Technologies
Technics EAH-AZ80 Review: Are These the Best New Earbuds of 2023?
Technics’ new $300 flagship earbuds get almost everything right with an upgraded, more ergonomic design, plus excellent sound, noise canceling and voice-calling capabilities.
Like
- Stellar sound and very good noise canceling with improved fit
- Good battery life
- Can pair with three devices simultaneously
- LDAC audio codec support for Android devices
Don’t like
- Pricey
- Voice-calling performance is decent but could be slightly better
At the time I’m writing this review, Sony is gearing up to release its rumored and much-anticipated WF-1000XM5 earbuds, the follow-up to its excellent XM4s that earned a CNET Editors’ Choice in 2021. Those upcoming Sony buds — presumably dubbed the WF-1000XM5s — are considered the odds-on-favorite to be the top earbuds for 2023. But wait! Another Japanese company, Panasonic, has released a surprise contender, the EAH-AZ80, under its flagship Technics brand. These are next-generation earbuds that not only sound terrific but feature very good noise canceling in a more ergonomic design. They’re available in two color options — black or silver — and carry a list price of $300.
Equipped with Bluetooth 5.3, the EAH-AZ80s have just about everything you’d want in a set of earbuds, including wireless charging, support for Sony’s higher-resolution LDAC audio codec for Android and other devices that support it and the ability to pair with up to three devices simultaneously (Panasonic says this is an «industry first» for multipoint pairing). But more on all that in a minute. Let me start with my one small gripe, which may not apply to you — and your ears — but could impact some people.
Read more: Best Wireless Earbuds for 2023
Improved fit (mostly)
Panasonic learned something from its previous earbuds, which included the EAH-AZ70W that I reviewed favorably back in 2020. Due to their shape, they didn’t quite nestle in my ears as well as they probably should have and some people complained that they put pressure on certain parts of their ears after using them, for a little while. That’s changed with this model as Panasonic has revised its design to betterconform to the natural shape of your ear, particularly that part of the ear called the concha.
The EAH-AZ80s now nestle in my ears better, fitting more comfortably and securely. My only issue was that I was sort of in between a large and extra-large ear tip — six sizes are included — and the shape of the ear tip wasn’t quite perfectly suited to my ears (I had the same issue with Sony’s WF-1000XM4 buds). I was able to get a tight seal, but the more compact AirPods Pro 2 and new Beats Studio Buds Plus fit a little more comfortably.
The EAH-AZ80s nestle better in your ears than their predecessors.
Since I review so many earbuds, I’ve got a lot of extra ear tips, so I went in search of a better fit and eventually found a set of tips from my collection that worked a little better. The majority of people probably aren’t going to have my problem, but somewhat beefier buds like Sony’s WF-1000XM4 and Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 3 can pose a fit challenge for some people. The EAH-AZ80 aren’t overly weighty for high-performance earbuds but they do weigh 7 grams per bud or just 0.3-gram less than the Sony WF-1000XM4s. They seem fairly sturdy — I dropped a bud onto the pavement as I was walking my dog — and are IPX4 splash-proof so you can run with them (they did stay in my ears while I ran with them, but that may not be the case for everybody).
I thought the touch controls were quite responsive and worked well. You can customize what your taps (or taps and holds) do in the Technics Audio Connect app for iOS and Android, which does offer a wealth of settings options, not so unlike Sony’s Headphones app.
Impressive sound
I praised Technics’ earlier earbuds for featuring very good sound quality. But the EAH-AZ80s take it up a notch on the sound front and are right up there with the very best-sounding earbuds, including the Bowers & Wilkins PI7 S2. These buds don’t feature dual drivers like the Bowers & Wilkins’ buds do, but Panasonic says they have a new 10mm driver with a «free-edge aluminum diaphragm that delivers the greatest sound quality ever from Technics’ true wireless earbuds, extending high and low frequency response while reducing unwanted resonance and distortion.»
Both the buds and case have a premium look to them.
The clarity and depth to the sound is impressive, and I noticed a slight boost in sound quality when I paired them with a Pixel 7 Pro with LDAC support and a streaming service like Qobuz that serves up high-resolution audio tracks. They also sound excellent with an iPhone 14 Pro, which uses the AAC audio codec, though Qobuz does sound better than Spotify. Note that you have to activate LDAC in Technics Audio Connect app to use that audio codec on Android and other devices that support it.
They lack that extra bit of bass extension that high-end wired earbuds offer, including Panasonic’s own Technics EAH-TZ700 in-ear monitors ($1,200), but for wireless earbuds, they deliver a premium audio experience that measures up to pretty much everything that’s out there in this price range and even higher. You get a lot of earbuds that sound very good for their size, including the AirPods Pro 2, but fewer that feature the accurate sound with extra clarity and three-dimensionality that you expect from pricey headphones.
