Here is the detailed review of Audio Technica ATH-CKS5TW earbuds. True to Audio Technica’s design aesthetic, the ATH- CKS5TW is a futuristic looking pair of true wireless earbuds that feature a mix of matte plastic and shiny accents.
There’s a single control button on each earbud towards the top, and these handle your usual playback controls, and they’re large enough to reach just by feel.
As with most headphones these days, the ATH also comes with a companion app. However, the app doesn’t allow you to customize controls in any way besides flipping the side they’re on (I.e. shifting volume controls to the right and playback to the left).
You can CS5TW also choose to priorities between AAC and SBC, but that’s generally well handled by leaving it on the “auto” setting.
You can also pair these with your laptop under 300 using wirelessly, to listen to audio from your personal computer.
The ATH-CKS5TW comes with four sets of replaceable ear tips of varying sizes and wingtips that you can use to adjust position once it’s in your ear.
The carrying charging case is on the long side, so you probably won’t be fitting that into your pocket.
What you get in return for that inconvenience though, is battery life. The ATH-CKS5TW gives you a whopping 15 hours of playback on a single charge, with the case providing two more charges for a total of 45 hours!
The first thing that stood out in our audio test was how much we had to push up the volume to get the details expected. Overall, audio has a bit more bass than Audio Technica’s usual neutral sound, but this is well controlled and not bloomy.
You can also listen you online music by connecting your device to inter using Wifi 6 routers, to get the latest music collection.
For example, on a recording of the acoustic version of Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven, we could physically feel the bass line, though this was a little leaner than we’d like.
Moving to a recording of Technologic by Daft Punk gave the earbuds a chance to show off how they handle faster moving tracks. The earbuds do well on this, bringing good energy to the performance.
However, the stereo imaging left us wanting as we thought the track should envelope us more.
Finishing off with a recording of Rebecca Pidgeon’s Spanish Harlem showed off the earbuds’ bias towards the upper mids, as Pidgeon’s vocals are imaged forward of the backing instruments.
There’s good weight to vocals with these earbuds, but you won’t get the widest sound stage here.
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