Many readers may remember the 2020-release Panasonic RZ-S500W, Pana’s first true wireless earbuds, which the company launched then inexplicably dropped in price, to offer never-before-seen ANC quality in the budget earbuds space. I loved them – I helped review them for TR’s sister publication, What Hi-Fi? and gave them five sweet stars under intense review.
Why tell you this? Because Panasonic is back with new buds, called the RZ-B120W. Yes, it’s a resoundingly forgettable name, but if their older siblings are anything to go on, the sound will not be.
The RZ-B120W offer up to 6.5 hours of battery life in the headphones themselves and an extra 19.5 hours in the charging case, plus Siri and Google Assistant compatibility that’s accessed by simply tapping the side of an earbud and announcing your wake word. There’s no active noise cancellation listed on the spec sheet, but you do get something Pana’s calling “Clear Stereo Sound with XBS for extra deep bass” from the 7mm dynamic driver in each earbud, an IPX4 rating for heavy workouts and up-to-the-minute Bluetooth 5.3.
No pricing’s been made available yet. My advice? It’s not a cutting-edge premium offering, perhaps, but if you just want buds that fit well and get the job done, I’d look out for these…
Panasonic over-ears just landed too
Panasonic also just unveiled the RB-M600B wireless over-ear headphones, which feature a more extensive battery life of up to 65 hours of playtime – with 6 hours extra available after 15 minute quick charge.
Active noise cancellation is also here, with integrated feed-forward and feedback mics, that same XBS Deep tech, for super low bass, multipoint connectivity to two devices ENC tech (aka Environmental Noise Cancellation, for clearer calls) plus access to your voice assistant and Windows Swift Pair/Google Fast Pair for quick pairing to your devices. One for inclusion in our best wireless headphones roundup? Time will tell – we’ll have to review them (and get confirmation on how much they’ll cost) first.
Oh, one more thing: my favorite flagship earbuds, the Technics EAH-AZ80 (Technics is a Panasonic brand) are now available in a ‘Midnight Blue’ hue. Never heard them? Believe me, you should – they’re sitting pretty at the top spot in our best earbuds guide with good reason.
