Technics - Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones with 2 Device Multipoint Connectivity - Silver

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The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Well done, Technics

  • Incentivized
  • Verified Purchaser
  • My Best Buy® Member
  • Owned for less than 1 week

  I'm quite pleased with the sound quality and the build quality. With my normal head shape and size, they were quite comfortable. I've only had it for a day, so hopefully the battery capacity is as good as given in the specifications. The app is intuitive and easy to use. The specs (here on Best Buy as well as Technics' own site -- you always have to double check Best Buy for errors) say Maximum Wireless Range is 33 feet, but using this with my Galaxy S23+ phone in a room at the rear of my house, I had no issues when I roamed to a room at the front of my house (distance was approximately 46 feet with several walls in between).

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  Posted 2 years ago by JimmyCrackcorn

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Quality Sound & Powerful Active Noise Cancellation

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 100 Contributor

  UNBOXING: Before I’ve even opened the box, I’m surprised at how insanely light everything is. It was shipped to my house and I was surprised at how light the shipping box was. Inside the box, you’ll find the standard documentation as well as the headphone zipped up into the travel case. Opening the travel case, you’ll find the headphone as well as a USB-C charging cable, a 3.5mm cable, and an airplane adapter. BUILD: Right off the bat, picking up the headphones you will realize how light they feel. I weighed my pair at 299g which is still heavier than the most popular options from other brands in this price segment. The plastic on the Technics has a bit of a cheaper feeling compared to some other active noise canceling headphones in its price bracket. That being said, it doesn’t seem like the material used is actually structurally worse. I’m not sure if I should have any concerns regarding its structural integrity, but for the asking price I do think the build quality could have at least been better feeling. The included case is also quite light, has a soft texture, and has space for the included cables and airplane adapter, and also has labels to make it obvious how to fold the headphone when stowing it away in the case. COMFORT: Different people have different needs when it comes to comfort, but I think the Technics EAH-A800 does some things well while also needing improvement in others. Out of the box, the ear pads and the headband were a little bit more stiff compared to the competition, and while over time I do feel that the ear pads eased up, the clamping force was still enough to cause some discomfort over time (especially since I wear glasses), and the headband padding caused a hotspot of discomfort at the apex of my head. That being said, I’m pretty sensitive to headband pressure, so this isn’t a headphone I could wear for hours without taking a break. That being said, I brought these to work and used them on and off with breaks throughout the day and didn’t consciously think about pain as long as I was taking breaks. But for a longer flight, I don’t think these would be particularly great for me, but your mileage will certainly vary. I would recommend Technics revise their headband material, and I think their clamp force is less of a problem after a break-in period, but I also noticed it’s easier to break the seal which can trigger the CONTROLS: The controls on this headphone are simple, but honestly just not distinctly placed for easy access. Even across the days I’ve been using it, I still fumble to press the play/pause button and sometimes accidentally press the volume down button or the power button. Because the volume and playback controls are grouped so closely together, it’s just inevitable you’re going to make mistakes pressing the buttons. I think if they had used some sort of protruding dots like braille on the play/pause button, this could have made finding the controls much easier when they’re on your head. You can double-tap on the right ear cup to toggle between the active noise cancellation and ambient sound modes. And taking the headphone off your head can pause playback and resume upon putting them back on your head. However, I’ve found that this has more delay compared to the competition, and Technics advertises it as resuming within 60 seconds which is absurd for claiming it to be a “seamless” operation when other products will reliably resume in less than a few seconds. APP: The app includes numerous customization features for controls, ANC strength, toggling the “headphone fitting sensor”, “touch sensor”, a basic 5-band EQ, and microphone noise reduction strength for calls. You can also enable/disable LDAC if you have a supported device, change between signal strength and playback quality, and also enable multipoint connectivity. Overall, I found the app to be of good quality—especially for a brand that isn’t known for headphones. I was surprised to find such a large number of features and customization. SOUND: As an audiophile, I try to lower my expectations regarding the sound profile of active noise canceling