Technics EAH-AZ100 vs AZ80: Which Premium Earbuds?

The EAH-AZ100 are Technics's 2025 flagship true-wireless earbuds, and they do not so much replace the 2023 EAH-AZ80 as refine almost every line of their specification. Both launched at the same premium price, both chase Sony, Bose and Apple, and both share Technics's exhaustive Audio Connect app and rare three-device multipoint. But the newer pair rethinks the acoustics from the ground up. This comparison draws on the complete published tests of both models; Truthful Reviews has not bench-tested either pair itself.

Design and Comfort

The AZ100 shrink the formula. They are more compact in width and depth and lighter, at 5.9 g per bud — exactly the weight of a Sony WF-1000XM5 — with perfectly round shells now moulded in a single block that removes the AZ80's most visible assembly seam. The AZ80, by contrast, wear a pronounced protuberance shaped to fill the ear and ship with no fewer than seven tip sizes against the AZ100's revised, harder-to-swap set. On fit the tests diverge honestly: one found the AZ100 sit firmly and comfortably over long sessions, while another, testing a button-style shape without a fin, had to readjust them repeatedly when walking. The AZ80's hold, by contrast, drew consistent praise. Both are fairly large in-ears rated IPX4 for splashes with no sports claim, both cases charge over USB-C or Qi and neither case carries its own IP rating.

Sound Quality

This is the heart of the upgrade — and where the tests part most. The AZ100 abandon the AZ80's dynamic driver for new magnetic-fluid transducers borrowed from Technics's high-end IEMs, and the result is a genuinely different character. One published test heard a calmer, more natural balance: generous but controlled bass, a soft yet detailed upper midrange that renders voices, cymbals and snares more precisely than the AZ80, and excellent lateral and depth staging — a deliberate move away from what it considered the AZ80's overbearing energy and artificial edge. Another test heard the AZ100 differently, describing an energetic W-shaped signature with deep, controlled bass and warm mids but treble that lacks finesse and detail. Both agree the bass runs forward — arguably a touch too full below 100 Hz — and both note the AZ100 rely on active noise cancelling to stay balanced, thinning at the top in passive mode. The AZ80's own signature is flattering, energetic and dynamic, its bass ample and well-defined once cancelling tames it, its upper mids given a slightly tiring edge that the eight-band equaliser can soften around 3.15 kHz. In short, the AZ100 is the more refined listen for most, the AZ80 the more overtly energetic — but the AZ100's tuning is one you should hear before buying.

Noise Cancelling

Both bars excel at the same thing and fall short at the same thing. The AZ100 add a few decibels of attenuation in the low frequencies between 40 Hz and 300 Hz, where the AZ80 already shone, so the rumble of trains, traffic and ventilation all but vanishes and wind is handled well — close, on bass, to the class-leading Sony WF-1000XM5. Above that, both generations trail the best: mid and treble attenuation remains below Sony, Bose and Apple, so nearby voices and sharp metallic sounds still filter through. The AZ80 additionally applies a pressure sensation some listeners dislike. Neither transparency mode rivals the natural realism of the AirPods Pro 2, both sounding a little artificial while staying perfectly usable day to day.

Calls

The AZ100 replace the AZ80's JustMyVoice system with a new Voice Focus AI. On the AZ80, JustMyVoice makes the voice clearer but imposes heavy sibilance, and turning it off restores a natural voice at the cost of disabling noise reduction entirely — a real either/or. The AZ100's AI does better in noise, clearly stripping the din near a busy junction, though it veils the voice slightly and can introduce background artefacts; in quiet surroundings it may be worth switching off for a more natural tone. On balance the AZ100 is the stronger caller, and one of the AZ80's two chief weaknesses is addressed.

Connectivity and Features

Both run Bluetooth 5.3 with LDAC, AAC and SBC, both offer the rare luxury of multipoint to three devices, and both keep a proprietary low-latency mode that drops delay to about 160 ms — necessary because standard latency is a very high 530 ms on the AZ80 and 640 ms on the AZ100, making video reliant on app-side compensation and gaming impractical. The AZ100 add LE Audio with the LC3 codec, a first for Technics, plus a Dolby Atmos spatial-audio mode with head tracking; the tests temper both, noting LC3 brings no tangible sound-quality gain over LDAC and that standard Bluetooth cannot carry Atmos metadata, so the spatial effect widens the stage but stays uniform rather than truly adaptive. Adding a second multipoint source is fiddly on both. The AZ100's touch controls are marginally more responsive; both drive the deep, well-made Audio Connect app with its eight-band, ±10 dB equaliser reaching to 12 kHz.

Battery Life

This is the AZ100's clearest win. One lab called them the longest-lasting true-wireless earbuds it had ever measured, recording 11 h 30 with cancelling on and 15 h off; another measured about 10 h 20 with cancelling — either way, comfortably beyond the AZ80's measured 7 h 15 to 9 h. Both cases add a little under three further charges and support wireless charging. If endurance matters, the generational gap is real.

Which Should You Buy?

Choose the EAH-AZ100 if you want the more complete earbud: a more natural, refined tuning (heard by most, though its signature divides opinion), record-setting battery life, a better calling system, LE Audio, a more compact and universal shell and slightly quicker controls — accepting that its noise cancelling still trails Sony in the mids and treble and that standard latency is high. Choose the EAH-AZ80 if you find it at a meaningful saving: it remains an excellent, energetic-sounding pair with a proven, secure fit, seven tip sizes and the same three-device multipoint, giving away most to its successor on battery, calls and connectivity rather than on core sound. As a generational step the AZ100 is the clear advance — but an AZ80 owner content with the fit and endurance loses little by keeping them.