The 4-point bending tests of cermets and cemented carbides were conducted and the fracture processes were evaluated by acoustic emission (AE) technique. The results show that cumulative AE energy rapidly increases before the final fracture, which corresponds to the maincrack formation. In addition, AE wavelet analysis and direct observations were carried out. As a result, two types of signals were detected. One is the burst-type signal with the frequency of 300 ・500 kHz and the other is continuous-type signal with 100〜200 kHz. Considering their natures, the former could be related with microcrack nucleation or propagation, and later with plastic deformation of binder phase.