Lately we can see that many audio brands have introduced their own TWS earphone offerings, and some of them are offered at premium class prices (RM1000 and up).
Technics, the audio brand under the Japanese technology company Panasonic has returned to the audio market as well with a number of new offerings, which include several models in the premium category. One of them, the Technics EAH-AZ80 was sent to us for testing, and here's what we think about it.
Specifications
Technics EAH-AZ80
In-ear TWS type
10 mm driver
Microphone 8 microphones
Battery Up to 7 hours / 24 hours with pod and ANC
USB-C charging port
Wireless charging None
CODEC SBC, AAC, LDAC
All operating systems are supported
Virtual assistant support Yes/All
Yes 2X touch pad
IPX4 waterproof capability
No Internal Storage
Offline Audio None
Pulse scanner None
Selling Price RM 1599
Design
Technics EAH-AZ80 comes with a combination of minimalist and industrialist design. The semi-cuboid and cylindrical earphone frame ensures that this accessory is always standing upright and is also compact enough to fit into a pocket or any small storage space without any problems.
The USB Type-C charging plug is located on the back of these earphones, and an added feature is that these earphones also support Qi wireless charging, if you have such a wireless charging accessory.
In my opinion, the design of these earphones, while good, is a bit boring, especially for an earphone with such a high price tag. if the design was a little more compact, and had a more premium finish, for me it could compete with the offerings from brands like Sony and Bowers & Wilkins.
The EAH-AZ80 earphones are also seen as quite compact, but loaded with various audio technologies such as audio drivers with a 10mm aluminum alloy structure, an acoustic chamber that ensures audio quality and bass are not affected by distortion issues.
The Technics EAH-AZ80 also comes with eight built-in microphones, which are used not only for clearer communication purposes, but also for active noise cancellation and the Ambient Sound Control function that allows the user to hear the surrounding sounds clearly even when wearing earphones. this.
Connections and Controls
The Technics EAH-AZ80 earphones come with support for Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, and among the advantages of using this wireless connection technology are lower battery power consumption, lower latency rates and longer connection distances with devices.
The Technics Audio Connect app is used to connect these earphones to your device. Apart from that, it can also be used to see the battery life of these earphones, and also update the firmware which is sometimes needed to improve the audio quality or to add additional features to these earphones.
In terms of settings, this application also allows users to modify the settings for the ANC feature, Ambient Sound Control, the audio profile they want to use, and also to modify the touch pad settings on the left and right units of the EAH-AZ80 earphones.
A very interesting feature of these earphones is its ability to connect to three devices at once. With this feature, audio connection switching can be done automatically without requiring input from the user. Once connected, the user only needs to play audio media on the connected devices and it will automatically switch to the active device.
There are a lot of settings in these earphones, and it may take some time for you to get used to them, but if you spend some time learning about them, you will realize that these earphones are among the most feature-rich earphones , and easily set in the market.
Audio Quality
The Technics EAH-AZ80 is a premium class earphone, and apart from the functions it offers, another highlight is the support for LDAC audio technology, which allows smart devices to stream audio with a higher bit rate.
The downside of LDAC technology is in its support. There aren't many audio streaming services that support it, nor are there devices that take advantage of this technology. Even so, these earphones still support two types of audio technology that are more widely used, namely AAC and SBC.
Out of the box, the EAH-AZ80 earphones come with the DIRECT audio setting, which shows the audio graph all at neutral. Other settings present include a mode that focuses on higher bass settings, as well as more prominent vocals.
Bass
At the original setting, the bass level for the EAH-AZ80 earphones is, I would say, at a neutral level. This is not a negative as the bass volume can be adjusted via the Technics Audio Connect app.
My recommendation for bass lovers is to change the audio settings of these earphones to bass mode, and then adjust the bass volume of these earphones to your liking.
Vocal/Mid
The vocal quality and mid notes of these earphones are among the clearest I can say, and don't need so much tweaking in terms of settings. Normally I will use the DIRECT audio setting because most of the songs I listen to don't need the volume of the bass and even the high notes.
In terms of device offerings, different from what was announced by the government, Yes 5G offers ZTE Blade A73 and Vivo Y55+ 5G devices at a price of RM240 or RM120 for the first 100 thousand B40 customers. To ensure the longevity of these devices, they will also be offered with a two-year warranty.
High
The high notes on these earphones are also not overwhelming in my opinion, and if you are someone who likes to listen to songs recorded live, acoustic songs or unplugged, I feel that these earphones are also suitable for you.
Microphone
The EAH-AZ80 earphones come with eight built-in microphones, four on each side of the earphones that ensure noise is avoided from voice calls even when ANC mode is activated for listening to music that is not polluted by outside noise.
In the meantime, this microphone is also used for transparent audio mode where the sound around you is mixed with the audio you hear. This is a very useful function especially when you want to listen to announcements in public transport, or if you are walking on the sidewalk and want to be aware of your surroundings.
Battery
In terms of battery life, Technics says that the EAH-AZ80 earphones have a full charge life of 7 hours, and 24 hours with the charging case. In my experience with these earphones, these lifespans are pretty much spot on, with each use seeing me reach around 6 hours 30 minutes before they run out.
Charging the earphones and the frame also doesn't take that long, about two hours more is needed to charge from empty to full. Technics also says that charging for less than 10 minutes allows users to get 70 minutes of use for these earphones.
In the box
Here are the accessories offered in the Technics EAH-AZ80 earphone box:
1x Technics EAH-AZ80
1x Charging frame
1x USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable
7x silicone ear buds in a choice of XS, S, M, L and XL sizes
Conclusion
With a price tag of RM1599, the Technics EAH-AZ80 earphones are in the premium earphone market which, in my opinion, is quite worth the price tag offered. In addition to good audio quality, it also comes with the ability to modify settings in depth and additional features that are very useful, in particular ANC, audio pass-through and connection to three devices at once.
Support for Qi wireless charging, a very wide selection of ear tips and various audio streaming platforms with different audio technologies also add to the value of these earphones, making them one of the earphones we can recommend if you're looking for a premium earphone offering.
Pros:
The audio quality is neutral, but can be modified according to the user's taste
Many features such as ANC, audio transparency, audio pause when the earphones are removed
An application with very deep modifications
Wide selection of ear tips
Cons:
A slightly boring design
Heavy earphones