KZ AN01 Review
Intro
Hello, this review and feature covers the newest Bluetooth earhook adapters from KZ Audio named the KZ AN01 ($40). Friends, you have to know that if you see a KZ release then it’s probably an upgraded version of something previous. This is how they work folks. I wish every product from every brand worked the same. KZ products, as well as CCA (KZ sister brand), always get incrementally better with every new release. I’ve actually reviewed a handful of KZ’s wireless products. However, I’ve owned quite a few more and I gotta tell you folks; they are truly making some quality wireless gear. From earhook adapters to true wireless, KZ keeps pushing the boundaries of what we should expect for our dollar. I really mean it guys and gals; KZ has brought to market some impressive tech for the cost.
Wireless KZ
In September or 2023 I reviewed the fantastic KZ AZ20 (AZ20 Review) which housed one of the best QCC5171 Qualcomm SOC chipsets along with Snapdragon Sound and a number of other attributes which propelled the AZ20 into the stratosphere as far as earhook adapters are concerned. I’ve owned the KZ AZ09, KZAZ09 Pro, KZ AZ10, as well as the CCA BTX and one thing I can tell you is that we have seen steady improvements. However, I couldn’t be more impressed with KZ’s true wireless offerings. I’ve personally reviewed and featured sets like the KZ VXS (VXS Review), the KZ Xtra (Xtra Review), as well as the OG KZ Carol (Carol Review). I actually have the newest KZ Carol Pro in my possession as I type this, so do look out for that review. The point is that KZ, as well as their sub-brand CCA have stretched their reach quite far and crafted some of the better wireless gear for the money.
I’ve had the AN01 with me for about a week by this point and thus far I am pleased with what I’m hearing. No doubt KZ went the extra mile with this device and added some industry first technology that I truly never thought we’d see. With that I feel I’m ready to dive into this review. So, without further ado, the KZ AN01 everyone…
Non-Affiliated Purchasing Links:
Disclaimer:
I received the KZ AN01 from KZ Audio as a review sample. In exchange I will conduct a full review and feature at Mobileaudiophile.com. I have not received any payment or any other form of compensation for this review. KZ Audio has not requested to pre-read any review and doesn’t have any control over “what” or “when” anything gets published to mobileaudiophile.com. All thoughts within this review are my own, though please take note that I will always have my own biases. This is impossible to get around. I try to be as objective as my subjective self can be, but this is an opinion piece folks. Thank you to KZ Audio, and thanks for reading.
AN01 Pros
-Extremely comfortable
-Total battery life of 40 hours (8hrs on earhooks / 40hrs with the case)
-LDAC
-ANC and Transparency Mode
-Low latency mode is great for gaming
-Great sound quality
-Crisp and clean sound
AN01 Cons
-Case is difficult to open
-QDC only connectors (can be modified)
-No volume controls (seriously KZ, this is a must!)
-Low volume earhooks (only for sensitive iems)
-Still no KZ app for firmware upgrades, EQ etc.
Packaging / Accessories
Unboxing
This will be very short folks. As expected, there isn’t a whole lot to say about the packaging and contents of that packaging. Like any Bluetooth adapters, or any wireless gear there really isn’t a whole lot of inclusions, nor should you or I expect any additional inclusions. In any event, the box that the AN01 comes in is a very small white box with a small picture of the AN01 on the sleeve cover. Take off the sleeve and you’ll see the AN01 encased in a clear plastic. Under the AN01 is the usb-c cable, and that’s about it. Again, we shouldn’t expect anything else and honestly, I don’t know what KZ would add.
Build / Design / Internals / Fit / Misc. Data
Build Quality / Design
Like any of KZ/CCA’s Bluetooth adapters the KZ AN01 is made almost identical to the others with small differences. However, the adapters themselves are very slim making them extremely comfortable. If I were to go by the past earhook then I’d say the AN01 adapters each weigh less than 5 grams. I cannot find this info in any of KZ’s promotional material. At any rate, the ear hooks are made out of plastic and rubber and are without question the KZ models have made a name for themselves with being the most comfortable within the business and the AN01 is no different. In fact, the AN01 is the most comfortable yet. There’s something so nice about those thin and lightweight adapters. Anyways, the build is very nice. Something that KZ has nailed from their first earhooks. However, the design itself is also one of the best. I say that because the KZ style adapters are so thin. If you’ve seen the other earhook adapters on the market, then you’d probably agree. Look at the Fiio UTWS3, the UTWS5, the IFi Go Pods, and about twenty others and you’ll notice how much smaller the KZ style earhook adapters are. No doubt I feel that the size equates to a better design and look as well.