headphones. However, Technics is also a brand that is better known for their high-end Direct Drive turntables, so I think it’s fair to think that they want to appeal to those with a discerning ear—especially when their price is competing with some of the most well-known ANC headphones. The stock sound signature was pleasant out of the box. It delivers a fun bassy signature without the midbass bloat that a lot of other consumer-grade ANC headphones tend to impose. It also delivers a good midrange that isn’t too accentuated or fatiguing but also not so recessed that it sounds dull or muffled. You can make some tweaks with the 5-band EQ in the app if you have deviating preferences, but I’ve been very happy to find that Technics is delivering an enjoyable audio experience that lets me be immersed in my music. Whether it’s Pop, R&B, Metal or Electronic, I never really felt like I was getting a dulled experience on the EAH-A800. ANC / AMBIENT SOUND: I’ve reviewed numerous ANC headphones from cheap $50 truly wireless in-ears to my $800 audiophile pair of ANC headphones, and I think Technics has ANC performance that rivals the most popular competition. The ANC on the EAH-A800 can exhibit more of an ANC “pressure” feel compared to some other options, but the noise cancellation performance is very good. Playing rain sounds, white noise or traffic noise on loudspeakers, the Technics is able to suppress an incredible amount of low-end and midrange droning noises. If you’re not listening to music or other content, you’ll be more likely to hear noises like speech or intermittent sounds, but if you listen to music at relatively low volumes, it will certainly do wonders to negate outside sounds and keep you immersed. I most often used the Technics at my workplace which is an open-office floor plan with plenty of people chatting, keyboards clacking, etc. These headphones let me ignore all the noise and chatter around me and be focused on my work while listening to music. The Ambient Sound mode can also be surprisingly good. The app lets you switch between “Transparent” and “Attention” profiles for this mode. In my experience, the Transparent profile is clearer with just a bit of muffling, but the noise floor is surprisingly low compared to other headphones with transparency modes. Overall, it’s pretty clear, and you can hear yourself pretty well, but with a minor volume decrease. The “Attention” profile on the other hand I was not a fan of. It has an emphasis on voices, but I actually found that it was harder to depict what was being said if too many other voices or noises were also present, since this mode amplifies those noises, as well. So depending on the circumstance, it can be much more harsh. So I think the “Transparent” profile will be better for most situations. One thing to note, however, is that these headphones are a little bit more sensitive to quick movement such that they might induce strange popping noises if you’re walking, chewing, etc. There were times where it was much more reproducible and others where it was not; so your mileage may vary. MICROPHONE: The EAH-A800 boasts 8 MEMS (microelectro-mechanical systems) microphones in total. 3 external to each ear cup, and 1 internal to each ear cup. This plays a role in the aforementioned ANC and Ambient Sound modes, but the external microphones are also used for calls and for reducing microphone noise on calls to make your voice clearer. In my testing, I found that the microphones did an impressively good job at blocking noise. I tested the microphone by recording myself in the app using the “Call Quality Test” and talking over background voices, TV shows, droning noises, etc. I found that the best performance was by setting the background noise reduction setting to “Strong” instead of the default “Normal”. That being said, there’s definitely some improvement to be made in terms of clarity, but I didn’t encounter issues with distortion. Overall, I feel like it would be a good choice for taking calls in noisy environments. BATTERY: Technics claims up to 40 hours if you use a device with LDAC enabled, and up to 50 hours on AAC or SBC codecs. In my experience, I feel comfortable agreeing with this claim, and you can always set it to turn off when it idles. And in a quick pinch, a 15 minute charge can yield 10 hours of listening time. CONCLUSION: The Technics EAH-A800 is a pretty impressive ANC headphone for the price. My biggest critiques are in regards to the comfort and build materials—which aren’t bad, but I do think could be better. That being said, I do think the sound quality can be appealing for more discerning listeners who want a controlled, balanced bass response and plenty of midrange energy without being fatiguing. But the biggest surprise for me is how good the ANC is. You don’t often find ANC of this performance on a brand’s first ever over-ear ANC headphone. And its “Transparent” mode and call quality is also quite good thanks to its 8 onboard MEMS microphones. I look forward to any firmware updates that Technics might deliver, and would be very optimistic about future ANC headphone endeavors they consider based on community feedback. If you find this headphone on sale for a price below the competition, I’d say it’s especially worth your consideration if audio performance and ANC is your primary concern.

