In January, Technics unveiled the 3 490 SEK ($349) EAH-A800 Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones, a premium set of Bluetooth earphones that promise industry-leading battery life (up to 50 hours), top-notch active noise canceling, and LDAC Hi-Res wireless audio. Price-wise, they’re in direct competition with top-rated headphones from Sony and Bose, but can they take on the fight?

Design

I can not really decide if I like the design of the EAH-A800 or not. One moment they are wonderfully retro cool with a design that is a bit reminiscent of the headphones from the past, but the next second they are just downright boring.

The headphones have a matte plastic build with a brushed aluminum panel on the outside of the earcups, which surround your ear with soft and comfortable ear cushions. A Technics logo is imprinted on each side, and the padded leather headband is easily adjusted on both ends to find the right fit for your head. Even if they’re not breaking the mold from a design standpoint, I want to point out that they do have a premium look.

If you want to carry them with you, the design is foldable and they also come housed in a hard-shelled case to protect them. In the Technics EAH-A800 box, you get a USB-C charging cable, a 3.5mm audio cable and an aeroplane adapter. 

The headphones have a set of controls that are placed on the right cup. By pressing the on / off button on the side of the right cup, the headphones automatically go into pairing mode and can then be automatically found by your mobile phone. There is also a touch control on the right cover. With this control, the active noise cancellation (ANC) is switched on and off.

The Technics EAH-A800 features a design language you either love or hate.


When I first started using the headphones, the controls took a bit of time to get used to, but once I was used to them, they worked reliably every time.

Features

The active noise cancelling is magnificant on the EAH-A800. As a matter of fact it’s matching or surpassing some of the class leaders. It does a fantastic job of blocking out both low-pitch background noise and high-pitch voices, something only the best ANC headphones do. If I compare these to my current favourites (Sony WH-1000XM4) I don’t really notice any difference.

two other ANC modes included: a Transparent mode and an Attention mode. The former lets sound through from the environment around you, while the latter is only meant to let in voices, cutting out other annoying sounds – which I have to say was a new feature to me. I tried this while commuting with the bus and I could keep my focus on the music and still hear conversations around me or announcements made.

Eight microphones packed with a wind noise reduction feature mean these headphones are great for taking your calls through. I had no complaints from the recipients of my calls when I picked up the phone, no matter where I was.

Sound performance

Audio is provided by the PEEK/Polyurethane 3-Layer Diaphragm 40mm driver and the Technics EAH-A800 simply put sound incredible. They provide good bass reproduction they sounds warm and natural and pleasant with good volume. The mids stands out a little extra as it is rich in nuance and full of information. Other parts of the register are not bad though, it just does not stand out as much. It’s hard to put down the Technics EAH-A800 – that’s how good they sound.

Battery

One of the very best things about the Technics EAH-A800 is the battery life, with the noise-cancelling switched on you’ll get a whopping 50 hours of playtime, turn it off and that goes up to an outstanding 60 hours. To conserve battery, there’s a feature that switches the headphones off after a period of inactivity and you can change how long that period is in the adjoining smartphone app.

You’ll rarely need to charge these cans, but when you do it’ll take about 3 hours all in all, and a quick 15 minutes plugged in will give you 10 hours of music. Absolutely amazing!

Verdict

I can highly recommend the Technics EAH-A800. I especially think that those who travel often will appreciate the headphones and the smart attention mode. They have many good features and really good sound, especially midrange. They are foldable and also very comfortable during longer sessions.


PROS

  • Great ANC
  • Outstanding sound performance
  • Class leading battery life


CONS

  • App needs improvements