Hey.
Every self-respecting portable audio company considers it its duty to have fully wireless headphones in its portfolio.
They may not have the most outstanding characteristics, controversial design, capabilities and sound, but they should.
Sometimes, among this variety, there are very, very good examples.
It was logical to assume that 1more would not miss the trend and create its own vision for such a product. The result of the efforts of the company's engineers was the emergence of a completely wireless headset (hereinafter referred to as TWS (True Wireless) Stylish True Wireless In-Ear Headphones (returning to the question of adequate names).
The headset comes in four colors.
I had a headset of the most neutral, black color on my test.
Specifications
- Model: E1026BT-I
- Headphone weight (single): 6.2g
- Case weight: 40.4 g
- Total weight: 52.8g
- Headphone size (single): 27 23 23 mm
- Case size: 68 40 38 mm
- Headphone battery capacity (in one): 55mAh
- Case battery capacity: 410 mAh
- Headphone charging time: 70 minutes
- Case charging time: 70 minutes
- Talk time: 6.5 hours
- Music playing time: 6.5 hours (50% volume)
- Working time with the case
- Talk time: up to 24 hours
- Music playing time: up to 24 hours (50% volume)
- Impedance: 16 Ohm
- Radius: 10 m
- Bluetooth: 5.0
- Protocols Bluetooth: HFP / A2DP / AVRCP
- Input: 5V 1A
- Price: 4000-5000 rub
The first thing that attracts attention is the working time with the case – 24 hours, which is very good. Is this really so, I will tell below.
Packaging
Let's start traditionally with the box, since there is something to tell about. A weighty box made of thick white cardboard is decorated with high-quality printing with the image of headphones, on the one hand, and with characteristics on the other.
It opens unusually – a valve on the side of the magnet. The back of the flip cover features sketch-style images of the headset and case.
It looks unusual and pleasant. It seems that the company professes one style in its products, since we have already met similar art in the review of another company's product – the wired hybrid headset 1more Triple Driver In-Ear Headphones.
Under the cover is another cover made of transparent plastic, under which you can see the headset and case.
We open the transparent cover, pull the tab and open another false cover, under which the headphones and case are actually located.
Guess what needs to be done to remove the headphones? That's right, pull the tab and get a soft stencil, from which you can already remove the headphones themselves! Well, matryoshka … It's good that the case is removed a little easier.
On the other hand, if you are a level-headed person and also an aesthetic geek, all these experiments with packaging will only increase the pleasure of unpacking a new toy.
The box also contains a cardboard envelope, inside of which is the familiar transparent sticker with a branded bear, as well as a bunch of instructions and brochures.
And another cardboard box, inside of which is a bag for carrying the headset, a charging cable, as well as a set of replaceable ear pads and earpads.
Phew, we're done with the box, let's move on to the headset and start with the case.
Appearance and materials
Case
And the first thing that pleases me is its size. He's small, hurray! It fits comfortably in the hand and has the shape of a sea pebble – a kind of plastic pebble. And yet, despite the 410 mAh battery located inside, it is lightweight.
The lid opens with a button and has a spring, thanks to which it folds back on its own, without the help of a second hand. The cover does not carry any functionality other than the protective one, that is, it is not active. It closes with a latch.
Inside the case there are two curly cradles with point-to-point contacts through which the headphones are charged.
The inner part of the lid is soft and has a very pleasant velvety texture – you don't have to worry that the case will scratch the headphones.
On the back there is a MicroUSB port for charging the case itself. The port is located in a relatively narrow recess, so not every cable is suitable for charging, this is worth considering. I had difficulties with the cable with a wide skirt – it did not fit into the recess, and the length was not enough for contact.
The earbuds easily fall into place, and are held in them on magnets, which excludes falling out if you turn the open case over (unless, of course, you do not shake it hard). A second after installation in the case, charging begins.
Charging time for fully discharged headphones is approximately 1 hour 40 minutes. By the way, the case itself is charged in the same time. Not fast, but what to do.
Headphones
The headphones themselves most of all resemble small river pebbles (it seems that the company was inspired by these very objects when designing the headphones).
The main material is matte plastic.
On the reverse side is the main unit, covered with a silicone nozzle with an ear extension. A sound guide comes out of this block at an angle of 45 degrees. The company explains this angle by natural ergonomics and comfortable fit.
The sound guide opening is covered with a metal filter.
The side markings are embossed on the inside of the ear-piece. The font is large, easy to read despite the black base color. There is also a compensating hole nearby.
On the outside, in addition to the company name, you can see a microphone hole inside which there is a two-color LED displaying certain events.
Another microphone is at the top on the side. It is part of the DSP system and serves to filter out extraneous sounds and noises during a conversation.
