Astell & Kern’s second-gen wireless earbuds boast serious hi-res stamina
A&K promises to ‘set a new standard in true wireless sound’
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When we’re picking thebest wireless earbuds, rest assured TechRadar prioritizes sound quality over brutalist beauty. But becauseAstell & Kerntypically aces both the style and substance categories with its excellent hi-res players – and who could forget the South Korean audio specialist’s stunningCampfire Audio earbuds collaboration? – we haven’t needed to make the compromise with its audio products.
Now, the company is unveiling a second-gen iteration of its five-starAstell & Kern UW100earbuds, released in April 2022, and while the stunning pentagon design – I might say ‘gorgeous goth jewelry’; A&K would say that Astell is Greek for ‘star’ and ‘Kern’ means ‘center’ – may look similar, there is one significant upgrade to unpack.
The UW100MKII earbuds (for that is their name) now boast a total of 29 hours from the buds and the case combined, or 9.5 hours of playtime from just the earbuds.
To clarify, you’ll get just six hours from the inaugural UW100 earbuds or a 24-hour total including the charging case. It might not sound a lot, but anyone who’s ever been caught short before a road trip or flight will value those extra hours of playtime – and remember, the second-genBowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2arrived toting the same five-hour playtime and additional 16 hours from charging case as their olderBowers & Wilkins Pi7stablemates.
Analysis: Astell & Kern makes upgrades where it counts
Elsewhere, you’re getting an embedded 32-bit DAC and an adjusted full range balanced armature driver, a more advanced circuit design (to boast super-stable connection and vastly reduce distortion or excess noise) plus a redesigned acoustic chamber – all of which will, says A&K, “set a new standard in true wireless sound”.
The company tells us it has also “dramatically” reduced the size of the charging case and improved the touch controls and call quality, with Qualcomm’s cVc Generation 8.0 (Clear Voice Capture) dual mics per earbud to keep background noise to a minimum and focus on the voice.
A&K’s UW100MKII also support multipoint pairing andGoogle’s Fast Pair service to automatically connect the earbuds to Android devices usingBluetooth Low Energyand Bluetooth 5.2.
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The UW100MKII are accompanied by an exclusive app to offer an adjustable 10-band EQ to alter the sound of the UW100MKII – yes, a 10-band option versus the five you’ll get with most earbuds able to offer it.
You’ll also find the option to change the Ambient mode levels in these earbuds via the app, but it should be noted that there’s no active noise cancellation – so the A&K UW100MKII aren’t about to enter ourbest noise-cancelling earbudsroundup. I for one don’t care about the lack of active noise cancellation if the audio can better the already excellent sound quality in the originals.
Pricing? Of course: the AK UW100MKII is will be available to purchase from early October 2023 for $280 / £269 / AU$499 viaAstell & Kernor from select retailers.
The keen-eyed will note that this pricing actually undercuts the original UW100’s April 2022 launch price of $299 / £249 / AU$399 by $19, £20 or AU$100, which is just more good news – and I can’t wait to hear what they can do when paired to my smartphone as well as to the company’s splendidAstell & Kern A&norma SR25 MKII.
Becky became Audio Editor at TechRadar in 2024, but joined the team in 2022 as Senior Staff Writer, focusing on all things hi-fi. Before this, she spent three years at What Hi-Fi? testing and reviewing everything from wallet-friendly wireless earbuds to huge high-end sound systems. Prior to gaining her MA in Journalism in 2018, Becky freelanced as an arts critic alongside a 22-year career as a professional dancer and aerialist – any love of dance starts with a love of music. Becky has previously contributed to Stuff, FourFourTwo and The Stage. When not writing, she can still be found throwing shapes in a dance studio, these days with varying degrees of success.
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