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  This review is from Technics - Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones with 2 Device Multipoint Connectivity - Black

  Posted 2 years ago by Xephyroth

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Great Sound, Comfortable, Good Features

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  Technics makes top tier audio hardware, but I can’t remember it ever being acclaimed for its headphones. The A800 changes that, at least it should. For the features that matter most in wireless headphones at this price they do almost everything either great or well: long wear comfort, acceptable active noise cancellation, and stunning battery life. My only disappointment is its wobbly, poorly designed and located buttons. Equipped with the recent-enough Bluetooth version (5.2), It’s LDAC compatible. Audio quality is on point with a filling, yet low processed, presentation. For me the sound is “Goldilocks.” I’ve yet to be disappointed regardless of what genre I’m listening to, provided the recording is a decent quality. Here are some more in-depth impressions after “testing” them for a couple days following a day of break-in to loosen them up. AUDIO QUALITY I’ll start with sound quality since that’s the prime reason to buy one pair of headphones over another. I get the concept of sound quality in this context is more personal than universal. For me, my library is 60s- early 80s rock, mid 80’s and forward “alt rock,” plus big band jazz and classical. I have no hip-hop genres, so definitely, I don’t have an ear for what “good” extra-heightened bass tuning should sound like. What I want out of headphones is a faithful, minimally processed, rendition of whatever song I’m playing. In my experience so far, the A800 delivers this -- provided the source audio is quality. To test the A800’s capabilities and limitations, I sampled a variety of different genres with the app’s sound profiles off, noise cancelling at 50%. All but “HIP HOP” were with 320kbps AAC on an iPhone Pro Max 14 at 60-70% volume in a quiet room. I’ll explain my hip hop experience in that section. ROCK: Rush, “YYZ.” This is a challenging bass-centric instrumental and one of rock’s all-time best. The A800 passed with ease. The bass was crisp with no distortion except for what Rush intended. The drums were tight and the windchimes distinct. It made me want to grab my air guitar out of my front pocket and strum along. Admittedly, when I turned down the volume to 50% it lost some tonal excitement, but neither YYZ nor anything Rush is intended to be background music. This is arena rock meant to be played loud. VOCALS: Brandi Carlile, “The Stranger At My Door.” Her vocal range and storytelling mixed with an emotional guitar thumping are a perfect match for the A800s neutral stance. There was a presence and clarity like I was on Row 1 at an unplugged concert. Ironically, the distortion-for-effect at the end of the song sounded too clear. HIP HOP: Here I had to resort to Spotify Free for some samples. My mistake. A 128kpbs stream can’t provide big bass hip hop justice. It needs more bandwidth. At this bit rate these songs sounded lifeless. With nothing to lose I went to YouTube and found a collection called “Gangster Trap Mix 2023.” I don’t know what the bit rate was but as soon as “Candy Shop,” started I knew I was on the right track. Literally. I felt musical excitement. The tight boomy bass and quick, but clear, lyrics made me want to go clubbing… at 4pm, and I’m well past my clubbing days. The next song, “Drift,” had the same emotional effect. Again, hip hop isn’t my genre, but the A800s offered plenty bass to get me going. It may be the A800s are not super-bassy, but I don’t find them lacking at all. If you find them flat check the quality of your recording. DESIGN & FIT The A800 ships inside a zippered semi-rigid synthetic leather case worth keeping. It appears to be durable and protective unlike many of the “throwaways” some companies utilize. Inside, the A800 is neatly folded into the headband to save space. This is an unsung feature that minimizes its storage footprint. When I travel I’m grateful for every inch I can save. Additionally, the earpads extra agility allows it to fit closer to the ear than ones that only fold flat. Technics also includes a USB-A to USB-C charge cable, an old-school airplane adapter, a 3.3’ 3.5mm headphone cable for wired listening, and a card explaining the various buttons “IKEA pictogram style”. The A800 is handsome with a mix of matte and semi-metallic looking plastic. The headband and earpads are covered with a buttery-soft leatherette. While the plastic bits feel average, the leatherette areas that actually touch your ears and head feel luxurious. The memory foam padding is thick, but not firm, and responsive enough to give hours-long comfort. The earpad hole is approximately 2.5” by 4.5” so it should accommodate even the largest of ears. I have small ears and did not find them too big either. The headband can vertically extend an