Small Gripe
The only gripe I have with all of KZ/CCA’s models is the QDC style connectors. Having only the QDC option really limits the amount of iems which you can use. All of KZ/CCA iems use this connector and so it works fantastic with their iems. For me personally, I don’t feel it’s a very big issue because I modify all of my KZ/CCA earhook adapters. You can easily do this with an exacto knife by cutting away the rubber housing on the connector. Obviously, you should do this very carefully if you have iems that you are wanting to use with the AN01 which don’t have QDC style connectors.
Internals
I wish I could give you all more than I have right now, but I have zero idea what DSP, SOC chips that KZ used. Looking at their promotional material I don’t see any of that listed. Having said that, the chipset is good enough to carry Bluetooth 5.4, ANC, Transparency Mode, Gaming Mode, Call Noise Canceling, a Bluetooth range of up to 15 m, as well as a number of other nice assets.
Fit / Comfort
I’ve already spoken of this so I will be brief. The KZ AN01 is in my opinion the most comfortable earhook style Bluetooth adapters on the market. I’ve tried most of the earhook adapters from most brands which offer them and so far, I can tell you that KZ/CCA’s style and build is perfect for comfort and wearability. Again, they are extremely light which helps tremendously in that they don’t feel as though some huge weight is sitting on my ears like the Fiio UTWS5, for instance. Very small, thin, and easy to manage earhooks. Personally, I think that KZ absolutely nailed the design as far as fit, and comfort is concerned.
Controls / Functionality
The KZ AN01 offers controls for most every function that you’d need right from the adapters themselves. The only omission that KZ doesn’t allow is for volume controls. This is another small gripe of mine as I always want control over the volume from the adapters. I really like being able to “disable absolute volume” on my device through “Developer Options” and crank the sound up to what I enjoy. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. No issue though, you simply have to use your device. At any rate, “one-click” on either adapter will either play/pause or answer/hangup a call. “Two-clicks” will cycle through the last song/next song. Obviously, the left double click would bring you back to the last song and a double right click will take you to the next song. Clicking either the right or left earhooks will cycle through “Game-Mode” or “Standard-Mode”. Press and hold the left earhook for two seconds to enter into either ANC or Transparency Mode. Long pressing either adapter for two seconds summons Siri, Bigsby, or whatever phone helper that you have. Lastly, a simple long press will reject calls. So, there you have it, all very intuitive and easy to understand. Man, I wish they had volume controls. Oh well, maybe the next version.
Charging Case
The charging case is almost identical to any of the previous charging cases in that it is a black hard plastic case, rather large (to accommodate both earhooks & iems), and it has a large indicator light on the front telling you how much battery remains. To be perfectly honest, the KZ style charging cases have always been nice. On top of that they don’t look odd when sitting inside of a front pocket. They’ve always swapped left and right sides so be aware of that. Of course, there’s only one way to put the earhooks into the case so I’m sure you’ll figure it out. The case itself hugs the earhooks very nicely actually with strong magnets which are way more convenient than they aren’t. Also, a very solid upside to these cases is that KZ provides us with enough room for just about any iem. There’s plenty of room for KZ’s largest earphones, their larger style mold. For example, the KZ Sonata, KZ AS24 Pro, Hydro etc. Also, the case will provide an awesome 40 hours of battery life in total which is very high for a case such as this. That will last a very long time on a single charge.
Specifications
Product Model: KZ AN01
Bluetooth Version: 5.4
Charging Port: Type-C
Chipset: Unknown
Bluetooth Range: ~15 meters
Audio Codecs Supported: LDAC, AAC, SBC
Signal to noise ratio: Unknown
Earphone playing time: ~8 Hrs
Charging Case Battery Capacity: 400 mAh
Earhooks Battery Capacity: 50 mAh
Extra Charges: 5x
Weight per earhook: Assuming “4.9g”, but there’s no info on earhook weight
Features
Codec Support
One of the biggest benefits of the KZ AN01 is that it allows the listener to use one of the best Bluetooth audio codecs on the planet with LDAC audio. LDAC can transfer audio data at a bit rate of up to 990 kbps. It also provides a bit depth of up to 32bit and a sample rate of up to 96khz. This is nothing to sneeze at as this gets you right up to CD-quality high resolution audio. No doubt any consumer is looking first at what codecs are allowed. So, it was very good to see LDAC on board. Also, it most certainly does make a big difference on well recorded and high-resolution tracks. You’ll always have some compression if the audio file, but LDAC truly does render your audio almost unphased as far as bitrate is concerned. The other codecs for the AN01 are AAC codec which allows a bit rate of 256 kbps along with a bit depth of up to 24bit and a sample rate of up to 44khz. Lastly the AN01 allows SBC codec which allows a bit rate of 320kbps yet at a much lower resolution bit depth of 16bit and a sample rate of 48kHz. It was nice to see AAC added for IOS and Apple users because not all Bluetooth devices feature AAC. Not bad at all KZ.
