Technics AZ40 Review: WAIT For A Sale!

Technics made their comeback with true wireless earbuds last year, and this year, they’ve released the EAH-AZ60 and AZ40, and today, we’re taking a look at the most affordable option in the lineup, the AZ40. At US$149 or S$299, it’s in an odd neither-here-nor-there place in terms of pricing.

So let’s start with design. The case looks like a smaller version of the AZ60, but it’s lighter in the hand, which makes it feel less premium. There’s a USB-C port for charging on the rear, and there’s no wireless charging either, which is a bit of a letdown. That being said, I do like the rose gold colour, it’s a nice change from the standard black or silver.

As for the earbuds, they’re also super simple. You get a ringed metal faceplate with the Technics brand on them, and the body of the earbud combines both a metallic-looking rose gold part with a beige-ish matte plastic. It definitely looks very sleek in the ear, it sits securely and comfortably and it doesn’t stick out too much, which is good.

These use the same Technics Audio Connect companion app, and it’s relatively clean. You get an option to toggle on Ambient Sound Control, even though there’s no ANC. The passive noise isolation is pretty decent, so it’s definitely a good feature to include. There’s also a sound enhancement feature which has a five bar custom EQ with presets for extra bass, vocals, treble etc.

In the settings section, there’s quite a lot to tinker with. You can change the language for voice prompts, whether you want to prioritise sound quality or connection, turn on multipoint connectivity, customise the touch controls and more.

As for the touch controls, a single tap on either side controls play/pause, a double tap on the left lowers the volume while a triple tap raises the volume. On the right, a double tap skips tracks forwards and a triple tap skips backwards. A tap and hold on the left side pulls up the phone’s voice assistant, while a tap and hold on the right toggles the ambient sound control on or off.

There’s Bluetooth 5.2 on these, which is great. The connection was solid and I didn’t notice any dropouts or latency issues. There’s only SBC and AAC here, which is a bit of a disappointment. Including aptX would make recommending these earbuds a bit easier. However, these do have multipoint connectivity, which is nice.

Technics claims approximately 7.5 hours in the earbuds, and a total of 25 hours when you include the case. That’s not the best we’ve seen, but it’s not too bad either.

There’s an IPX4 water resistance rating on the earbuds, so no worries there if you’re planning on exercising with these and such.

The microphones here aren’t great. In quiet environments, it works decently, but if you’re out and about and it’s windy, you’ll get that picked up in calls.

As for sound quality, it’s actually the saving grace of these earbuds. These sound really good right out of the box, and I never found myself even remotely tempted to EQ them. You get a good amount of rich, detailed bass paired with a vibrant treble, and they play very well with plenty of music genres. The sound is generally balanced and clear, although I felt that the vocals were a bit recessed occasionally.

The soundstage is decent, not too cramped but it’s certainly not the widest I’ve experienced. Instrument layering and accuracy is pretty good though, which is a plus point.

With a promotional sale ongoing right now dropping the price to S$229 instead of S$299, it’s much easier for me to recommend it. At S$229, they’re pretty good, but at S$299, there are just so many other options that you could choose from like the Sennheiser CX Plus true wireless, the NuraTrue true wireless earbuds and such. I’m definitely hoping to see a more permanent price cut to these because then they’d be more worth it.