Review: Technics EAH-AZ60 True Wireless ANC Earbuds

Last year, Technics released their first ever true wireless earbuds, the EAH-AZ70W, which was an impressive true wireless earbuds for its first attempt. One year later, its successor, Technics EAH-AZ60 is now available. The Technics EAH-AZ60 retails for S$379.

Unboxing

In the box, you will receive the following items:

• Technics EAH-AZ60
• Charging case
• USB-A to USB-C cable
• Silicon ear tips x7 pairs (XXS, XS, S1, S2, M , L, XL)
• User manual

Tech specs

Build quality and features

The case is made from plastic and has a nice brushed finish to it, with the brand ‘Technics’ embossed on the top of the lid. The shape of the case is a tall rectangular one, which differs from the capsule shaped of their EAH-AZ70W. I much prefer this case shape because it is slim and pocketable since it is only 2.3cm thick. The case has great build quality with no rattling heard at all when I shake it.

The earbuds are completely redesigned to offer a smaller and more ergonomic shape. It still retains a premium feel to it because of the aluminum top housing which joins to its matte plastic half that feels like high quality plastic. The earbuds are rated at IPX4 so it should be able to handle light rain just fine.

Controls

Technics EAH-AZ60 utilizes touch controls that allows you to handle all needed functions of media playback, volume change, and call handling. The touch sensors are responsive, and surprisingly handle triple taps rather well. Each earbud is given a dedicated set of controls which can take a while to learn and be familiar with it. You can see the full list of controls below:

If you do not like the default set of controls, you can customize them in the Technics Audio Connect App – more details below.

Technics Audio Connect App

The Technics Audio Connect App is jam-packed with many customizations to truly tune the earbuds to fit your every needs. On the main dashboard, you can quickly check the battery levels and access common used features such as sound control modes and EQ.

In the Ambient Sound Control tab, you can toggle between the different sound control modes such as ANC and Ambient. Other than that, you can also adjust the intensity of each mode. So if you find the noise cancelling to be too strong on default you can tune it down.

There are also two types of Ambient modes to choose from – (1) transparent which is the default transparency mode that lets in the external sounds, or (2) attention which emphasizes on voices.

There are also some quality of life features such as giving you an option to choose the type connection, and whether you want to cycle through all 3 sound modes, or just 2. You can even set the level of noise background noise reduction you want to microphone to do when taking a call. Lastly, you can optimize the noise cancellation, which does amp up the cancelling a tad bit when I was in a very noisy place.

All great companion app comes with the option to adjust the EQ, and the Technics Audio Connect App surely did not leave it out. You can choose from the pre-made EQ options or make your own custom EQ using the 5-bar spectrum. The audio tuning difference is discernable but it does not drastically alter it like other companion apps.

Last but not least, you can customize the operations on the touch sensor. Unlike JBL where you can only select a from set of controls on the JBL Tour Pro+, Technics has done a brilliant implementation of this by allowing you customize every single type of touch control. Personally I don’t like having a control tagged to a single tap because it always gets accidentally triggered when I’m trying to fit the earbuds in my ears. You can see a short demo of what you can do with the app below:

Ambient – Transparent & Attention

The default Transparent mode allows all external sounds come into the earbuds, as though you are wearing an open-fit pair of earbuds. At max settings (100), the transparency mode is more sensitive to wind sounds and sort of gives you extra level of hearing. I find that setting the level anywhere between 60 to 80 gives you a transparency mode that is more reflective of what it sounds like if you are not wearing any earbuds at all. Human voices sound natural, and the overall soundstage feels more balanced.

Attention mode thins out the soundstage so it brings your attention to voices and high frequency sounds. The overall audio will sound unnatural as there is significant processing that is being done in this mode.

Battery life

Technics EAH-AZ60 is rated to last 7.5 hours of play time on a full charge without ANC. Thankfully, ANC doesn’t seem to have much battery impact as you’ll get up to 7 hours on a full charge with ANC. The charging case will provide a total of 25 hours, which looks to be enough for a week of use.

Charging is done via USB-C at the back of the case. Unfortunately, Technics EAH-AZ60 does not support wireless charging. If you ever find your Technics EAH-AZ60 out of battery, a quick 15 minutes will provide 80 minutes of listening with ANC off or 70 mins with ANC on.

Fit

The predecessor, EAH-AZ70W was a rather chunky pair of earbuds that may not sit well in smaller ears because of its size. Thankfully, the new Technics EAH-AZ60 opted to redesign the shape of the earbuds to one that is more ergonomic and slim so it sits more flushed in my ears.

