Technics AZ100 Review: Music Lovers' New Favorite Earbuds

While the marque doesn't bask the aforesaid sanction designation arsenic Bose oregon Sony erstwhile it comes to wireless buds, Technics has been steadily catching its competition. The Technics AZ100 is the company's caller acceptable of flagship earbuds, and if you haven't been paying attention, it’s clip to start.

Price and Availability

The Technics AZ100 is the apical of the company's enactment of earbuds, and retails for $299. That puts these into the aforesaid terms scope arsenic top-tier contention from Bose, Sony, Apple, and others. On the 1 hand, this shows Technics is serious, but connected the other, it shows however pugnacious this class tin be.

You person 2 options for the decorativeness of the AZ100: the modular black, and a metallic option, which is the exemplary I was sent to trial for this review.

Sleek Design and a Focus connected Finding the Right Fit

While a gram present oregon determination whitethorn not dependable similar much, it adds up erstwhile you're carrying that value successful your ears. That goes to accidental that the AZ100 weighing successful astatine 5.9g per earbud compared to 7g connected the AZ80, is much important than it sounds. These earbuds are besides smaller, making for an easier clip uncovering the close fit.

Technics has made getting the acceptable close a large portion of the plan of the AZ100, arsenic we'll look astatine adjacent much aboriginal on. For now, the important portion is the sheer fig of receptor tips: 5 antithetic sets ranging from tiny to large. This is really down from the 7 sets included with the erstwhile flagship, but inactive plentifulness to spell around.

During testing, I ended up utilizing the AZ100 with a fewer antithetic sets of tips, and was arsenic comfy with each of them. I ended up swapping tips for sound-related reasons, truthful it was a pleasant astonishment to spot the earbuds enactment enactment contempt changing sizes.

Superb Sound and Call Quality

Like galore earbuds, the operator successful the Technics AZ100 measures 10mm, but that's wherever astir similarities end. These earbuds usage a "Magnetic Fluid Driver," which uses magnetic particles suspended successful a liquid---a method borrowed from the company's overmuch higher-end in-ear monitors.

The earbuds enactment the modular SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs, but that's not all. Sony's LDAC codec is supported arsenic well, for higher-res wireless dependable quality. You besides get the LC3 codec, which inactive isn't a communal inclusion, adjacent arsenic terms tags commencement pushing higher.

While listening to Fleetwood Mac's I Walk a Thin Line, I noticed a astonishing magnitude of heft to the debased extremity that I don't typically expect from in-ears. This opus successful peculiar volition usage immoderate abstraction it tin successful the stereo field, and it gets plentifulness retired of the Technics.

That weighty debased extremity returned successful the chorus of Queens of the Stone Age’s The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret, but it didn't get successful the mode of the multilayered guitars. Despite aggregate layers of heavy fuzz guitar, the extremity of the opus ne'er gets overly engaged successful presumption of frequencies.

The Technics don’t ever trust connected sheer value to present their sonic potential, either. The explosive ending of Wilson Pickett’s mentation of Hey Jude sounded a small bladed here, arsenic it astir ever does, but that didn't rob the opus of its impact.

The AZ100 earbuds besides enactment Dolby Atmos sound, and it's treated with a shockingly dependable hand. Rather than the full-on effect it sometimes comes crossed as, I recovered Atmos added a saccharine but subtle stereo width to the close tracks.

While you whitethorn inactive request to crook to Sony oregon Bose for the eventual successful active sound cancellation (ANC), it's surely not open-and-shut. In particular, the noise-canceling is excellent, whether you crank it to afloat oregon let the Adaptive mode to instrumentality attraction of it for you.

The Ambient mode, which is the Technics instrumentality connected the Transparent mode, is effective, but not peculiarly transparent sounding. You get the feeling that you're proceeding everything astir you done headphones, which you are.

Call prime is great, and I had astir identical results with trial recordings from some indoors and outdoors.

AZ100 Microphone Sample: Indoors

AZ100 Microphone Sample: Outdoors

The Customizable Controls are Touchy

Touch controls are much oregon little a information of beingness erstwhile it comes to earbuds. While I'm not a fan, personally, I recognize the satellite has moved on. I whitethorn person to usage interaction controls, but I similar erstwhile they're easy customizable.

The Technics Audio Connect App (available for iPhone and iPad arsenic good arsenic Android) offers plentifulness of customization, but not everything is perfect. You tin customize astir everything down to what a double-tap connected each broadside does, but the earbuds themselves sometimes admit azygous taps arsenic doubles, etc.

One different country wherever the app was amazingly finicky was the receptor extremity enactment process, which is wherefore I tried the AZ100 with truthful galore extremity sizes. I typically usage the mean tips that vessel connected astir earbuds, but present the Technics app yet settled connected medium-large aft trying everything from tiny to large.

It was worthy it erstwhile I heard the dependable and the sound cancellation, but it was a spot of a travel getting there. You tin besides usage the app to tune the earbuds' EQ, but I was truthful blessed with the default dependable of the AZ100 that I mostly near this diagnostic alone.

One much notable diagnostic is Technics' three-device multipoint Bluetooth support. This adds a instrumentality to the emblematic multipoint limit, and portion it's somewhat of a novelty, it decidedly has its uses.

The artillery beingness successful the Technics AZ100 is improved implicit that of the AZ80, but the wide beingness isn't particularly impressive. You tin expect up to 10 hours connected a azygous charge, assuming you're utilizing either ANC oregon the Ambient Mode, with the lawsuit adding a fewer much charges for a full of 28 hours.

You get 2 methods of charging the lawsuit here: a USB-C larboard connected the bottommost of the case, oregon Qi-certified wireless charging. This shouldn't travel arsenic overmuch of a astonishment successful higher-end earbuds these days, but I'm ever inactive blessed to spot wireless charging supported.

A afloat recharge of the lawsuit takes astir 2 hours, but if you popular the earbuds successful the lawsuit portion it's charging, a 15-minute complaint gets you astir 90 minutes of playback time. For afloat stats, you tin usage the Technics Audio Connect app, but determination is simply a tiny LED connected the lawsuit to springiness you a speedy overview of complaint status.

Should You Buy the Technics AZ100?

Over the years, I've tested plentifulness of headphones, IEMs, and earbuds, truthful I wasn't expecting to beryllium utterly blown distant by the dependable prime of the Technics AZ100. While I wasn't jaw-on-the-floor astonished by the sound, I'm not definite that I've heard galore earbuds that are amended sounding successful immoderate nonsubjective way. Music playback is the strongest portion of an altogether outstanding package.

Noise-canceling is wherever Bose and Sony inactive propulsion the biggest gains implicit the Technics, but adjacent there, the pb is shrinking. I lone stress this depending connected however you usage your earbuds: If your main usage lawsuit is nary music, ANC-only, there's nary constituent to the Technics. That said, if you're playing euphony each day, the other sonic oomph from the AZ100 is worthy a insignificant tradeoff successful ANC performance.

With fantastic-sounding drivers, a coagulated enactment of wireless codecs, and amazingly subtle Dolby Atmos support, the Technics AZ100 earbuds are intelligibly aimed astatine listeners who prioritize music. If that sounds similar you, past you mightiness person conscionable recovered your cleanable earbuds.