Audio-Technica’s latest earbuds are armed with Anti-Bacterial UV lights

The prolific brand’s masterstroke in engineering is highly likely to produce buds that sound impressive, and furthermore, features such as 360 Reality Audio and Snapdragon Sound are also here to push quality even further.

Their design not only looks stylish but is also IPX-4 resistant (not ingress-proof, but will resist splashes of water), making them a good fit for workouts or rainy days. Even longer ones too, with a battery expectancy of up to 6 hours of continuous playback. The case ensures two full recharges, giving you a total of 18.5 hours of use time as per AT’s stats. This is shorter than competing products, but it’s probably the UV light eating away some of the charge.

Nowadays active noise cancellation is expected to be on any good pair of earbuds, but the spin here is that Audio-Technica has given some control back to its users with the ability to fine-tune the feature for better results depending on the environment.

UV-lit earbud cases: useful addition or useless gimmick?

While the idea may sound like simple trend participation, the truth is that the improvements made by Audio-Technica make the technology much more practical. It may not sound like a must-have, but there’s value to be found here.

ENT specialists will often warn against the dangers of in-ear buds — not only due to the dangers of carelessly boosting the volumes but also because foreign bodies inside the ear could cause an infection. So, for some users with more sensitive ears, and ones that like to keep their accessories crispy clean — an auto-sterilizing earphone case is a no-brainer.

As of now, there is no word on when the earbuds will be available in the US, but if you can’t wait to increase the cleanliness of your audio habits, they are available in other markets. Fair warning though: it’s not just the look and sound that’s premium here.

The Audio-Technica ATH-TWX9 earbuds are already available at Audio-Technica’s store, priced at RRP £279.99 (€319). The model is available in one color, called Japanese black, incorporating dark bronze accents.