Наушники — Audio-Technica The Mandalorian

The Mandalorian edition is one of four limited Star Wars versions of the ATH-CKS50TW2 true wireless earphones from Audio-Technica, released alongside Grogu, Darth Vader and R2-D2 variants to mark Star Wars Celebration in Japan. Pre-orders opened on April 21 and the release followed on May 4, at USD 179.99, which is USD 30 above the standard black model. Apart from colour and themed alerts, the hardware is identical to the regular ATH-CKS50TW2.

Key specs that matter

A proprietary 9 mm dynamic driver is fitted in both earpieces, at about 7.2 g apiece, and the charging case adds 51.5 g. Audio-Technica lists a frequency range of 5 to 20,000 Hz, sensitivity of 110 dB/mW and an impedance of 20 ohm. Bluetooth 5.3 links the buds over roughly 10 m line of sight, with SBC and AAC codecs plus LE Audio and the LC3 codec. With noise cancelling switched off, a full charge of the earpieces lasts up to 25 hours and the case supplies another 40, for about 65 hours in total. With cancelling active the figures fall to 15 hours from the buds and 25 more from the case. A 5-minute quick charge gives around 90 minutes of playback. The earpieces are rated IP55, the case is not.

Engineering and use context

The Mandalorian colourway uses metallic silver and grey meant to echo Beskar armour, applied to the earpieces, ear tips, charging case and box, and the lid of the case carries the phrase This is the way. Instead of the usual system tones, the buds play character alerts built from sniper rifle and jet pack effects to signal switching on or off, pairing status and a low battery. Noise cancelling follows a hybrid approach, and a hear-through mode can be selected both for music playback and during calls. Calls go through dual MEMS microphones with beamforming. Magnetic Switch technology shuts the earpieces down once their internal magnets snap together and wakes them when pulled apart. The case recharges over USB in about 4 hours or on a wireless pad in about 7.5 hours, and the earpieces themselves need around 2.5 hours.

Pairing

Multipoint pairing holds links to two Bluetooth sources at once. The A-T Connect app adds a low latency mode for games and video, EQ presets, ambience settings and a Soundscape function with nature and meditation tracks. A customisable multifunction button handles music, calls and access to Siri or Google Assistant.

Alternatives

The Audio-Technica ATH-TWX9 is another true wireless earphone model from the brand.