Although battery life is supposed to be one of the main concerns when choosing a pair of earbuds, Apple has proven time and again that your audio lineup shouldn’t stand out for long-lasting battery to be successful.
The AirPods lineup is not particularly known for great battery life, so that’s certainly not the main reason people buy them. Japanese company Audio-Technica, one of the iconic brands in the audio equipment industry, has find a way to push that battery autonomy to amazingly high numbers.
Without pretending to be a technological wonder, Audio-Technica’s new ATH-CKS50TW earphones feel like a complete product. They promise long battery life, great audio quality, and some nifty functionality features.
First off, these come with active noise-canceling technology, which can be switched on and off with a press of a button. Audiophiles will be pleased to know that the ATH-CKS50TW earbuds are Sony 360 Reality Audio certified, so the music listening experience should be more immersive and realistic.
As expected, they are water-resistant (IPX4) and feature Bluetooth 5.2 support. Speaking of which, the earphones can be connected simultaneously to multiple devices, and you can also choose to use one earbud at a time.
As far as the battery goes, Audio-Technica announced the ATH-CKS50TW should offer around 20 hours of continuous music playback with ANC turned off. Thanks to the charging case that comes along with the earphones, these can go up to 50 hours of usage on a single charge. According to Audio-Technica, ATH-CKS50TW users should be able to get up to 90 minutes of listening time with ANC off after 10 minutes of charging the earbuds.
In comparison, the AirPods Pro promise up to 5 hours with ANC and Transparency off and more than 24 hours of listening time with MagSafe Charging Case. Also, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Pro should offer up to 8 hours of typical usage time with ANC and Bixby voice wake-up off or up to 28 hours with charging case.
Audio-Technica’s new ATH-CKS50TW earphones are now available for purchase for €170. The company didn’t reveal any details about US price and availability, but if we were to guess, they should cost about the same ($170).
Audio-Technica ATH-CKS50TW
