1More Evo earbuds review: taking on the big boys
In the past couple of years, we’ve seen a lot of new brands make a name for themselves in the consumer-grade audio tech landscape. Among these companies is 1More, which has made great-sounding earbuds and headphones tailored for audiophiles and people looking for great-sounding affordable audio gear.
1More’s newest Evo wireless earbuds launch today, and we’ve managed to get our hands on them for review. The Evo buds are priced to go head-to-head with other wireless earbuds in the premium department, and today we’re going to check them out.
With a retail price of around $180, the Evo Buds come with a lot of cool features that set them apart from other brands, and they come with standard features as well such as active noise cancellation, wireless charging compatibility, and more. Are they worth getting though? Let’s take a look.
Unboxing and Design
The 1More Evo Buds come in some very great-looking packaging. I like the detail that 1More has given to give us a very premium product presentation. Opening the box you are greeted by the earbuds themselves, some paperwork, extra ear tips, a USB charging cable, and that’s pretty much what you get with the package.
The Evo Buds have a nice and simple look, which features a stemless design. Obviously, we have the white version here with us, but 1More also sells them in a black variant. The earbuds themselves are built with ceramic in addition to polycarbonate, with a metallic trim around the edges of the earbuds. They also have an IPX4 rating, so they’ll be safe to wear during workouts and light rain.
The charging case on the other hand is made with a surface of anodized aluminum, and it’s very sturdy with a premium feel to it. It also comes with an LED light and a USB-C charging port, as with most earbud cases these days.
Pairing and Set-up
Set-up is easy, as all you have to do is open the charging case, and turn on Bluetooth connectivity on your smart device so you can see the earbuds appear on your device menu. Once you accept the pairing prompt, it’s all systems go.
You can also download 1More’s official Android app on the Google Play Store if you want to modify the controls on the Evo Buds. The app also includes a manual for the earbuds, and will even let you customize touch controls, equalizer settings, and listening modes.
How Do They Sound?
In terms of Sound Quality, the Evo Buds sound great, with a nice and even bass sound courtesy of the 10mm dynamic driver and balanced armature combo. It’s enough so that it doesn’t completely overpower the mids and highs, and overall my music sounded nice and clear on the earbuds.
Once again, 1More has teamed up with Sonarworks to incorporate SoundID software and functionality into its app, and this feature works great on the Evo Buds. Basically, SoundID works by letting you customize different sound profiles according to your preferences. If you want your songs to have more bass in them, or maybe you’re after a sound that features more treble, then SoundID is a great equalizer to use and play around with.
The Evo Buds also come with Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation and Dual-Mode transparency. With a simple long-press, you can easily switch between the different modes and adjust my sound to better suit my environment. I’m a fan of the ANC on the earbuds in particular, and it does a great job of shutting away outside noise and just letting me focus on my music. There are several ANC levels which include strong, mild, wind noise reduction, and adaptive modes.
In terms of call quality, there are six microphones on the 1More Evo Buds, in addition to a deep neural network algorithm, which 1More says improves call quality and isolates your voice for better clarity. In my usage so far, calls did sound decent, but people on the other end did still hear a tiny bit of background noise.
Battery Life
As for battery life, the earbuds come with 48 mAh batteries on each earbud, and 450 mAh on the charging case. With ANC on, the earbuds can last for a total of around 5.6 hours, which I found to be pretty accurate. If you turn off ANC though, they can go for as long as 8 hours, and top up the battery on the charging case for a total of 20-28 hours.
Charging the earbuds in the case takes around 1 hour, and charging the case can take up to two hours from zero capacity. It does support Qi wireless charging, although that will take a bit longer.
Should you Get Them?
So what’s the verdict? If you’re after a pair of premium earbuds that come with great sound quality, long-lasting battery life, and noise-cancellation features, then the Evo Buds are a great choice. I do think that the Sound ID integration, good-looking design, and of course the great sound are reasons to pick up the earbuds.
On the other hand, while it doesn’t hit the 200-dollar price mark, it is still a bit on the expensive side, but given the wealth of features, I think that these get the job done overall, and are definitely worth checking out.
You can also check out our other audio reviews here.