+ deep, rich and contured bass
+ very comfortable to wear
+ adjustable ANC
+ outstanding app offering individual sound profiles
+ high level of craftmanship
– without SoundID sound might be harsh
– too many features for 2 touch buttons
-
Sound: Tonal Balance / Transparency7.2
-
Sound: Bass / Dynamics9.2
-
Ease-of-use / Connectivity9
-
Price/Performance9
Just One More! The market for true wireless ear buds was not particularly crying for new competition. To stand out, a newcomer like 1More has to invent a variety of cool new features really offering a benefit. And that´s exactly what their latest flagship Evo is all about. It features adaptive Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) with dedicated anti-wind mode and offers a proprietary 1More Music app for iOS or Android. Overall quality of the fully wireless Bluetooth in-ear buds is above average in their price range, with variety of colours remaining conservative. You can get them in black or white. The charging case is made of aluminium alloy, and the ear buds themselves are equipped with a scratch-resistant ceramic cover.
The app in question uses SoundID process by Sonarworks as a base – a software specialist whose expertise in sound quality we already know from Grell Audio TWS/1. It offers individual profiles to be discovered and saved by means of an A/B comparison test. The effect is somehow similar to an EQ, but far easier to adjust for non-recording-engineers.
5.7 grams of high-tech per side
The 1More Music app turned out to be the most elegant way to flip through the variety of ANC profiles. It is possible though to do so using the two touch buttons but these are really packed with multiple functions. They control level and pause/playback, flip through four ANC profiles, answer phone calls or activate your smartphone’s voice assistant. You might get easily confused and suddenly get to know Siri´s or Assistant´s voice instead of the desired music.
In terms of transducers, 1More Evo´s concept is a bit special. These are 2-way designs combining a low-distortion balanced-armature transducer (BA) for treble and a fairly huge 10mm dynamic driver reproducing mids and bass. While the BA tweeter can reproduce up to 40 kHz, the low-midrange driver has quite sufficient diaphragm area for decent bass dynamics.
In addition to Bluetooth 5.2, the 1More supports Sony´s LDAC codec, for example, and thus offers High-Res Audio playback that easily rivals the digital bandwidth of a pair of wired headphones. If you have a properly equipment player or smartphone, of course.
Plenty of cool features
Answering phonecalls is also possible with the 1More Evo being a real headset. An array of six microphones is supposed to ensure good voice quality even under difficult circumstances. Adaptive ANC also takes advantage these microphones being positioned both inside and outside the ear canal to optimally calculate the level of noise cancellation depending on the surrounding noise. According to the manufacturer, the “QuietMax Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation Technology” system dampens noise from outside by up to -42 decibels. That´s a bold statement. That said we assume it is mainly referring to some kind of passive attenuation as the subjective effect of the ANC being activated seemed to be rather subtle. This was especially true when trying to distinguish the effect of a particular ANC modes from one another.
The user might want to choose from four main profiles: “ANC low” is intended to keep the subjective pressure in the ear canal low for increased comfort while enjoying reduced noise in relatively quiet environments. Finally, a significant cancellation effect caused by out-of-phase sound eats up a certain portion of energy and thus affects in many cases the bass reproduction. “ANC Strong” moder is available for loud environments.
WNR (Wind Noise Resistant) mode is ideal for outdoor use in stiff breezes when increased air pressure on one side might push the microphones to their limits. The circuitry of the 1More Evo then tries to specifically eliminate this subsonic effect of wind noise.
The Adaptive ANC mode automatically adjusts the active suppression of external noise as mentioned and is suitable as a standard mode for on-the-go according to our experience.
Users can also choose between two variants of transparency mode: “Pass-through” allows a wide spectrum of ambient noise to pass through for acoustic orientation in certain situations such as traffic, while “Voice Enhancement” emphasizes voices to listen to announcements at train stations or aircrafts.
On the long run, but please take a break
The batteries receive enough of energy for a four-hours-long listening sessions within just fifteen minutes of quick-charging. A total of up to 28 hours of operational time are possible without ANC. However, this includes the battery capacity of the charging case and requires a 2-hour charging period with earbuds being placed into the case after 8 hours of use. With ANC activated, that procedure is even necessary after 5 and a half hours at the latest, summing up to a total of 20 hours of music. Quite convenient: The app shows separate battery status for each of the two earpieces and the case.
The earpieces are easy to remove from the case and to reinsert, with a little help from some magnetic friends holding them in place. The earpieces themselves are protected against sweat and splashwater according to IPX4. The case, on the other hand, must not come into contact with water to avoid any risk of damage.
Step up to listening pleasure, one step being sigfinicant
Before the actual listening test, I updated the Evo’s firmware via the 1More Music app. Playback was continuing meanwhile. And it turned out to be really easy to choose one´s individual sound profiles using the SoundID based app.
The effect of this quick step was soon to pay off. In the factory setting, the 1More Evo sounded too sober to me and almost seemed to be a bit on the harsh side. One might miss some airiness and full-bodied voices even in pop tunes. The bass originally also tended to be a bit on the thin side and appeared quite overly dry. The earbuds were positioned comfortably, but securely positioned in my ear canals using the pre-mounted pads. It is always possible and reasonable, of course, to experiment with different pads and, in my case, boost the bass by using larger ones, or instead choose looser sizes offering more comfort if the bass is not completely vanishing.
Not without my SoundID!
By activating my individual SoundID profile, 1More Evo reached a different level. One one second to another we experienced rich, deep bass, at the same time not too fat electronic or acoustic drums accompanying highly-detailed, pleasantly balanced voices. Offering plenty of acoustic details, yet by no means harsh treble was contributing to an overall harmonious sound quality while offering an extremely playful, lively drive. The integrated power amplifiers also ensured a quite decent maximum SPL without ever sounding strained. Really fun to listen to with the Evo we found tracks like “Spectrum” (“Say My Name”) by Florence + The Machine in the AlunaGeorge remix to be among the favorites. The electronic beats were really deep and clean with precise contours, Florence Welch’s voice pleasant but with a somewhat lackluster timbre.
Listening with Active Noise Cancelling activated showed some effect to the low-frequency range, as with some competitors. The bass seemed more lush with ANC, while the transparency in the midrange decreased a bit.
Conclusion and alternatives
According to the manufacturer, the true wireless ear buds, which is even offered with a 30 euro discount at the launch, offers a very interesting overall package for 170 euros. The sound is coherent in itself, even if the 1More Evo can hardly claim particular audiophile virtues. If you take its high-quality look, a more than lush and innovative bunch of features and the decent app into account – well, that´s a really decent value for your money.
However, if you are looking for smoother, more transparent midrange and silky treble, you might want to try Ultrasone Lapis coming at a similar price. However, the true-wireless headphones designed in Bavaria cannot come close to keeping up in terms of features, SPL and workmanship.
In terms of features, the Jabra Elite 7 Pro would be an alternative, but it is slightly more expensive than the Evo. In return, the Danish Bluetooth in-ears offers advantages in handling and offer a somewhat full-bodied, livelier sound.
1More Evo Specs
- Retail price: 170 euros
- Type: In-Ear True Wireless
- Transducer Principle: 2-way, Balanced Armature/Dynamic
- Weight: 5.7 g
- Features: Charging case wirelessly rechargeable, noise cancelling, 28 h battery life with case, IPX4.
- More at: www.global.1more.com
