The Technics EAH-AZ100 are the new top wireless earbuds to beat
Hi-fi brand Technics has kicked off 2025 with the launch of a new flagship pair of noise-cancelling wireless earphones, the EAH-AZ100.
After testing them out for three weeks, I can confirm that they're not only the complete package, but some of the best-designed buds on the market. They’re excellent whether you’re after earbuds for music, podcasts, travelling, working from home or exercise. The competition’s got some serious catching up to do.
Launched to celebrate the brand’s 60th anniversary, the new EAH-AZ100 are the successors to some of the best all-rounder earbuds around, the Technics EAH-AZ80 (launched in 2023). They add optimisations and upgrades to a pair that have been long-standing favourites in our roundup of the best wireless earbuds you can buy.
Technics EAH-AZ100: At a glance
Technics EAH-AZ100
Technics EAH-AZ100: Sound quality
Technics says they bring “the most authentic, balanced audio that’s true to the original source” with a big upgrade coming via the “Magnetic Fluid Driver” tech within each bud. This builds on developments made in high-end wired in-ear monitors from Technics.
The AZ100 otherwise uses similar 10mm dynamic drivers to its predecessor, now optimised for lower distortion, greater detail in the instrumental separation, and more depth to the soundstage.
After listening to them for weeks, I can confirm these are tremendous earbuds for music lovers. They’re also great for films and spoken word content like audiobooks and podcasts, but they excel with your favourite playlists, no matter the genre. They bring out all the subtle details in music while delivering impactful bass and clarity to vocals.
One noticeable change for me, as someone who doesn’t like playing music at full blast, is that they just as great at lower volumes as they do at higher ones (something that wasn't the case with the AZ80). Whether you’re playing a classical composition, old school rock 'n' roll or today’s pop music, you’ll hear a clean and clear sound.
Technics EAH-AZ100: Comfort and design
The new AZ100 buds are more compact and have a slightly different shape to the AZ80. They now weigh in at 5.9g per bud, rather than 7g each, a noticeable difference for the wearer.
They’ve still got a moulded “concha” fit design and they’re exceptionally comfy to wear for several uninterrupted hours of listening.
It’s important to note that they don’t have a shallow fit, and the ear tips use multiple different materials to help create a secure seal in your ears. Twisting them to lock them into place is essential, as is picking the right tips for your ears. Once they’re in place, they offer a great passive seal that blocks out loads of outside noise.
The buds' “brushed metal” look is easily among my favourites in the market. Like the AZ80 before them, the AZ100 looks like a proper hi-fi product with a refined style that’s available in either black or silver. They look premium and subtle, and not as plasticky as much of the competition.
They’ve got an IPX4 rating for water and sweat resistance, and they use touch sensors on each bud for control. These controls are not only intuitive by default, but highly customisable once you set up the Technics app on your smartphone. And, when you need to pair further devices, you simply need to touch and hold both of these sensors at the same time to enter pairing mode.
Technics EAH-AZ100: Noise-cancelling
In my review of the Technics AZ80, the main downside I highlighted was the noise-cancelling performance. Those buds were capable of decent active noise-cancelling (ANC) but were bested by most rivals at the time of testing. Now, though, it’s a completely different story.
The AZ100 buds have noticeably upgraded noise-cancelling. I’ve used them while walking in windy conditions, at the office while my colleagues are talking, in loud London Underground trains, and in coffee shops. They now default to an “adaptive” ANC that adjusts in strength depending on what you’re doing, so they block out loads of loud noise on the train but won’t put the full ANC on when you’re in a quieter environment.
They’re a massive improvement. They’re great at blocking low-frequency sounds, but also far better at eliminating mid-range and high-frequency sounds too, including people talking around you.
They do all this without a noticeable “hiss” and without giving me the “cabin pressure” feeling that you sometimes get from ANC. They also do a great job of dealing with annoying wind noise.
Alternatively, the ambient sound modes give you lots of control over how much of the outside world you want to let in. I like that they give you two modes, “Transparent” or “Attention”, for whether you want all sounds around you amplified or just voices instead. I’d also recommend using the "Transparent" mode if you’re running outdoors with the buds in, as you’ll be more aware of your surroundings!
