You Need to Hear the Technics EAH-A800 Wireless Headphones to Believe Them

The first time I put on the Technics EAH-A800 headphones (from parent company Panasonic), I pressed play on the song "Hold Me" from singer and songwriter Lyrah. Instantly, I was inside the keyboard with the deep, rich electronic music swirling all around. I had listened to the song a dozen times before this, and never had I felt this visceral feeling.

It wasn't only that indie song, however. All the songs I pressed play on sounded great. These headphones get the audio quality right, but they also go beyond that. The ANC strength is impressive and can help facilitate times of instant focus. Plus, premium features abound, such as Multipoint connections.

I don't say this lightly, but these headphones surpass the beloved Sony WH-1000XM4. The Technics EAH-A800 include feature parity, but with better sound and just as good noise cancellation, if not better. If you're going to pay a lot of money for consumer-level wireless headphones, these are the ones you should get.

TL;DR

Pros:

• The sound quality is captivating
• ANC is strong and isolating
• Plenty of premium features included

Cons:

• Media buttons on the side can be tricky to reach

Buy at Amazon.

Technics EAH-A800 Features

A key feature of premium wireless headphones is ANC. Beyond the subjective feeling that they block a lot of noise, Technics says these use "Dual Hybrid feedforward and feedback noise canceling with analog and digital processing" to achieve the levels they do.

In the past, I would go sit in a busy café to get a sense of how effective the ANC was for different headphones. That's been challenging during Covid times. Instead, I'll use various sounds playing through a speaker to recreate different environments. Across Spotify and Apple Music, there's audio of city street noise, airplane cabins, lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners, to name a few.

This isn't a perfect testing solution, but I also can't book a flight every time a new pair of headphones comes out. In my experience, these EAH-A800 headphones are superb at blocking noise. And, within the Technics Audio Connect mobile app, you can adjust the level of strength you want to any specific percent, ranging from 1 to 100.

If you don't want to block all the noise, there is a transparent mode that allows in surrounding sounds as well as an attention mode that primarily lets in voices. Most of the transparent modes on headphones make the audio sound slightly hollow, but the transparent mode here had almost no effect on the sound quality. The transparency it allows is decent.

Not only does Technics advertise clear call quality, but inside the Audio Connect app, there is a way to actually test this. You can choose between using the four-mic Beamforming and Noise Suppression technology for calls, or turning it off. There are a total of eight microphones on the headphones, and the call audio is impressive.

To my ears, the noise suppression made the audio sound a little too compressed and digital. Regardless, call quality is good, and there is an option to fine-tune to your preferences.

The headphones sport 50 hours of battery life with ANC on and 60 hours with it off. The battery life is incredible. If you do ever manage to run low, a 15-minute quick charge will get you 10 hours of listening time.

ANC, transparency and most of the other settings can all be customized, in some way, inside the Audio Connect app. The app itself is packed full of settings, but it still manages a relatively clean interface on iOS for simple operation.

EAH-A800 Sound

Good headphones are open windows to the music you love: They allow for clarity and an unencumbered impact that should make you want to listen to even more music. And these EAH-A800 make me want to keep listening.

The sounds are so vivid and present, they expose new details. But mostly, their richness is engulfing and puts you in the room with the artist so the melodies can resonate even deeper.

Most songs I listened to using the EAH-A800 headphones, I felt more connected to. Some songs I listened to intently for certain audio aspects, and others I let play in the background to keep me company as I typed in solitude.

There were a few songs that stuck out. Sun June's "Reminded" is a relaxed tune that has a folk flavor to it. Steady drums and an acoustic guitar at the beginning instantly pull you in. A distinct bass guitar during the bridge also thumps nicely.

The headphones sport a three-layer diaphragm 40 millimeter driver. If you have a capable device, these support the LDAC high-resolution wireless audio format.

I used the headphones primarily wirelessly with an iPhone because that's likely to be the most common use for consumers. I did stream most audio using Apple Music in 24-bit 48 kHz lossless audio to get a high fidelity sound. The headphones may advertise high-resolution audio, but they are very much a mass-market product.

Everything, from pop from Adele and the Weeknd to classic rock to jazz from Ben Webster Quintet, sounded detailed and brilliant. Even compared directly against AirPods Max, these are excellent—and are lighter weight.

Miscellaneous Notes

No product is so perfect that it can't be critiqued, at least a little. That being said, these headphones don't have much to complain about. The actual quibbles are very minor and minimal in contrast to the total experience.

The buttons are nice to have, but they are about as annoying to actually use as possible. You need to feel for them each time. You also need to feel for them slowly because they are close together and don't have much distinction between them. There are touch controls for a double and triple tap on the earcup, and these can be customized, but they can only change the sound mode—not be set to control play and pause or song skip.

The carrying case the EAH-A800 comes in is nice, but it's unfortunate that you need to collapse the headband to fit them in easily. I also think the headphones' design is a bit plain and boring—though not ugly. Again, these are some bottom-of-the-barrel complaints.

Should You Buy the Technics EAH-A800?

These are pricey headphones, but I think they offer a premium experience to match their cost. Not only have I been thoroughly impressed by the way music sounds through them, but the ANC and other features make them great for working from home—or the office.

I love the way Apple's AirPods Max sound and all the features and comfort that the Sony WH-1000XM4 provides. Still, these Technics EAH-A800 are now my pick for anyone looking for high-end, wireless headphones.

Buy at Amazon for $349.

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