Hey guys! Welcome back to Tech NoLogic! Today, we will be taking a look at the ATH-CK3TW truly wireless earbuds. This is the cheapest truly wireless earbuds offered by the luxury audio company Audio Technica. Is it good? Continue watching to find out. Let’s go.
Firstly, let’s look at the price. The CK3TWs costs just under $160 on their website, but you can find it on Lazada for $100. <insert that prices are in SGD> It is available in a few different colours and I have the black one here. I will leave some links in the description if you want to check these out for yourselves. These earbuds are considered budget-friendly when compared to other branded truly wireless earbuds such as Apple’s Airpods, which sells for around $185 for the base model. For this price, I would say that there are some cool features that you don’t really see at this price point. More on that later, let’s take a look at the basic features first.
First up, we have the sound quality. I was very surprised with the sound quality of these earbuds. It is the best sounding one I have ever heard so far, as I have never really listened to very high-end earbuds before. The bass, mids and treble are very balanced and give the sound a very natural feel to it. Everything feels crystal clear, and it does not distort at high volumes. Speaking of volume, these earbuds can go extremely loud. In fact, I preferred using it at only around 20-30% of its max volume during normal use. Calls on it were good, and voices sounded natural. For a $100, these earbuds have great sound quality.
Next, let’s look at the build quality. The case has a premium plastic build with a matte look and feel to it. It can be opened with one hand, but much easier to do so using two. The lid can remain open by itself, unlike AirPods. By the way, be sure to check out my video on this $7 AirPods clone. Link is in the description. Closing the lid makes a satisfying sound. Moving on, the CK3TW is compact but is still bigger than AirPods in every dimension. It will still be able to fit in pockets easily.
The earbuds themselves are made of plastic, and feel premium. There is an LED light on each earbud to show its status right below the Audio Technica Logo. These large oval surfaces are capacitive touch buttons to control various settings, as we will see later. On the other side, there are 3 gold contact pads for charging, and the rubber ear tip. My demo kit only came with the default M size ear tips, but the retail package comes with 3 other sizes in the box. There are also 2 microphones on the top and bottom of each earbud. The shape of the earbud did not fit my ear canal too well, and it got uncomfortable in less than an hour, but this may vary for you.
Next, let’s look at some cool features that can be rarely found at this price point. The CK3TW features in-ear detection. This setting is turned off by default, but you can toggle it on or of on the earbuds themselves. It worked perfectly for me, and the music resumes within a couple of seconds of wearing the earbuds. Next, it has got a decent battery life of about 6-7 hours of audio playback with the earbuds themselves, with an extra 30h with the charging case. This explains the size of the case, as it can recharge both earbuds about 5 times. Next, it has USB type C charging. This means I can use the same cable to charge my phone and my earbuds, which is convenient.
Next, let’s look at the controls. On the right earbud, single tap for pause/play, double-tap to skip forward tracks, and triple tap to go back to the last track. Long pressing the right earbud for 2s will activate the voice assistant on your phone. Neat.
On the left earbud, single tap to increase volume, and double-tap to reduce volume. I sometimes accidentally increase the volume instead of decreasing it, and it got quite annoying. Long pressing the left earbud for 6 seconds toggles the in-ear detection on and off.
By the way, If you are enjoying the video, a sub to the channel will be amazing
Finally, here are some things that I wished that were present. Audio Technica does have an app, but it did not seem to work with this model. Therefore, I was unable to modify the sound mixer for the best quality. Next, these earbuds only have IP-X2 water resistance, which means it is only suited for dripping water. This is only for the exterior of the earbuds, but not for the ear tip part of the ear. This was rather disappointing for a $100 pair of earbuds, as many other earbuds at this price point offer better water and sweat resistance. I do not recommend doing workouts with these earbuds on.
Other than that, the Audio Technica CK3TW is a great pair of wireless earbuds, and will be suitable for most people. Do let me know if you have any doubts in the comments section down below the video, and I will see you guys in the next video, BYE!