I bought the Technics AZ100 earphones as soon as the price dropped by £50

I'm a fan of the Technics EAH-AZ series. I've had the AZ60s for a few years, and though they're balanced, clear, with plenty of detail, they're two generations old now. With the release of the EAH-AZ100 in January this year, I've been waiting for a good discount on the new flagship plugs to justify an upgrade. And one has finally come. In the UK you can get them down from £259 to £209 over at Amazon. In the US? You can buy the Technics EAH-AZ100s down from $225 to $198 over at Crutchfield.

Now, as I recently found out, you can get a good pair of wired inner-ear monitors for just $30, but the AZ100s offer wireless portability, and freedom to change the sound profile with their app. And with those features, and now at the sub-$200 mark, I'm seriously considering adding them to my list of the best budget audiophile headphones guide (in a brand new TWS (true wireless stereo) section.

Save £50

Technics AZ100 earbuds: was £259 now £209 at Amazon

£50 off a flagship pair of earphones is excellent. And this is a genuine Black Friday deal – the lowest price I've seen this on Amazon was £235, back at the start of November.

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Save $34.26

Technics AZ100 earbuds: was $225 now $190.74 at Crutchfield

Considering these are flagship, reference-class earbuds with magnetic-fluid drivers, adaptive ANC, wireless charging, Dolby Atmos and class-leading multipoint, almost $34 off is a killer deal that can't be ignored.

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The AZ100s use the same magnetic-fluid driver tech from Technics’ reference-grade wired IEMs (yep, the $1K+ ones), which is why people rave about their clarity, detail and realism. To get specific, you get Dolby Atmos with head tracking (not that I'm a massive fan of that), wildly effective adaptive ANC (big fan of that!), a rock-solid Bluetooth 5.3 connection with three-device multipoint (still rare), and up to 10 hours of battery with ANC on (win, win, win).

So what do they actually sound like? Think proper hi-res sparkle on the top end, bass that punches but never muddies, and a spacious, airy soundstage that embarrasses most rivals.

Why the AZ100s beat rivals

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Sony’s WF-1000XM5 and Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra earbuds are both excellent, but they’re designed for mass appeal: big bass, softened highs, plenty of DSP (digital signal processing) magic. The AZ100s take the more purist, hi-fi route. They’re cleaner, more detailed and more open-sounding, with a genuinely wider presentation and better low-level clarity.

To put it another way: the ANC is genuinely Bose-bothering, the detail and spaciousness are Sony-bothering, and comfort is top tier thanks to the smaller, lighter shell. Oh, and that three-device multipoint? Still unmatched.

Why they’re a bargain

At $34 off, you’re getting flagship-grade clarity and build quality for less than the launch price, and for far less than what you’d pay for Technics’ own wired reference IEMs, which share similar driver tech but don’t offer ANC, Bluetooth, or a charging case. You also beat the price of many rivals that offer less detail, less battery and less customisation.

In short, if you want IEMs that deliver proper hi-fi sound while still nailing the real-world stuff (comfort, ANC, multipoint, call quality, spatial audio), the Technics AZ100 are the rare pair that tick every box. And with almost $30 off, they’re an absolute steal.