TechnicsEAH-AZ60M2 Wireless Earbuds with Noise Cancelling, 3 Device Multipoint Bluetooth, Comfortable In-Ear headset, Wireless Charging, Midnight Blue

Having used the Sony XM4 buds, and phones, regularly, and the Jabra 85t Elite buds, I can say that the noise cancelling on these, at least for me, is as good as or better than all of them.This was my main reason for buying the Technics, good ANC and decent sound.Although you can, as expected, adjust the amount of noise cancelling done, you can also optimise the noise cancelling itself for any situation with a simple slider in the technics app.Initially I thought you would just optimise it and it would work best at that setting in all environments. As a person who uses a lot of buses I set this to cancel out as much noise as possible and thought that was done. And it was.A few days later I noticed I could hear the bus a bit more. I then realised that the slider adjusts the noise cancelling to somehow cut out different frequencies, so if you find yourself on a bus with a constant engine whine or chatty passengers you can just adjust the slider until those sounds are less obvious.I still leave bit mostly on one set position but every now and again I adjust it as needed. This feature is brilliant and allows you to fine tune the noise cancelling easily, and quickly, if required.Ldac on these is great but in a busy environment, like a city centre, you'll get noticeable dropouts even at 606 kbps. You can however minimise these dropouts by turning off location on your android phone.I don't know why that works, and its not the technics fault, but it does help. I haven't got these to play ldac at the highest setting of 906 kbps without a lot of cutting out in city centres (although the highest bitrate can play flawlessly at home) but to be fair my xm4 headphones have the same problem.These do hurt your ears at first, or at least they did with mine, after a few days they hurt less. I've used these for months now and they are much more comfortable although you will notice they are in your ears, some people may prefer to have buds that you can fit and forget they are in but I quite like the fact that they wedge in and stay there even though you do notice they are there.Music sounds very good on these with Ldac at 606 kbps, they do also offer multipoint connection to multiple devices but I don't use that feature as it disables ldac audio streaming and having used ldac streaming on other buds and headphones I prefer it for audio quality. You can hear the improvement using ldac and so I just don't use the multipoint feature.They do sound good on AAC or even SBC though, they just sound better with ldac. So if you can't use ldac don't be put off of considering the technics.Battery life isn't great with ldac and anc enabled, I have only used these for two and a half hours at a time and they still have about fifty percent battery left then, so for me its not a problem, and the case charges them quite quickly.I like that you don't have to worry about which earbud you put in or take out first if you do want to use just one, they just work. You don't have to use a pre designated earbud, I have used other well known brands that have a similar price yet require setting one of the earbuds as the only one you can use in single bud mode. Technics have this working well, no need to set one or the other, just use which ever bud you want. I use both but have tried one bud at a time to see how well it works.The charging case is not wireless, its not a problem as it charges quickly via a USB c cable but if you only want a wireless charging case then you won't want these.Although only IPX4 rated they are definitely waterproof as I have used them in heavy rain with no hood a few times for a good fourty minutes at a time and they still work as well as they did when first bought, they feel well made and sturdy and connect very quickly although I would like to know where you can replacement ear tips from or foam ones, although these do a good job.They update with new firmware quickly, I had an update to install the first time I used them and was expecting it to take quite a while as the Sony buds do, but it literally took a few minutes and that included the downloading part. Maybe technics just issued a small update, in which case other updates might take longer, or maybe they are able to do firmware updates in a more efficient way.The comparisons to Sony's xm4 buds aren't meant to disparage those buds. I loved the Sony's until one bud stopped working a month in and I was told that I had to send them back and Sony would see if they could be fixed under warranty but if not I would have to pay for repairs....and they wouldn't know until they received them. That is shoddy for a product that is a month old and I hadn't bought those on amazon so couldn't return them.Needless to say amazon do have a return policy so buying on amazon should negate that issue if it did happen with the technics. The Sony's were always problematic though, unlike their headphones version.So, these sound greatusing ldac and lossless audio files such as Amazon's ultra HD music, the noise cancelling is up there with the best and they are well made. They also come with a lot of different size earbud tips so should fit any size ears.

Brilliant sound quality and loads of sizes of ear plugs, allowing a really good fit. Battery life is very good, and the app allows plenty of customisation both functionally and for sound. Good value for the spec. Really pleased with the purchase!

I've been looking for a set of wireless earbuds that meet my requirements for a while. I've tried various cheaper sets, most recently Anker SoundCore set. However, for the most part I find them either awkward to fit, their connectivity to my phone (in back jeans pocket most of the time) or sound quality has been lacking.I finally decided to plump for a more expensive set and after lots of review reading and back-and-forth arguing with myself I plumped for these Technics (the other lead contender was the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus), mostly due to the reviews mentioning the quality of the noise cancelling, sound quality and the fit.I've been using them for just over a month now, so feel well equipped for giving my opinion and hopefully it will help others in the same situation as me previously!Fit - as described in some reviews, these fit very well. They come with a large range of bud tips that suit most needs. The ones that came pre-fitted were a bit small, the very next size up appear to be ideal though. There should be the right size for most ears included in the package.Sound - so far so very good. I'm no audiophile, so I can't easily judge the fine details, but music is very clear and punchy. The bass is really nice without being overcharged and the balance overall is very good - you can fine tune the balance to suit your needs in the very good Technics app.Noise cancellation - pretty good. Noticeable drop in ambient noise when they activate and you can easily switch between passive and active with the tap of a finger on the right ear bud or via the app. Compared to non-noise cancelling ear buds I've had these work great for my walk along busy roads to get to work, cutting traffic noise not to nothing, but to a level that allows me to hear my podcasts. That's all I really wanted in life!Connectivity - I can't talk to the ability to connect to multiple devices, as I only use them with my phone. However, one of the main issues with other sets of bluetooth buds is the stability of the connection between the phone and buds. In other sets, if I move my head too far the audio cuts out when my phone is in my back pocket. No issue at all with the Technics - whether my phone is in a pocket or my bag, the connection is stable and never seems to cut out. Perfect so far.Battery - the life seems very good. I've not experienced the ear buds running out of juice, as the longest I've gone without taking them out is about an hour and no problems. The very small bud case acts as a charger for the buds and holds a good amount of charge... with walking to work each day (about an hour to 90 minutes per day usage) I need to charge the case about once every two weeks or thereabouts. Very capable.A note on the case, it's nice and small, easy to fit in the pocket and the earbuds fit nice and snug in the case. If I were to upgrade at somepoint and put memory foam ear tips on the buds I think they'd also fit without a problem - something my Anker set couldn't do.Negatives - there aren't many, but there are one or two niggles. Most notable is the lack of ear detection, which other reviews mention. I never thought it would be a big deal for me, but it's too easy to accidentally start your podcast playing again after removing the bud from you ear. More than once I've paused, taken the buds out and popped them in my pocket when entering a shop or speaking to someone... just to find I'd accidentally started playing the audio again. Not a huge issue, but it would have been nice to not have to worry about that so much!Turning off the buds might be a fix for it, but the only way to do that, apparently, is to put the buds back in their case. If you're just nipping into a shop that can be a frustrating exercise in its own right. Having a way to quickly disable the buds via the touch controls would have been ideal.Overall though, these are excellent ear buds. Comfortable, great sound, great connectivity... very pleased. Would be a 4.5/5 if I was allowed half stars, with the half star being lost just cos of the in-ear detection issue.