62 T3 FEBRUARY 2022
State of the art
ADIDAS Z.N.E. 01 ANC
ADIDAS
Z.N.E. 01 ANC
PRODUCT 02:
Battery life isn’t remarkable at just 4.5 hours, but you’ll get an additional
15.5 hours of play time provided by the casehese buds under the Adidas banner are
actually made by Zound, the same people who
do Marshall and Urbanears headphones.
Unfortunately for us – and perhaps you too- their sound is much closer to that of Urbanears, which
we don’t like, than they are to Marshall, which we do.
The main issue here is pricing. The Adidas Z.N.E. 01
ANC is the same price as the Jabra Elite 7 Active but, to our
ears, clearly inferior. That is not to say they should be
entirely discounted, however. Especially if you find them,
erm, discounted... which they probably will be.
Sound quality out of the box is a bit muddy and basic.
However, there is the option of ANC to block the world out
and hear-through to let it back in again. Turn on the ANC
and the bass resolves itself a bit better. You can then also
use a choice of graphic equaliser presets to push up the top
and/or bottom end. The ‘rock’ setting worked best,
regardless of whether we were listening to rock or not.
That also turned certain tunes to bassy mush, so it isn’t a
perfect solution. We found there was an EQ preset to make
most things sound good, but particularly when running
or working out, you don’t really want to be fiddling about
with audio settings in order to enter The Power Zone.
What about the fit? Again there’s no elaborate hook
system to keep these buds in place. Instead, Adidas has
gone for a look more reminiscent of Apple AirPods Pro,
but with a deeper fit. The Z.N.E. 01 ANC sit securely in the
ear, but are not as unshakeably secure as the Jabra Elite 7
Active. They shook loose a bit on the elliptical trainer and
when we did press-ups, but never actually fell out.
Battery life is also relatively lacklustre at 4.5 hours,
although as their fit might not make them the first choice
of Marathon runners, perhaps that is perfectly sufficient.
The case provides an additional 15.5 hours of play time.
The pop-oriented, Urbanears-style sound that Zound
and Adidas have opted for is just not to our taste. Yes, they
can be made to sound perfectly okay with a bit of
tweaking, but for the same price as Jabra’s buds, it’s not
unreasonable to expect more.
On the plus side, the buds are well made, look good and
feel rugged. Although the IPX5 rating makes them the
least waterproof of the buds reviewed here, it still means
they should survive anything short of a swimming pool
dunk. Really though, they need a price cut of at least £50
to be competitive with their Jabra rival.
They look good and they feel good, but
battery life isn’t all it could be
T
They shook loose a bit
when we did press-ups,
but never actually fell out