Today I propose to plunge into the world of sports brands and consider what the new wireless headphones from Adidas are capable of. Let’s start with their older version: ZNE 01 ANC. Where, in addition to a customizable active noise cancellation system, we are offered IPX5 water protection, good battery life, as well as support for fast and wireless charging. They cost decent money, so we will ask them according to all the rules.

Characteristics

• Bluetooth: v5.2
• Codecs: SBC, AAC
• Emitter: dynamic 6 mm
• Frequency range: 20 Hz – 20 kHz
• Working time: 4.5 hours (up to 20 with a case)
• Protection: IPX4 (case) + IPX5 (headphones)
• Other: active noise cancellation, wireless charging
• Earpiece Weight: 4.3g
• Case Weight: 36.6g

Packaging and equipment

The headphones arrived in a small, stylishly designed cardboard box with the image of the heroes of the review and a list of the main advantages on the reverse side.

In the kit we put a manual, a warranty card, a short Type C cable and a set of black silicone ear tips with a trimmed core. Here I’ll say right away that if you usually use L size nozzles, then you are unlikely to be able to comfortably fit the model in your ears. Stock nozzles do not cope with this issue. If you replace them with full-size ones, they simply won’t fit in the case. So the owners of wide ear canals in this case are in the span. Everyone else was much more fortunate.

Just in case, I will explain that the correct fit of the in-ear headphones requires the obligatory presence of the so-called passive soundproofing. Well, the pride of the company, the headphones themselves, like sneakers, are supplied in wrapping paper. It’s more of a fetish though.

Design/Ergonomics

The case here is small, already at the design stage sharpened for sports. Even if you kill him, outwardly he will not change much. Also, for a better grip, the manufacturer endowed it with special ribs.

Of the functional elements, we have an indicator LED, a switching button in the form of the Adidas logo and a Type C charging port. Let me remind you that the model supports fast and wireless charging, and how not to mention the water protection for the case according to the IPX4 standard, and for the headphones IPX5.

The cups themselves are made according to Apple standards, that is, with such a small leg. Although this actually makes sense, as it brings the microphone closer to the mouth, and therefore improves the quality of its work. How exactly he writes can be found independently .

To implement active noise cancellation, two more microphones are placed on the case: one hole for it on top and one inside. Below are two charging terminals, and on the inside there is an auto-pause sensor and a short sound guide.

On the outside, there is a nice-looking white grille and a touch control layer. One touch on which pauses the music, and two – switches tracks. If you hold your finger on it, then the noise reduction and sound transparency modes will switch in turn. All this, of course, is configured from a proprietary application. Where, in addition, you can find out the charge of each of the headphones, select an equalizer preset, update the firmware and turn off everything that can annoy you: from system sounds to the touch layer in principle.

The application works fine, minus one – requires the inclusion of geolocation. So if your headphones are not connecting for some reason, just activate the GPS. Well, on my Samsung, when I find these headphones, the connection menu pops up nicely. First time I see this.

Of the important, I note that when the membrane is installed in the ear, there is no crackling sound, in pauses I hear absolute silence, and when walking, even in places that are especially busy with networks, I did not notice any communication problems. In terms of volume, I twisted on average somewhere around 60%, that is, out of the declared 4.5 hours on a single charge, we actually have a little more than 4. Without the noise reduction mode, it comes out somewhere 1.5 – 2 hours more. The noise reduction and transparency mode here are not particularly aggressive, the turbine of an aircraft or an old Soviet electric train will definitely not be drowned out, but for everyday tasks it is very worthy.

Of the codecs, my smartphone found SBC and a much more advanced AAC. That is what I recommend using.

measurements

According to the measurements, we have a very short pulse in length, as is done in game solutions, acceptable discrepancies between the left and right channels and distortion at the peak reaching exactly 0.6%.

The phase behaves more or less naturally, and the attenuation at 30 and 60 dB is approximately 78 and 97 ms. Without much perturbation in the low frequency region.

The frequency response was set up as comfortably as possible. We raised the low frequencies by 10 dB, with a slight attenuation in the sub-bass region, then there is a good emphasis on the intelligibility area and a smooth fade up to 20 kHz inclusive. What is noteworthy here is that there is neither a dominance of low frequencies, nor an attempt to emphasize the top. And this guarantees trouble-free listening to almost any audio material.

Measurements taken on an artificial ear according to the IEC-60318-4 standard.

Sound

Everything is not so optimistic about the presentation, but this was to be expected from branded headphones with declared water protection. The tuning of the model, of course, is simply gorgeous, but such issues as purity and transparency of sound, timbre intelligibility and drawing small nuances are almost inaccessible to the heroes of the review. The sound is rather warm, cast, with enlarged images and such a good bias towards musicality. The bass is very deep, so you can literally feel the rhythm parts during training with your whole body.

The middle in these headphones is most pronounced, while it is separated from the rest of the range as much as possible. That is, the highs are, as it were, its logical continuation, and the bass, although it sets the basis, does not mix with the middle. Which for sports, in my opinion, is simply gorgeous. Well, thanks to the high frequencies tucked into the background, the sound is felt more comfortable, fatigue is reduced, and the bass, which is good in depth, creates an additional immersion effect and focuses us on time records.

The only thing you can really complain about here is not at all an audiophile sound. In comparison with the old BGVP Z01 and 1More TWS ANC, we get a simplification in almost all characteristics. But I think it’s obvious to everyone that Adidas is about sports, and not about audio aesthetics, and athletes rather than audiophiles will take them. In a positive way, I will once again note the absolute omnivorousness of the setting. Everything that I just turned on, the headphones digested simply stunning. Without any special refinement, but with the right mass, expressiveness and melody.

Video version of the review

findings

As a result, as the advantages of the Adidas ZNE 01 ANC wireless TWS headphones, I would like to highlight very rich and convenient software, decent appearance, water protection, more than 4 hours of battery life with active noise reduction, fast and wireless charging, just a chic level of communication in quality , as well as support for the AAC codec for music playback. In the minuses, I’ll take the very small complete ear pads and the inability to replace them with larger ones. Someone else may not have enough AptX and LDAC codecs, aggressive noise reduction and, possibly, advanced sound.

Regarding the sound, I would like to say only that it is extremely comfortable here: with a pleasant enveloping bass, a pronounced middle and high frequencies tidied up into the background. From the point of view of style, the model is absolutely universal, it listens comfortably, without any sharp annoying overtones, but more is not required from sports headphones.

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