Technics EAH-A800 review: ANC headphones with jaw-dropping battery life

This Technics EAH-A800 review won’t be for everyone because they sit more towards the pricier end of the best noise-cancelling headphones, but if you’re willing to splash the cash then they are a fantastic choice. A combination of jaw-dropping battery life and excellent sound makes them stand out against a very busy crowd. 

Under the umbrella of tech giant Panasonic, Technics offers Hi-Fi audio products ranging from headphones to speakers, and music systems to DJ equipment. If you want any high-quality audio kit then Technic’s portfolio is almost certainly worth a look. 

In this Technics EAH-A800 review, you’ll be able to find out everything you need to know about these cans from details on their design and fit to my take on their sound, features and connectivity. 

Technics EAH-A800 review: price and availability 

You can buy the Technics EAH-A800 right now from Amazon. They’ll set you back about $350 in the US and £300 in the UK. To see where else you can buy them, and the best deals on them from across the web right now, take a look at the widgets on this page. 

Technics EAH-A800 review: design and fit 

Simple in design, the Technics EAH-A800 look smart and you can buy them in one of two elegant colourways, those being black or white. 

The headphones have a matte plastic build with a brushed metal 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. 

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 adaptor included. 

Weighing 298g they’re not very heavy to wear although they will look a little big on you if you have a smaller head. Even so, I found that I could wear them for long periods of time without getting tired of having them on, so they were great for commutes and long journeys. They did move around a bit though so I wouldn’t use these for workouts. 

There are a few line-shaped buttons across the edge of the right earcup, which will switch the headphones on, put them in pairing mode, pause or play the music, adjust the volume and let you skip through tracks. You can also flick between noise-cancelling modes using the touch panel on the outside of the right earcup. 

When I first started using the headphones, the controls took a bit of time to get used to because they’re quite different from a lot of others I’ve tried out and the buttons are placed quite far back, but once I was used to them, they worked reliably every time. 

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!

Technics EAH-A800 review: sound and features 

Audio is provided by the PEEK/Polyurethane 3-Layer Diaphragm 40mm driver, and as you would expect from a Hi-Fi expert, the Technics EAH-A800 sound incredible. 

Precise and detailed, in Little Simz’s How Did You Get Here, the soft piano was just as clear as the vocal performance which was very well balanced with the sound of the drums. You don’t lose any instrument nor will you miss a single lyric. 

Even in more energetic garage tunes like Re-Rewind by Artful Dodger and Craig David, frequencies were well proportioned with a wide soundstage as well as plenty of power. I felt completely immersed in each track I listened to. 

What’s really great is that you get loads of control over the audio. You can tune the headphones across a 5-band equaliser and you also get the choice of 4 different preset sound modes including Bass, Vocal, Treble and Dynamic. Each makes a big difference, but in all honesty, I was quite happy with how they sound straight out of the box.

The noise-cancelling can be adjusted around a dial so you can increase it or decrease it depending on where you are and what you’re doing. It does a good job the majority of the time, although I could still hear some sounds here and there especially when they were nearby, like the taps of my keyboard in the office or some of the chatter happening around me. 

You also get 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. 

Out and about, I made use of the Transparent mode when I needed to hear traffic noise, but the Attention mode proved to be much more useful because I could keep my focus on the music and still hear conversations around me or announcements made on public transport. 

Eight microphones packed with wind noise reduction 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. 

Something else worth knowing about is that the Technics EAH-A800 have wear sensors which will automatically pause the audio when you take them off and play it again when you put them back on. It's especially handy when someone starts talking to you because you won’t need to faff around with the controls to hear what they are saying, you can just take one off your ear and you won't miss out on a second of the song. 

Bluetooth 5.2 gives you an operating distance of about 10m so I stayed connected even when I wandered away from my phone and because you can connect to two devices at once I was easily able to flick between them, so I could play music from my laptop and then answer a call on my phone without having to switch devices. 

Technics EAH-A800 review: verdict 

First and foremost, the Technics EAH-A800 sound excellent. The superb Hi-Res audio is a notch above the majority of over-ear headphones, even at this sort of price. That’s why I can somewhat forgive the slightly less effective noise cancellation. Your music sounds how it’s meant to, and that’s definitely something to brag about. 

Naturally, the biggest selling point outside of the audio quality is the battery life, which at a maximum of 120 hours with ANC switched off, is incredible. I’ve never seen a pair of headphones that last as long as the Technics EAH-A800. Add to that the wear sensors, manual equaliser settings and multipoint pairing, and you’re onto a winner. These give you just about everything you could need. It’d be hard not to recommend them! 

Technics EAH-A800 review: also consider  

While audiophiles will love the Technics EAH-A800, for most people with a bigger budget, I’d still recommend the Sony WH-1000XM5 above all else. They pack in Sony’s best ever noise cancelling tech so you can expect a lot more from these when it comes to blocking out distracting noise. 

For those who like the finer things in life, I’d recommend the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay HX. They’re a little pricier than the Technics but they are also seriously luxurious, with impressive sound quality and decent ANC.

At T3, we test a huge amount of products from smartphones and headphones to mattresses and sleeping bags. You can find out more by taking a look at how we test.