15th September 2022 – Written by Nick Rowe @ Technuovo.com
1More got in touch, and they’ve released a new pair of headphones, the Sonoflow. We got sent a pair, I’ve been using them for a couple of weeks now and here are my thoughts.
The headphones come complete with a protective hard case which is nice. It’s fairly sturdy and has done a good job so far at keeping the headphones protected. Within the case is a small meshed pocket where you can keep the USB C cable and Aux lead. There is also a fabric strap so you can clip the case onto a backpack if you wanted.
Moving on to the headphones and the quality provided with the hard case continues with the headphones. They’ve got this gun metal grey matte finish to them, with black cushions and headband. Each can have thick, spongy cushions, as does the top of the headband. The headband includes a metal adjustable slider to each side, in increments and offers a fair amount of flexibility to suit your head shape and size. There is also some flex to the headband and rotation of each ear cup, helping with comfort and also making them fold in for storage. Weight-wise, average I’d say about circa 250grams.
The right earcup includes the controls, push buttons and include power on/off, ANC selection and volume/track control. There is also an aux input on the right cup if you want a hard-wired connection, while the left cup includes the USB C port used for charging.
As for spec, they include 40mm DLC dynamic drivers to each can. There is an impressive 70hour battery life but more on that later. There is active noise cancellation which they’re calling Quietmax AI environmental noise cancellation. Hi-res audio and support for LDAC if you’ve got a compatible device and there are 12 EQ’s you can choose between via the 1More app. The best part? They have a retail price of just $99 and if you act quick, they’re on an introductory sale price of $79 which is even better.
Audio performance out of the box is ok but I’ve found the best performance is when you start to tweak the headphones to suit you’re listening style or genre. Default EQ and low volumes, it’s ok, but when you pick an EQ and up the volume, that’s when these come to life. Within the app, there are 12 EQ options but they can’t be modified, nor can you create your own. My problem is there is no rock EQ! Switching between EQs offers an instantaneous change, so you can quickly pick which one you prefer on the fly. For me, I switched between ‘Deep’ and ‘Pop’, as they best suited the music I was listening to. I also found that once you turn the volume up, to a point where you cannot hear anything of the outside wide, due to volume and ANC. I had ANC on all the time by the way. The headphones step up a gear, the overall sound is better, it’s more vibrant, there’s more punch there and I found myself bopping my head alot more.
ANC performance is ok, I’ve heard better but I’ve also heard worse. There is a difference when switching ANC on and off and it does help isolate external sounds to a degree. At mid-volume, me typing on my keyboard, I can’t hear it but while walking the dog, some louder, bassier vehicles like a truck can still be heard.
The app, it’s limited, there isn’t much to it. It’s free, download it and it allows you to gain access to the EQ’s which is good, plus it will also push out new firmware updates when needed. You can also select ANC on/off via it as well if you wanted. Dig a bit deeper and there is something called smart burn, which is white noise played to warm the drivers up? I did click it and it had an estimated time of 12 hours to complete. I did leave it overnight doing it, plugged in but did I notice a difference in quality, no.
As for comfort, I found the headphones really comfortable to wear over the past two weeks. There is good headband adjustment, and all the cushions are really soft. There is usually plenty of cushion to the cans but some brands skimp on the headband, 1More has not done this. I’d wear them for upto 3 hours at a time while working, in my own little world and at no point did I feel I had to take them off and give my head some air.
Battery life stated at 70 hours, that’s high and that’s also with ANC off. You’re looking more like 40 hours I found while using them, which is good regardless, that would easily see me through a week of really heavy usage. There is a battery percentage indicator within the app if you wanted to check, plus a voice prompt when you turn the headphones on saying low, medium or high battery.
There are no audio prompts when switching between ANC, transparency and off, which takes some getting used to. The only difference in the notification is when you turn either ANC or transparency off, there is a different tone presented.
All things considered, I’m quite impressed with the overall package from 1More. The price point is fantastic for what’s on offer. Audio performance and ANC is good, the EQ options are ok, I would have liked to make my own but that may come in time. The battery is good enough for me and they are very comfortable. If you can snag a pair of these for $80 in the intro sale, do it.
For more info, head over to the official 1More website. Try discount code ‘SONOFLOW20’ for some money off!
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