Solid audio and ANC performance, as well as highly customizable controls.

I expected some things from Audio-Technica headphones and earphones. First of all, there is the company’s heat and soothing sound profiler, which is easy to hear for hours. It’s generally good, but not necessarily great, although the company usually associates it with a solid overall experience thanks to the features and performance. All this applies to the ATH-TWX7: a 199 set of active noise cancellation (ANC) wireless headphones and a host of practical tools that compete with more expensive competitors. Some work superior than others, but the company has done a good job over the years to expand its capabilities, although the ATH-TWX7 lacks a fundamental element.

Design

Despite its Stickbud appearance, the ATH-TWX7 looks more refined than most similarly priced headphones. Audio-Technica has opted for a mix of black and silver (or white / silver or gray / silver) which makes the headphones look like high-end headphones. The main matter is quite small, which allowed a more comfortable fit in my ears. The matter also has a unique drop shape that allows the headphones to sit at an angle rather than stand up or lie completely flat while powering. There is no real advantage here, but it is a deviation from the norm that should be emphasized.

Audio-Technica has done something for the on-board controls of the ATH-TWX7 which is rare in headphones. It uses both touch and body catchs for playback, calls, sound modes and for calling a voice assistant. Usually you see this on headphones where the playback controls are contactless and the noise cancellation and transparency modes are assigned to a catch, but I don’t remember seeing both on headphones like this before. Admittedly, I’ve been reviewing audio equipment for a few years now, so I hesitate to call Audio-Technica the “first” to do so.

To help you find the perfect fit, Audio-Technica includes two different types of eartips. One is labeled “soft” and is designed to be more comfortable, while the standard option is supposed to offer a more secure fit. I expected the “soft” Version to be foam or at least partly foam, but they are almost identical. One is a little thinner, but both seem to be the same silicone material that you see in most headphones, and neither is really softer than the other.

The last thing I will highlight with regard to the design of the ATH-TWX7 is its protection rating (IP). These ONLY have an IPX4 protection rating against splashing water and are not designed for splashing or immersion. That’s probably enough for workouts, and although it’s about average for mid-range headphones, the slightly more expensive models venture into IPX7 territory.

Software and features

When I tested the ATH-CKS5TW headphones at the end the Audio-Technica application was so limited that there was really no reason to launch it. Unless a firmware update was installed, it offered nothing useful and even the customization of the on-board controls was limited. I am happy to announce that this is no longer the matter, because the At Connect software now offers a much more robust List of reconfigurable parameters and tools than before.

The home screen of the application includes options for changing the Music codec, equalizer and sound mode, as well as displaying the battery life of each earphone. Tap on the image of the ATH-TWX7 to access the detailed settings, which are divided into Audio and System sections. All this is a standard rate with access to everything that the on-board controls offer in the application, including the possibility of remapping the touch and body catch’s as you wish. But although you can set an automatic shutdown timer when there is no sound, the ATH-TWX7 does not have an automatic Pause when you remove it from your ears. This is a big gap when almost all sets of wireless headphones do this.