Technics EAH-AZ80-S

The Technics EAH-AZ80-S deliver the best call quality we've tested and genuinely impressive sound with LDAC support. Triple-device multipoint is a productivity dream, and battery life is solid. Comfort and fitness performance are weak spots, and the bulky design won't suit everyone. Shop around hard because the price swings from $148 to $294, and at the low end these are an absolute bargain.

The sound signature here is clean, detailed, and surprisingly wide for a closed-back in-ear design. Our sound score puts these in the top tier, and that tracks with what we're hearing. The 10mm driver delivers tight bass that doesn't bleed into the mids, and the treble has enough sparkle to pull texture out of well-recorded tracks without getting fatiguing. LDAC support means you can actually feed these things a high-bitrate stream from an Android phone or a decent DAP, and the difference is noticeable if you're listening to lossless files. They handle complex passages better than most of the competition, keeping instruments separated instead of mushing them together.

Call quality is where these genuinely surprise people. The mic array scored top of the charts in our testing, and the noise reduction during calls is aggressive without making your voice sound robotic. In a noisy coffee shop, the person on the other end hears you, not the espresso machine. Battery life is strong too, landing well above average with 7.5 hours in the buds and another 25 in the case. Qi wireless charging is a nice touch that keeps your desk clean. ANC performance is impressive, though not quite best-in-class. It handles low-end rumble beautifully but lets through a bit more midrange chatter than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra.

Stacked against the Sony WF-1000XM6, the Technics win on call quality and that triple-device multipoint, but Sony fights back with better ANC, a more compact design, and higher comfort scores. If noise cancelling is your top priority, Sony still wears the crown. The Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro are more comfortable and integrate better with Samsung phones, but their soundstage can't match the width and detail the Technics pull off. For pure music enjoyment, the AZ80-S has an edge.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra are the ANC champs and feel more secure in the ear, but their call quality doesn't touch what Technics is doing here. And the Apple AirPods Pro 3 are the obvious pick if you're deep in the Apple ecosystem, with seamless switching that even triple multipoint can't beat. But for cross-platform users who want hi-res audio and genuinely usable mics, the Technics carve out a unique niche. The Soundcore P31i sits in a completely different budget tier and isn't really a fair fight, but it's worth mentioning that you can get decent ANC and fit for a fraction of the price if sound quality isn't your obsession.

Pricing on these is all over the map, and that spread of $146 between vendors means you absolutely should not pay full price. At $294, you're competing directly with the Sony WF-1000XM6 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, both of which offer better ANC and more polished companion apps. But if you can snag these closer to the $148 end, the value proposition flips completely. You're getting top-tier sound and the best call quality in the category for less than mid-range money.

For office warriors and remote workers who spend hours on calls and want to enjoy music between meetings, the lower end of that price range makes these a steal. Just keep an eye on which store has the best deal before you click buy, because the difference is basically the cost of another pair of decent earbuds.

Technics has been making serious audio gear since before most of us were born, and the EAH-AZ80-S feels like them stepping into the true wireless ring with something to prove. These aren't just another pair of earbuds with a legacy brand slapped on. They're aimed squarely at people who want reference-quality sound without being tethered to a desk, and who also need to take calls that don't make them sound like they're in a wind tunnel. The triple-device multipoint alone tells you these are built for multitaskers who bounce between a laptop, tablet, and phone all day.

What makes these interesting is the driver setup. A 10mm free-edge dynamic driver in a true wireless bud is no small engineering feat, and Technics paired it with an acoustic structure designed to cut down on distortion. Add LDAC support for hi-res wireless audio and you've got a signal chain that audiophiles will actually take seriously. The 8-mic array with JustMyVoice tech is another standout, and our database puts the mic quality at the absolute best right now for this category. That's not marketing fluff, that's data.

But here's the catch: comfort scores land in a mediocre range, and the fitness rating is frankly disappointing. So while these might be your dream buds for a long workday or a focused listening session, they're not the pair you grab for a sweaty run. The price also bounces around between $148 and $294 depending on where you look, which makes shopping around feel less like a choice and more like a treasure hunt.

If you're primarily buying earbuds for the gym or running, these are not for you. The fitness score is a real letdown, and the bulky design combined with mediocre comfort ratings means they'll likely fight you during any serious movement. Grab something with a wingtip or ear hook instead, the Beats Fit Pro or Jabra Elite 8 Active are much better suited for sweat and motion.

Also, if you have smaller ears or are sensitive to fit pressure, try before you buy if possible. The comfort scores are underwhelming, and several owners mention the size being an issue. The Sony WF-1000XM6 or Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro are more compact and generally more comfortable for a wider range of ear shapes.

If you spend your day bouncing between Zoom calls, music, and podcasts across multiple devices, these are some of the best earbuds you can buy. The call quality alone is a productivity upgrade, and the sound is good enough that you'll actually want to keep them in after the meeting ends. The triple multipoint is genuinely useful, not a gimmick, and LDAC support future-proofs them for higher-quality streaming as services keep improving their bitrates.

But if your ears are on the smaller side or comfort is a dealbreaker, look elsewhere. The fit is polarizing, and the bulky design won't win any fashion points. For gym-goers, these are a hard pass. The fitness score is one of the worst we've seen in this price bracket, and no amount of sound quality makes up for earbuds that won't stay put during a burpee. Grab the Beats Fit Pro or something with a wingtip for that use case.