GROUP TEST WIRELESS BUDSAudio-Technica ATH-CKS5TW Price £149 / stuff.tv/CKS5TW
STUFF SAYS Excellent audio and battery life make up for a slightly awkward design ++++,
BEST FOR
MARATHON
SESSIONSWhat’s the story?
Audio-Technica boasts nearly
six decades of audio knowhow
and is fast becoming renowned
for top-notch headphones. Its
latest pair of AirPod-worriers
offers a whopping 45-hour
battery and a pricetag that
massively undercuts much
of the competition. Although
not as sleek as others in this
test, they have among the best
battery life in the biz.
Are they any good?
With great battery power
comes great bulk, and we
found that the ATH-CKS5TWs
stuck out from our ears little
too much. So although they
were reasonably snug in our
ears, they never felt 100%
secure: we were always aware
that an errant loop of hair
was all that stood between
our fancy buds being safely
lodged in our ears and being
accidentally catapulted onto
the pavement.
However, these buds pack
a lot more staying power than
some of their rivals. In fact,
you get an impressive 15
hours of continuous playbackon a full charge. And the
reason that charging case
is a tad large is because it
can store an extra 30 hours
of juice once you’ve powered
it up to the max via the USB-C
port. That brings battery life to
a grand total of 45 hours, which
is hyper-impressive.
A larger frame also means
more room for 10mm drivers
with a dual-layer diaphragm,
delivering the best possible
sound to your lugholes. The
soundscape is excellent no
matter what you’re listening
to, and these buds performparticularly well on classical
and acoustic pieces and live
recordings, where cheaper
headphones often fail.
Offering incredible battery
life, seamless operation,
excellent audio with solid
bass and great noise isolation,
there’s a lot to like here,
especially when you factor
in the reasonable price.Tech specs
O 15hrs + 30hrs with case
O IPX2
O Bluetooth 5.0
O 8gIn two deep
The 10mm drivers
have dual-layer
diaphragms that use
a combination of hard
and soft materials
to create full-range
audio with big bass.I get tweak
All of AT’s wireless
buds can be linked to
an app for checking
battery levels, and for
customising hearing
preferences and
controls.