Astell&Kern UW100MkII review: Second time’s a charm

It’s always been a bit of a hard sell convincing audiophiles to give true wireless earbuds a shot – their very wireless nature means that until tech advances, they’re going to fall behind studio conditions and huge open-back over ears.

Astell & Kern is doing its level best, though, and the second generation of its UW100 earbuds makes some welcome improvements to earbuds that we were already fairly taken with.

Design

• Earbuds weigh 7g each
• No IP rating

If you were to look at the earbuds alone you would struggle to point out any major differences in them compared to last year’s UW100, with almost identical dimensions and designs on each.

These are still 7g earbuds, then, which don’t weigh too much but are on the bulkier end of the scale when it comes to the part that sits in your outer ear.

Pocket-lint

They’re hexagonal in shape, which looks pretty striking and nice, but just like on the last model, I feel that even for someone with pretty big ears, they’re just a little bulky in outer ear fit.

This doesn’t cause active discomfort; it’s more just that sense that you know they’re there, something smoother earbuds like the AirPods Pro overcome.

Where Astell & Kern has massively improved things is in the case, which feels much more premium in the hand, despite weighing almost the exact same, with a new shape and without the odd almost scalloped lid that featured on the last version.

Pocket-lint

It’s also not the smallest case by any means, but it is still easily pocketable and has a handy LED light strip for status updates and charging notifications.

This recharges via USB-C cable or wireless charging, and all works just as you’d expect.

Sound performance

• SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive codecs
• Knowles Balanced Armature driver

Slipping the UW100MKII earbuds in actually to listen to them, the excellent work that A&K did on its first-generation earbuds hasn’t been wasted this time either.

Thanks to its partnership with Snapdragon for snappy response and solid Bluetooth connectivity, you still get a range of codecs. Like last time, a dedicated onboard DAC is the secret sauce here, although you don’t need to understand it to hear the benefits fully.

Pocket-lint

The hallmark of these earbuds is detail – the sort of detail that can often go missing in those lighter-weight, less driver-happy earbuds, making them an excellent pairing with gentler genres like folk and classical.

That said, there’s still enough bass response here to ensure that heavier options sound great, just without the same bass overdrive that you might get from a more (dare I say it) commercial offering.

However, it’s hard to talk about sound quality on a pair of earbuds that come in at well over $250/£269 without touching on the missing link here – active or adaptive noise cancellation.

Pocket-lint

This technology isn’t here because it is indeed the enemy of accurate sound, so in a perfectly quiet room, the UW100MKIIs sound excellent without it.

In most actual life situations, though, it’s a big miss, one that leaves you bereft if you’re on public transport and just desperately want some mental space for yourself.

I understand why it’s not here, but that doesn’t mean I can’t miss it sorely, and ANC’s absence limits the usefulness of these earbuds for many people, particularly at this price.

Battery life and features

• 9.5-hour battery life, two full recharges in the case
• Wireless charging supported

While a nicer case is welcome but not essential, the biggest upgrade between generations on these earbuds probably comes in the battery life department.

It’s gone up from around six hours on a charger to nine and a half, a major jump that takes the UW100MKII into rarefied air in terms of earbud batteries.

With two more charges in the case, you’re able to get through nearly 30 hours without having to plug it back in or plonk it on a wireless charger, which is great going and makes them genuinely handy.

If that’s a score in the practicality column, things are undermined heavily by the lack of IP water resistance rating – these earbuds shouldn’t get wet and are, therefore, no good for exercise.

That isn’t a huge surprise since they’re aimed at careful listening situations, but it’s still another mark that makes them hard to recommend as a solution for everyday life.

Connectivity is pretty strong and reliable, but I still found that call quality was pretty ropey, with the microphone pickup on my voice, in particular, coming through pretty wobbly.

Verdict

It’s tough to judge these earbuds – the fundamentals are really sound, and their sound quality is hugely impressive, and with improved battery life, they’re definitely better than the last generation.

That said, they still miss out on features that would see them competing a lot more with top brands, with ANC and water resistance standing out like sore thumbs. Still, the direction of travel is very encouraging for Astell & Kern, and audiophiles should consider them closely.