For anyone who spent time in clubs and around DJs between the 1970s and 2000s, the Technics brand is synonymous with its legendary SL-1200 line of pitch-shifting turntables. After a brief hiatus that ended thanks to the vinyl resurgence, that legacy of bombproof direct-drive decks continues with the recently released SL-1300G– a turntable aimed more at audiophiles than at festival headliners. In 2023, Technics released premium Bluetooth earbuds to extend its legacy from LP bins into the streaming era. A year and a half later, the company is back with the flagship EAH-AZ100 (buy now for $299), a significant upgrade, both inside and out. The earbuds will be unveiled today at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but PopSci was able to test them under embargo for just under a month and we walked away (and walked with them) impressed.
Disclosure: Our review sample was placed during a press trip to Kyoto, Japan, paid for by Technics parent company Panasonic.
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Construction
Of the many changes Technics has made to these earbuds, the size immediately stands out. While the EAH-AZ80 was slightly teardrop-shaped, the AZH-100’s body is more compact and cylindrical, weighing one gram (up to 6 grams per earbud). These voiceless earbuds are a lot smaller than the typical Bluetooth earbuds we tested, which had one big advantage: they’re a lot more comfortable to wear. Once we put them in, we could listen for hours without feeling any pressure or fatigue. The technology includes earplugs in different sizes in the box. We stuck with the default medium, which is installed by default, and we recommend trying out a pair of earbuds. before deciding which ones work best.
Our rating is completely subjective, and if you don’t like voiceless True Wireless (TWS) earbuds, the EAH-AZ100s might not be for you. We had no problems with them falling out of our ears, even during exercises like jumping jacks, but your experience will vary depending on the shape of your ear. We initially thought the downsizing would result in lower battery life, but that’s not the case. Technics says these earbuds can get up to 10 hours of use when ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) is enabled using the AAC codec; that’s seven hours longer on the EAH-AZ80.
If you enable LDAC (Lossless Digital Audio Codec) streaming on a compatible device (select Android smartphones or a dedicated digital audio player), the EAH-AZ100s offer the same battery life as their predecessor, while offering better audio quality – up to 20 Hz – 40 kHz when using a 96 kHz/990 kbps connection. Technics has also reduced the size of the EAH-AZ100s case while offering longer battery life (18 hours instead of 14 hours) with AAC enabled or 11 additional hours when LDAC is enabled.
Technics’ biggest technical addition to these earbuds is the technology called the “Magnetic Fluid Driver,” which was first introduced in the US Technics EAH-TZ700– a set of wired earphones worth $1,199. When reproducing sound, the driver (the part of a speaker responsible for making sound) typically moves in somewhat random directions. This tumbling will eventually cause deformation. Technics used a 10mm ultra-thin aluminum free-edge diaphragm and supported it with an infrastructure that injected oily fluid filled with magnetic particles into the space between the drive magnet and voice coil, resulting in more consistent movement.
The difference this makes is hard to describe, but once you hear the low distortion playback, it’s hard to go back to even other high-end earbuds. Below is an enlarged example of this precise, linear assembly.
To improve ANC performance, Technics moved one of the EAH-AZ100’s microphones to the inside of the button, which made a bigger difference than I initially expected. With ANC enabled and music at 60 percent, all the typical low noises (fans, footsteps, typing on the keyboard and even a microwave) were completely eliminated. Louder sounds like car horns could still get through, but the EAH-AZ100s’ ANC performance was well above average, giving earbud noise-cancelling champions Bose and the excellent QuietComfort Ultra a run for their money. With a setting in the Technics app, you can have the ANC automatically adjust to the sounds around you, or manually reduce its effectiveness to let in more outside sounds. The earbuds also feature a passthrough mode that uses microphones to filter sounds through the earbuds, which can be useful if you exercise in public, or in an environment where you talk to people semi-frequently.