On both earphones on the back ends there is a control button, with which you can control playback, accept and reject calls, and also call the voice assistant. The commands themselves are traditional single and double clicks, so I don't describe them in detail.
The button is moderately soft, with a crisp click, and requires some effort. However, this is not a problem, since the case is made in such a way that when pressed, the fingers themselves clasp the earpiece and prevent it from falling out of the ear from pressing.
This solution is better than a tight button on the outside, which would have to press the earpiece into your ear every time you press, or a touch surface, which could cause accidental presses.
The ergonomics of the headphones themselves are excellent – even with prolonged wearing, the ears do not get tired and there is no discomfort. And given the small size, they should suit many.
Someone may not like that the headphones protrude slightly from the ears, evoking associations with an alien device.
Although, against the background of what she did with her fans Apple, the solution from 1more looks like an example of design and style.
Headset in use
When turned on, the headset pronounces the name of the company and the charge level in a metallic voice. Some other actions, such as the pairing process, are also voiced.
The process of disconnecting the headphones looks not very logical – with a long press, the headset first goes into pairing mode, and only then, if you continue to hold the button, it turns off. It was more logical to make the pairing process start only if the button was held for a long time when turned on.
Also, the headset enters pairing mode every time it is removed from the case.
At the same time, the process of connecting to a previously paired device is slow and usually takes about 10 seconds. I would like this process to happen faster.
Working hours
The real operating time from a single charge is about 5.5 – 6.5 hours. This variation depends on content, volume, and where the headset is used. Strange, but I got the impression that the more polluted the air around, the higher the discharge. It also matters where the source device is. If in a bag or in a back pocket, then the discharge also occurs faster, which is not surprising.
Together with the case, the headset managed to squeeze out almost 17 hours of music playback, which is very, very good. Apparently, this was made possible thanks to the Bluetooth 5.0 and 55mAh batteries in each earbud.
In terms of battery life, I have no complaints about the headset.
Talk mode
The headset function is implemented strangely. The interlocutors hear you clearly and loudly, however, at the same time, the noise cancellation system during calls works strangely – except for the voice, the interlocutors note that they also clearly hear all the surrounding noises, whether it be people's voices, shuffling feet, sounds of the city. This makes it uncomfortable to speak.
It looks like the DSP is not configured and needs a software update or debug.
At the same time, I cannot say that it is absolutely impossible to use it directly, no, the voice is heard well and clearly, but extraneous noises clearly interfere. Sorry. I would like a better implementation of the headset mode.
Sound
The headset has support for the AptX codec, which, along with Bluetooth 5.0, gives a good result.
In addition, the company announces the use of a special 7mm driver with a titanium-coated diaphragm.
The sound is rich, deep, powerful.
The low frequencies are very well worked out, while there is no kick effect at all. There is a lot of bass, and it is delicious, velvety, not empty. Thanks to this, the overall sound of the headset can be described by the word – gloomy.
Slightly sagging mids draw out good high frequencies without 'sand' and 'cycling' even at high volumes.
But what seemed to me, as a lover of reinforcement technology, not enough, is the transparency of the sound. This parameter is not bad, but I want the sound to be a little cleaner, more crystalline.
It seems that this is due to the dominant low frequencies, which eat up the clarity and transparency a little.
However, it would be incorrect to say that things are bad with this parameter; rather, these are the wishes of an armature lover.
In general, the sound is good, above average, suitable for most users, and will cause positive emotions.
Most of all, the headset succeeds in electronic and dance genres, where rich bass creates the right picture and emotion. However, the headset confidently copes with instrumental music, slightly coloring it with light shades of noir, which, however, does not create dissonance.
Conclusion
In Russia, a headset can be bought for 4000-5000 rubles, which seems to be a fair price for such a product.
Among the competitors, we can highlight the Funcl AI 5.0 aptX TWS, which can be bought for comparable money and also get AptX on board and good autonomy. Confuse can only be the design, which, whatever one may say, is secondary for them.
In general, the impressions of the 1more headset are rather positive. I was pleased with the battery life, the size and shape of the case, as well as the appearance and fit of the headset in the ear – it is comfortable, reliable and does not press. However, one should carefully approach the selection of the size of the ear cushions, since with a loose fit, the sound will lose some of its colors and saturation.
I didn't really like the way the headset works in the talk mode, I would like the active noise isolation to work better during the conversation.
The sound, for my taste, is a little gloomy and heavy because of the bright bass, but I know that many people really like this bass sound, so let's write it down as a plus. And fans of Sony technology will definitely like it.
As a result, the headset can take a place in the list of my devices as soon as the work is corrected during a call, because the rest of the parameters are in order.
The author thanks the Ulyanovsk branch of the X | STORE store for the device provided for review.