Fit was something that Technics clearly worked to improve and you can see by their decision to provide a whopping 7 sizes of ear tips to choose from. Personally, I found the default ear tip size (M) to work the best for me. The Technics EAH-AZ60 provides a very light and unobtrusive fit. The nozzle doesn’t extend too far into my ear canal, and the curves of the earbuds rest nicely along the inner contours of my ears. The silicon used on the ear tips feels supple and soft, which adds to the overall comfort.

Pairing, connectivity, and latency

Technics EAH-AZ60 comes equipped with latest Bluetooth 5.2 technology. Pairing it with my iPhone 11 was a breeze. Connection was strong and stable during my use, and I did not experience any latency or lag when watching YouTube videos from the YouTube app on my iPhone 11. If you wish to use just one earbud, you can use either the left or right earbud.

With a S$379 flagship price tag, you’d expect all sorts of connectivity features and Technics do deliver on that front. The Technics EAH-AZ60 also features multi-point connection, which means the earbuds can be connected to two Bluetooth devices at the same time. And the earbuds will automatically play sound from the last device that is streaming content.

Sound quality

I was expecting the Technics EAH-AZ60 to have a similar audio tuning compared to the EAH-AZ70W but this was not the case. The Technics EAH-AZ60 has an overall warmer sound compared to the EAH-AZ70W. The EAH-AZ60 has stronger base presence and controlled treble, whereas the EAH-AZ70W offers tighter bass and forward sparkly treble. Sonically, the predecessor EAH-AZ70W is more accurate but the new Technics EAH-AZ60 will likely be more fun to listen to.

Bass on the Technics EAH-AZ60 is punchy and offers desirable thump and rumble that doesn’t leak into the mids. Midrange is kept clean and given enough room for vocals and instruments to shine. Treble is well-controlled with comfortable warmth that still offers sparkling clarity. Soundstage is fairly wide with accurate stereo imaging. LDAC is also supported on the Technics EAH-AZ60, so those rocking Android phones will be able to enjoy higher resolution audio files.

ANC performance

Active noise cancellation on the predecessor EAH-AZ70W was already impressive, and the new Technics EAH-AZ60 continues in the same vein to offer effective ANC. Low frequencies noises such as engine rumble in buses are cancelled out to a large extent. However, I did notice that the ANC occasionally hiccups when the bus goes over humps. I believe the sudden change in noise frequencies kind of chokes what the microphone is taking in, resulting in the ANC to stutter. I did not experience such hiccups even when blasting loud airplane noise from my speakers. This should be fixed easily in an firmware update.

As for tougher noises such higher frequency train rail squeal and traffic, the Technics EAH-AZ60 cancels them out well, leaving only light audible traces of them. When compared to other flagship like Apple’s AirPods Pro, the AirPods Pro cancels out high frequencies noises a little better. Overall, the ANC on the Technics EAH-AZ60 is considered to be worthy of flagship pricing. The ANC does alter the EQ ever so slightly, making bass to sound a little less roomy.

Personally, I didn’t feel any cabin pressure effect with ANC turned on. But since everyone’s ears are different, someone may feel that uncomfortable cabin pressure effect. As aforementioned, the ability to dial down the level of ANC is a great for users who are sensitive and they can continue to enjoy without feeling too much cabin pressure effect.

Microphone quality

Technics EAH-AZ60 features 8 individual mics and JustMyVoice technology, which is designed to cancel out all background noise and focus on your voice. But how does it perform in real life? Voice pickup is accurate and my voice sounds clear though there is a slight echo-y effect. There is more focus on the high frequencies in my speech rather than the low end. When noise was introduced, the Technics EAH-AZ60 is able to cancel out majority of the background noise and manages to keep my voice as the main focus. In very noisy situations, I would suggest going to the app and turning the ‘level of background noise reduction’ to ‘Strong’ as it really does cancel away a lot more unwanted noise in the background, and keep the focus on my voice.

Conclusion

The Technics EAH-AZ60 is a solid step-up from the EAH-AZ70W, which gives it a right be called a flagship pair true wireless earbuds. It has great build quality and design, packed in a pocket friendly charging case. Also, it gets all the fundamentals right – comfortable fit, good sound quality, effective ANC, multi-point connection, and support for high quality audio codec.. The best part to me was the amount of customizations you can set to the Technics EAH-AZ60 such that it becomes tailor made to your needs.

The S$379 price puts it in the fierce competition of Sony’s WF-1000XM4 and Apple’s AirPods Pro. When all 3 are compared, you gain some and lose some with the Technics EAH-AZ60, so it really depends on what you value most and make your purchase decision based on that.