These are the type of earbuds that allow you to distinguish separate instruments, even in complicated tracks where instruments get mushed together when listening to lesser Bluetooth headphones. Singers’ voices sound natural, there’s good sparkle to the treble (with no sibilance), and the bass is tight. They don’t have quite as much bass energy as the Bowers & Wilkins PI7 but you can kick up the low-end a bit with the bass or superbass boost settings in the Technics Audio Connect app if bass is your thing. (I test bass with tracks like Spoon’s Knock Knock Knock, Athletes of God’s Don’t Want To Be Normal, Orbital’s Dirty Rat and sometimes throw in Taylor Swift’s Vigilante Shit for good measure, because my kids tell me she’s kind of popular.)
Beyond the handful of preset EQ modes in the app, you can also create your own custom equalizer setting. I mainly stuck with the default signature sound setting because it sounded just fine.
Note that Panasonic has also released a new step-down model to the EAH-AZ80 called the EAH-AX60M2. They feature the same features as the EAH-AZ80 but have smaller 8mm drivers and are missing the ergonomic design upgrade found on the step-up model. I have not tried them yet, but they list for $50 less and I suspect will be discounted to less than $200 in the not-so-distant future. I’d personally advise you to pay the extra money for the EAH-AZ80 buds.
The buds’ new design conforms to the natural shape of your ear.
Upgraded noise canceling and improved voice-calling
When it comes to noise-canceling for earbuds, Bose and Sony are at the top, with Apple nipping at their heels. It’s always really hard to say which company’s noise canceling is better — or best — but the EAH-AZ80 features excellent noise canceling with a couple of ambient sound modes (Apple calls it a transparency mode) that lets ambient sound in and allows you to hear the outside world.
I spent a few days commuting on foot in the streets of New York and the buds reduced what seemed like about 85% of the noise around me. Some higher pitched frequencies leaked in (I could hear people’s muffled voices) but traffic noise was muted to a nice degree, as was the rumble of trains in the New York City subway. I don’t think these are quite on the level of the Bose QuietComfort 2 earbuds, the current gold standard for noise canceling, but they seemed right there with Sony WF-1000XM4 and AirPods Pro 2 in terms of their noise muffling capabilities. (I am assuming Sony will raise its noise-canceling game with the arrival of the XM5s, however.)
In the app for iOS and Android, you’ll find a noise-canceling optimizer option that you can engage (I ended up jacking it up to the Max setting whenever I was outside). There’s also an option in the app to run a test to hear how much background noise is being reduced while you’re making a call. Also, you can opt for a «normal» noise reduction setting and a «strong» noise-reduction setting (at the strong setting your voice quality suffers a bit).
The Technics EAH-AZ80 is shown in black.
Panasonic says its improved JustMyVoice technology «uses eight high-sensitivity MEMS mics, a sensitive voice detection signal, and surrounding noise suppression to capture and transmit your voice clearly.» Callers told me they could hear my voice clearly at the «normal» noise reduction setting but also heard a fair amount of background noise, especially when I spoke. At the «strong» setting, background noise was greatly reduced but I sounded like I was in a tunnel, callers said (I could hear them just fine). I had two people tell me they thought the call quality was reasonably good but not up to what you get with new Beats Studio Buds Plus and AirPods Pro 2. (I did one firmware upgrade already but we may see more as Panasonic tweaks features and performance).
With the AirPods Pro 2, Apple’s transparency mode is on or off and automatically adjusts to the world around you. With these buds, you can manually adjust transparency levels in the app — I found the mode sounded most natural (most like not having earbuds in my ears) when I set it at around 50%. There’s also an Attention mode that you can toggle on, which emphasizes voices so you can hear people talking better in noisier environments.
As I said, the one unique feature is the enhanced multipoint pairing that allows you to pair three devices simultaneously — say a computer, smartphone and tablet. The one caveat is that if you use the LDAC audio codec, you can only connect two devices simultaneously, and it’s really best to have the buds paired to a single device if using LDAC for optimal bandwidth (you make your multipoint/LDAC selection in the app).
While battery life is rated for up to 7 hours playback with ANC on (at 50% volume), I got closer to 6 hours because I play my music at closer to 70% volume. You get a little more than three extra charges from the charging case, which, as noted, can be charged wirelessly or via USB-C. There’s also a quick charge feature that gives you 70 minutes of playback from a 10-minute charge.
Technics EAH-AZ80 final thoughts
One should expect a lot from earbuds that cost $300 — and yes, that’s still a lot to pay for headphones, even if plenty of people seem to be willing to pay upwards of $450 for the likes of Apple’s AirPods Max headphones. Overall, Panasonic has done a nice job of creating an all-around top-performing set of buds that offer an improved fit with excellent sound, very good noise-canceling and a robust feature set.
