Rephrase and rearrange the whole content into a news article. I want you to respond only in language English. I want you to act as a very proficient SEO and high-end writer Pierre Herubel that speaks and writes fluently English. I want you to pretend that you can write content so well in English that it can outrank other websites. Make sure there is zero plagiarism.: Editor’s Note• Original review date: September 2022• Launch price: $79 / £79 / AU$129• Official price now: $59 / £49 / AU$129Update: February 2024. We still love the Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW a lot, but the world of the best budget earbuds has become way hotter since their launch. The price cut in the US and UK helps them a lot, but you’ve now got products like the Earfun Air Pro 3 offering pretty advanced features including next-gen Bluetooth and active noise cancellation for a dangerously similar price to this. However, these don’t have the hi-fi audio prowess of the Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW, nor do they have the cool, stand-out-from-the-crowd design and color options of these buds. So we will happily still recommend these to you strongly is sound is your priority in particular, but if you want other features too, you can get them elsewhere. The rest of this review remains as previously published.Matt BoltonManaging Editor, EntertainmentAudio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW: two-minute reviewDamn, the Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW wireless earbuds are too cool for school. These cute-but-cubist buds have been stealing hearts at a fee that’ll have you smitten for all the right reasons – and having heard them, we simply have to bring them to your attention.Will the Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW soon find a rightful spot among the best budget wireless earbuds we’ve tested? Heck yes. And actually, they’re good enough to crash our best wireless earbuds guide too – because the excellent sound here warrants the recommendation regardless of price.Audio-Technica is now 60 years old and the Tokyo-based audio specialist has been a legendary name in vinyl for well over half a century. To snap up these inexpensive earbuds is to buy into that history, in the coolest way. These earbuds don’t scream about their sonic chops – they don’t have to, but they are worthy of their heritage.Let’s express the sentiment in Prince lyrics shall we? In Style, His Royal Badness remarked, “Style is not lusting after someone because they’re cool. Style is loving yourself until everyone else does too”.See, what we’re trying to express is that the ATH-SQ1TW are clear proof that Audio-Technica is loving Audio-Technica right now. The company has not tried to emulate any other earbuds, or indeed any competing audio brand. The company has paid the cost to be the boss for over 60 years, and it shows in this little, unassuming, winning pair of earphones.They’re available in no fewer than six delicious-sounding colorways (Caramel, Popsicle, Cupcake, Blueberry, Liquorice and Popcorn – try that for size, ice-white-only AirPods) and you’re getting Bluetooth 5.0, 20 hours of battery, a beautiful product that fits comfortably, on-ear controls that work well (including volume) plus a low-latency mode, a hear-through function and a sound that’s more expansive, clearer and generally better than anything else you can buy for this money.As long as a lack of companion app and active noise cancellation aren’t deal-breakers, these inexpensive earbuds should be on your list.Cut a dash with these square, effortlessly chic Audio-Technica earbuds. (Image credit: Future)Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW: price & release date$79 / £79 / AU$129Released: December 1, 2021Although they started at a very affordable price anyway, you can now cut the cost further while cutting a dash in these Audio-Technica earbuds, provided you know where to look. We’ve seen the ATH-SQ1TW discounted by £20 in the UK at times, and up to AU$40 across certain Australian online retailers, meaning their price has dropped to as low as AU$89 – and they truly are a steal for that kind of money. But wherever you live, know that the price here is shockingly low when you feel how high quality they are when holding them in your hand – and even more so upon placing them into your ears and firing up your music. Perhaps you want to buy something small for the vinyl-lover in your life – something that isn’t actual vinyl? Gift these little buds and watch their faces light up at the recognition of the branding. Now that is priceless…Such a compact, likeable little case. (Image credit: Future)Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW: featuresBluetooth 5.0 and a classy build qualityUseful hear-through functionOn-ear volume control Not content with adding unabashed style to your wallet-friendly wireless listening experience, the ATH-SQ1TW offer exclusive 5.8mm drivers plus an “IPX4-equivalent” splashproof design and plenty of user-friendly features. As is now the norm, the headphones automatically turn on when they are removed from the case, then power down and begin charging when you pop them back in. But place them in your ears from the case and the buds announce their battery level and connectivity status, which is a reassuringly high-end touch at this budget level. Tap an earpiece and a voice will say “play”, “pause” or the like too, which keeps you in the loop. There’s also dual connectivity onboard so you can connect to your laptop and phone at the same time, say. The touch controls on the earbuds work extremely well during our testing, enabling you to handle music playback (using the right earpiece), answer calls, and crucially adjust the volume directly from the earphones (via the left bud). Furthermore, long-pressing the left earpiece initiates and cancels the low-latency mode (to make sure the action matches the sound when playing games on your phone, or when watching with a Bluetooth-enabled TV), while long-pressing the right deploys and nixes the hear-through function, which filters in external noises but refreshingly, without bus engines and the like coming off tinny or distorting the quality of your music. And there’s even a relatively effective Sidetone function, thanks to the mic nestled in each earpiece, which lets you tweak the volume of your own voice by tapping the left earpiece during calls – which we found to be clear and rock solid. Google Fast Pair is also onboard, for one-touch pairing with Android devices, and you can enjoy up to 6.5 hours of use with the headphones fully charged plus an additional 13 hours of juice from the charging case, for a total of 19.5 hours.Charging for just 15 minutes (or thereabouts) with the USB-C charger provides around 60 minutes of continuous playback too, although the case doesn’t support wireless charging. What you’re not getting is active noise cancellation or a companion app, but at this level (and thanks to the impressive levels of passive isolation provided by the buds), we don’t miss these perks. In the budget space, the feature-set here represents a sensible decision from Audio-Technica. We imagine the brief was to focus on the basics and do them well – which is exactly what has been achieved. Perhaps the only thing we might have hoped for which isn’t here is auto-off wearer detection, but honestly, the ATH-SQ1TW are so likeable it’s hardly a big deal. The square earpieces are still surprizingly comfortable, and the illuminating ‘L’ or ‘R’ is a classy touch. (Image credit: Future)Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW: sound qualityExcellent separation and clarityEnergetic, zealous listenPleasingly musical across the frequencies These earbuds, though… you’re not getting aptX HD, LDAC or hifalutin’ higher-res codecs, but what you are getting is an agile, zealous, musically pleasing performance across the frequencies. As with the aesthetic, the sound here is what Londoners might call ‘a bit of all right’; a door to good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll but in a neat true wireless package. Any serious comparison between these $80 in-ears and class-leading products from the likes of Sony, Apple, Bose or Sennheiser is more than a little unjust – and there simply isn’t much serious competition at that price, but step up to the $100/£100 Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus and the sound is comparable for detail, clarity and neutrality – and that’s huge considering these earbuds are the class-leaders at the level. We actually found that what the Audio-Technicas lacked in precision and timing when it came to cohesion (which was a very minor shortfall) they made up for in energy and good old fashioned fun, in direct comparison. Again, the shortfall is small, and it simply shouldn’t be – not here, where a $20 surcharge typically nets you huge gains. For agility and fun, we actually find ourselves selecting the Audio-Technicas…
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