1MORE has gained a lot of attention over the last few years and for good reason. Across their selection of in-ear and over-ear headphones, they’ve become award winners, one of the premiere companies balancing performance with a price that isn’t out of reach for the budget-conscious consumer. Today, we’re looking at one of the most exciting sets of headphones I’ve encountered in some time with the 1More Dual Driver BT ANC In-Ear Headphones.
Should this be your next pair of bluetooth earbuds? Read on to find out.
Specifications
- Key Features: Dual Driers, Active Noise Cancelling, Environmental Noise Cancellation, Active Voice Enhancement, Titanium Composite Diaphragm, Flexible Ergonomic Neckband, Magnetic Earpieces
- Connectivity: Wireless, Wired
- Driver: Dynamic, Balanced armature
- Charging Time: 1 hours
- Talk/Music Play Time: 7 Hours
- Impedance: 32 Ohms
- Wireless Range: 10m
- Bluetooth: Version 4.2
- Bluetooth Protocol: HFP/A2DP/AVRCP
- Weight: 43.9
- Input: 5V 1A
In this line of business, you wind up trying lots of different products and quickly realize how important first impressions are. A well-packaged, well-presented product can make the difference between feeling good about your purchase and wondering what you spent your money on. 1More clearly sees the value in presentation as the Dual Driver ANC BTs easily give the best first impression of any set of in-ears I’ve ever tried.
The packaging will be familiar to 1More fans. There’s no small plastic shell here. Instead, we have a box that’s the size of a large hardcover and opens just the same. A magnet holds the box shut hidden behind a logo made to look like brushed aluminum. It’s classy, and when you open it, you’re greeted with the headphones in a beautiful display window. On the opposite side are concept sketches and notes from their designer. By presentation alone, the earbuds easily feel two or three times their actual price.
As an in-ear headphone, the Dual Drive ANCs require a good seal to achieve the perfect sound. Inside the box, 1MORE has included three separate silicone ear tips in 10.5mm, 12.5mm, and 15.5mm sizes. They’ve also included four sets of silicone “ear secure” wings to keep them in place while you’re out for a run. Even though I’m no longer a runner, I still appreciate seeing such a selection included in the box. I’m the proud owner of weird ears (alright, weird ear channels) and always have trouble keeping in-ears in place as I go through my day. You’ll want to try the different sizes to find the fit that works for you but I was able to find my perfect fit with only a few minutes or trial and error and now they stay in place even when I do need to run.
Also included in the box is a USB Type-C charging cable, a 3.5mm audio cable for when you need to go wired, and a soft travel case for when you need to throw them in a bag.
The headphones themselves feature a rubberized neckband with silver end-caps that house your controls. The end-caps aren’t weighted like the RHA MA-750s we looked at last year and are better for it. The earbuds connect to the band with wires just over eight inches, so you have enough slack that they won’t pull out of your ears even during strenuous movement, making them perfect for exercise. The earbuds themselves are made out of durable metal with magnet ends to stay clasped when not in use, so they should hold up to long term use.
The Dual Drive ANC BTs have some cool technology built in. As the name implies, they feature active noise cancelling. When ANC is enabled, the earbuds also apply vocal enhancement to make sure you can hear other people, even while white noise is drowned out. They also feature environmental noise cancelling using a similar strategy, blocking out your background from your callers. The mics also serve a third purpose, allowing you flip a switch and send their pick-up right to your ears, which is perfect if you need to hear something around you but don’t want to take the earbuds out entirely. I’ll use that sometimes if I’m in the middle of making dinner for my kids and they have a quick question. It’s useful.
The active noise cancelling is phenomenal. I’ve had mixed results with noise cancelling in the past. Some headsets cancel out such narrow bands that they only work in limited environments, like on a plane. The 1MORE Dual Driver ANCs capture a much wider frequency band. They’re great for your usual white noise, like fans and engines, but I was surprised to find just how effective they were at blocking out the noise of a nearby roadway when taking the dogs out for a walk. The ANC can be applied in two levels, too, the second of which made that nighttime walk preternaturally quiet.
What’s amazing, though, is that it doesn’t seem to affect the quality of the music at all. I tested the headphones across a variety of genres, from rock to pop all the way to spoken word, and was hard pressed to hear any difference at all. One one song I might think I could hear something, so I’d swap back and forth, never able to actually put my finger on a difference. That it can apply such effective noise cancellation without degrading the quality of the music is impressive.
Driving this experience are two high fidelity drivers. Each earbud features both a dynamic driver and a balanced armature, each responsible for an end of the frequency spectrum. This is an effective way to prevent distortion and retain clarity as physically separating the drivers allows each to be responsible for a narrower spectrum of sound.
I love the sound profile the dual drivers deliver. They offer a surprisingly wide soundstage for a set of in-ears. They’re tuned to offer a slight boost to the low-end, modest mids, and slightly boosted highs. The also produce sound with a clarity that allows you to pick out the fine details that are often lost in songs. Minute touches, like the texture of a drum stick striking a cymbal, or the oscillation of a rolling synth.
I enjoyed these headphones most with rock, pop, and ambient music. Coheed and Cambria’s Mother Superior sounded rich and full without losing the distinction of the acoustic notes plucked under the roaring guitars. PVRIS’s White Noise from the Empty Room Sessions offered a pitch-perfect representation of the reverb of guitars bouncing from small, bare walls, dripping with post-reverb and delay. Angel Vivaldi’s Dopamine captured the powerful low-B chug of his seven-string guitar. Hip-hop was still enjoyable but bass heads might find these headphones a little lacking (though I found them about almost exactly to my taste without needing to apply a software EQ).
The headphones charge over USB Type-C and support fast charging. Start to finish, I was able to get about six hours at 75% volume, but thanks to fast charging, running out of battery is rarely an issue. If a computer is nearby, or your have a phone charger, using 1MORE’s cable will get you another three hours of use with only ten minutes of charging. We’d also be remiss for not mentioning that these headphones can also be used in wired mode if you do manage to run out the battery or want to use them on a device that doesn’t support bluetooth. Impressive.
Final Thoughts
Having never used a 1MORE headphone before, I went into this review without expectations. I’m happy to say that they’ve made a believer out of me. The 1MORE Dual Driver BT ANC In-Ear headphones offer excellent audio, impressive active noise cancellation, and a wider array of features that should result in a high price point but somehow don’t. If you’re in the market for a pair of bluetooth earbuds, these are definitely a set to consider. If you also travel and need active noise cancellation, they should probably be on on your “must buy” list before you board that plane.
