Technics EAH-AZ100 review

Introduction

Technics celebrates its 60^th anniversary in 2025, and while it’s not as old as some other audio brands, Technics’ history is one of the more illustrious.

So it’s odd that with all its expertise and talent, its headphones haven’t quite hit the spot. Its march into the true wireless market has seen it deliver good efforts, but also imperfect ones.

Perhaps until now that is.

The EAH-AZ100 has taken onboard the lessons from before and tucked them into a one-size-fits-all model that take swings at Sony, Bose, Apple, Bowers & Wilkins et al. Has it finally delivered a true wireless pair that deliver a knockout?

Design

• IPX4 design
• Smaller size
• Black and white variants

Lots has changed from the AZ80 but in short, the AZ100 have been downsized to be smaller and lighter. The AZ80 looked fetching but were chunky. With the AZ100, they’re more comfortable and fit better into my ear, and over the course of travelling through Japan, UK and the USA, I’ve worn them for hours without feeling uncomfortable.

The fit and seal need adjustments every now and again, but that’s true for most wireless earbuds. Technics provides five sizes of eartips for the best fit, but I haven’t felt the need to switch from the default medium. They slot easily and stay in.

They come in black and silver variants. The black option (my preferred) looks great with its brushed finish on the touch surface and (slightly faded) gold lettering. The accompanying charging case is compact enough that it doesn’t present issues when slid into a pocket.

Touch controls are the method for operating the AZ100, and I’ve had no issues with them. The Technics’ earbuds respond quickly to any presses and you don’t have to tap too hard for the buds to recognise contact either. If anything they’re a little too sensitive – my longer hair has paused music more than once.

The IPX4 rating is bog standard for a true wireless, protecting them against splashes of water and sweat. You could take them to the gym or use them for exercise, and given how well they fit, they’re not likely to fall out even during your stomach crunches.

Features

• AI-assisted call quality
• 10-hours battery life
• Three-device Bluetooth multi-point

The one area where previous Technics’ earbuds excelled was in the features department. The most interesting feature of this new pair is the Voice Focus AI.

I wrote about it earlier in 2025 and the EAH-AZ100 uses AI noise reduction to reduce outside sounds during calls. The performance is pretty remarkable for a true wireless.

Wireless earbuds have always struggled with calls. Strangely, less expensive models can be better than premium options – but the Technics AZ100 is the first premium bud in a while that’s impressed me. Aside from an ambulance whooshing past, very little noise distracted during the call with AI Voice Focus enabled.

Voice pick-up was clear and detailed and when I turned the feature off in the app, they said the call sounded like I was in a rainy downpour. As soon as I switched it back on, it returned to previous levels of excellence – and this was on a busy road near Southwark. It’s easily one of the best true wireless I’ve tested as far as call quality goes.

Bluetooth specs include Bluetooth 5.3, and the earbuds stream at SBC, AAC, LC3 and LDAC bit-rates. The AZ100 comes with Bluetooth multi-point but what’s special is that it can connect to three devices at once for the multitaskers out there.

However, you can’t have the highest-quality sound (LDAC) and three-device multi-point at the same time. You can try it with two, but you won’t get the highest audio quality, which means true LDAC sound is still tied to one device.

There’s room for improvement in terms of Bluetooth performance. At Waterloo train station (one of the places I go to test Bluetooth), the connection was spotty. The signal never completely broke, but it was enough to irritate me.

When walking near the San Diego Convention Centre, the connection was so bad that I had to walk away for the music to resume. You can prioritize the connection over sound quality, but that means dropping to SBC levels, and for a £250 pair of earbuds, that doesn’t hold much appeal.

As far as battery life goes, Technics claims ten hours with ANC and 26 more with the charging case for 36 in total. That’s more than Bose, more than Sony, and more than Sennheiser.

In real-world terms, an hour of streaming saw them drop by 4% on an AAC connection. A second attempt and they fell to 89/86% over two hours, which is still remarkably good.

On an LDAC connection it dropped to 82% after an hour, which is around 5.5 hours. In the end it depends on the connection you’re streaming at.

The Audio Connect app allows for customisation, whether swapping through the EQ selections or creating your own. You can also fine-tune the adaptive ANC and Ambient Sound performance to allow as much or as little sound as you like. You can customise the home screen in a more comprehensive way than Sony’s Sound Connect app allows.

