1More’s SonoFlow set a latest benchmark for $100 wireless headphones
MSRP $100.00
“With hi-res audio and astonishing battery life, the 1More SonoFlow are the very best bet at $100.”
Pros
- Great sound quality
- Very comfortable for long periods
- Ridiculous battery life
- Solid ANC performance
- Great app support
- Inexpensive price
Cons
- App EQ needs customization
- No wear sensors
- Wired mode disables extra features
Do you may have to spend loads to get really good sound in a pair of noise-canceling wireless headphones? No, you don’t, and 1More proves it with its latest pair, the SonoFlow. For $100 — or less — you get a good bit to work with for each dollar you spend on them.
That features support for hi-res audio, plus battery life that crushes much of the competition. You may’t have all of it for $100, but all told, 1More makes an intriguing case for spending less to feel such as you’re getting more.
What’s within the box
I all the time prefer it when more cost-effective over-ear headphones include a pleasant protective case, and this one is well-thought-out, and that features the stumps inside to line up the suitable and left earcups. There may be a USB-C charging cable, together with a 2.5mm-to-3.5mm audio cable for wired playback, and a user guide to get things started off of the box.
Design
Ted Kritsonis / Digital Trends
The SonoFlow aren’t about unique design treatments, though I liked a few the alternatives made here. One is the red color on the inner earcups — the one real color or flair coming from these cans. The opposite is how well they fold and fit within the case. It seems so easy, and yet putting corresponding letters within the case take all of the guesswork out of lay the headphones inside. I would really like to see more manufacturers consider doing that when there are stumps inside to anchor the headphones in place.
The scarf and earcups are soft enough to permit for longer listening sessions.
Aside from that, much of what’s here is high quality. Not only the neutral color and styling, but additionally the lightweight materials and button placement. The scarf and earcups are soft enough to permit for longer listening sessions. The cups are standard so far as sizing goes, but I doubt you’ll feel they clamp hard or place any undue pressure in your ears or head. That’s the way it was for me not less than.
I can’t let you know of course if these would get up to runs or workouts because 1More says nothing about their durability. There is no such thing as a IP protection, or not less than nothing official I can let you know about, so my inclination under such circumstances is to err on the side of caution and avoid sweating throughout headphones like these. Don’t get me mistaken, you’ll be comfortable wearing them, nevertheless it’s just hard to inform what type of punishment they’ll take.
Setup and controls
Ted Kritsonis / Digital Trends
The SonoFlow pair fairly quickly, though without Fast Pair on Android or anything similar on iOS, you simply need to undergo the Bluetooth menu in your device as an alternative. All of the physical buttons are on the suitable side, with the ability button facing forward, while the noise cancelation and volume buttons line up on the back. It’s also where the two.5mm headphone jack sits. Only the USB-C charging port is on the left side.
The 1More mobile app is a critical piece of the puzzle since it not only offers a quick-start guide and FAQ section, but can be the means with which to update the firmware and access the entire sound features. The SonoFlow have energetic noise cancellation (ANC) and passthrough (transparency) modes, in addition to a large assortment of EQ presets for tweaking the sound.
Dig deeper and under Experimental Features you’ll find multipoint because the only current option, letting you connect with two devices concurrently. There are not any ways to customize the onboard controls, though the buttons do serve additional purposes. Hold volume as much as repeat a track or volume all the way down to skip one. The facility button doubles because the play/pause and answer/hang-up button. Double-click it and your phone’s voice assistant chimes in. Press the noise cancellation button to cycle through ANC, passthrough, and off.
Ergonomically, I didn’t find the buttons too hard to take care of after some time, but I could see it being difficult should you’re used to different configurations on other headphones. As an example, should you prefer to have controls, touch-sensitive or otherwise, on the outer earcup, then muscle memory might take longer to kick in.
Notably absent are wear sensors to robotically play/pause music when putting on/removing the headphones. They keep playing whenever you take them off, which is a bit annoying whenever you’re used to sensors doing that for you.