Performance Mode / Gaming Mode
One of the features which comes with the AN01 is a well-done gaming mode named “Performance Mode” when you toggle the function on the earhooks. I don’t know how low the latency actually gets down to, but I can tell you that all watched videos line up perfectly without any perceived lag. I cannot begin to tell you how many YouTube videos, Facebook Reels, or Instagram videos I’ve watched over my time with the AN01, but it’s a lot. Of course, some videos don’t line up at all no matter what you are watching. However, the vast majority of the time I truly saw zero lag whatsoever. Even with gaming I found that the AN01 is at least better than the KZ AZ09 Pro, Fiio UTWS3, and comparable to the UTWS5. Which is saying a lot. I found that simpler Android games were no issue to the AN01 at all. Even slightly more graphically intense games were all pretty nice. However, everyone knows that those heavy graphic 1st person shooter games will always be the biggest issue. That said, the AN01 basically does a good job with them. You’ll have some lag every now and again, but for the most part they do pretty well.
Transparency Mode
Next, we come to Transparency Mode which enables the AN01 to let the listener hear their outside world a bit easier. Great for joggers, or for those who simply want to be more attentive of their outside world. I found that the transparency mode is pretty decent. You get a slight uptick in outside sounds, and it comes through fairly naturally. Perhaps there’s a hint of metallic timbre, but for the most part the AN01 does a decent job here. You can enable Transparency Mode by toggling the earhooks by pressing and holding down the left earhook button for two seconds. Obviously, the AN01 isn’t going to be better than tws sets which cost four times as much, but it’s a nice feature for the cost.
ANC (Active Noise Canceling)
Okay folks, here we finally get to one of the best and biggest features that I’ve ever seen on any set of Bluetooth earhooks. That is, the AN01 actually comes with ANC! From what I know, this is an industry first. I don’t believe there is another Bluetooth earhook adapter setup which actually carries noise canceling. This is really a huge benefit. Now, the KZ AN01 is actually equipped with a total of four microphones which are processed by the internal DSP chip allowing the cancelation or suppression of a fair amount of noise. No where on earth will you find a set which cancels all noise. Usually, they will either cancel out low-droning noise or high-pitched noise but rarely ever does a set do both.
How well does the ANC work?
In the case of the AN01 I do hear some attenuated low-droning noises which definitely do get suppressed… a bit. However, please don’t expect top tier noise cancellation. I don’t think the tech is quite there yet. That said, I most certainly hear a reduction in certain noises. In my mind, outside steady low droning noises do get attenuated, to a degree. Stuff like fans, air conditioning units, the hum of a car engine, stuff like that. Higher pitched noise, sudden bangs (closing a door), and the human voice are not canceled all that great. Of course, I also never expected any better. That said, to have any cancellation of noise from a set of earhook adapters is a huge step in the right direction. I applaud KZ for trying and the result is not bad at all considering the challenges with trying to add ANC to a set of earhooks such as the AN01.
Call Quality
I found call quality to be pretty darn good on this set of adapters. Of course, a lot has to do with the earphones that you attached to the AN01, but so far so good. Voices from the other end come through clear and clean and without annoying timbre issues. Also, due to others informing me, my voice through the AN01 doesn’t sound bad either. KZ once again added in four microphones into each earhook which does the same job as it does canceling noises. It’s a kind of call noise canceling. Many devices have it as it’s pretty standard now. However, not all devices are created equal in their endeavors. During a call you can slightly hear the hush of your surroundings while the voice comes through great. Really a nice feature that works.
Battery Life
Another quality feature of the KZ AN01 is the battery life. KZ states that you can get up to 8 hours of battery life (per charge) on the earhook adapters themselves. That is a very high number folks. Of course, I’m assuming that also means you are not using LDAC, and the ANC is not in use. Obviously, if you are listening on LDAC and you have ANC enabled then you very likely will not get the full 8 hours. I’d be so very surprised. Also, I didn’t check to find out. The only thing I can tell you is that I’ve had to charge the case two times in my entire time with the AN01. 8 hours is huge! I should also reiterate that the case itself will provide an additional 32 hours of battery life. That’s 40 hours in total folks. If you didn’t know, that’s pretty darn good for earhook adapters.