If the headphones are misplaced, there’s a Find My Headphones feature. You can turn on or off the auto-play sensor, enable LE Audio Bluetooth (though that affects multi-point and spatial audio), decide when the headphones switch from one device to another (music or calls?), optimise them for Dolby Atmos playback, customise the controls, monitor battery life, and more.

The app offers a lot of control over the headphones and you can go as deep as you want. I’m a little surprised there aren’t any integrated voice assistants, but I hardly use them anyway.

Noise Cancellation

• Adaptive ANC
• Improved performance in low- to mid-frequencies

The noise cancellation has been upgraded, and over the course of testing, I found the AZ100 to be very good in this area. Technics say they’ve improved noise reduction in the low to mid frequencies and repositioned the feedback mic. It’s a definite upgrade over the AZ80.

While I don’t have the Sony WF-1000XM5 to compare to, I do have a (newer) pair of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. I compared the two with a pink noise test, and I found them to be on the same level in terms of noise suppression.

They’re excellent to wear on public transport, and one of the few headphones that’s able to cope with Jubilee and Victoria Underground lines without a fuss. Even at 50% volume, they batted away noises. People’s voices become murmurs – at worst you might hear someone cough – and in general the noise-cancelling hushes away a lot of noise, while wind noise doesn’t affect the performance.

The adaptive ANC option has a tendency to flow in and out in terms of strength. I hear it kick in to suppress sounds when it gets a little louder but I can also tell when the earbuds are slightly loose or not fitted well as the ANC performance goes up and down more.

The transparency mode is effective with two options available (Transparent and Attention, which is for conversations). It picks up on sounds from across the room I wouldn’t have heard on my own (wearing them at an airport is… interesting). They’re not as clear or as natural-sounding as the Bose with a little more noise present. Still, people talking in this mode sound natural and in terms of spatial awareness, I can hear all that’s around me.

Sound Quality

• Rich but balanced sound
• Wide soundstage
• Improved bass

The EAH-AZ100 use a version of driver technology Technics developed for wired earphones a few years ago. It’s a Magnetic fluid driver – it looks a little like the goo from the Alien series – and it’s been designed to deliver lower levels of distortion, more accurate bass and higher resolution with audio.

It still offers that rich sense of sound that Technics has pursued with its true wireless earbuds, but is clearer, more refined, and more detailed than the AZ80. The soundstage offers higher levels of detail, but also a better sense of organisation in terms of where voices and instruments sit. It’s a more musical performance that makes the AZ80 sound ordinary.

It’s a more dynamic-sounding effort too. Highs and lows translate better, making the AZ100 sound more realistic and flowing.

Highs have a sense of brightness but aren’t the sharpest-sounding when listening to Greg Foat’s Symphonie Pacifique, but treble does at least come across with clarity. With GoGo Penguin’s Erased by Sunlight and Andreas Ihlebaek’s Come Summer, there’s again a good sense of clarity, variety and detail with treble notes, though it does sound as if the warmth of the AZ100’s sound slightly dulls those piercing highs and replaces them with a richer presentation.

The soundstage is spread out wide, wider than the slightly congested feel of the AZ80, and the tonality of the Technic’ AZ100’s hits impressively with Ashley Henry and Makaya McCraven’s Dark Honey. Brass instruments sound textured and rich, and percussion drums hit well. Cymbal hits aren’t the sharpest, but there’s an enjoyable sense of detail across the frequency range.

There’s a lovely sense of flow and musicality across a range of music genres. Rhythmically, they handle transitions from slow to faster tempos and vice versa in System Of A Down’s Chop Suey! well.

They’re not as energetic-sounding as the Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 – at least not at default volumes – but give them a boost in volume and they sound more exciting with increased levels of drive and momentum.

It’s in the bass regions where the performance feels most improved. Low frequencies have more depth, weight and punch.

Listening to Easy Life’s skeletons and Makeba’s Jain against the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, the Bose has the edge in terms of power, clarity, and depth, but the AZ100 is a step in the right direction from the AZ80 as far as bass management is concerned.

Male and female vocals are expressed with a hint of richness that doesn’t detract from the levels of detail and clarity on show – there’s a naturalness to vocals that comes through whatever track I play. The smoothness of the sound avoids stripping vocals to sound thin like the Pi6 does.

I don’t have a pair of the Sony WF-1000XM5 at hand, but my assumption is the Sony true wireless might have a defter sense of detail and nuance. But take nothing away from the AZ100 – they’re Technics’ best-sounding true wireless so far.

Should you buy it?