Voice-calling capabilities are decent but don’t quite live up to their billing (yet). Hopefully we’ll see some firmware upgrades that improve the voice-calling experience in noisier environments. Despite that caveat, as long as they fit your ears well, the Technics EAH-AZ80 are right up there with the best wireless earbuds on the market right now.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Aug. 21, #332
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Aug. 21, No. 332.
Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.
To solve today’s Connections: Sports Edition, focus on the endings of some of the words. That should help you see how they connect. Read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta after making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.
Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta
Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: What you want to do.
Green group hint: Football abbreviations.
Blue group hint: Home to hoops.
Purple group hint: Hidden hockey team names.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Objective.
Green group: NFL teams, on scoreboards.
Blue group: NBA arenas ending with «Center.»
Purple group: Ends with an NHL team.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is objective. The four answers are aim, goal, mark and target.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is NFL teams, on scoreboards. The four answers are CHI, MIA, MIN and NO. (Chicago, Miami, Minnesota and New Orleans.)
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is NBA arenas ending with «Center.» The four answers are Barclays, Chase, Delta and Kia.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is ends with an NHL team. The four answers are geoducks, spoilers, superstars and Vikings. (Ducks, Oilers, Stars and Kings.)
Technologies
Made by Google 2025: Everything Announced — Pixel 10, Pixel Watch 4, Pixel 10 Pro Fold
At a star-studded event hosted by late-night host Jimmy Fallon, Google announced new phones, watches, earbuds and Android features.
Even though the Pixel 10 leaks and rumors felt as if they arrived in a steady firehose before today’s Made by Google event — compelling the company to release a teaser video pre-announcing the new phone’s existence a month ago — Google still delivered details it somehow managed to keep private until it was ready to share.
And that delivery was refreshingly fun for a tech event. The Tonight Show host Jimmy Kimmel led the proceedings in a very late-night talk show format, bringing on several special guests from media, sports and yes, Google’s own experts to show off the products and features they’ve been working on for today’s announcements.
Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL are real
Surprise, Google announced new phones! OK, this was the least surprising part of the event, but it still feels good to finally know what exists and when it’s coming. Preorders for the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL begin today and will be in stores and shipping starting August 28.
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Pixel 10 Pro Fold opens the next chapter of foldables
Folding phones so far have shared an Achilles Hinge: small particulates like sand can get inside the case and really mess things up. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is one of the first to have an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, meaning you can take it to the beach.
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Pixel Watch 4 talks to Gemini and is your new health coach
The Pixel Watch 4 includes new fitness options like real-time guidance while exercising. And if you forgot to start a workout, the watch (with AI help) can detect the activity in the background and remind you of it later, giving you credit for the effort you made. It’s also the only smartwatch that can detect a loss of pulse and call emergency services automatically.
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Pixel Buds 2a are more affordable earbuds
Joining the Pixel Buds 2 Pro in the market are Pixel Buds 2a, an affordable ($130) pair of wireless earbuds that feature active noise cancellation, a smaller and lighter for all, and a twist-to-adjust stabilizer feature for setting a comfortable fit.
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Google’s New Pixel Buds 2A Look a Lot Like the Pro 2, but Cost Way Less
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Meet the Pixel Buds 2A: Google’s Budget Answer for ANC Buds
Pixel Buds Pro 2 owners will see new features
Coming in a software update next month, Pixel Buds Pro 2 owners will be able to answer calls or send them to voicemail with a nod or shake of the head. You’ll be able to talk to Gemini live in noisy locations, and benefit from adaptive audio that applies noise cancellation while letting important sounds come through. At the other end, a new feature will protect your hearing from very loud sounds.
Magic Cue is a Gemini assistant that pulls data from your correspondence
In the rollout of all the various AI technologies in the industry, the current stretch goal is «agentic» interactions with software: Having an AI that knows all sorts of details about you and can act to get the important stuff in front of you when needed. (And do it in a privacy-first way, one would hope.)
Magic Cue is Google’s implementation. It’s a new Gemini-based feature that can look through your earlier messages, emails and photos to pull details about things like restaurant reservations and flight times. Magic Cue runs on the Pixel device itself, so sensitive data stays private and not shared to the cloud.
A lot of Gemini AI intelligence is still coming soon
At the start of the event, Kimmell sat down in typical talk-show format with Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of platforms and devices, to chat about Gemini and the marvels of AI. Aside from Magic Cue, which will be shipping on the Pixel 10 phones, a lot of the features we’ve been hearing about are still on the horizon.
