Technics has released their latest flagship true wireless earbuds. The EAH-AZ80 retails at S$469 in Singapore, replacing the Technics AZ70 to be their most expensive TWS to date. This, together with the rest of the models from AZ40M2, AZ60M2, offer a wide price range to suit the budget of all consumers.
Let’s start off by summarising the differences among the three earbuds. The AZ40M2 uses 6mm drivers, the AZ60M2 uses 8mm drivers, and the flagship AZ80 has 10mm drivers made of edge-free aluminium alloy diaphragms. The AZ40M2 features beamforming mic while the AZ60M2 and AZ80 features the JustMyVoice technology over 8 microphones. The AZ40M2 also uses standard noise cancelling while the AZ60M2 and AZ80 uses dual hybrid noise cancelling. The AZ40M2 does not support wireless charging and has only up to 18 hours battery life with charging case and ANC On, while the AZ60M2 and AZ80 offers up to 24 hours and supports Qi wireless charging. Apart from that, all three earbuds support up to LDAC audio codec, support multi-point up to three devices at a time, IPX4 water resistance.
Compare Technics AZ80 to AZ70 and AZ60
I still have the Technics AZ60 (first gen) and the AZ70, so I did a close comparison of the audio quality with the new AZ80. The AZ60 was one of my go-to earbuds because its sound signature of a light V-shaped tuning makes music sound more punchy and exciting. It dethroned the AZ70 because the AZ70 has less bass though its strength is on the midrange. The AZ70 also has a chunky charging case that is more bulky to bring out, and a larger set of earbuds. After all, the AZ70 was the first true wireless model from Technics, hence an overall more conservative design approach. But for this review, I took them out to listen again, and its sound tuning is still enjoyable and works well for listeners of vocal genre.
The Technics AZ80 improves from the AZ70 with better bass response, less prominent midrange, sweeter treble. The AZ80 also deviates away from the V-shaped tuning of the AZ60 with warmer tones, adding fullness to the bass and reducing the harshness of the treble. Overall, the AZ80 delivers more cohesive sound stage, clearer reverbs. It offers the advantage of more immersive bass without sacrificing the treble warmth and fullness.
Even if you feel the audio balance is not adequate for your music taste, you can simply apply EQ or select one of the presets.
Compare AZ80 to Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3
The Sennheiser MTW3 is another of my favourite earbuds to use, but now with the Technics AZ80, I have a new favourite. The difference is subtle but it depends on the type of music you listen to. I find that the MTW3 is still better to deliver a fuller bass, but at the expense of midrange, which turns out to be a little less clean than the AZ80. In the treble area, the MTW3 might seem to sound bright, but again, the boomy lows create a veil over the treble transience. For that, the Technics AZ80 lets me enjoy the space of the treble sparkle a little better. Again, depending on your genre, the MTW3 is still enjoyable especially if you prefer a less forward treble.
Compare AZ80 to Sony WF-1000XM5
I don’t have the Sony WF-1000XM5 with me anymore, so I’m going to give my impressions based on memory. In terms of audio quality, the AZ80 offers slightly more treble authority, but since both earbuds support EQ customisation, you can get either of them and tune the frequency range to your preference.
But when it comes to overall usage, I would prefer AZ80 because it has more usage personalisation, for instance, change the touch controls, adjust ANC levels. I also prefer the eartip fit, and the AZ80 earbuds are smaller. The wireless connection to the smartphone also exhibits lesser disruptions compared to the WF-1000X5 when I use during train commute to work. While ANC on the WF-1000X5 is better, it’s only marginally.
There are unique features on the WF-1000XM5, like Speak-to-Chat, Quick Attention, and Adaptive Sound Control, but I do not use them, so they are not factored into my choice.
ANC Quality
In terms of ANC, the AZ80 offers slightly improved noise cancellation from the AZ60 which is already excellent. While it is generally harder to beat the Sony WF-1000XM5 especially with its passive-noise-cancelling foam tips, I find the AZ80 more comfortable to wear. It is close to impossible to achieve total noise cancellation from the urban environment, especially in the train commute. You are bound to be able to hear some noise. The more important consideration is whether the noise disrupts your listening enjoyment. For the AZ80, I feel completely at ease and isolated, and I can easily listen to music details even at low volumes, especially when it comes to Classical genre tracks. In fact, the ANC on the AZ80 is so good that I feel a bit wary that I was not able to hear things around me, like train announcement, or someone asking me to give way. As I walk through the train station from one platform to another, I am really in my world, feeling tranquil, no chattering, no footstep noises, no station announcements.
So what I usually do is to turn on Transparency Mode just to make sure I am still aware of things around me when necessary. And since every user has his or her own preference in the ANC and Transparency intensity, the Technics AZ80 – as well as the rest of the AZ series – lets you adjust the level.
For effective ANC, the earbud fit is important. Technics AZ80 comes with 7 sets of eartip sizes. The XS and S sizes have 2 variants: long and broad, truly designed for the Asian market with smaller ear canals.
