Audio-Technica ATH CKR7TW Review - Bigger Isn't Always Better 🤦🏻‍♂️
Audio-Technica ATH CKR7TW Review - Bigger Isn't Always Better 🤦🏻‍♂️
2019-02-24
Im going to start off this video by saying
that I was pleasantly surprised and impressed
by Audio-Technica’s $200 ATH-SR50BT headphones…
and if it weren’t for their crappy touchpad
they’d be the best $200 ANC headphones on
the market right now.
But sadly, the same cant be said about Audio-Technica’s
new truly wireless earbuds, the ATH-CKR7TW’s…
I just don’t think they hold up to the rest
of the competition.
Now these are Audio-Technica’s first and
most expensive truly wireless earbuds retailing
for $250.
So thats kind of the reason why I’m being
so tough on these earbuds.
But I’m also being tough cause Audio-Technica
also released a slightly cheaper sport variant
of their truly wireless earbuds that if you
simply read down the spec sheet, look more
impressive than these more expensive ones.
So I’ll definitely have to check out the
Audio-Technica ATH-Sport7TW in the future.
First I want to address the carrying case,
its huge.
And whenever you put it in your pocket you
always know its there and it bulges’s out
a lot.
And I feel that this huge carrying case would
be actable if it also meant a huge battery
life… but it doesn’t.
This huge carrying case is only able to supply
the earbuds with 9 additional hours of battery
life.
And since the earbuds themselves are able
to hold a 6 hour charge…
Audio-Technica’s truly wireless earbuds
only have a total playback time of 15 hours.
Which isn’t that impressive cause most truly
wireless earbuds with significantly smaller
cases have about 12 hours of total playback
time.
And the AirPods, which just look tinny compared
to the Audio-Technica’s have a total playback
time of 24 hours.
But tech specs aside, this carrying case just
feels cheap… the build quality here is just
marginally better than the $130 Skullcandy
Push carrying case.
And when it comes to fit, thats another issue.
Now first I am going to profess that I do
have a bias towards AirPods cause I personally
don’t like wearing in ear earbuds for long
periods of time besides being at the gym.
But these earbuds go in super deep into your
ear canal, so deep in fact that I had to use
the smallest ear tips that came included cause
they would fall out other wise.
So I just personally find that having these
earbuds super deep into my ear canal just
feels very uncomfortable… and I still find
myself having to occasionally push them back
in.
But these earbuds also come included with
a single pair of ear fins.
Now I will admit that these ear fins do a
very good job of providing a more secure fit.
But if you do decide to use these earbuds
with the ear fins then you’ll notice that
when you drop them into their carrying case,
the carrying case doesn’t close as easily
as before.
You really have to put some effort into closing
this lid.
And not matter how much I try to adjust the
fins on these earbuds, the problem still persists.
So it just looks like these ear fins were
an after thought or a quick fix.
But when it comes to these earbud’s bluetooth
connectivity, theres some good and bad.
The good news is that these earbuds have stable
connections that don’t cut out while you’re
walking with your phone in your pocket and
it can even go through a few walls.
But unfortunately these earbuds have a significant
amount of delay.
No matter if youre using an android device
or an iPhone or what app you’re using, these
earbuds are not good for watching videos what
so ever.
So these earbuds are for strictly listening
to music.
And when it comes to sound quality these earbuds
perform well.
They have 11 millimeter diameter drivers packed
inside, which is rather impressive.
Cause the Sennheiser momentums for example
have 7 millimeter diameter drivers.
The highs are very crisp, and the bass is
very well defined.
But unlike their headphones which have a neutral
sound signature, I cant help but feel Audio-Technica’s
ear buds have a bass heavy sound signature…
which makes it very hard to actually hear
the mids without having to crank up the volume
all the way up.
And since Audio-Technica’s app doesn’t
allow you to directly mess with the EQ you’re
going to have to use a third part app instead.
So like I just said when it comes to sound
quality these earbuds perform well, but if
you want to get the best sound quality out
of them you’re going to have to use a third
party EQ.
But also Audio-Technica strangely didn’t
include a transparency mode to their most
expensive pair of truly wireless earbuds…
but did include it on their smaller, and cheaper
sports variant.
And I think this is a big deal cause a lot
of other headphones and truly wireless earbuds
are starting to come with this feature and
I find it to be very useful.
But personally I would avoid the Audio-Technica
ATH-CKR7TW’s at all costs.
I don’t think they’re worth their $250
asking price.
The main point of truly wireless earbuds is
to have a compact, wire free solution that
allows you to passively listen to your music
or podcasts, take phone calls or interact
with your voice assistant.
And unfortunately due their case, these earbuds
are not compact at all, they’re actually
more of a hassle to carry around than your
phone cause of that thickness.
I personally don’t find them that comfortable
to wear and if you want to use the ear fins
to get a better fit you’re going to have
to wrestle with that lid every time.
Even though these earbuds have bluetooth 5.0
and have both APTX and AAC support they still
have a lot of latency.
And I find it very odd that Audio-Technica
didn’t included a transparency mode on their
more expensive truly wireless earbuds cause
most other premium truly wireless earbuds
now have that feature.
If you have $250 to spend I highly advise
you pick yourself up a pair Sir50’s, if
you’re an iPhone user you’re better off
with AirPods, or if youre an android user
or if you really just want a pair of premium
truly wireless earbuds then spring for the
Sennheiser Momentum Truly wireless earbuds.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.