Review: Technics EAH-AZ100 Earbuds

Panasonic-owned hi-fi brand Technics scored a surprise hit with 2023’s fantastic EAH-AZ80 wireless earbuds (9/10, WIRED Recommends). The premium pair quickly became a top pick for me, thanks to their stylish looks, great fit and features, and stellar sound quality. So, a first look at the AZ80’s sequel at CES 2025 promising even better sound had my heart all in a twitter.

It’s always tough to follow a chart topper, but the AZ100 successfully succeed their predecessor in most ways that count, led by richer and more vivid sound from their new magnetic ferro-fluid drivers and revamped acoustic housings. They also bring advanced features like support for Spatial Audio and Bluetooth LE Audio, and stealthier yet still suitably flashy style.

The new fit, while more compact, feels less ergonomic to my ears, and I wish Technics had stepped up the noise canceling more to close in on leaders like Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra. Those points aside, the AZ100 are another Technics hit thanks to premium digs and sound quality that stands tall among the very best wireless earbuds you can buy.

Sleeker Style, Smarter Tricks

As glitzy as the AZ80 are, the AZ100 raise the stakes with a slimmer and sleeker design. The signature sparkling accents that recall Technics turntables return, now with even more metallic floss around the rims and smaller, less obtrusive endcaps. At 6 grams per side, they’ve lost a gram of heft, but their new shape doesn’t slip into my ears with the driving-glove fit of the AZ80, tending to wear a bit more over time. There are also fewer ear tips to try (five compared to seven), but the Technics app assisted me in finding a stable and relatively comfy fit.

The AZ100’s charging case is modestly slimmer and drops a full 8 grams to 42, making it among the smallest in its class. That doesn’t leave a ton of room for the battery, offering less than two earbud fill-ups on the go. Luckily, the buds themselves pack plenty of playback time, with up to 10 hours per charge with noise canceling for standard Bluetooth, or seven hours with LDAC lossless connection. That’s more than you’ll get from buds like Bose’s QC Ultra or Apple’s AirPods Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends), and it’s a noticeable upgrade over the older pair.

Technics is no slouch in the feature department, and the latest pair offers just about every modern feature you could want. You’ll find all the basics like auto-pause sensors, a multiband EQ, Google Fast Pair, and an Earbuds Finder, with customization available in the Technics app. In fact, virtually everything is customizable for an almost dizzying array of options. If there’s something you don’t like, from how the buds relay video sync to how your voice sounds on calls, there’s likely an adjustment available.

Not everything feels as polished as Apple’s AirPods Pro, the software leader in the space. The AZ100's call suppression feature, for instance, does a great job killing ambient noise around your voice (or even the voice on the other end), but it makes you sound a bit sterile and robotic in the process. The app itself sometimes refused to load, forcing me to refresh it, though it was otherwise stable.

Multitaskers will be pleased to see the return of three-device multipoint pairing, letting you easily swap between your computer, tablet, and phone over Bluetooth, with no brand loyalty required. Speaking of Bluetooth, you’ll not only get support for regular codecs like AAC and LDAC over Bluetooth 5.3, but also Bluetooth LE Audio, which should futureproof the buds for next-gen wireless streaming.

The AZ100’s touch controls are responsive, customizable, and comprehensive, with default options for playback, calling, volume, and ambient audio at the ready. The layout is a tad confusing at first, but I appreciate the ability to accomplish just about any task without grabbing your phone.

Velvet Sparkle

I often save the sound performance for last, but the AZ100's sound is too good to hold off any longer. Like most hi-fi buds, they provide a slow and steady revelation of their skills. The further you drill down, the better they sound.

When I first fired them up, I was surprised by the sound signature’s warm and almost thick flavor, seeming more reliant on the bass and lower mids than expected. That said, I generally prefer a smoother touch in my hi-fi over sharp and zingy, and it didn’t take long to find that the AZ100’s warm entrance acts almost like a velvet backdrop on which instrumental textures and effects glitter like jewels in the light.

Like any great pair of headphones, you’ll find yourself rediscovering songs you’ve heard dozens of times. Not everything steps up to a revelatory level, but well-recorded tracks are elevated. One example is St. Vincent’s Digital Witness, which sounded almost like an alternative mix with the AZ100. Clark’s vocals are haunting, with long reverb trails that hang in the air and slip into the sides of the mix. The groove’s right side kick drum felt like it was popping directly in my ear, the horns cut with Sgt. Pepper grit and, for the first time, I noticed the instruments all going flat at the end of their staccato chorus. It's the little things.

The AZ100’s new drivers deliver on their promise of cutting distortion, which leaves instruments brilliantly separated and fully exposed. Deep and rich timbres flow across the stereo image or double at the far sides with refined definition. Little moments like an extra breath or the click before a guitar strum surface effortlessly. All instruments sound great, but percussion is particularly lovely, arriving in sandpaper pulses and loads of colors that sneak out from little pockets along the height and width of each mix.

Only Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 TW (7/10, WIRED Recommends) keep up for the money. I think the AZ100 has the edge for instrumental textures, while the Momentum sometimes do better carving out darker mixes. I occasionally found the AZ100’s bass too heavy, but you can adjust that to order in the EQ, and I mostly just leaned back and let the buds do their thing.

Midtier Ambience

Unlike their sound, the AZ100’s active noise canceling is decidedly middle-rung for their class. After nearly two years between releases, a weightier upgrade would have been nice, but even middle-rung in this competitive segment is enough to fulfill most needs. In my AZ80 review, I called their noise canceling powerful enough to have folks sneaking up on you with light music playing, and the AZ100’s Adaptive ANC is a skosh better. It satisfyingly silences HVAC hums and other annoyances in your home or office and quickly quells outdoor interruptions like construction work or landscaping.

In A/B testing in my acoustically treated studio with airplane drone effects, the AZ100 fared well against premium contenders like Sony’s WF-1000XM5 (7/10, WIRED Recommends), though like the Momentum 4, they’re less effective in higher frequencies like keystrokes and voices. The Momentum held an edge over the Technics for lower frequencies, while Beats’ new Powerbeats Pro 2 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) did better with voices and keystrokes. All these models are obliterated by Bose’s flagship QuietComfort Ultra, so if you have to have the best, it’s an easy choice.

The AZ100’s adjustable transparency mode is similarly good-not-great. Exterior sounds are slightly muddled and some higher frequencies are over-accentuated, but it’s enough to keep you aware of your surroundings and carry on a conversation with soft music playing. I was pleased to find advanced transparency features like wind buffering and a limiter to suppress sudden loud noises like Apple’s and Bose’s flagship pairs.

For those who put sound quality first, Technics’ AZ100 have few rivals in their class, with the sale-priced AZ80 perhaps the most enticing. If you're after new premium buds with premium sound to match, these earbuds are a top choice from an iconic brand.