TechAudioHeadphonesTechnics EAH-AZ80 review: grown-up and thoroughly convincing in-earsTechnics' top-end true wireless in-ears bring a first to the market and are largely impressive earbuds overallWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Technics)T3 VerdictThe Technics EAH-AZ80 have some real areas of expertise, not least where connectivity, comfort and communication are concerned. They’re a convincingly life-like and uncoloured listen, too. But that quite doesn’t mean they’re the complete package…Reasons to buy+Balanced, detailed and naturalistic sound+Triple-point wireless connectivity and good comms abilities+Very comfortable ergonomic designReasons to avoid-Ordinary battery life-Ordinary noise-cancellation-Not the most energetic listen aroundWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
TechAudioHeadphonesTechnics EAH-AZ80 review: grown-up and thoroughly convincing in-earsTechnics' top-end true wireless in-ears bring a first to the market and are largely impressive earbuds overallWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Technics)T3 VerdictThe Technics EAH-AZ80 have some real areas of expertise, not least where connectivity, comfort and communication are concerned. They’re a convincingly life-like and uncoloured listen, too. But that quite doesn’t mean they’re the complete package…Reasons to buy+Balanced, detailed and naturalistic sound+Triple-point wireless connectivity and good comms abilities+Very comfortable ergonomic designReasons to avoid-Ordinary battery life-Ordinary noise-cancellation-Not the most energetic listen aroundWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Technics' top-end true wireless in-ears bring a first to the market and are largely impressive earbuds overall
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Technics)T3 VerdictThe Technics EAH-AZ80 have some real areas of expertise, not least where connectivity, comfort and communication are concerned. They’re a convincingly life-like and uncoloured listen, too. But that quite doesn’t mean they’re the complete package…Reasons to buy+Balanced, detailed and naturalistic sound+Triple-point wireless connectivity and good comms abilities+Very comfortable ergonomic designReasons to avoid-Ordinary battery life-Ordinary noise-cancellation-Not the most energetic listen around
(Image credit: Technics)
(Image credit: Technics)
T3 VerdictThe Technics EAH-AZ80 have some real areas of expertise, not least where connectivity, comfort and communication are concerned. They’re a convincingly life-like and uncoloured listen, too. But that quite doesn’t mean they’re the complete package…Reasons to buy+Balanced, detailed and naturalistic sound+Triple-point wireless connectivity and good comms abilities+Very comfortable ergonomic designReasons to avoid-Ordinary battery life-Ordinary noise-cancellation-Not the most energetic listen around
T3 VerdictThe Technics EAH-AZ80 have some real areas of expertise, not least where connectivity, comfort and communication are concerned. They’re a convincingly life-like and uncoloured listen, too. But that quite doesn’t mean they’re the complete package…
T3 Verdict
The Technics EAH-AZ80 have some real areas of expertise, not least where connectivity, comfort and communication are concerned. They’re a convincingly life-like and uncoloured listen, too. But that quite doesn’t mean they’re the complete package…
Reasons to buy+Balanced, detailed and naturalistic sound+Triple-point wireless connectivity and good comms abilities+Very comfortable ergonomic designReasons to avoid-Ordinary battery life-Ordinary noise-cancellation-Not the most energetic listen around
Reasons to buy+Balanced, detailed and naturalistic sound+Triple-point wireless connectivity and good comms abilities+Very comfortable ergonomic design
Balanced, detailed and naturalistic sound
Triple-point wireless connectivity and good comms abilities
Very comfortable ergonomic design
Reasons to avoid-Ordinary battery life-Ordinary noise-cancellation-Not the most energetic listen around
Ordinary battery life
Ordinary noise-cancellation
Not the most energetic listen around
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Here’s an introduction about how the Technics brand needs no introduction. Almost every other audio electronics brand would quite possibly kill to have just a fraction of the profile and resonance of Technics, not to mention a logo that’s as widely recognised. Even deeply credible rival firms have to acknowledge the emotional response many customers have to the ‘T’ word.
It takes more than this sort of respect and affection to make it in the cut-throat world ofthe best true wireless in-ear headphones, though. You’re spoiled for choice, and can take your pick from any number of high-achieving models. So what, with its new EAH-AZ80 model, is Technics offering (apart from reputation and kudos, I mean)?