«For instance, Gemini could do something like plan a team celebration dinner for 12 people tonight,» he said. «It might go find a restaurant that’ll accommodate that group…. Look for a karoake place nearby and maybe even order custom T-shirts for the celebration.»
And when will that be possible? Kimmell asked. «A lot sooner than people think,» Osterloh replied. «This kind of thing is coming this year.»
The Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL can zoom to 100x with AI help
Pro Res Zoom on the Pixel 10 Pro phones pushes zooming far beyond what would seem to be possible with typical small cameras. Usually when you zoom beyond the optical limits of the cameras, details get fuzzy as the software upscales the image. With Pro Res Zoom, when you go beyond 30x zoom, it uses generative AI to build a sharper version. CNET’s Andrew Lanxon got both impressive and head-scratching results while making photos in Paris using the Pixel 10 Pro XL.
Camera Coach uses AI to encourage better photos
Smartphone cameras have employed AI for several years, such as identifying subjects in order to blur the background for Portrait modes or quickly snapping several shots at multiple exposures and blending them together to create well-balanced lighting throughout. Now Google is using AI to help you take better photos.
Camera Coach is a new feature in the Pixel Camera app that looks at the scene in front of the lens and generates multiple suggestions for how to improve the photo before it’s captured. To show this off, podcaster Alex Cooper brought Fallon out to be her model and sat him down on a couch. When she activated the feature, Camera Coach suggested that she move the camera closer to the subject, position his head in the upper portion of the frame, lower the camera to eye level and turn on Portrait mode.
«To all the girls that are watching, I personally know how hard it is to train your boyfriend or your husband to get that perfect shot,» said Cooper. «And now Camera Coach can just train all the boys for us.»
Pixel 10 supports Qi2 magnetic charging
The Qi2 spec includes not just faster charging but also an array of magnets on the back for connecting to accessories. Sound familiar? The presenters mentioned Apple’s MagSafe system, then paused with the realization that they probably shouldn’t have name-checked it during the Google event. On the Pixel 10 phones, it’s called Pixelsnap and should work with accessories made for Apple’s ecosystem too.
Pixel 10 will be available in Mexico
In an impressive segment demonstrating Gemini live translation during a phone call, musician Karen Polinesia, who speaks Spanish, announced that for the first time, the Pixel 10 will be available for sale in Mexico.
This article is being updated; stay tuned for more.
Technologies
Upgrading to Pixel 10? Here’s How to Prepare Your Old Pixel for Trade-In
Don’t send off your phone with a ton of personal information still on it.
Google just announced the Pixel 10 family, and several preorder offers are available right now. If you’re looking for an even better deal on these new phones, you might want to consider trading in your old Pixel for maximum savings.
The Pixel 10 family consists of the base Pixel 10 model, two Pro models and the latest Pro Fold. All of these phones feature the latest Tensor G5 Processor, Qi2 wireless charging and, of course, new AI tricks. We went hands-on with the new phones, and they made a good impression.
If you’re ready to leap into a new Pixel, you’ll want to make sure you’ve prepared your old phone properly before you send it off.
If you don’t check all the right boxes for trading in your phone, its trade-in value could be reduced. You also want to avoid sending your phone out with a ton of personal information still left on it.
Below, we’ll go over the steps to ensure a seamless trade-in experience when your new Pixel 10 arrives.
For more, we’ve wrangled all of the best Pixel 10 cases you can buy right now.
Turn off the activation lock on your Pixel phone
Before you trade in your phone, you’ll just need a factory reset to qualify for the maximum trade-in value. Some retailers want you to remove the activation lock from your phone first, which requires removing the device from your Google account before resetting it. (AT&T took off over $400 of the value because I didn’t do this to my Pixel 7 Pro when I upgraded to the 8 Pro a few years back.)
You can remove your Google account from your phone directly or via your online account.
From your Pixel settings
You can remove the activation lock right from your Pixel phone. H:
- On your phone, navigate to Settings.
- Tap Passwords & accounts.
- Tap your Google account.
- Tap Remove account.
Repeat this process for any additional accounts you need to remove.
From the web
Alternatively, you can head to your online Google account web page and handle the removal from there.
- From a web browser, navigate to your Google account.
- Select Security on the left sidebar.
- Locate the Your devices box, and select Manage all devices.
- Select the device you’re trading in.
- Select Sign out.
Factory reset your Pixel
With the activation lock removed, you’re now free to factory reset your device as you normally would.
- On your Pixel, navigate to Settings.
- Tap System.
- Tap Reset options.
- Tap Erase all data (factory reset).
That’s it. Now you’re ready to send in your trade-in without any hiccups that could drop the value you get for your phone.
For more, check out a closer look at the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s camera performance.
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