Pairing and Mobile App

As with the vast majority of TWS earphones today, the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC300TW is still operating over Bluetooth 5.0 instead of something newer. Bluetooth 5.0 is backwards compatible with older devices as well, and I had no issues pairing it with my phone on Bluetooth 5.0, my laptop on Bluetooth 5.1, and my PC with the Intel AX210 NIC on Bluetooth 5.2. Pairing is quite simple since it comes up as a new device. It is also here that we see that not much has changed as far as codec support goes, unfortunately, with Qualcomm aptX being the best option on most Android devices, other than the basic SBC coded. This means you do not get any aptX HD or LDAC support. On iOS, we just have the AAC codec to go on.


One of the new features Audio-Technica has given its recent wireless audio solutions is a first-party mobile app called Audio-Technica Connect, available on both Android and iOS. The app is not very good to be honest, but critical still for the ANC300TW. The main issue I have, and others concur as per the reviews on both platforms, is that it is hit or miss in identifying the earphones even when paired to the device the app is installed on. My success rate was below 50%, and to get it working, I had to close and open the app again in some cases, and disconnect and re-connect the earphones in others. Then there is the part where there is actually no EQ settings, which is almost unheard of for such apps and almost admirable in a way. What you do get as a general feature is the ability to track the location of the earphones as well as check the FAQs and user manual for all supported devices, which is the same as on the product page itself.


The device-specific options are split into different segments, most of which are accessed by clicking on the image of the product. This leads you to a page with options consisting of choosing the audio codec, changing the key patterns based on two possible configurations using single, double, and triple clicks of the buttons on the left and right buds, toggles for voice prompts which barely worked for me, and auto power off after inactivity to preserve battery life.


The quick guide is included here in a more user-friendly manner, and you can check the product information, including the firmware version for the two buds, which is also where you would presumably update it if an update is available. The home page has a shortcut for a media player, but it did not recognize a lot of songs I was playing, be it locally stored on the phone or streamed via YouTube Music, Spotify, or Amazon Music. Thankfully, the other shortcut, which is really the only reason to install the app, does work. It allows you to choose what the secondary mode does, and you can pick between noise-canceling in three options for the environment you are in or a hear-through mode in three settings, which temporarily reduces the volume of whatever is playing through the earphones and uses the integrated microphones to let you better hear your ambient environment. The latter is extremely handy for when you need to listen to, say, an announcement but do not want take off the earphones.

Overall, I have less-than-pleasing words to say about the app, which is one of the worst mobile app experiences I have had to date, let alone as one from such an established company as Audio-Technica, and for a paid product, too. Set the secondary mode to a setting you would like and call it a day. I hope the company improves it further, but it has been well over a year since the app has been out, and nothing useful has been done yet.