Technics AZ80: Price & Availability
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The Technics EAH-AZ80 true wireless in-ear headphones are on sale from today (May 18th), and in the United Kingdom they’re priced at £259. In the United States they go for $299, while Australian customers are looking at AU$499.
This is premium pricing, no two ways about it. So while the Technics brand has the cachet and credibility to go up against their best price-comparable alternatives, the EAH-AZ80 nevertheless need to be something special if they’re not just going to be another also-ran in the Great True Wireless Sweepstakes.
Technics AZ80 review: What’s new?
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
Where the features and specification of the EAH-AZ80 are concerned, Technics has not so much ‘gone to town’ as ‘gone to town, come home again to freshen up, and then gone back to town for a big night out’. These earbuds have, relatively speaking, plenty going on.
Wireless connectivity is taken care of via Bluetooth 5.3 (with SBC, AAC and LDAC codec compatibility). That’s already pretty decent, but the AZ80 are also the world’s first true wireless in-ear headphones with triple-point connectivity - which means those Captains of Industry among us can connect their AZ80 to a smartphone, laptop and tablet (for example) all at the same time, and switch smoothly, seamlessly and easily between them.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
There are eight mics in total spread across the earbuds - each has a ‘talk’, ‘voice detection’, ‘feed forward’ and ‘feed back’ mic. Technics is putting a lot of emphasis on the ability of the AZ80 to function as a credible communication device - its ‘Just My Voice’ technology aims to maximise voice clarity in windy environments and suppress external sounds that can impact on intelligibility during calls. This mic array is also involved in the ‘dual hybrid’ active noise-cancellation (ANC) that’s on board - as well as ‘feed back’ and ‘feed forward’ noise-cancellation, the Technics have both a software filter (for digital processing) and a hardware filter (for the analogue equivalent).
Charging from ‘flat’ to ‘full’ takes two hours or so, and a 15-minute burst should be sufficient for over an hour’s playback. The charging case has a USB-C slot for charging, and the AZ80 are compatible with Qi wireless chargers too.
Technics AZ80 review: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
For once, it might be worth starting with the secondary aspects of the way the EAH-AZ80 perform. After all, this is - at the risk of labouring a point - a very competitive market, and your individual priorities will have a big say in whether or not these Technics are for you.
If you like the idea of the triple-point connectivity, be assured the AZ80 are unshakeable in their connection - so ultimate multi-tasking is no problem. If you’re here for the ‘communications’ part of the deal, I’m pleased to say the ‘Just My Voice’ technology works a treat - wind-noise is minimised, and voices are given far more prominence than is the norm. There’s a slightly artificial edge to the way the AZ80 handle voices, it’s true, but that’s got to be preferable to the roaring wind interference that can blight calls when using some other, similarly expensive, earbuds.
If ANC is near the top of your list of priorities, though, the AZ80 aren’t quite such a sure thing. They can do a job on external sounds, certainly, but it’s not the complete job that some of their best rivals (which inevitably meansBose- see the footnote of this article) can manage. A reduction in overall noise, and notably good work with higher-frequency distractions, is always welcome, of course - but there’s no two ways about it: the Technics are no better than ‘ordinary’ where this sort of thing is concerned. At least the amplified sounds of the outside world audible when using the ‘ambient sound’ setting are crisp and uncoloured.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
So far, then, it seems safe to say the EAC-AZ80 are just slightly ahead. And when you factor in the extremely comfortable form-factor, which makes longer listening sessions a breeze, they’re starting to look pretty attractive. But it’s audio quality, of course, that will be most people’s priority when it comes to choosing some new true wireless earbuds - and where sound is concerned, the AZ80 have plenty to recommend them.
Tonally, they’re admirably neutral and natural - leave the EQ settings well alone and there’s a pleasingly consistent balance to the entire frequency range, with no area overheated and no area undercooked. From the deep, textured bass response to the crisply attacking treble, via the spacious and informative midrange in between, the AZ80 are a convincingly even-handed listen.
Detail levels are high across the board. Even the most fleeting, most incidental happenings are identified and contextualised - but never at the expense of the overall picture. The Technics have plenty to say about tone and timbre at either end of the frequency range, and the amount of detail (both broad and fine) they can extract from the midrange is impressive too. There’s speed and control at the low end, and plenty of momentum and rhythmic positivity as a consequence. In absolute terms, the top of the frequency range could be a little more substantial, but it wants for nothing where control and expression are concerned.
