Adidas Z.N.E. 01 ANC wireless earphones review: Supremely comfortable, but not without some drawbacks

Cycling is an endurance sport and shares many similarities with other endurance sports. One of those similarities is how much an audio distraction can help performance. For some that will mean passing the hours with audio books or podcasts. For others it will mean matching intensity with just the right music. Whatever your need, there are tons of headphone options. With our list of the best headphones for cycling, we've tried to narrow that down and one of the brands we included was Adidas. 

As with all of our buyers guides we are constantly assessing new options. If you are riding outside, it's important to be able to hear your surroundings. Being able to use a single earbud from a pair of true wireless headphones is an excellent solution and with that in mind we tend to keep track of new products. When Adidas announced the Z.N.E. 01 ANC we jumped at the chance to try them out. The product lands right in the heart of the most competitive space for headphones. If you are looking for true wireless headphones for cycling it's likely they are on your radar and now we are ready to cover the details as they relate to cycling. Keep reading to see what we think works and what doesn't about the Adidas Z.N.E. 01 ANC true wireless headphones.

Design and aesthetics 

The Adidas Z.N.E. 01 ANC hit the market this spring, and at the time of release there were two colours and a higher price. A few months later, as I write this review, the original two colours of light grey and night grey have seen the addition of a third option, indigo, while the originals have had a price drop. Whatever option you decide to go with, it's actually quite a bit more complex than it would seem. 

While the outer design of headphones might not be the most important consideration, Adidas has managed to be unique and true to their brand. The basics are white, black, and blue but there's a darker background colour paired with a tight crisscross of a lighter colour. Look from a distance and the two colours blend but up close it gives a little more interest. It's one small detail but it's clearly considered and it leads into other small design details. 

The case, which provides enough battery to charge the earbuds roughly 4.5 times, features the same patterned colour but also a series of ridges on both sides. They sit outboard of a status light and an Adidas logo while there's a USB-C port at the bottom. The logo is three-dimensional and rubberized but it's also the button that initiates pairing. When you are ready to use the earbuds, flip open the magnetic top cover and right away you'll notice the ridges from the case repeated. As with the case, they help add a bit of visual detail but they also help with grip. 

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Also, rather cleverly, repeated on the earbuds are the distinctive Adidas stripes. You'll find the stripes on a strip of the same hard plastic that the case and earbuds use everywhere. In this case, it extends below the main body of the earbud and the actual stripes feature the texture of a speaker grill. The speaker drivers sit above the extensions and use a shallow design with an easy to remove silicone tip. There are three tips included to help you find the right size.

There are also a few design features you can't see. While the case carries an IPX4 water resistance rating, the earbuds up that to an IPX5. It's enough to handle sustained, low pressure, water jet spray (so heavy sweat), or even rain should be no issue. Also undetectable are the capacitive buttons on the outside of the main body. If you choose to use the companion app to turn on the buttons then they operate up to four different functions. A single tap will answer or hang up a call or start/stop music. A double tap moves forward a song and a triple tap jumps back while a long press is configurable. Options for the long press include switching between active noise cancelation and awareness mode, waking the voice assistant, starting Spotify, or starting the adidas running app. 

In the case of noise control there are some additional controls to jump into. Awareness is the Adidas specific name for the feature that boosts awareness of surroundings by reproducing sound taken in through the two external mics. Don't expect anything close to a true boost in the volume of external sounds but there is a slide function that allows customization of the effect. There's also a slide function for the ANC effect and it's much more effective but expect to leave it turned all the way up. 

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Performance

I’m sitting here writing this review with a stack of true wireless headphones for comparison. Depending on the price you find them for, the Adidas Z.N.E. 01 ANC faces competition from the Samsun Galaxy buds pro, the Jabra Elite 7 active, the Jaybirds Vista 2, both of the Google Pixel buds, and options from Apple as well as Beats. Despite the stiff competition the Adidas option finds a way to stand apart and for me it's all about the design ergonomics. 

While the case might provide between 4 and 5 full recharges of the earbuds, that's not enough to overcome the low 4.5 hours of ANC enhanced listening time. What it does provide though is the grip of the ridges on the side. More importantly, the earbuds mirror the design. It’s a small detail but it makes them easy to grab and easy to live with. So many true wireless headphones fail when it comes to everyday use and Adidas really shines in that regard. 

Given the price of a good pair of headphones most people will own a single pair. On the bike, the Adidas Z.N.E. 01 ANC stay put. They aren't uncomfortably tight but they also don't move. Racing on Zwift, when my face is completely wet with sweat and I start laughing at the absurdity of responding to another attack, the movement of my jaw is often an issue but not for these. The Adidas Z.N.E. 01 ANC are solid in this situation. Later in the kitchen chatting on the phone it's easy to grab them using the extension and the ridges. Wearing them for a few hours on an endurance ride, or while working, they never become uncomfortable. If I'm riding outside, or on the phone, either earbud works without the other. There is no situation where I find them unstable or uncomfortable and it's this back-and-forth usability that I love. 

In terms of sound quality, I tend to leave the equaliser in the vocal boost setting that emphasises the mid-range. It's useful for hearing teammates during a Zwift race with a fan pointed at my face or outside with wind noise. On the other hand, if I decide I need a bit of a musical boost while racing alone, the electronic setting does a good job of emphasising bass response for the Icona Pop song "I don't care." If you have a different preferred type of music, there are seven options in the equaliser. On the other hand, if you are more the type to fiddle, there might be some disappointment when you find you can't actually adjust the settings. 

That inability to adjust the equaliser is just one aspect of the worst part of these headphones, the companion app. I rarely interact with it but it regularly asks if I want to set up the same headphones I've been using for months. A good portion of the time when I do want to do something with the app I'm greeted with a note that the headphones aren't connected. This is despite the fact that I'm using them at the time. One thing I do appreciate about the app is that I can just turn off the touch controls. I've hung up on way too many people accidentally touching headphones in my ears and generally leave the touch controls off. 

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Verdict

The price point and features of the Adidas Z.N.E. 01 ANC put them into the most competitive segment for headphones. It's a segment that's almost completely dominated by true wireless earbuds at this point so even the form factor has ceased to be much of a differentiator. What does manage to set the Adidas apart is a combination of everyday usability and comfort plus good sound quality. In my testing, the Jabra Elite 7 Active was the closest competitor. The app is worlds better than Adidas and there's 8 hours of battery life on hand. They also offer marginally better sound quality and are very comfortable. Every so often though the movement of my jaw dislodges them and they aren't as easy to grab and reposition. Although the limited battery life and poor companion app of the Adidas drag them down, it's not quite enough to overcome the ease of use. The one caveat being that the differences are so close it's going to be very price dependant.  

Tech Specs: Adidas Z.N.E. 01 ANC

• Price: £149.99 / $189.99 / €189 / AU$320
• Colour options: Night grey, Light grey, Indigo
• Play Time: 4.5 hours in buds with ANC (6 hours without) 20 hours total incl. charging case with ANC (26 without)
• Charge Time: Quick charge: 15 min gives you 1 hour of playtime. Time to full charge:3 hours to recharge earbuds from charging case
• Touch Response Functions: Control music, ANC control (on, off, Awareness mode), Receive / end calls
• Wireless Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2
• Water Resistance: Earbuds - IPX5 / Case - IPX4