Introduction
Last year, 1MORE has officially arrived in Malaysia. The 1MORE True Wireless ANC is the company’s latest flagship wireless earbuds that feature active noise cancellation. For the past week, I’ve been using these earbuds as my daily and this is my review about the user experience.
Unboxing
The packaging design for the 1MORE earbuds is surprising for me at least… in a good way, the box is well made and feels premium, makes you think that you are buying from a premium brand. Everything is packaged neatly. Besides that, there are also accessories like a travel pouch, a charging cable, and ear tips with different shapes and sizes included within the box, which is a neat touch.
Design
The exterior of the charging case is a simple and sleek look, it is a pill-shaped case with a dark grey satin finish. There is an LED indicator that shows the charge level when you open the case, instead of flashing to indicate the remaining battery charge, the LED will turn from green when it’s full, amber when it is around 70% to 40%, and red when it is below 40% of charge.
On the bottom of the charging case, there is a rubber slip pad to prevent the case from slipping around on a surface, which is rarely seen on products of this price range. And I did not forget to mention that the case also uses a USB-C port for charging.
The design of the earbuds in general looks pretty much like what other brands are doing, albeit with some tweaks here and there. The outer shell of the earbud is finished in a faux carbon finish, with 1MORE’s logo stamped on it, which is also indicated as to where the touch capacitive button for the noise-canceling function is fitted. There is also a button on the end of the earbud, used for controls for volume and skip the track. The ear tips are also slightly oblong-shaped, which I presume that could make for a snug fit. The ear tips are also where the proximity sensor is housed.
User Experience
Using the 1MORE True Wireless ANC is easy and convenient, you could control your settings either using the physical buttons or via the 1MORE Music App. For physical buttons you could control certain settings as stated below:
- Noise Cancellation
- Upon wearing, double-tap the outer shell of the earbuds on either side to activate ANC Mode 1, there would be a voice prompt saying, “ANC on”.
- Having ANC Mode 1 turned on, double-tap the outer shell to activate ANC Mode 2; upon activation, there would be a double beep.
- After ANC Mode 2 is turned on, double-tap again to activate Pass-Through Mode, there be a voice prompt saying, “Pass-Through Mode on”.
- Double-tap again or placing the earbuds into the charging case to turn off ANC Mode. (Note: Double tapping cycles you through modes)
- Music playback
- Single press on the button on the Right side: Volume Up
- Single press on the button on the Left side: Volume Down
- Double press on either side: Play/Pause
- Press and Hold 2s on the Right side: Next Track
- Press and Hold 2s on the Left side: Previous Track
- Making Calls
- Press twice on either side: Answer/Hang Up
- Press and Hold 2s on either side: Decline
- Press three times with Bluetooth connected but playback is off: Activate Voice Control
Connecting the earbuds to the device is just as easy as opening the case and wearing the earbuds. The proximity sensors sense whether the buds are worn or taken off, seamlessly resuming, or pausing the music when either side is removed. This setting could be turned off on the 1MORE MUSIC app. However, my gripe when connecting my earbuds is that sometimes my connection is twitchy, it felt like the earbuds don’t want to connect to my device at all, but all is fine when I restart the Bluetooth on my device. Furthermore, the 1MORE earbuds have a tendency to not pair properly with my laptop, which also has Bluetooth 5.0 by the way. Even when it manages to pair, my laptop identifies each side as its own entity.
Audio Quality
The audio quality is quite decent given the price point. The audio quality is clear but there is not enough crispness, the lower end sounds soft, the higher end is not sharp enough, the bass is borderline on the low end. Despite all these flaws to the audio quality, the clarity of it is quite good, you can differentiate each sound just right, not murky at all. Its noise-canceling performance is could not compete with premium brands like Sony or Apple, but it still performs way better compared to rivals that are from the same price range. The noise cancellation blocks out most low-frequency sounds whereas higher frequencies are mellowed down to half, so the difference is noticeable when ANC is turned on.
The 1MORE True Wireless ANC is equipped with Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo Plus, which is a bonus. The earbuds operate differently from the standard wireless connection. Both earbuds are simultaneously connected instead of one earbud being the primary receiver and the other as the secondary. Latency is reduced to a minimum when watching videos or listening to movies, however, gaming is not advised. The downside to this is that the range is limited to within a 10m radius.
Personally, for casual listeners, these earbuds might be the bang for your buck due to what it offers and the price, but for audiophiles that are looking for top-tier audio quality, you just might find another product elsewhere.
Battery Life
The battery life aspect is the Achilles heel for the 1MORE True Wireless ANC. It is not something to write home about, it lasted around 4 hours on a single charge with Active Noise Cancelling turned on, falling short of its 5-hour specified battery life; creating the need to carry the charging case around, which might be a hassle for some people. There are other brands out there that offer better battery life.
Verdict
For those who are interested, the 1MORE True Wireless ANC is officially retailing at RM699. To the casual consumer, these earbuds do feel premium with above-average ANC, however, I felt that the sound quality could be better. Having the Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo Plus driver makes these earbuds worthwhile to purchase and use. Overall, a solid and worth it product. You can get the 1MORE True Wireless ANC from its official Lazada store here.
Pros
- USB-C charging port for future proof
- Simple and intuitive controls
- Remarkable build quality
- Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo Plus capabilities
- Comfortable to wear for long periods of time
Cons
- Audio quality not bad, but not great either
- Intermittent connection issues happen usually when changing devices
- The sound quality is average
- Not water resistant
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