Of late, I have been noticing truly wireless audio devices becoming quite small and compact. From the charging case to the earbuds, everything is a fraction of the size they used to be till a couple of years ago. This means wearing these buds for long hours is now quite comfortable, and carrying them around in your pockets is not a hassle. The Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW is one of these tiny new truly wireless products.
The design is very compact, and the charging case can easily slip inside your jeans pocket. I like the look and feel of the earbuds, which have a squarish shape with a unique fin to hold them in place.
The earphones fit perfectly inside my ears and stayed there during my walks or even when I was trying to sleep. Yes, you read that right. I am one of those people who has to plug in earphones at times to switch on a sleep sounds playlist to switch off for the night. And most earphones make you very uncomfortable if you are actually successful in dozing off. Not the Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW, which does not protrude much outside your ears and hence doesn’t irritate when you are lying on your sides.
The ATH-SQ1TW are almost entry-range earphones and don’t come with noise cancellation. But the design offers a decent level of noise isolation, and you don’t hear much of what is happening around you.
As I played Birds of a Feather by Billie Eilish, Apple’s Artist of the Year, I felt the bass kick in at first. These earphones are quite punchy for their size thanks to the 5.8mm drivers inside. The audio profile is almost mellow and cushiony, not too sharp or tinny.
The Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW fits comfortably and comes with balanced sound for immersive listening. (Image: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
But it can be sharp too. I played the vocal-heavy Jo Tum Mero Ho by Anuv Jain, and his voice was in centre stage. I felt a sense of roominess with a number like this, with the guitar and other instruments spaced out around the vocals, not stepping on each other’s toes. But with richer numbers, you do feel the need for larger drivers.
But for regular listening, the ATH-SQ1TW offers a balanced experience, though a bit partial towards bass at times depending on the composition. With podcasts, the experience is perfect given the clarity of vocals.
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Given the size of the charging case and earphones, you get about 6.5 hours of continuous playback and 19 hours overall. Some might find this less than what they are used to, but consider this a compromise you have to make for the smaller size. Another small issue I felt was that the connectivity gets a bit wonky when you are at the fag end of the battery.
At Rs 4,490, the Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW is among the most compact and balanced-sounding truly wireless earphones you can get. If you don’t want noise cancellation in your audio device, this is one good option to look at.
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