It’s a big day for wireless sound, courtesy of Panasonic.
Panasonic has announced the release in the United States of five separate products, including two pairs of true wireless earbuds, two sets of wireless headphones, and a third set of true wireless earbuds under Panasonic’s premium audio brand, Technics. The products range from $120 to $250 and are immediately available.
Here’s a breakdown of everything that Panasonic dropped today:
Technics EAH-AZ70W
The most premium product in this newly announced lineup is the pair of Technics-branded earbuds, which don’t have a name that exactly rolls off the tongue. What they do have, though, is an impressive spec sheet.
The EAH-AZ70W are noise-canceling true wireless buds with 10mm dynamic drivers at the heart of the design and bolstered by Dual Hybrid Noise Canceling Technology. The earbuds feature voice assistant compatibility, with an IPX4 weatherproof rating and 6.5 hours of playback at a time, plus two additional charges in the included case.
With a price of $250, the Technics earbuds seem positioned to compete with top buds like the Sony WF-1000XM3 or the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2, for better or for worse. The EAH-AZ70W will also be available in black or silver. You can read our review of these earbuds here.
Panasonic RZ-S500W and RZ-S300W
The remaining two pairs of true wireless earbuds fall under the Panasonic umbrella, with active noise cancellation being a key differentiator here. The $180 RZ-S500W have it, while the $120 RZ-S300W don’t.
Like the Technics earbuds, the RZ-S500W feature Dual Hybrid Noise Canceling Technology, voice assistant compatibility, an IPX4 weatherproof rating, and 6.5 hours of playback in a single charge, as well as two additional charges with the case. The RZ-S500W also has beamforming technology that uses a pair of microphones to “further pick up speech and suppress ambient noise for the clearest possible calls,” according to Panasonic.
The RZ-S300W, meanwhile, will also have an IPX4 weatherproof rating and voice assistant compatibility, as well as 6.5 hours of battery life in a single charge. As opposed to both the RZ-S500W and the Technics, however, the RZ-S300W have three additional charges for a total of 30 hours of battery life.
The RZ-S500W will be available in black or white, with the RZ-S300W offering black, white, or green versions. You can read our review of the RZ-S500W here.
Panasonic RB-M700B and RB-M500B
Panasonic didn’t just address the true wireless community — there are two new pairs of over-ear cans, too. The $180 RB-M700B and $150 RB-M500B, in the words of Panasonic, are supposed to have enhanced bass performance for low end-heavy music listening.
Panasonic calls the technology behind this “XBS DEEP,” which was developed by tuning the house structure to provide the best environment possible for the 40mm drivers to reproduce bass. There are a plethora of other features to aid these bass-centric headphones, including as Bass Reactor to amplify low frequencies, a Harmonic Tuning EQ, a Bass-Blow Port, and a free-edge driver system.
The headphone landscape, of course, is just as crowded as the world of true wireless earbuds. Where the Panasonic earbuds will have to compete with products like the Apple AirPods and Google Pixel Buds 2, these new pairs of headphones will have to go toe-to-toe with standouts like the Razer Opus or the Sony WH-CH710N.
Whether Panasonic is up to the challenge remains to be seen. But don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of it as soon as we can review these new buds and cans.
