Adidas Z.N.E 01 review

30-second review

The Adidas Z.N.E 01 are open-fit true wireless earbuds for workout enthusiasts that bring a rugged water-resistant build and trendy Adidas branding at an affordable price. They pack audio tech from Zound, the company behind Marshall and Urbanear headphones, which sounds good on paper but real life use suggests otherwise.

There’s a textured coat that covers the earbuds and stems with a protruding panel that holds an embossed Adidas logo. The buds themselves have silicone sleeves for extra grip and are larger in size than most open-fit earbuds like the Apple AirPods and Huawei FreeBuds 4. The size can be an issue if you have smaller ears like I do. I found the buds sitting uncomfortably in the conch of my ear and it didn’t take long for fatigue to set in.

Sound-wise, these buds pack some power and get loud. They’re able to thump high-tempo workout music to your ears in a mostly pleasant way. The audio quality on these is disappointingly average feeling cheap and flat. Battery is also average at 5 hours from the buds on a single charge and a further 20 hours from the case. 

If you’re in the market for workout buds and are set on an open-fit, these can be a good choice. Otherwise, you’ll find much better audio and more secure and customizable fit with in-ear alternatives. 

Adidas Z.N.E 01 review price and release date

• Available now
• Priced at AED 449

The Adidas Z.N.E 01 released in April 2022 priced at AED 449. They’re cheaper than most true wireless buds including Apple AirPods and their rugged water-resistant build makes them great for sports and fitness activities. But that’s all these Adidas buds are have going for them.

If you don’t mind in-ear fits, similarly priced in-ear alternatives like the excellent value Sony WF-CF500, Sennheiser CX 400BT, Beats Studio Buds and Jabra Elite 7 Active offer active noise cancellation, richer audio and tighter fit for energetic workouts. 

Design

• Open design
• Textured coating
• Silicone earbud sleeves

At first glance, the Adidas Z.N.E 01 look like sporty Apple AirPods (2nd generation). Their textured build and silicone covered buds are designed to handle the outdoors and rough use. The silicone sleeves are a nice touch that give more grip when you’re pulling the buds out of the case and prevent moisture-damage from sweat and light splashes of water.

The fit won’t be for everyone though. They’re slightly larger that most open-fit buds and if you have smaller ears you might find these pressing uncomfortably against your inner ear with fatigue setting in soon after.. When the fit’s right, these buds can stay steady in your ears as long the activity you're involved in doesn’t involve too much vigorous head movement.

Since you can’t customize the fit like with in-ear buds that come with different wingtips and such, it’s advised to test these out at a store if you can to see if these will be a good fit for you. 

The charging case is also made from the same materials as the earbuds keeping it relatively scuff-free. There’s a USB-C port at the bottom and a pairing button next to it. Setting up the earbuds is a simple press and hold till the LED indicator blinks blue and selecting the earbuds in the Bluetooth menu of your device.

You can control calls and playback by tapping the buds. Single tap for play/pause and answer/end call, double to skip track and triple tap for previous track. 

Audio performance

• Wide soundstage
• Get plenty loud
• Dissappointing sound quality

The good thing about open-fit earbuds is the wide soundstage you get and the Adidas Z.N.E 01 do well in this regard. They pack a 12mm dynamic driver and are louder than most open-fit earbuds we’ve tested. The sound is punchy enough to make high-tempo workout playlists thump in your ears without getting overbearing. 

Details come through well enough to pick out different instruments in a song but not in any inspiring way. The buds also pick up on the nuances and punctuations in a complex synth wave track. And bass pounds through convincingly without overpowering too much. What’s sorely missing here is clarity. 

There’s a slight coarseness to the overall sound that’s reminiscent of cheaper earbuds. Trebles get lost and different frequencies can have a tendency to get smooshed together resulting in an overall flat sound. No app support for the Adidas Z.N.E 01 buds means you can’t customize EQs to your liking either and are stuck with the default profile. 

Taking calls on the Adidas Z.N.E 01 is just fine but suffers clarity issues when outdoors. The mics do well to pick up your voice but don’t do well at isolating it as we’ve seen from other earbuds like the Huawei FreeBuds 4. 

The open-fit also means you can’t drown out the outside world in any effective way. Depending on  the shape of your ears, you can get some kind of seal around your ear canal and isolate some noise but traffic and wind will noticeably creep in. On the flip side, these buds are great for runners and fitness enthusiasts who’d like to keep an ear on their nearby surroundings.

Battery life and connectivity

• 25-hour battery life
• Bluetooth 5.2
• No wireless charging

You can expect the Adidas Z.N.E 01 to last around five hours on a single charge further extended by 20 hours from the case. A quick 15-minute charge can eke out 1.5 hours of playback if you’re in a pinch.

The battery life is by no means class leading given that most earbuds these days average 6 hours or more. But together with the case, these should be good enough to last through a week of workout sessions and casual listening.

Connectivity comes in the way of Bluetooth 5.2 and the initial setup is fast and painless across Android and iOS devices as well as PCs and Macs. You just hold the button on the bottom of the case, go to Bluetooth settings on your device and complete the pairing process. There’s no multi-point connectivity, which means you won’t be able to rapidly switch between devices, but that’s not a dealbreaker.

Once paired, however, the Adidas Z.N.E 01 connect quickly to your chosen device as soon as they’re taken out of the case and hold a stable connection. The range is average and peters out if you move into another room, so if you’re planning to take these to the gym make sure your device is nearby at all times.

Should I buy the Adidas Z.N.E 01?

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• Read our guide to the best earbuds you can buy today