Technics' $449 Headphones Sound Superb, and Shaky Bluetooth Costs Them My Money

At $449, a Bluetooth connection that does not behave outweighs the sound, at least for me.

Engadget gave the Technics EAH-A1000 an 8.9 out of 10 and listed superb sound, excellent noise cancelling, a comfortable design and solid battery life, rated at about 45 hours with noise cancelling on. The cons are the price and what the reviewer calls finicky multipoint Bluetooth. Technics advertises connecting to three devices at once. The reviewer had little success with two, and switching between a phone and a Windows laptop was unreliable. Engadget also notes that using LDAC, the higher-quality Bluetooth codec, limits how many devices can stay connected.

Audio quality is one of the things I care about most, so I do not dismiss the sound. But I pay for headphones to work every day, not just to sound good when everything goes right. A premium price with a connection that fails when you switch devices is the kind of problem a spec sheet never shows and a store demo never triggers.

One caveat, and it is a real one: everything I am saying here rests on a single review. I have not tested these headphones. A different reviewer with a different phone and laptop may have a different experience. So do not take my word as final. Read more reviews of any product before you spend this kind of money, and look specifically for anyone who tested multipoint with the devices you own.

Check the current price and the newest reviews before you decide. The source is linked below.