As well as having a nice facility with the more minor harmonic dynamics of recordings, the AZ80 have no problem dispatching the big dynamic variations on show when, say, a symphony orchestra barrels into the final crescendo. They can create a nice spacious soundstage, too, giving every element of a recording a solidly defined position and enough space to express itself. Despite this, though, the Technics unify recordings well and present them as a coherent and persuasive whole, as a performance, rather than as a collection of individual occurrences.
Those who crave action might find the lack of excitability the AZ80 demonstrate a little underwhelming though. The rest of us will admire the even-handed, considered and, ultimately, realistic nature of their presentation.
Technics EAH-AZ80 review: Design & Usability
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
No sensible company gets carried away where the design of true wireless in-ears is concerned, and if Technics is anything then it’s a sensible company. Despite that, though, the company has had a good long think about the design of the EAH-AZ80 - especially where fit and comfort are concerned.
The broad design is understatedly classy, which is just as well when you consider how much Technics is asking. The milled aluminium touch-surface of our black review sample looks and feels good, and the brand logo running across its surface is confident - and it’s the same story where the charging case in which they travel is concerned.
In an effort to keep the AZ80 as comfortable as possible for as long as possible, Technics has moulded an extrusion into the basic ‘drop’-shaped body of each earbud. Called ‘concha-fit’, it’s designed to fit more naturally into the ear and distribute the weight of the earbud more evenly. The company’s also included seven different sizes of silicone earbuds in the AZ80 packaging. The performance of true wireless earbuds is strongly fit-dependent, of course, and Technics is at pains to point out that not everyone has identically sized ears - so it offers as much scope as possible for you to get the ideal fit for each ear.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
As far as control is concerned, you’ve the usual high-end true wireless earbud options: each earbud includes a large, responsive and reliable capacitive touch surface - here you can control the basics of ‘play/pause’, ‘skip forwards/backwards’, ‘volume up/down’, ‘cycle through noise-cancellation options’ and ‘answer/end/reject call’. The number of taps or holds each function requires can be user-defined.
That customisation takes place in the Technics ‘Audio Connect’ control app, free foriOSandAndroid. At the time of testing, the app was in ‘beta’ mode, but the fully specified version will be available from the day the AZ80 go on sale. Experience of the beta version, along with previous experience of ‘Audio Connect’ when testing the olderEAH-AZ60and EAH-AZ40 models, means it’s safe to say this app is stable, logical, wide-ranging and ultimately rather bland-looking. There’s a lot of functionality here, but most important is the ability to customise EQ settings and alter the intensity of the ANC (or of the ambient sound if you’re working in that direction).
Technics EAH-AZ80 review: Verdict
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
What do you want from your new true wireless in-ear headphones? If it’s considered, grown-up and thoroughly convincing that you’re after, along with excellent comfort, triple-point connectivity, and some good comms smarts, Technics has just the thing with the EAH-AZ80. Just don’t mention battery life or active noise-cancellation (or, if you must, then just whisper it).
Also consider
Today’s best Technics EAH-AZ80 and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II dealsTechnics EAH-AZ80$250.42$195.99ViewSee all pricesBose QuietComfort Earbuds 2$279$249ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Technics EAH-AZ80 and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II dealsTechnics EAH-AZ80$250.42$195.99ViewSee all pricesBose QuietComfort Earbuds 2$279$249ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Technics EAH-AZ80 and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II dealsTechnics EAH-AZ80$250.42$195.99ViewSee all pricesBose QuietComfort Earbuds 2$279$249ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Technics EAH-AZ80 and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II deals
Technics EAH-AZ80$250.42$195.99ViewSee all pricesBose QuietComfort Earbuds 2$279$249ViewSee all prices
Technics EAH-AZ80$250.42$195.99ViewSee all prices
Technics EAH-AZ80$250.42$195.99ViewSee all prices
Technics EAH-AZ80
Technics EAH-AZ80
$250.42$195.99View
$250.42$195.99
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Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2$279$249ViewSee all prices
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2$279$249ViewSee all prices
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2
$279$249View
$279$249
$249
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