reviewing one such product — the Technics EAH-AZ80 — and it’s turn into clear to me that these have earned a spot within the “finest wi-fi earbuds” dialog.
For $300, you’d hope that Technics (a model of Panasonic) would be capable to ship one thing worthwhile. This can be a worth tier the place mediocrity in anybody class can doom your prospects. However I’ve but to run into something about these earbuds that feels middling or second charge. They sound terrific, supply prolonged battery life, and embrace genuinely distinctive capabilities like three-way multipoint; you’ll be able to pair the AZ80 to 3 gadgets on the similar time — typical multipoint-capable buds have a restrict of two — seamlessly hopping between them as you pause music on one gadget and play one thing on one other.
The buds themselves, accessible in silver or black, look sharp and would really feel at residence subsequent to one in every of Technics’ venerable turntables. There’s aluminum trim on the outer floor, with the Technics brand engraved in concentric circles. However the aspect that matches into your ear concha has been designed for consolation for prolonged listening, and I’ve by no means observed any soreness or fatigue when utilizing the AZ80. There are seven completely different sizes of silicone ear ideas within the field, which is much extra beneficiant than what you’d get from, say, Sony or Apple. Technics is actually paying thoughts to these of you with smaller ears; the tip sizes embrace XS1, XS2, S1, S2, M, L, and XL. The buds have a water resistance score of IPX4 — par for the course amongst flagship earbuds — however the case, which helps Qi wi-fi charging, lacks any such safety in opposition to rain or sweat, so that you’ll wish to maintain it dry.
Leaping proper into sound, the AZ80 maintain their very own in opposition to the perfect of what’s in the marketplace at the moment, reminiscent of Sennheiser’s Momentum 3 Wi-fi and Sony’s WF-1000XM5. The ten-millimeter drivers produce wealthy, enveloping audio with a pure heat to the sound signature even in case you by no means hassle touching the EQ sliders or hopping between the presets. Boygenius’ “Not Robust Sufficient” is an effective instance of this, with every of the three voices coming by distinctly with wonderful readability throughout the “at all times an angel, by no means a god” bridge. These earbuds shine with multilayered tracks, whether or not it’s pop (Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire”) or rock (Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s “Loss of life Want”), the AZ80 produce an in depth and spacious soundstage. These are about as constantly pleasing as wi-fi earbuds get by way of dynamics and general presentation.
Technics additionally affords energetic noise cancellation that’s greater than respectable. It falls in need of the perfect contenders, like Sony’s newest 1000XM5 or Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds II, however isn’t drastically behind. And the audio constancy high quality makes up for being a step behind in ANC. The hole is wider in relation to transparency mode. I really feel like a damaged report at this level, however the ambient sound passthrough right here isn’t as natural-sounding as Apple’s AirPods Professional 2. It’s value adjusting the extent of outdoor noise that comes by by way of Technics’ cell app for the perfect outcomes. You’ll be able to select the usual ambient sound mode or another choice that focuses on voices — helpful if you wish to hear an announcement at a practice station or airport.
Battery life is greater than enough at round seven hours with noise cancellation enabled and upward of eight hours in case you’re someplace quiet and may go away it off. That longevity can shrink in case you’re listening at loud volumes or steadily streaming at LDAC high quality, however even in these circumstances, I didn’t really feel shortchanged, and the AZ80 by no means reduce out unexpectedly. Voice calls proved passable, and Technics’ JustMyVoice isolation expertise might help remove a loud background so different folks can hear your voice even in case you’re in a loud surroundings. Your speech can sound a bit clipped when utilizing JustMyVoice at full energy, nevertheless it’s a useful device to have when wanted.
The three-way multipoint, which Panasonic claims is an business first for earbuds, works surprisingly nicely. I don’t have a pill at present, so I examined it with my laptop computer and two telephones. The Technics earbuds had no bother following me alongside to no matter gadget had my consideration at that second. The one tradeoff that comes with triple multipoint is that you may’t use the higher-bitrate LDAC Bluetooth codec on the similar time; you can stream over LDAC by sticking to common two-way multipoint or, if you would like most audio constancy and connection stability, the AZ80 may be configured to attach solely to a single gadget at a time.
All of those settings can be found within the companion cell app, which is stuffed to the gills with options and changes for a variety of the earbuds’ capabilities. The app can allow you to hear a preview of how your voice sounds on calls with Technics’ JustMyVoice filtering energetic. You’ll be able to optimize the noise cancellation for the perfect efficiency wherever you might be by adjusting a slider that makes it goal completely different frequencies. There’s a slew of EQ choices; I caught with the default, however “dynamic” additionally sounded very good to my ears. And the app helps you to dial in precisely how a lot ambient sound you wish to pipe by each time transparency mode is engaged.
Cramming this a lot into an app can rapidly show detrimental if the software program is buggy or has connection points, however I didn’t run into any issues with the Technics Audio Join app when testing throughout each Android and iOS. The deluge of preferences can really feel just a little overwhelming, nevertheless it all workswhich is the vital half. Nonetheless, there’s no denying that simply as with different standalone earbud makers that lack a {hardware} ecosystem, Technics can’t match the seamless cross-device tips of Apple and Samsung.
Dropping $300 on a pair of earbuds isn’t any small funding. However in case you’re on the lookout for one thing off the overwhelmed path and aren’t feeling enticed by the big-name manufacturers, Technics has produced a worthy set of flagship buds with the EAH-AZ80. They sound great, have ample noise cancellation, and include sufficient ear ideas that I can’t think about anybody being left with out the proper match. And the three-way multipoint is an entirely distinctive promoting level that not even Sony, Apple, Bose, and different main rivals can match. If you happen to’re a heavy-duty multitasker, that could be motive sufficient to strive one thing new.
Pictures by Chris Welch / The Verge
