The Samsung Galaxy S25 is already here but the Technics EAH-AZ100 wireless headphones will soon be available in Pakistan, and they both are quite expensive, but in return, the improvement compared to their predecessors, which were launched only a year and a half ago, are really noticeable.
We last wrote about Technics headphones a year and a half ago , when the Japanese audio brand’s EAH-AZ80 headphones were released, with which we had particularly positive experiences. We concluded our test by saying that despite the minor shortcomings, the wearable device has great sound, excellent noise cancellation, completely correct battery life and is basically comfortable to wear. Of course, the engineers haven’t rested since then, as the successor, the also top-end EAH-AZ100, was introduced in January of this year, which not only filled in some of the shortcomings, but also further refined the functions that were already working well.
Technics EAH-AZ100 noise-cancellation on Galaxy S25
I am already using the Galaxy S25 which was released this month by the Korean smartphone giant, you can head over to WhatMobile to check Samsung new model 2025 price in Pakistan. And a few days back we received a Reveiw unit of latest Technics. Although at first glance, we might think that there has been no change in appearance compared to the 80s model, comparing the two earphones shows that while the design has remained the same for years, the design has been further refined.
The in-ear units have become slightly smaller (21 x 26 x 25 millimeters) and lighter (5.9 grams), and the design is no longer as bulky as before, thanks to the fact that the protrusion next to the touch surface with the gold Technics logo, where one of the microphones used to be, has disappeared.
Although there was no real complaint about the previous Technics design in terms of comfort, the new design was able to further improve this, while the parts protruding from our ears have become visibly smaller – making the earphones less conspicuous. Also looks good and pairs nice with the Samsung S25 and somewhat more tasteful to wear. The stability is still excellent, there are no shortage of silicone ear tips in different sizes (XS, S, M, ML, L) and the water resistance according to the IPX4 standard has also been retained. So we still don’t have to worry about our device if we wear it while doing sports.
The indispensable cradle has barely changed in size (2 millimeters thinner) compared to its predecessor, but one of the AZ80’s flaws has been fixed, as this time Qi compatibility works perfectly, there were no problems with wireless charging. Of course, there is also the traditional, wired solution (a cable is included), of course via a USB-C port.
Although the manufacturer does not specify how much battery is in the earphones and cradle, the earphones usually provide me approximately 7-12 hours of continuous playback while paired with S25. Your experience can vary depending on phone you have plus the codec used and noise cancellation. And let’s not forget the case, as it adds further power for at least 18 more hours. We also paired it with Y03 which comes at a budget Vivo price. and we found the similar results with more or less same settings.
These numbers are quite good for early 2025, but we have also observed a drawback. when we applied continuous noise cancellation and better quality coding, the units drained much faster. These things were not able to withstand our long 11-13 hour flight, and we had to put them in the case for a short time.
Fortunately, after just 15 minutes of staying in the case, we had an hour and a half pumped back into the little things.
Another positive that i have noticed is that the AZ100 is compatible with the Bluetooth 5.3 standard and still supports the SBAC, AAC, LDAC and LC3 codecs. So with a compatible player, you have the opportunity to listen to your music in the best quality (96 kHz/990 kbps) available wirelessly. Of course, if you have the right source for this – but we wrote about this in more detail in our previous article. Although there is no doubt that the support for LDAC developed by Sony is a great advantage, which cannot be called universal among headphones. Our joy would have been complete if the new product from Technics also supported the aptX formats developed by Qualcomm.
It’s not just the shape that’s improved
In terms of sound, the 2023 predecessor was already outstanding, but the AZ100 was able to raise the bar in this area as well, and the difference in quality compared to the previous model is audible. This is ensured by a 10-millimeter driver with an aluminum diaphragm and a special, elastic, magnetic particle-filled fluid in each earbud. Of course, it is very difficult to convey exactly what you hear in writing, but the point is that Technics’ new product handles the low, mid and high ranges wonderfully, regardless of the chosen genre, and even using the basic AAC codec, we get noticeably better quality than in the case of popular headphones such as the latest AirPods or the Galaxy Buds3 Pro that debuted last summer .
Whether it’s bass, the often-lost subtleties of background instruments, or even vocals, the AZ100 performs great, especially if we can switch to LDAC and not just stream through popular platforms like Spotify or YouTube Music.
In addition, noise cancellation has noticeably improved (although it still doesn’t reach the level of Sony headphones, which are considered the market leader). Our test subject excels in canceling out distracting sounds not only when listening to music, but also when used as a headset for phone calls or online meetings on Samsung Galaxy A34. The AZ80 has already tested very well in this area, but the new model raises the bar here too, the microphones are able to cancel out not only the roar of the wind for the party on the other end of the line, but also more aggressive noise, such as the “noise” of the subway.
Moreover, the icing on the cake! All thanks to the multipoint function, the AZ100 can connect to up to three devices simultaneously. It is always active where it is needed. In practice, it can be used to serve a tablet, a desktop computer, and a smartphone at the same time. You can switch between the paired devices in a blink of an eye, depending on which one you preset for music, to watch a movie or to communicate with others.
In addition, there is the Technics Audio Connect application, available for both iOS and Android, in which essentially every important function can be customized, from the level of noise cancellation to touch control to sound, and of course, you can install newer firmware versions using this app. It is worth noting that the touch-sensitive surface of the headphones is also above average; during the test, it never happened that this part of the casing misread what we wanted to achieve, whether it was changing numbers, answering calls, or activating the digital assistant used on the player.
It has a price.
The Technics EAH-AZ100 cannot be called perfect either, as Bluetooth 5.4 could have been included here, the list of supported codecs could be slightly wider, and there is room for improvement in terms of operating time, but overall our experiences are quite positive this time around, as even compared to the previous top model, the AZ80, which is only a year and a half old, there is significant improvement in the most important areas.
However, you still have to pay a pretty steep price for all this, as Technics’ new product will be available in our country for 123 thousand Pakistani rupees – and for this much money, you can already buy Sony headphones with great sound and better noise cancellation. Of course, as we discussed at length in our article discussing different headphones, not everyone can or wants to use large headphones, and the most amazing thing about our test subject is the amount of technology the engineers have packed into these little things weighing barely 6 grams.
So if someone cares about the smallest possible size, comfort, and the ability to listen to their favorites in the best possible quality wirelessly, it might make sense to shell out that much money for the Japanese manufacturer’s latest headphones.