Sound quality
Ted Kritsonis / Digital Trends
The team at 1More plays up the support for Sony’s LDAC hi-res codec as a differentiator, and given the worth, it’s not mistaken to point it out. But that’s assuming you may have a tool that supports the codec, and that the audio content you’re listening to offers a bit rate high enough to be considered hi-res. While the SBC and AAC codecs are in the combo here, aptX Adaptive isn’t, omitting a codec that basically serves Android devices well since it includes low latency, which is great for gaming and video playback.
As all the time, iPhone users can’t benefit from LDAC, but iOS devices do a a lot better job with AAC than Android, so perhaps that’s an appropriate trade-off. You get 12 EQ presets, yet no option to adjust or tune them. I expect that to alter with a firmware update at a later date because 1More has done it before, releasing an update that allows custom EQ presets. I might think that’s an inevitability for the SonoFlow.
You could not find a way to perfectly dial within the EQ to your tastes, however the SonoFlow’s 40mm drivers deliver quite a punch. Indeed, the SonoFlow sound very competitive in comparison with the $150 Anker Soundcore Space Q45 or $130 Sennheiser HD 450BT. The default EQ preset has a pleasant clarity to it. It doesn’t swing the lows too far and provides some space for the mids to come back through. Fooling around with the presets while switching from one genre to a different, the sound stays consistently good, providing a pleasant balance that might easily rival headphones costing more.
I never got the impression I used to be listening to headphones that just use crowd-pleasing tuning and leave it there.
I also got here away impressed with playback, each in hi-res and with ANC on. Even when turned off, it was good. I never got the impression I used to be listening to headphones that just use crowd-pleasing tuning and leave it there. These are more balanced than that, and I might suggest that’s true for a lot of the presets. To my ears, LDAC does make a difference over AAC, though only when the available content can provide more nuance to listen for. As an example, when listening to songs on Amazon Music HD, LDAC let me hear more detail, while tracks from Spotify didn’t seem to learn much in any respect.
The onboard mics play their role in clearing up phone calls as well. Unless I used to be in a loud or crowded environment with sustained noise, callers never complained about how I got here through audibly. Bluetooth Multipoint serves an excellent purpose here, too, especially in terms of listening to tunes on one device while taking a call on one other. It’s not quite as seamless as other headphones or earbuds that do itm though. As an example, when calls got here in, I might accept the decision and there can be a noticeable delay when switching between devices.
Plugging within the audio cable to go wired disables the opposite features and silences the app, so while convenient, it doesn’t provide you with access to other features the way in which the Treblab Z7 Pro do, as an example. Those cans allow you to go wired and in addition tap into noise cancellation.
Noise cancellation and passthrough
ANC performs admirably at flushing out much of the low-frequency noises you come across. It won’t match what the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM4 or XM5 can stamp out, but for a fraction of the worth, the SonoFlow come closer than you’d expect. High-pitched sounds will squeak through, but even then, not in a way that’s grating or frustrating. More importantly, they do an excellent job of drowning out voices and noise across the house.
Relating to wanting to take heed to ambient sounds, passthrough is sweet at making that work. The parents at 1More talk up the microphones contained in the SonoFlow, and so they do a high quality job piping within the background. I had no problem having a fast conversation or hearing vehicle traffic while walking down the road with these on.
Battery life
Ted Kritsonis / Digital Trends
Here’s where the SonoFlow truly impress. At as much as 50 hours of battery life with ANC on (70 should you leave it off), you can literally take heed to them for days and never need to charge them back up. Volume levels will determine the true number, but I easily reached a cumulative 48 hours at 60% volume. That’s really good by any measure for any pair of over-ears.
A fast five-minute charge is sufficient to deliver five hours of playback, which is generally true should you stick with reasonable volume levels. In a pinch, that’s a lifesaver and long enough to cover most flights, too.
The longevity, not less than when referring to battery life, is a giant a part of the worth proposition in making the SonoFlow an excellent buy at $100. They’ll probably cost less along the way in which, given the corporate’s penchant for sales and routine price drops. Considering how good they sound, how comfortable they feel, and the way long they last, it seems like you’re getting greater than your money’s value.
Assuming 1More takes its usual approach and updates the app so as to add extra features and customizations for the SonoFlow, which only builds on what’s a extremely good foundation here.
Editors’ Recommendations