Sound Impressions
I should preface the sound portion of my review with a couple things before I dive in. First, I used mainly KZ or CCA iems. I did this because I haven’t modified the AN01 yet and I don’t have a ton of non-KZ QDC style earphones laying around. Plus, I suppose it’s appropriate. I listen with flac or better files which are stored on my devices. Also, I listen to most Bluetooth using Poweramp on my Android devices, mainly because it is clearly the best Bluetooth music app. I also use UAPP (USB Audio Player Pro) a bit too.
Volume levels
One more thing which needs to be spoken of before you hit the “buy now” button. I found the volume levels to be on the low side of the scale. For whatever reason we’ve seen this trend in portable wireless audio of late where you simply don’t get the most headroom out of your listening experience. Without question the AN01 should only be paired with very sensitive iems. I really try to drive this home to any brand crafting a true wireless or even earhook devices such as the AN01 that the community wants HEADROOM. We want to turn our volume down if it gets too high. I don’t think the chips inside have the strongest amplifier. Having said that, I have paired my most sensitive sets to the AN01, and I get moderate volume levels. Basically, you’ll never run the risk of blowing your ears out while listening.
Source Reviews
I have had my fair share of source reviews and they’re all pretty much typical to each other. There is only so much that I can say as far as the actual sound quality of any source. No doubt every source has its own fundamental flavor, so to speak. Yet the great majority of tonal contrast and sound differentiation comes not from the source, but from the earphones attached. No doubt, this is the case with the AN01. I can tell you how the sound of my earphones has been influenced by the AN01, and vice-versa. My impressions are more broad and less acute, as there are so many factors which tie into the actual sound that you hear. Okay, I just wanted to get that out. On with the review…
How does it sound
The KZ AN01 is simply a solid sounding device for portable audio in its most portable form, at a price that won’t kill your pocketbook. $40 is quite a bargain when considering all that the AN01 offers, especially in the sound quality department. Now, the AN01 comes across very clear with a warm/neutral tonal coloration. There’s almost a slightly warm hue which cascades throughout the mix. You won’t hear any added influence towards the bright side of the aisle. No extra treble saturation. Truthfully, the treble seems a bit smoothened over, less clinical and great for brighter or more brilliant earphones. In the same breath, you will hear only a slight added oomph in the bass region. Nothing egregiously bassy or tilted in that direction. The AN01 offers a fairly organic take on my music. It’s a smoother sound, nothing abrasive, nothing too edgy, no drastic peaks. Furthermore, note weight is also semi-rich, certainly not thin. Perhaps less detailed and analytical than some source devices, but certainly the AN01 adds a slight musical flair to the sound. Also, the KZ AN01 presents a dead silent and black background which helps to promote a more clean and clear sound profile.
Pairings
Listening with the CCA Trio (Trio Review) attached to the AN01 most certainly provides a wider low-end note presence. The sound is slightly fuller down low with a touch less vibrance on the top end. Listening with the KZ Krila (Krila Review) there was a definite leveling off of the top end brilliance making the sound much easier on the ears. Not that it was bad at all but at times the Krila would present some slight shout for those who are sensitive to it. The AN01 certainly dialed that back to acceptable levels whilst increasing the low-end weight by a slight degree. Again, it’s a slightly warmer sounding device that influences the sound in very beneficial ways when paired with brighter and more fatiguing sources. It’s quite awesome to be honest. The KZ ZS12 Pro X (ZS12 Pro X Review) suddenly became slightly richer, a hair less defined and detailed but more musical when attached. I say “less detailed” simply because the volume doesn’t get very high which slightly mellows out some of the crispness, not because the source itself is less detailed. All things considered, for the cost it is hard to find complaints here. Sonically the AN01 performs admirably for such a low-cost pair of earhook adapters. I tried them with every KZ/CCA set in my arsenal (trust me, it’s a lot) and the same result captured my listening experiences. Slightly less treble emphasis, less glare, less shout as well as a touch more low-end authority. Add to that a hint of warmth covering the mix. With that said, the sound is very clean, very clear, with a black background for every set I paired with the AN01. Not bad at all.
Technicalities
As far as the technical stuff, the KZ AN01 definitely holds its own. I’ve said a few times that the sound is very clean even with the additional weight afforded to notes. I think a huge part in why the AN01 succeeds in the technical stuff also has to do with the black background, hiss free. Of course, the AN01 won’t compete with the Fiio UTWS5’s of the world etc. But still, the AN01 really does do a nice job of influencing the sound of my earphones in a cleaner way. Let’s put it this way, sets like the KZ Zenith which are already a nicely detailed iem won’t lose their clean lined note contour and note definition. Granted, the volume is on the lower side and so you don’t really have the volume to help with illuminating the finer stuff. That said, I have been impressed with the AN01’s ability to keep a tidy sound no matter the set attached.
