The over-ear Technics EAH-A800 looks high quality. The ear cups are pleasantly soft and covered with artificial leather. The receiver housing consists of a plastic chamber with a metallic touch panel on the outside. The EAH-A800 sit very comfortably on the eavesdroppers. Over time, the testers noticed a slight but not uncomfortable pressure on the ears. The well-padded headband sits loosely on the skull, so the over-ear headphones slip a little when you move a lot. The shielding is really great: Outside noises are strongly dampened, in the other direction music comes out barely audibly.
The buttons of the EAH-A800 are located on the right earcup.
The Technics EAH-A800 is operated via buttons and the touch surfaces on the outside. The buttons can be used to control volume and playback with various tap gestures. With double taps, you can switch between noise canceling and transparency mode, which allows outside noise to pass through. The controls are easy to learn, but the buttons on the right ear cup are a bit difficult to feel. Some practice is necessary here, otherwise users will pause the current track, for example, instead of changing the volume.
The Technics app shows the battery status and offers the most important functions for sound adjustment and noise cancellation at a glance.
The sound is as tidy as the smartphone application: the Technics reproduces music in a very detailed and warm way. The basses are powerful without being uncomfortable and voices sound unadulterated. The sound doesn’t seem particularly brilliant, but that doesn’t detract from the listening pleasure. In terms of sound, the EAH-A800 moves between the Sony WF-1000XM4 and the Bose QuietComfort 45. However, all three competitors have to admit defeat to Apple’s sound superiority.
The situation is different with noise cancellation. The Technics noise canceler is very effective. Eight microphones are built in for this – and for telephoning. They capture the ambient noise, the headphones reproduce the opposite sound. The superimposition creates calmness in the ears. In addition to constant and rather deep noises, which can easily be extinguished in this way, voices from chattering fellow passengers, for example, don’t stand a chance with the Technics. The EAH-H800 ruthlessly shield eavesdroppers from users. They are therefore at the very high level of the AirPods Max and thus beat the devices from Sony or Bose. Anyone who finds this too harsh and the associated isolation too spooky can simply turn down the noise-cancelling effect in the app.
In addition to the headphones, there is also space in the carrying case for all the important cables.
The strong noise cancellation does not come at the expense of battery life. Even with the noise canceling switched on, the EAH-A800 played more than the 50 hours specified by the manufacturer. It beats the competition in some cases by more than twice as long: The Sony WH-100XM4 has played the longest so far with 38 hours and 24 minutes, followed by the Bose QuietComfort 45 (23 hours and 37 minutes) and the Apple AirPods Max (21 hours and 30 minutes). The scope of delivery includes a plastic case for transport, a charging cable, a jack cable (3.5 millimeters) and an adapter for audio connections on the plane.
Technics EAH-A800 in the test: conclusion
The Technics EAH-A800 are serious competition for Sony and Bose. The device does not sound like the Apple AirPods Max, but the Technics are cheaper and lighter. The noise-cancelling headphones deliver a nicely balanced and lively sound that could be a bit more brilliant. The very effective noise suppression, which lets almost no noise through to users, is unbeatable. Equally impressive is the battery life of more than 50 hours, which competitors can only dream of.