additional 1.5”. The headband’s flex is good. I stretched it about 7.5” wide before fearing I might damage them. The A800 weighs nearly 11 oz but doesn’t feel heavy when worn (I’m not a big person). They are neither “light and airy,” nor “boat anchors” pulling your head down. The earpads are comfortable over hours of continuous wear. I didn’t feel them ever slipping when moving around or feeling too tight. The do get a bit hot after a while. SETUP & USAGE Setup is semi-automatic and does not require registration or use of Technics Audio Center app. Simply go to the Bluetooth control on your device and select the A800. To pair an additional device, press the power button for 7 seconds to enter pairing mode. The app’s main use is to adjust the amount of noise cancelling (didn’t do much for me), to customize sound frequencies, turn LDAP on, and, most importantly, to turn off the annoying blinking “on” LED indicator on the right earpad. BTW, unlike similar apps from other manufacturers the app still works if you don’t agree to the privacy policy. Thumbs up for that. Controlling the A800’s varies from frustrating to tolerable depending on how you are doing it. I have mine paired to my iPhone and Mac, so fortunately my devices volume buttons work here. The A800’s volume and transport/mic controls and their placement are terrible and seriously deduct from the user experience in my opinion. These three buttons are butted up next to each other with only a tiny nub separating them. For added awkwardness they are on the far back of the right pad. Not only is this an uncomfortable reach, but invariably when go to these buttons it erroneously activates the touch sensitive “noise cancellation/ambient noise” switch on the side. Touch sensitivity can be turned off but then you lose the ability to toggle noise cancelation on the A800s and have to do this in the app. So, here’s an example of this nonsense. I’m walking down the street and a loud song comes on. I reach to the back of my ears to lower the volume. Because the buttons have no separation between them I have to feel around so I don’t hit a button by mistake. Oops, too late. My palm just flipped the earphones from ambient mode to noise canceling. I could go on but, hopefully it’s a good enough illustration. As a side note, the buttons themselves are thin and flimsy and feel more appropriate for a $39 pair of headphones. ACTIVE NOISE CANCELLATION A headphone’s ability to block out airplane cabin noise is, I feel, the best way to judge the effectiveness of noise cancelation. Unfortunately, I had no flight plans this week, so I did a noise simulation using my TV’s volume. The average cabin noise at cruising altitude in a commercial jet is 70 dB. So, using my Apple Watch to measure, I raised my TV’s volume to an ear damaging 88 dB. This to replicate takeoff and landing noise. I had to walk 30 feet away before I could no longer hear the TV. Next I decreased the volume to 66 dB for cruising altitude levels. Here all outside noise was immediate blocked out once with the A800s at 50% volume. So my guess is, and it’s only that, the A800 noise cancellation is perfectly fine for the majority of a flight but expect some leakage at takeoff and landing. I also did a “real world” test wearing them for a walk down my noisy street – lots of cars, buses, etc. In this instance all outside noise was 100% blocked out at 50% volume. Of note: the noise cancellation % wheel inside the app didn’t seem to have any effect ever though I did hear more “white noise” at 100% than 0 or 50%. BATTERY LIFE Battery life (noise cancelling on, LDAC off) is rated at an impressive 50 hours. That crushes its competitors by a lot. In my use I’ve found this to be right on target. Incredible one could fly to Australia and back on a single charge. Wow. But if the battery dies at the wrong time a 15 quick charge supplies 10 hours of listening. A full charge takes about 4 hours. BLUETOOTH Almost as important as battery life is Bluetooth range. I tested range vertically and horizontally. First I left my phone in the lower level of my 4-level open floorplan townhouse and went to the top floor 30 feet up. The signal remained solid the entire trip up. Next, I left my phone in the lower level and walked away from my house until I started to get dropouts. This happened at about 30 feet as well. This is in-line with BT’s range so I’m happy with this performance. The A800 can connect to two devices simultaneously for multitasking. So, for example, you can wear them for TV audio and instantly switch to your phone if a call came in. Oh, and the A800 has 4 beamforming microphones that yield good voice quality and background noise removal for phone calls – based on comments I received by people I talked to with the A800s. From my end, the voice quality was OK, though a bit thin and hollow.

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  This review is from Technics - Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones with 2 Device Multipoint Connectivity - Black

  Posted 2 years ago by TechO