On the flipside of that, sets which are less detailed and more rich, smooth, warm or more musical in nature won’t all of a sudden become detail monsters either. Nor should any of us expect that. Yet I find detail retrieval, instrument separation, and even the soundstage to be quite nice. Honestly, the AN01 has a clean sound signature with what I perceive to be a nice transient response. Basically, the AN01 should only help rather than hurt in these areas.
Is it worth the asking price?
This is one of those no-brainer answers from me. I don’t think anyone can argue with the price that KZ is asking for with the AN01. For $40, you get a very nice, very comfortable, and very user-friendly set of Bluetooth earhook adapters which easily competes well against similar style adapters. This decision obviously has most to do with your listening preferences. Are you one who enjoys earhook style adapters? Maybe you much prefer Bluetooth dongles, or true wireless etc. No doubt the earhook adapter style of listening is somewhat of a niche segment of people within the hobby. I suppose I am one of those niche supporters of the tech. Don’t get me wrong though, there is a huge seat of folks who enjoy this style. I get it too. They’re very convenient, hi-res audio, you can use your favorite iems, and earhook style adapters are almost always very portable. Without a doubt in my mind the AN01 represents the best I’ve heard under $50. Let’s see why…
The Why…
Because the KZ AN01 is one of the most comfortable Bluetooth earhook style adapter sets that I’ve ever used. It’ll probably be the comfiest set that you’ve used too. I’m telling you, there is something to be said of the AN01’s thin adapter hooks and the way they hug your ears. KZ has been using this build style since the beginning, and it has been a home run ever since. Also, folks, you get a working Transparency Mode, a working ANC (an industry 1st), a solid Game Mode (Low-Latency), and way more battery life then I would’ve expected. On top of those things, you also get LDAC with the AN01 coupled with Bluetooth 5.4 at the cost of $40! Also, the sound is very clean across the board, warm/neutral, non-offensive, non-fatiguing, with a spacious stage, nicely detailed, and the AN01 will provide a hair of warmth to the sound while buffing down most peaks up top. Friends, for $40 this is an absolute no brainer for me. Yes, it’s worth the asking price.
Final thoughts on the KZ AN01 before I conclude
When I saw the KZ AN01 arrive at my doorstep, I was thinking to myself, “what in the world could KZ do to improve upon this set of earhooks that they haven’t done in the past? Well, the answer came the second I actually took a look at the box that the AN01 came in. The box reads (in so many words) “ANC”, “LDAC”, and “BT 5.4”. I’m still quite surprised that KZ was able to pull it off. Surely, we will see more brands add ANC in the future to their earhooks. As honest as I can be I do feel that the KZ AN01 is a very good buy for the cost with very nice sound. The only real gripe would be the lower volume levels which pretty much require the listener to use very sensitive iems. Other than that, the AN01 is a nice set of earhooks. Certainly, a rec from me.
Conclusion
To conclude my full review and feature of the KZ AN01 earhook adapters, I first have to thank KZ for providing the AN01 in exchange for a feature at Mobileaudiophile.com. KZ has always been a great group of people to work with as they have never even once asked me to speak a certain way or compelled my speech to be anything other than my full and honest opinion. In all these years and all of these reviews I’ve never heard a peep from KZ about anything I’ve written. I can’t tell you how nice and refreshing that is. So, thank you KZ, and thank you Tyvan Lam. Beyond KZ, I also want to thank you, the reader, for taking the time to check out my thoughts. I really try to help you as best I can because I know that you love this hobby as I do, and you only want the best that you can get for your money. My greatest hope is that I can help you with that. However, it’s you who make mobileaudiophile.com what it is, and we cannot thank you enough. Truly.
Other Perspectives
Now that you’ve read my review, I implore you to go out and check out some other opinions concerning the KZ AN01. No doubt, I give you my most honest opinion, but not everyone will share the same opinion as I do. I do believe it’s in your best interest to check out those other thoughts prior to spending the money to own the AN01. There is a very good chance that the reviewer you check out next may have a totally different take than I do. We are all very unique in so many ways and we love a hobby which is completely and utterly subjective as well. So do check out other thoughts and I hope you make the perfect decision. With that, I think I’m done folks. Please take good care, stay as safe as possible and always… God Bless!
