Review: Astell & Kern UW100

Do you remember the first time you tried something other than the crappy plastic earbuds that came with your mobile device? I recall reading a forum post online, buying a then spendy $100 pair of Shure headphones, and blowing my own mind when I plugged them into my iPod Nano.

That’s the sensation you get when you jump from entry-level wireless earbuds like AirPods to a premium pair like the new Astell & Kern UW100. With excellent digital-to-analog conversion, bespoke drivers, and a sleek design, I can see these being an easy entry point 
for aspiring audiophiles.

It’s taken some time for high-end wireless earbuds to do anything special, besides look better than the versions from Apple, Samsung, and others. The UW100 prove that we’re finally getting better sound for our extra dollars, and they might make a few audiophiles cut the cord when out and about.

Photograph:  Astell & Kern

If you’re not into hoarding FLAC files and dropping thousands of dollars on gorgeous digital players, it’s very likely you’ve never heard of Astell & Kern. The small audio brand has made acclaimed digital-to-analog converters, headphone amps, and portable players for the Rolex class for years, but only recently has it taken the deep dive into higher-end mainstream audio products.

When it comes to both design and audio performance, the technological trickle-down is clear. Astell & Kern is willing to sell products for under $500 now, but the engineers are still unwilling to sell bad-sounding ones.

The jagged, gem-like exterior of each earbud immediately stands out amidst a bunch of wireless buds that look like golf tees. They're like something you might spot in a Star Trek spinoff, doubling as fancy space-age communicators. That’s not to say the buds don’t look and feel elegant, but unless your personal style is very modern, you might find them a bit flashy.

Such visual cues are par for the course from Astell & Kern, which utilizes jagged edges as a centerpiece of its design language. However, the case is a bit large and very plasticky, which I wouldn’t expect from buds that cost nearly twice as much as AirPods. I may dislike Apple’s basic buds, but the case is twice as sleek and half the size.

Despite having no ear fins, the UW100 fit extremely well in my medium-sized ears. I’ve been able to take them on long runs, do yard work, and generally putter about without ever dropping a bud. Of course, that's partly a fluke: Unless your ears are identical to mine, your mileage may vary. But as long as you don’t have small ears (these are on the medium-large side of the spectrum, but not crazy huge), they should fit you just fine.

Sound quality is the real showstopper with the UW100, though. A 32-bit digital-to-analog converter and custom balanced armature drivers pair with support for the aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec to deliver the cleanest, most detailed audio I’ve ever heard from wireless earbuds.

A wide soundstage and assertive (but not overly boomy) bass are aided by the headphones' excellent passive noise isolation. At times, I swore these earbuds had active noise canceling, since they blocked out the outside world so well. This is a fact that Astell & Kern’s engineers clearly recognized too; you can activate Ambient mode with a tap of an external touch sensor, and you'll find yourself using it if you buy these buds.

The touch sensors on the outside of the right and left bud act as controls for everything from that Ambient mode to lowering or raising volume to playback controls, all depending on which one you hit and for how long. These controls are shockingly intuitive and fully featured, and they rank among the best touch sensors I’ve ever used. The sensor is on the lower half of each bud, which means you can easily adjust them in your ears without accidentally messing with your settings. In fact, these are the only touch controls I’ve never accidentally activated with my hair or sweat during workouts.

You can customize what the controls do, change equalization, and turn on and off ambient awareness mode in Astell & Kern’s TWS app, but I loved that I didn’t really have to. A hallmark of a true premium product is not only that it works better than most, but that it works easier than most too.

The large charging case does have one benefit: You're less likely to misplace it during the six hours the buds last between charges. (With a fully charged case, you get 24 total hours of listening.) You can leave it on a wireless charging mat while you’re out and about to juice up the case.

Photograph:  Astell & Kern

I’m always cycling through a million different review units, but the Astell & Kern UW100 have become the wireless earbuds I turn to when I need a little bit of “me time.” Whether walking to the corner store, going on a run in the woods, or trimming my lawn, I love that I can now get audio quality on par with what I’d previously expect only from wired earbuds, without the inconvenience of the cable and dedicated digital-to-analog converter. I find myself doing deep, intense listening while outside my usual leather chair.

The beautiful thing about Astell & Kern’s tuning is that it’s very neutral and very honest. The headphones truly shine in the midrange, where detail and separation of instruments abound, and where you’ll be able to tell what each guitar player, singer, and keyboard player is doing in a tune. I kept finding new and exciting parts in songs that I wanted to investigate later.

As a first foray into wireless earbuds, it’s impressive how many things Astell & Kern nailed. If you like high-end sound and modern convenience, these are probably the best earbuds for you.