Technics EAH-AZ100: Features and battery life
As with almost all headphones in 2025, downloading the free companion app for the AZ100 is a must as it gives you access to a wide range of features and controls. My favourite among them is triple device multipoint pairing. The AZ100 can connect to a total of ten devices and, like the Technics AZ80, it can maintain its connection to three at once.
Most rivals manage two simultaneous connections, but only Technics does three. Why’s this useful? Say you’re listening to music on your laptop but you get a call on your phone or tablet, you can pause and switch to the call without having to disconnect and reconnect. And I love how you can get the AZ100 to announce which device they’re connected to. Within the app, you can make them say “Connected to smartphone” when they connect to your phone, for example.
There's no shortage of new features, either. There’s now support for LE Audio (this stands for “low energy” and is the next generation of Bluetooth audio), Auracast (which will enable audio sharing), as well as support for spatial audio with Dolby Atmos, to enhance music mixed for a 360-degree presentation (as well as films and TV shows made to the cinematic Atmos standard). The AZ100 also has extremely capable microphones for calls, with AI-enhanced voice isolation and call quality.
When it comes to battery, that’s yet another area where the AZ100 outperforms much of the competition. It takes a lot to get these buds to run out of juice.
It’s realistically possible to get 10 hours of uninterrupted playback on a single charge when listening to music from an iPhone, with noise-cancelling turned on. You’ll get even more with noise-cancelling off!
Things do get a little bit more complex when you start to factor in Android phones and high-resolution music streaming services, at which point you might be using the “LDAC” codec.
With this, you’ll find you get a higher “bitrate” but less battery life. There are also slight drawbacks to switching to LDAC because you’ll miss out on certain features and not have triple-device multipoint.
Some audiophiles may hear a difference between the codecs, but I’d recommend sticking to whatever gets you the most battery life and the features you want.
The high-res codec might help with audio quality, but the high-tech Magnetic Fluid drivers are the key element that makes the AZ100 sound so great. That’s true no matter if you have an Android phone or iPhone, or whether you’re using premium music streaming or not.
Technics EAH-AZ100: Price
When the previous flagship, the Technics AZ80, first came out in 2023, they cost £259.99. The new AZ100 cost the same at launch.
From that perspective, this is a great upgrade for the same cost. But it’s worth considering that you can now regularly find the AZ80 for under £200 in 2025, and that they’re still a brilliant pair of all-rounder earbuds for better sound quality than most on the market and features like three-device multipoint connectivity that a lot of rivals still don’t deliver.
The Good Housekeeping verdict on the Technics EAH-AZ100
The Technics EAH-AZ100 are some of the most feature-packed earbuds on the market, with sensational sound quality via the “Magnetic Fluid” drivers, excellent noise-cancelling and ambient awareness, capabilities including AI-powered voice calls and three-device multipoint connectivity, in addition to Dolby Atmos spatial audio, a comfortable fit and lots of battery life.
In short, they're the wireless earbuds to beat in 2025. And, if they’re anything like the EAH-AZ80, it might take the competition years to catch up with this level of quality.
After consistent use for several weeks, I’m struggling to come up with any downsides other than that they’re obviously still quite pricey.
If they fit within budget you’ve set aside for wireless earbuds, though, these are some of the best hi-fi wireless earbuds on the market. They deliver tremendous sound, top-tier noise control, tonnes of battery life and a plethora of useful features within a compact design.
Technics EAH-AZ100: Other products to consider
I’d say the Technics AZ100 are worth the high asking price. But, getting a different model is worth it if you find them on offer. Some options I’d recommend for those seeking feature-packed buds include the Technics AZ80 and AZ60M2, the Sony WF-1000XM5 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds too.
The most committed Apple users should still go with the best AirPods, the AirPods Pro 2, while Android users will find brand-specific buds like the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 and Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro fit really well into the “ecosystem” with their smartphones.
However, if you’re connecting to several devices beyond just a phone, Technics has the most capable multipoint with lots of control and customisation. Go with the AZ100, or make a saving by picking the AZ80 or AZ60M2.
And, yes, you could always go for the pricier Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 or the extremely feature-packed JBL Tour Pro 3, but those rivals cost £349 and £279 respectively, so the Technics AZ100 come out looking like brilliant value, if it fits within your budget.
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