Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT Review

Among the many options one encounters with wireless noise-canceling headphones, the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT is quite promising. This is because Audio-Technica is a company that has made quite an impact in producing great sound equipment across the range of prices available in the market and still reaches out to both casual listeners and the professionals. ATH-ANC700BT is an over-the-ear, noise isolating, fully wireless headset equipped with active noise canceling (ANC) function as part of their Quietpoint series.

For the past several weeks I had the opportunity to use these headphones and used them to the full while commuting to work or listening to music or during long days of work. In the following paragraphs, I will attempt to analyze the headphones by looking at the design, their comfort level, sound quality, the features offered and the performance overall. Jump Right In.

Design and Aesthetics

The Audio-technica ATH-ANC700BT is a well-designed and attractively shaped device which does not lean too much toward minimalism or excessive functionalities. I would start off with the fact that once out of the box, these are still looking very much minimal. There’s nothing excessive about the design that draws one’s attention and I think that’s a good thing. The whole idea of these headphones is that they are simply sophisticated.

The ear cups are nice and big and of a soft matte material. This type of finish is also wonderful as far as the fingerprints are concerned, thus restoring a fresh looking set of headphones even after lots of use like Technics EAH-A800. There is a very small Audio-technica logo on each ear to cup, which is very discreet and does not spoil the look of the headphones.

Both colors offered are black and gray. I chose the black version and it successfully complements diverse activities, whether on the train, working at an office or simply sitting on the couch. The design is suitable and professional for work while still casual enough for listening to music in public like Skullcandy Hesh ANC.

One design feature I am particularly impressed with is the narrow strip of the headband. Some of the over-ear headphones come with oversized or heavily padded headbands, but the ATH-ANC700BT is rather streamlined in that aspect. When wearing the headphones, the headband does not comprise a lot of visual bulk which means that the headphones still maintain a low profile even when on the ears. Besides, the ear cups can be rotated to a flat position allowing for the ear cups to conveniently have a more compact storage in a bag or for the unit to simply be laid on a surface.

On this point, the Audio-Technica headphone is not attempting to attract attention with extreme design solutions, although simple geometric shapes of the device, non-shiny materials and ratio up to the functional style make it suitable for users who respect the laconic design.

Materials and Build Quality 

When it comes to the externals, the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT is mostly constructed of plastic material which is typical for this price range like Technics RP-DJ1200 and Sennheiser HD 560S. Initially, the idea of using plastic had me a little bit worried regarding the durability of the device. However, after some use, the headphones seem solid and well put together. Although it is made of plastic, the headphones do not feel cheap or fragile. They are just the right weight for comfort without being too heavy.

The ear cups are lined with very soft faux leather material. This material feels pleasing to touch. The ear pads are also very soft, non-irritating and porous. The top part of the headband is cushioned too, but not as thick as the ear cup bands. Having said that, it is still good enough even for long periods of use. I also enjoy how the plastic surfaces of the headphones utilize a matte finish. That way, the headphones look classier and are less prone to scratches and scuffs.

One of the areas where I felt the materials should have done better is the adjustability mechanism. The ear cups do rotate and the headband may be adjusted as well yet the arms of plastic that form the connections between the headband and the ear cups feel a bit flimsy. They do the work, though, they are usually less reinforced than more expensive models that have moving metal parts in the ear cups, therefore the ATH-ANC700BT deserved a little more support.

Nevertheless, for their price category, I would say that the materials and built quality of the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT are good. They appear to be good enough for ordinary use and should be able to endure standard usage with no problems.

Comfort and Fit

As far as the headphones are concerned, I would say that comfort is one of the most important factors considering that a user may have to use them for long hours. Luckily, the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT boasts of a great wearing experience that was maintained during long hours of listening to music. Despite lower price, It's similar to high price range headphones like Sennheiser Momentum 4 and Jabra Evolve2 65.

The earpads have a lot of memory foam, which is embedded in synthetic leather. These cups are large, and the soft parts do not press very tightly down on the ears but encase them comfortably. After several hours of so-called intensive use, I was glad and surprised that my ears were not painful or overly tired. The fit is snug about the ears, which is necessary for the passive noise isolation and for boosting the effectiveness of active noise cancellation.

The headband on the other hand, while less cushioned as the ear cups, has sufficient padding to enable one to comfortably wear the headphones over the head without cutting them on. Comfortable weight for me was more than purely a platonic concept because these headphones weigh approximately 250 grams, which is a reasonable weight for over-ear noise canceling headphones. No discomfort from the headband was experienced in relation to pressure even after wearing several headsets back to back for a long time.

