If you’re looking for headphones that can handle even the longest commute, Audio-Technica’s new ATH-S300BT headphones could be just what you’re looking for. Promising an astonishing 90 hours of battery life, you could fly twice around the world before it was time to top them up – and even then, just three minutes plugged in would give you another two and a half hours of listening.
Audio-Technica hasn’t dropped every other features to make space for that impressive battery. There’s active hybrid noise cancellation and a hear-through mode so you don’t miss travel announcements or someone speaking to you, and both Google Assistant and Siri support are baked in. And with 40mm drivers, they should deliver some decent low-end thump too – Audio-Technica can usually be relied on to deliver great balance from even affordable models.
However, there’s no mention of aptX HD or other higher-quality audio codecs, so it’s seems like the battery life is the big selling point here. And that’s fair enough – it’s not unheard-of for the best wireless headphones to get close to this longevity, but it’s far from common. The superb Edifier Stax Spirit S3 get 80 hours, but they cost a lot more than the £99 (about $125 / AU$190) of these Audio-Technicas.
Audio-Technica ATH-S300BT: key features and pricing
You’ve got a choice of Bluetooth or wired connectivity for your audio enjoyment, and the headphones come with a 1.2m cable with an in-line mic and control buttons. The Bluetooth connection offers a low-latency mode for gaming and streaming, and it also has multipoint pairing for seamlessly switching between your phone and your laptop. Touch controls in the ear cups help you take quick control.
The quoted 90 hour battery life is with ANC turned off, but even with noise cancelling on you can get around the globe more than once without needing to pack your charger: with ANC on you can expect around 60 hours of listening, which is still very impressive. Pretty much the only big pair of headphones to match this is the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless – and, again, these cost more than twice as much as the Audio-Technica.
These headphones are the successors to the ATH-S200BT, and in our full Audio-Technica ATH-S200BT review we found these to be “budget-friendly, big-sounding Bluetooth headphones that do a lot for their price”.
And these new headphones seem set to do the same – although as yet we don’t have confirmation of a US or Australian launch date. However, UK customers can order the headphones from today, June 13, 2024.