Ambient Sound Quality
The Ambient Sound transparency mode on the AZ80 is the best among the Technics models, and I would also say, the best among all the true wireless earbuds – except AirPods Pro. However, in terms of features, the AZ80 is THE BEST, because it allows you to adjust the transparency level. When I turn to the max at level 100, it is completely open and almost natural, with the exception that the white noise seems to be a little enhanced. If I dial down the level to about 8, the white noise is less but the overall ambient noise would be slightly reduced. I love the ability to adjust the level because depending on situations, I can adjust to let in less ambient noise because I want to reduce overall noise yet at the same time I want to be aware of things around me.
There is also an option to select “Attention mode” instead of “Transparency mode”, which boosts the midrange where the voice range is and suppresses the lows and highs, making it sound artificial. It might work for users who still want some form of noise reduction of the traffic horns and the engine noises but still able to hear people noises. In “Attention mode”, for instance, the thunder sounds hollow and tame, no longer scary nor menacing.
More Multi-Point Pairings
For the longest time, multi-point pairing allows connecting up to two devices at the same time. Even so, not all wireless headphones support multi-point. Finally, the Technics AZ80 (as well as AZ60M2 and AZ40M2) supports up to three device connections, making it more versatile. I can now connect to a tablet, a smartphone and a laptop, a common set of tech devices that mobile warriors use. The compromise is that LDAC cannot be enabled.
To pair additional devices, just remove the earbuds from the case and press-hold both earbuds for 5 seconds until the voice prompt announces Bluetooth pairing mode.
LDAC – Hi-Res Wireless Audio Quality
Do not overlook LDAC. It does improve the audio quality of your earbuds. If you somehow felt the sound quality is not that good, and you demand good sound, then switch to LDAC. As LDAC demands higher data bandwidth, you need to disable multipoint to achieve the best resolution of 96kHz 24-bit at 990 kbps which transmits a frequency range from 20 to 40000 Hz.
Good news is that even with multi-point with 2 devices, LDAC can also be enabled but streamed at a lower bandwidth. This is supported even for the older Technics AZ70 and AZ60 models via firmware update.
JustMyVoice
One of the best features for the Technics has got to be the ability to remove background noise during a call. The Technics AZ80 continues to achieve this feat. They even built a demo from the app to show how effective the mic can remove background noise. This is one of the reasons why I stick to my AZ60. I compared with the Sennheiser MTW3 and the AZ80 is able to remove the background noise better.
Smartphone App
There are so much customisation possibilities with the Technics AZ80 (as well as all other AZ-series), here is a highlight of those that matters to me:
Voice prompts – you can select language, adjust volume level of voice prompts, customise whether to speak the setting or to have audible tones, even decide which connected devices to have connection prompts. No other earbuds does this.
Customise touch sensor – you can change the touch sensor operations.
Adjust audio latency – you can choose whether you want to prioritise audio quality or you want to reduce the video-audio lag.
Earbud wear sensor – you can set to pause the music when you remove the earbuds from the ears, and whether to disable touch sensor. Useful to prevent accidental touches after you remove the earbuds.
Finetune active noise cancellation – even before doing the real ANC level adjustment, there is an option to finetune the ANC. On one end, you will hear more hiss (high frequency), on the other end, you will get greater low-frequency silence. The purpose is to decide which end of the frequency you want to reduce the distraction.
Adjust background noise reduction – if you constantly need to take calls at noisy places, you can increase the strength of the noise reduction but that also means you need to speak louder for the earbuds mic to pick up. This won’t be a problem if every thing is as noisy.
Auto Power Off – select how long before the earbuds shut down when a period of silence continues.
Battery Life
The Technics AZ80 is rated with 4.5 hours on each earbuds with ANC and LDAC audio codec streaming, or 7 hours with AAC codec. When combined with charging case, you 16 hours to 25 hours (ANC off). It takes 2.5 hours to fully charge the case, or just 15 minutes quick charge for 70 minutes of usage. You can leave the earbuds on your ears with ANC enabled and no audio for up to 9 hours.
Verdict
My experience with the Technics AZ80 tells me that it is a remarkable true wireless earbuds built upon years of experience in the previous models. Most of the features have existed in earlier models and even the newer mid-range models. With a retail price of S$469, it appears to be a tough sell when there are other more popular models like the Sony and Sennheiser, at lower prices. Technics has got a marvelous premium product, the earbuds sound great, and packed with features, but it would take more than just positive reviews to convince consumers, because there are fewer actual owners compared to the competitors. And my biggest reason for advocating great products like Technics AZ-series earbuds is that I hope it can be commercially successful to continue developing and releasing future models. The world needs better earbuds, and it’s getting boring with just Bose and Sony helming the top of the popularity rankings for ANC earbuds.
You might want to consider the Technics AZ60M2 at S$359. It has the same features as the AZ80 but using a smaller 8mm speaker drivers and a less premium build. Or, get the AZ60 that has the same features as AZ60M2 except triple multi-point connection, improved JustMyVoice, wireless charging, and wear detection.
