Headphones — Technics EAH-AZ100 Moonlight Lilac

The EAH-AZ100 Moonlight Lilac is the lilac colour version of the Technics EAH-AZ100 true wireless noise-cancelling earbuds, which the company places in its Reference Class. The same model is also sold in silver, black, champagne gold and midnight blue, and all versions share identical electronics, drivers, battery and case.

Key specs that matter

A 10 mm driver with magnetic fluid technology sits in each earpiece together with an acoustic control chamber and a harmonizer. Technics states a frequency response of 20 Hz to 40 kHz when streaming LDAC at 96 kHz and 990 kbps. Codecs are SBC, AAC, LDAC and LC3, over Bluetooth 5.3. With noise cancelling on, the earbuds run about 10 hours per charge and about 28 hours with the case, rising to about 12 and 29 hours with it off. In LDAC mode those figures drop to about 7 hours for the earbuds and about 18 hours with the case, noise cancelling on. An earpiece weighs about 5.9 g and the case about 42 g.

Engineering and use context

The cancelling circuit is a full adaptive digital hybrid type, and the Technics Audio Connect app assigns functions to the touch sensors, selects Ambient or Attention modes and customises playback. A Voice Focus AI chip runs a dedicated algorithm for voice quality in both directions of a call. The earpiece set covers five sizes from XS to L, including ML, with a revised three-layer construction aimed at a snug fit and sound insulation, and the case has a new rounded shape. Dolby Atmos playback is supported together with Dolby Head Tracking. Multipoint allows up to 3 devices to be connected at once, while up to 10 devices can be stored for pairing. Supported Bluetooth profiles are A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, HFP, TMAP and PBP, and the operating distance is up to 10 m. The earbuds are rated IPX4 equivalent against water, which does not cover the case. Call audio is picked up by a MEMS microphone listed as monaural in the specification. Recharging the earbuds takes about 2 hours. The case recharges in about 2.5 hours over USB or about 3.5 hours on a Qi wireless pad, and a USB charging cord of about 0.2 m with a Type-C plug is in the box.

Pairing

Android phones and players that send LDAC make use of the higher-resolution link, while devices using AAC or SBC connect in the usual way. A Qi charging pad lets the case top up without a cable.

Alternatives

Within the Technics range, the EAH-AZ80 is an earlier set of noise-cancelling earbuds.