AKG in 2024

AKG, which I thought had faded into history, announced a new product. Earlier this year, an unreleased product won a design award under the name AKG N5 Hybrid at the iF Design Award, gradually making its presence known, and in early July, AKG’s new wireless earphones were released alongside headphones.

Disappointing First Impression

The first thing I noticed was the materials and build quality. The materials feel quite cheap. The predecessor AKG N400 used metal, but the AKG N5 feels like a raw plastic lump — so unrefined I wondered if it was a QCY product. It’s light, but lacks any sense of substance. The hinge is ordinary — slightly stiff without being loose — but it creaks a bit even when held lightly in hand.

The earbuds are on the bulky side. The left and right earbuds have the AKG logo and product name printed on them, and interestingly, braille for distinguishing left and right is embossed on the earbuds. The ear tip quality isn’t bad, but they use a proprietary oval shape, so compatibility with third-party ear tips is poor. Even ear tips with a similar shape, like those from the Galaxy Buds Pro or EO-IC500, don’t fit.

After examining the build, I connected the earphones. The AKG N5 is controlled through an app called AKG Headphones, but the UI feels more like JBL than AKG — the only difference being the color scheme, to the point where I wonder if JBL developed it. Icons for noise cancellation, ambient sound mode, etc. use the same design as JBL’s, and features supported by JBL like SilentNow and Personi-Fi are offered here in exactly the same way. So while there’s no shortage of features, the feeling of using an AKG product is somewhat diluted.

Lackluster Software

The biggest issue: the device feels sluggish and frustrating. Touch recognition is fairly fast, but switching between modes like noise cancellation and ambient sound after input is quite slow. Minor connection issues are frequent — one earbud won’t connect, or the connection fails entirely. Specifically, I experienced the following inconveniences:

  • If the app attempts to connect on its own when the earphones aren’t connected to the device via Bluetooth, it crashes.
  • Settings like noise cancellation or gestures sometimes reset when the earphones connect.
  • When changing earphone functions, the change isn’t reflected immediately and gets confused with the previous state.
  • Putting the earbuds in the case and closing it sometimes doesn’t disconnect the Bluetooth connection.

Samsung has benefited handsomely from acquiring Harman, but Harman doesn’t seem to have received much support from Samsung. In terms of connectivity and earbud operation, it’s not just inferior to AirPods or Galaxy Buds — it feels like a product that was rushed to market while still in development. However, when connecting to a Windows PC, the included dongle makes it surprisingly easy and fast — comparable to wired earphones, unlike other wireless earphones.

Updated 2024-10-22!

The recent v4.2.0 software update has improved connectivity considerably. It’s still sluggish, but the perplexing connection behaviors have been greatly reduced. However, it still shows frustrating behavior — unstable initial connections or failing to disconnect when it should.

Excellent Sound Quality

After such a disappointing first impression, this part was quite moving. I don’t know enough to describe it in detail, but my personal impression is that the sound is highly confidence-inspiring. If you listen with high expectations, you might be disappointed, but if you listen without any, you’ll find a sweet and delicate quality. The resolution is especially good — to exaggerate slightly, it adds sounds you couldn’t hear before.

One thing I want to note about sound quality: enabling the high-resolution audio option doesn’t automatically switch the codec to LDAC. After enabling this feature, you still need to activate the LDAC option in the Bluetooth settings window, and depending on the case, you can set the LDAC codec bitrate in developer options to Auto, or choose from 330kbps/303kbps up to 990kbps/909kbps.

Average Noise Cancellation

I had high expectations for the noise cancellation given the positive reviews, but as various reviewers’ measurements show, it’s not outstanding — just adequate. It handles low-frequency sounds like vibrations and mechanical noise well, but isn’t effective against higher frequencies like human voices or announcements. White noise is barely perceptible, never intrusive. The following noise cancellation features are available:

  • Adaptive ANC: An adaptive noise cancellation mode. When enabled, the intensity adjusts flexibly based on ambient noise. When disabled, you can adjust the intensity across 7 levels.
  • Auto Calibration: Adjusts noise cancellation based on fit. When enabled, noise cancellation intensity improves slightly.

It’s not bad, but considering the price point and release date, even with noise cancellation set to maximum and auto-calibration enabled, I didn’t find a significant difference from the Buds 2 Pro I used before — which personally left me disappointed.

I’ll Keep Using It for Now

In 2024, products offering good sound quality and noise cancellation are already abundant. In that landscape, the AKG N5 Hybrid isn’t a product that commands social attention or creates a stir with even small innovations. As an outsider product from a gradually fading brand, released after a long absence, the AKG N5’s only selling points are its brand value and decent sound quality.

Still, I like AKG. Just being able to use a product with the AKG logo after four years feels joyful and welcome. The flaws seem more numerous than I expected, but I’ll try to use it well for now.