I have been sitting on this review for a while now, with some valid excuses, including travel and self-isolation, but also waiting for my frequency measurement setup to arrive and be, well, set up. The former gave me a good reason to test the primary reason to consider the ATH-ANC300TW, and that is the really good active noise cancellation. I have had more than the average person's share of ANC earphones and headphones over the years, and I can genuinely say that you should consider these just for ANC. There is a significant reduction in ambient noise levels, yet the frequency response is mostly untouched across the upper mids and through the entire treble. In-ear earphones are inherently better at isolation to begin with, and the provided memory foam tips further add to this effect by creating a secure, more custom fit with your ear canals.

It's a shame then that the bass is lacking a lot as is, and just gets worse with ANC. I found myself turning up the gain/volume on the source with these on because I wasn't sure if the volume was just low, and then needed an EQ to elevate the lows for a warmer sound signature than you will get here. There is no EQ in the first-party app, and the less said about the app, the better. The fit on the ear canal is all groovy, but the larger size of the shells combined with the shape even has average-sized ears struggle with outward pressure on at least two points of contact. I kept fidgeting with them the first couple of hours, and then it was time to remove them anyway.

Why, you ask? Battery life is quite bad, that's why. I wasn't sure why there were no battery capacity specifications on the product page, and maybe that was on purpose. You would be lucky to get anywhere near 4 hours with ANC on in either of the modes, and even Audio-Technica rates 4.5 hours on a single charge as the typical the best-case scenario. The case is on the larger side, yet you only get another three charge cycles out of it. Add slower charging to that mix and the whole TWS part is a letdown even compared to Audio-Technica's own less-expensive TWS products, such as the ATH-CKS5TW I would rather recommend for those not wanting ANC.

The microphones are basically the selling point. We saw before how they come in handy for ANC, but hear-through mode also works impressively well. The third use case, and one I would personally never put TWS earphones through unless in an emergency, is as a headset, where the ATH-ANC300TW has surprisingly good clarity for your voice in a call or other such situations. It seems the company built the whole thing around these microphones, and there are several compromises elsewhere. For the size of the ear bud, there could have been a larger battery or even a larger driver, or a whole other driver system. At $199, I can't recommend getting this for general listening. If you are considering this primarily for ANC, things are certainly in favor of the ATH-ANC300TW, though!