It can be surprisingly daunting to follow up on a great pair of earbuds. The objective is to make improvements wherever possible without sacrificing anything that people loved about the previous set. That’s where Technics found itself with the $299.99 EAH-AZ100 earbuds, which it announced at CES 2025. I was rather taken with the company’s last flagship set, the AZ80, because of their rich sound and unique ability to pair with three devices at the same time. The new buds look to augment those strengths with even more dynamic audio, longer battery life, and more capable active noise cancellation.

Technics even rethought the core sound. Inside the A100s are new “magnetic fluid” drivers — and yes, there’s actually liquid in there. Technics puts an oily substance (mixed with magnetic particles) between the driver magnet and voice coil and says this approach, derived from its $1,200 in-ear monitors, helps lower distortion and increase clarity beyond what the AZ80s were capable of. The same goes for bass response, with the AZ100s able to dig down even deeper for a more impactful thump. Despite the new approach, there’s not a world of difference between the AZ80s and AZ100s: both offer fantastic detail and presence across music genres, though the newer buds have more depth and bass to my ears. I wouldn’t upgrade just for that, though.