A few notes before we get into how well the 1More EVO earbuds with ANC (Automatic Noise Cancelling) perform – but first what’s in this EVO review.
Topics – in order:
An Overview of the EVO Earbuds – Background to the review
EVO Hardware: Comfort, Documentation and Use, Battery Life, Case, and Warranty, What is Included
Sound Quality of EVO True Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones
The Bottom Line and Price/Performance
Again, my only real complaint is with the controls. I would have liked to be able to have all of these available at the same time: Play/Pause, Previous Track/Next Track, Volume Up/Down, and Voice Control, but at best one has to decide between Previous/Next Track control or Volume control. I can’t imagine anyone would want to sacrifice the Play/Pause for the Volume, as too often I find myself needing to pause (remember – ANC is on), so anyone asking me a question needs me to Pause, or, less convenient, take out an earbud. ANC controls are separate, requiring a 1.5 second touch to either earbud, to toggle between the three main modes: On, Off, and Transparent.
Price Performance of the EVO Headphones/Earbuds
As these 1More EVOs are seriously good sounding earbuds, an over $100 price point is hardly surprising. Ultimately the successor to my 1990’s Shures, currently list for $499. AKC, a company best known for professional microphones, offers a superb pair of buds for a mere $1300. We won’t bother mentioning any of the far more expensive brands that are diamond studded, etc. But the top price for a pair of headphones is over $100,000!
1More, of course is a relatively obscure name, but, as noted, they’ve been in the US market for almost a decade now, with a primary focus on making extremely good sounding earbuds. Their lead designer, Luca is a grammy winning sound engineer. No wonder I found the sound excellent. When I look around at other reviews, 1MOre are rarely included in comparisons, which are dominated by names like Apple, Sony, Samsung, Sennheiser, Beats, JBL…
No matter. With a $169 MSRP, and lately, with street prices $40 to $50 less, great sound, good, functioning ANC, and being comfortable, I’m awarding the 1More EVOs with our Awesome Award – our second highest. There might be a better value out there, but if there is, I expect it will be earbuds that sound better, but most likely cost a good bit more!
