TechRadar Verdict
The 1More Evo are hands down the company's best earbuds yet, offering plenty of useful features, from strong audio to decent ANC
Pros
- +
Great sound quality for the level
- +
LDAC hi-res codec support
- +
Adequate ANC
Cons
- -
Bit bulky
- -
Limited touch controls
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1More Evo: two-minute review
1More is one of those brands that has been around for a while without ever quite achieving the greatness it perhaps should have. A reliable and affordable bet, yes, but the company has never hit it clean out of the park, despite releasing a number of earbuds and headphones that nearly manage this.
So far, 1More has yet to join Sony, Bose, Sennheiser et al among our pick of the best wireless earbuds, but the good news is that it feels like the tide has finally turned with the latest 1More Evo. Packed full of useful perks such as ANC, wearer detection and a companion app – all of which mostly work very well – plus LDAC support, IPX4 protection and some great sound quality, the 1More Evo are a tempting proposition indeed.
With a standard price of $170/£220 (around AU$383), these are actually reasonable rivals to the Apple AirPods Pro and other earphones in this price range – and we do not say this lightly.
The 1More Evo are a little bulkier than other options but they feel snug in your ear and won't overwhelm you even if, like us, you have small ears.
In exchange for accommodating a slightly bigger earpiece and case, you get great sound quality with punchy bass, rich mids and crisp highs. A choice of either 1More's SoundID profiling (where its companion app figures out what you will like most), or being able to tweak the EQ for yourself proves useful here too.
The 1More Evo has all the necessary features at this price point. It's possible to connect the earbuds to two devices simultaneously, there's wireless charging via the charging case, and the noise cancellation is competent with a wealth of options to get things just how you need them.
The touch controls are adequate rather than excellent and could feature better options and commands, but it's a workable flaw as the basics are there.
Battery life wise, there's a decent enough 5.5 hours with ANC on and about eight when you have it switched off. In ordinary life, you're likely to find it somewhere between the two as you probably won't be using ANC all the time.
Ultimately, the 1More Evo are all about convenience. They offer the features you'd expect at this price, right down to highly effective wearer detection and decent codec support. Their style won't suit everyone, but they're now a viable alternative from the usual bigger-name brands that already dominate the best true wireless earbuds field. Welcome, 1More; we've been expecting you.
1More Evo: price and release date
- $170 / £220 (around AU$383)
- Released in Spring 2022
Available in either black or white, the 1More EVO are currently available in the US and UK. Although regularly priced at $170/£220 across certain retailers, they are already discounted when buying direct from 1More. Here, you'll find them reduced to $136 and £180, but there are also discounts at third-party retailers such as Amazon.
Normally, price cuts can vary depending on color schemes but both the black and the white models of the 1More EVO are on sale right now, which is a nice touch.
1More Evo: design and features
- Bulky earphones
- IPX4 water resistant
- Up to 8 hours battery from earbuds and 28 hours from charging case
The 1More Evo are definitely a bulkier pair of earbuds than some other options. That doesn't mean they don't look stylish, with an almost jewel-like shape, but they can feel quite firm in your ears and they're certainly noticeable when wearing them out and about.
However, that also means there's little risk of them falling out. Even with our small ears, we found they didn't budge in the slightest, even during some fairly intense workouts.
The large rounded areas of the earbuds should mean that the touch controls are fantastic. However, they are and they aren't. They're easy to tap, but there's less to control here than with other earphones. While you can adjust what a double or triple tap does, there's no scope to tweak what a single tap does, or any gestures to change up in the 1More app.
Fortunately, you won't need the aforementioned touch controls for pausing or playback when someone speaks to you, since the 1More Evo offer great in-ear detection. It's highly sensitive with barely a gap between pulling the earphones out and the onboard tech playback pausing.
The charging case is a little on the bulky side to accommodate those larger earbuds, but it feels good in our hands and is uneventful in the right way. USB-C and wireless charging are supported here as expected.
The earbuds themselves have IPX4 water resistance which will keep you safe while getting sweaty or dealing with a wet day while you walk, too. So far, so good.
- Design and features score: 4/5
1More Evo: sound quality and noise cancellation
- 10mm dynamic driver plus balanced armature
- Fairly respectable noise cancellation
- Well balanced sound
The 1More Evo uses a 10mm dynamic driver combined with a balanced armature driver in each earbud. It's a great combination and proves exciting to listen to, with the likes of Childish Gambino's Feels Like Summer feeling vibrant and compelling, and The Beach Boys' God Only Knows sharp and crisp throughout.
Sticking Fleetwood Mac's The Chain on has us feeling far too excited not to check out that guitar riff – and it didn't disappoint. Full of detail, the 1More Evo reminds us just how great that riff is, when given its due diligence.
Bassy music including Foo Fighters' All My Life sounds powerful without being overwhelming. The soundstage isn't the widest out there, but you can still feel the music surrounding you and coming from different sides appropriately well. Tweaking the EQ either via 1More's SoundID profiling or by manually adjusting things to your liking makes a big difference, too.
Refreshingly, the earbuds support AAC, SBC, and LDAC, with the latter (originally a Sony solution) meaning that high-res audio streaming is an option. Basically, LDAC is a codec that allows you to stream high-resolution audio up to 32-bit/96kHz over Bluetooth at up to 990kbps. Whether it makes a huge difference to your listening pleasure is going to depend on the sensitivity of your ears and the resolution of the music you tend to play, but it's good to know that you've got the best available to you at the level.
When it comes to noise cancellation, the 1More Evo are both fantastic and need a little work – yes, it sounds odd, but allow us to explain. As with the EQ, tweaking the ANC is key. When we first started using them, we were next to a very loud fan and the 1More Evo completely blocked out the noise, to the point we thought the fan had cut out. Great, right? Hold on. Some other nosies did creep through over time. In a room where the TV was demonstrating a game, bizarrely, the slight noise of the game's music was heard through the 1More Evo's ANC.
Switching to the adaptive ANC mode seemed to help here, but it didn't provide complete silence – and it certainly couldn't better the likes of Sony's WF-1000XM4 or the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds. Still, it was enough to focus on what we were doing and it really is worth tweaking things here to get a good result.
- Sound quality and noise cancellation score: 4/5
1More Evo: value
- Well priced
- A valid alternative to bigger names
The 1More EVO packs a lot in for the price tag. Especially when reduced, (as they seem to be now) they're a very appealing pair of earbuds.
While they might not offer perfect controls or perfect ANC, they're very reliable all-rounders that mean you get a lot for your money.
- Value score: 5/5
- Value score: 5/5
1More Evo: should you buy them?
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Design and features | Slightly larger earbuds but a comprehensive spec sheet | 4/5 |
| Sound quality and noise cancellation | Exciting, zealous sound and (if you're prepared to fiddle with them) good ANC | 4/5 |
| Value | An excellent buy for the money considering the top sound quality and feature-set | 5/5 |
Buy them if…
Don't buy them if…
Also consider…
Think the 1More Evo might not be the true wireless earbuds for you? That's cool, here are three alternatives that could offer just the design, feature-set and sound quality you're looking for.
- First reviewed: July 2022
- How we test: explore TechRadar's review guarantee