A final point I would like to emphasize is the fact that the ATH-ANC700BT tends to have a strong clamping force. At first, I discovered the clamping pressure to be quite extreme, especially when I compared it to other headphones I have used in the past. And indeed, after three days of action, the headband managed to stretch out a little, and everything felt better. If there is a bigger sized domed head, this initial snugness may require some patience but it does keep the ear cups of the headphones snugly in place even when one is moving.

In general, I have to admit that wearing this comfortable headphone over the ears for lengthy periods of time might be feasible. The foam is soft and the weight is balanced which allows it to be comfortable even during long periods of use inside the room or outside. The model is still better than Sony WH-CH720N and JBL Tune 510BT in comfort.

Sound Quality

Now comes the aspect of utmost importance— the sound. You would expect great audio quality from Audio-Technica and this is what you mostly get with the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT.

To begin with, for a wireless headphone, the bass of the ATH-ANC700BT is suitably tight, and punchy, but does not go overboard. While there is bass, thankfully, it does not become overbearing and for this, I was thankful. Overall, this is good enough to fit all kinds of music, be it electronic and hip-hop, or rock and classical like Skullcandy Crusher Evo and Beats Studio Pro . The low-end extension is quite good too, providing enough bass to delight most people without drowning out the mid-range or high frequency.

However, the mids are where the real strengths of these headphones are shown. It has been a trend of Audio Technica to produce headphones particularly designed for the mids and stems and nothing changes with the wireless headphones. Just my normal experience with audio; whether listening to podcasts, acoustic tracks, or pop music with heavy vocals, the mids performed naturally. And I mean really well; in particular, vocals stand out with a clear crystal definition without being buried in the instrumentation.

Wonderful performance by the treble is performed as well, though still it goes a little bit at the edge of brightness at times. And generally even the highs are smooth but I did find at high volumes, some tones could be quite piercing especially a lot of cymbals or some other shrill instruments performed the worst. Still, the treble was not bright and for most songs, high frequencies were clear and reasonable.

Sound staging is one area where the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT seems to be somewhat lacking. Since these are closed back headphones, the sound stage cannot be quite as broad and ventilated as that of the open backs. Still for closed back style of headphones, the diffusion in instruments is still quite good and you can note different layers in complicated songs. Even if the soundstage does not seem to be particularly wide, the imaging is accurate enough to provide you a reasonable feeling of directionality.

Smart Features

In my observation, even though the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT might not have many added intelligent enabling attributes, a few must-have functional features can help in creating a better experience for the user.

One of the most stunning smart functions is the touch controls provided on the left earcup. From a simple swipe or tap, you can control playback, change the volume, skip to the right track, or answer calls. I would have preferred buttons and a more secure control element. But to my amazement, the touch controls on the ATH-ANC700BT were perfect. Getting the right response from a device or any technology is always a point of concern, but thankfully, I didn’t have this problem.

There is also support for the voice assistant feature. By just touching the ear cup, Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa can be turned on to provide voice commands or play music hands-free. I had no future problems with quickly turning some parameters or looking at notifications without taking the phone out of my pocket due to that feature.

However, I must also say that I will not be able to understand what the user has taken off the headphones. There is a need to appreciate that there is no auto-pause feature. I have come to love this feature in some of the models I sequentially and rhythmically used to think of unfortunately. This is an insignificant task, but I found it a bit irritating to stop my music after removing the headphones, particularly while working since I would often get distracted in between.

The Audio-Technica Connect application, among other things, lets you change noise-cancellation, adjust EQ pitch levels and many other functions. It may not be as loaded with features as similar applications from Sony or Bose, but still, it works properly and gives some additional control to users.

Connectivity and Usability

The Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT enables wireless communication by means of Bluetooth technology, version 4.1; although this is not the latest version, this performed well during all my tests. Throughout my tests, I found it extremely easy to pair the headphones to my phone and laptop, and there were no considerable dropouts or connection instability. The wireless range was also decent; I could walk about my house with the headphones on while my phone stayed in the bedroom, and I lost the connection even with a couple of walls in between.

What is interesting about the Audio-Technica headphones is that it plays well with aptX codec for sound quality improvement during wireless streaming. While it’s not the aptX HD or LDAC codecs of even higher quality, the standard aptX codec is an enhancement over the basic Bluetooth audio range.

On the usability side, the ATH-ANC700BT did not disappoint. Although users do not often enjoy touch controls, the touch controls in this case are effective and once mastered can be quite useful for volume and playback controls. The buttons on the earcup for power and ANC are located appropriately so that one cannot switch them on or off while wearing or fiddling with the headphones.

To make sure that users are able to enjoy the headphones in wired mode, Audio-Technica provides a 3.5mm cable in the package. This was useful when I was doing a lot of listening and wanted to preserve the battery, or if I needed to connect to something to use it and there was no Bluetooth present. The sound is also a bit better when using the headphones with a cable since the audio doesn’t have to go through Bluetooth compression.

Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)

QuietPoint active noise cancellation (ANC) is perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT headphones. Here, the headsets do not feature ANC to the extent offered by top-of-the-line devices like Sony WH-1000XM5 or Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700, but they will still manage to take away a good amount of noise.

The ANC, I found, was useful in a number of exposures - a crowded café, during train travels, as well in an office confronted with noise pollution unlike Beats Solo3. In all conditions, the ANC performed rather well, especially shielding low-frequency sounds like the compressor hum, engine sound, and the general chatter. However, it had a little difficulty in handling high frequency noise, especially people speaking in close quarters, as well as sharp sounds like slamming doors.

Another advantage I found in being able to turn on or off anchoring was really nice. Some people would appreciate being able to utilize the function and see where they are going without any further distractions.

the ANC on the ATH-ANC700BT is not the best in the industry, but it should meet the needs of most users in day to day situations. It’s okay for commuting or work in a noisy surrounding but may not be adequate for those who travel often and require absolute noise cancellation.

Battery Life

Battery life is another area where the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT performs quite well. According to the manufacturer of these headphones, Audio-Technica, this gives up to 25 hours of playback when the Bluetooth and the ANC are on. I could get almost 23 hours with such a load. A whole day of use was possible for me without the need to plug them to a power source for recharging even when employing ANC for most of that period.

If you switch off the ANC, many thanks, the playing time of the headphones goes up to about 30 hours, which is quite good. As a further plus, it is reassuring that the headphones are charged via USB-C, which is a better choice compared with the obviously outdated micro-USB. The charging process is also more user-friendly and enables acceleration in the times.

The time taken to charge the headphones from empty to full was about 4 hours which is rather on the long side compared to many others and their benefits of quick charging. Nevertheless, with the long battery life, I didn’t often find myself in need to use them and therefore the longer charging time wasn’t such a problem.

Mic Performance and Call Quality

While the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT boasts a microphone for taking calls, it is worth noting that it is an in-built design and might be used for making phone calls. Even so, this is not the main strong point of these headphones as such. In my experience, people on the other side of the call could hear me but I found it hard to voice out in a more noisy surrounding without background interference.

Voice lift was satisfactory. Call temperature was pretty good for a telephone. Detected voices came out well and I had no case of distortion or sound masking to a substantial extent. But when I got to noisier places like outside buildings on a busy road or a cafe with people rushing and all that noise, it would be very difficult for the person at the other end to hear me because the mic picked up so much noise.

The same style of answering is sufficient for calling or making video calls, but if you make such calls more often – for example, work calls in busy environments – you may be a bit disappointed by the performance of the microphone.

Durability and Portability

This is a well-constructed conventional-looking headset mainly made of plastic material, which, in terms is normal considering its purpose. Personally, after having tossed them into the backpack a couple of times, there are no visible signs of tear or damage. Which is pretty much still as soft as it was the first time, after several prolonged usage sessions with no condition deterioration.

For very good reasons, one of the aspects we would criticize or rather applaud with the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT is its portability. Ear cups curl up, significantly reducing the head phone’s space occupying a bag or flat position on a table. The manufacturer also recommends the use of a soft pouch for carrying, which, although adds some protection during transportation, is not adequate enough for the headphones.

Final Verdict

After putting the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT to the test for quite some time, I must say that the reviews do not lie. They are worth the money. They are clearly not the best noise-canceling feature; they are not the most expensive on the market either. For what they are selling for, adequate sound is produced, nice ANC is integrated, and decent battery performance can be enjoyed.

First impressions are great: the design is elegant, comfort is enough for a couple of hours wear, and ergonomics with touch-sensitive controls are convenient. The ANC leaves a bit to be desired being at least functional in such situations. It is absolutely staggering, especially if the headphones have been used without ANC turned on.

For the level of performance, the price of these noise-canceling headphones is surprisingly low, and those who are looking for something mid-range and don’t wish to spend too much should be considering getting the ATH-ANC700BT.

FAQs

Does it support LDAC?

No, the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT does not support LDAC. It primarily supports AAC and SBC audio codecs for Bluetooth streaming. If LDAC support is important to you, you may want to consider other models within the Audio-Technica range or other brands that explicitly include LDAC support for high-resolution audio streaming.

Is it water-resistant?

The Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT is not water-resistant. It does not come with an official IP rating for water or sweat resistance, so it's advisable to avoid using them in wet conditions or during intense workouts. For activities where moisture exposure is likely, it may be better to consider headphones designed specifically for sports or outdoor use, which often have water-resistant or waterproof features.

Does it support aptX?No, the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT does not support aptX. The headphones primarily utilize AAC and SBC codecs for Bluetooth audio streaming. If aptX support is important for your listening experience, you might want to look at other models that specifically include that codec.