The setup
We paired the EAH-AZ100s with several devices during our testing, and the earbuds’ Bluetooth 5.3 radio had no trouble connecting to any of these devices. The earbuds automatically enter a pairing state when taken out of their case for the first time, which is handy. At that point, you’ll need to navigate to the Bluetooth settings on your device and tap it to connect. Once connected, you may be asked to download the Technics app, which is necessary if you want to adjust their EQ settings, download new firmware, and check the battery life of their case or earbuds yourself.
The EAH-AZ100s will automatically connect to the first device they’re paired with, but you can re-enable pairing mode by pressing and holding both earbuds with your fingers shortly after removing them from the case and putting them in your ears. You will hear a voice prompt to let you know that pairing mode is enabled. You can then navigate to the Bluetooth settings on a second (or third) device to establish the connection. Every time you put them in your ears, the EAH-AZ100s automatically connect to the three most recently paired devices in Bluetooth range.
This triple multipoint linking feature was available on the EAH-AZ80, but is as consistent and impressive as ever. The ability to reliably pause music on my phone to watch a YouTube video or play a game on my Nintendo Switch without having to worry about dropouts and interference is incredibly liberating. Some earbuds don’t even offer the ability to pair two devices, but Technics remains the best in class in this regard.
The sound
Simply put, listening to music and podcasts on the EAH-AZ100s has been great over the past few weeks. It didn’t matter if I listened to George Harrison’s 2024 remix Living in the material world or Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n‘ Sweet– these earbuds can handle it all. I streamed music exclusively using Apple Music (set to lossless but compressed via the AAC Bluetooth codec) and 256 Kbps audio files from my personal music library. The biggest difference I heard in all my listening sessions was improved bass. I was able to hear instruments throughout the lower frequency range much more clearly compared to both the EAH-AZ80, the Bose QuietComfort Ultras, and Apple’s AirPods Pro 2. None of those earbuds sound bad, but the EAH-AZ100s offer better bass. end sound more consistent. If you listen to bass-heavy music, these are the earbuds to get.
We listened to a mix of rock, pop, hip-hop, jazz and spoken word during our listening tests and found songs from every genre to be pleasing to the ears. The separation between instruments was equally good throughout – this comes down to the quality of a song’s mix – and listening to songs that had many different sounds happening at once was a special treat. A good example of this was ‘Ego Stumbles at the Gates of Hell’ by The Flaming Lips with a pulsating bassline, various background sound effects and echoey vocals. Every part of the mix sounded crisp and clear when listening on the EAH-AZ100s, which was no small feat.
At the other end of the spectrum was Neil Young’s solo acoustic version ‘Flying over the ground is wrong’ away from him Live by the cellar door album. There is an intimacy in both his voice and piano that you can immediately notice when listening on the EAH-AZ100s. The earbuds reward anyone who revisits songs deep in the music library to hear something extra in the background or some more detail in a particular instrument.
The EAH-AZ100s offer support for Spatial Audio when listening to content with a Dolby Atmos mix, but the experience remains mediocre. It’s not Technics’ fault, I’m just not yet convinced by immersive listening on the road. While Spatial Audio tracks can sound more spacious – and enabling head-turning mode, in which the mix changes dynamically as you move your head, mimics the experience of listening to music through speakers – I mostly stuck to listening in stereo . There’s no way to fully recreate the experience of listening to Dolby Atmos tracks on a real multi-speaker component system with front and top-firing drivers. However, if you liked this feature on other earbuds, you’ll love it here.
The conclusion
We’re only two weeks into 2025 and Technics has offered up a pair of reference quality TWS earbuds. The EAH-AZ100s feel like a substantial leap over their predecessors in all the ways that really matter to consumers. They are more comfortable, last longer, have better ANC and have an all-new audio and microphone system. Instead of opting for a simple spec bump, Technics went back to the drawing board to offer actual results – proof that the venerable turntable brand is putting a new, well, spin on its identity and products.
You can pick up a pair of Technics EAH-AZ100 earbuds today for $299.99while the EAH-AZ80 remains available for $199.99.
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