Panasonic RZ-S500W noise cancelling true wireless earbuds
Type: In-ear
Noise cancellation: Dual hybrid ANC
Weight: 7g per earphone
Battery life: 6.5 hours NC on, 19.5 hours with charging cradle
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0
Water resistance: IPX4 (earphones only)
Voice control: Yes
Design
The general design of the S500W sticks to the basics: a sturdy – if a little bulky – case, a clean colour palette of either black or off-white, no fancy streaks of gold or garish logo. A simple “Panasonic” half way down the casing of each earbud, hidden by your ear when listening, is enough for the brand to have made its mark. It’s refreshing to see this, almost as if Panasonic knows it doesn’t need to shout the loudest to foster attention.
There isn’t a particularly luxurious feel to them, but it works with what the brand is trying to do. The simplicity might not be for everyone, but it worked for us, and it’s perfect for a commute.
You get five different tip sizes, ample for even the most highly-strung of ear canals. Once you find the right tips for you, the passive noise cancellation is almost second to none, and would likely be enough for many listeners before ANC even gets a look in.
They do have IPX4 water resistance, meaning light rain won’t be a problem, or sweat in the gym. But the weight and chunky feel of the earbuds might put paid to your gym sessions: while we didn’t find any issues with them dropping out of our ears, we could see this being a problem with more consistent movement such as going on a jog.
Read more: 11 best Bluetooth speakers for every budget
The battery is strong for ANC wireless earbuds: 6.5 hours from one full charge with NC on, and a further 13 hours from the charge case – enough for another couple of full charges (quick maths). Panasonic has also included quick charge, giving you approximately 70 minutes of noise-cancelling listening from 15 minutes of charging.
Panasonic’s corresponding app does the basics well, giving you control over ambient noise volume and letting you tweak the sound profile of your earbuds. However, the touch controls, found, as usual, on the back of the earbuds, are more than enough for most actions. One downside is that they’re perhaps too sensitive: it sometimes feels like even a waft from your hand in the general direction of the control panel is picked up.
Aside from that, the touch commands are simple and effective, with one tap for play/pause, and various numbers of taps for other functions, such as ANC and track skipping. The controls are consistent, and work without fuss. A big tick from us.
Sound
The S500W’s ANC cuts out almost all lower frequencies, thanks to their dual hybrid noise cancelling technology. Analogue and digital noise processing combine to both sense ambient noise and sound that has breached the seal of your earbuds, matching and blocking out the unwanted frequencies.
As mentioned, this is happening constantly, with the earbuds analysing your surroundings every second and adjusting their NC accordingly, resulting in serene listening. While the S500W’s ANC doesn’t deal with the higher end as well as it might, this is only noticeable between tracks.
Read more: 8 best kids’ headphones
Panasonic has changed the way music reaches our ears through its wireless headphones. Before, audio data was relayed between the earbuds, making your music susceptible to sound interruptions and lag. Panasonic has switched this up, bringing in a “left-right independent” system, where all the data is sent to both earbuds at the same time. Sounds logical, works like a charm: we had no issues with distortion at all, with immediate pairing and clear audio throughout.
It also means that listening through one earphone at a time is a breeze, and swapping mono listening between earbuds is a painless and almost immediate experience. It’s something that you might not immediately consider, but becomes a glaringly obvious advantage once you recognise it.
For what you’re paying, the audio from the S500W is impressively full, coming out favourably against other earbuds at a similar price point. The fuzzy bass in Childish Gambino’s Redbone still hits hard, while vocals float nicely over the top with a pleasing clarity. For some reason, we were in the mood to listen to the Skyfall soundtrack, and were surprised by the instrumental sophistication the S500W managed to convey.
Impressively, ANC doesn’t seem to affect the audio output, a common downfall for less-than-top-budget noise cancellation, and is a rarity at this price point.