You might think that making wireless earbuds small enough for people with small ears would make a lot of changes. But that’s not always the case. The $70 1More PistonBuds Pro look and feel small, but they have enough variation in how they sound that your ears appreciate that there was no trade-off for their small size. In order to save space, did 1More have to give up other things? Let’s look at them.
What’s in the Box
There aren’t too many surprises in the box to find. You get four sizes of eartips, including extra-small ones, as well as a short USB-C cable and a user guide with this set. A lot of languages are covered in the manual, which is why it’s so big. It goes over all of the controls and options that are available.
Design
1More has tried small earbuds before on different lines, so it’s not new to them. You can see this by looking at its ComfoBuds line. The PistonBuds Pro are very similar to the PistonBuds Pro in that they have the same focus.
People who buy these headphones have a smaller frame and a tighter construction. This means that the eartips and audio drivers don’t stick out as much as they do with other headphones. Putting this on your earbuds shortens the distance between them and the inside of your ear (concha). This makes the earbuds stay in place better and not get as loose as other types of earbuds. People who have small ears might not be wowed by this design, but it’s a clever way to make things smaller so they’ll look good on them.
I don’t usually have a lot of problems with how things fit and how comfortable they are, but I do pay attention to small things. Not at all. These were a good fit. People who wore them for a long time, like when they were on standby for a call or listening to a long podcast, found that their lighter weight made them feel more natural. You might even be able to sleep in them.
Despite their small size, the PistonBuds Pro have active noise cancellation (ANC), passthrough mode, and touch controls on the outside. As soon as one of the headphones is removed, the music stops and starts again when it is put back in. The controls aren’t very different from what you’d find in other cars. Double-tap to play or pause, or triple-tap to get to your voice helper. There are other ways to accept or end a phone call. You can double tap to do this. These are for both sides, but you can change them in the 1More Music app. For example, you can set a double tap to skip a track or change the volume. With a triple tap, you can make one side do something else than open the voice assistant. To change between active noise cancellation (ANC) and passthrough, you can tap and hold the button. The manual says that there is a mode that reduces wind, but I didn’t see this in the app. It might be added in a future firmware update.
In general, the controls aren’t bad. It’s mostly because the surface area you tap is so flat. The controls aren’t very unique, so it’s easy to tell if you’ve hit the right spot. While not the best I’ve seen, they worked well.
In the same way that the earbuds move, the case moves just as well. It’s very easy to put in your pocket and very light. It’s one of the most feathery I’ve seen. Otherwise, it’s pretty easy. You just have to put the earbuds in the right place. The magnets will then do the rest to keep them in place. They come in black and white.
Doing more with the app
The 1More Music app has a lot of features and improvements that are very useful for people. These are the most obvious, but there are more. One is a low-latency mode that can be used to play video games or watch movies so that audio and video can be better matched up. When you do a smart burn-in, you can get the earbuds’ drivers to sound the best they can. Process purists might like, but it takes a long time. Between 40 and 50 hours were spent on this project alone. The first phase alone took 12 hours. There is no need to do it, since playing music for that long could have the same effect. That’s what I did instead, and it worked out better for me.
The company will push firmware updates and new features to the app. You will be able to try them out at some point. if you like the idea of meditating or sleeping while listening to summer rain, thunderstorms, waterfalls, beach waves, fire, and more than 20 other sounds. There is a “soothing sounds” section on the site.
Sound quality
PistonBuds Pro is better than you think. There are a lot of things going on here that help make it that way. In the first place, is the fit itself, which allows you to get a tighter seal and keep the bass from coming out. In the second place are the 10mm drivers that were tuned by Bignardi. In the third place are the 12 EQ settings made by Sonarworks that are in the app. Throw in ANC, and these things work together to make great sound.
What stands out is how easy it is to see what different EQ presets can do for you. The default sound isn’t bad, but I did play around with the EQ presets to see if I could make things a little more loud. Without the ability to make my own presets, I could only choose from the dozen that were already there. I listen to a lot of different types of music, so it would have been nice to have an EQ that let me at least adjust the highs, mids, and lows separately because some presets make one or two of them more than I’d like. I like jazz music to have a little more of a deeper tone, but the preset here felt a little warm to me. Your ears might be different. The mids and highs were good, but the lows went too far.
Because of that, I can’t say these earbuds are best for one type of music or another. If you want to feel a big rumble in your ears, you might not be very happy with the bass of the PistonBuds Pro. Other than that, they can handle just about any audio content you throw at them. Whether it was R&B, jazz, rock, or podcasts, I thought they did a good job with the different styles. The tight seal was also easy to notice.
Battery life
There are two ways to think about the battery life of a pair of ANC-equipped earbuds. For each charge, you can expect up to six hours of use. Leave it on, and it takes 7.5 hours. These numbers apply when the volume level is set to 50%. Turning the volume up makes each figure go down a little more, though. Read more; X-Sense Wi-Fi Smoke Detector – Receive Instant Smoke Alarm On Your Phone
Extra three charges are great for something this small. You won’t be able to charge them wirelessly, but they do charge up pretty quickly when you plug them into USB-C. It can even charge quickly, so a quick five-minute charge can give you an extra hour of playback.
Conclusion
The 1More PistonBuds Pro are small earbuds that pack a lot of power for their size. They have a lot of features and support that make them worth more than many other earbuds. You might like their size if you have small ears, and they don’t cost much to wear.
Should you buy them?
Even if you’ve had problems with fit and comfort because other earbuds were too big, this is a good choice. It’s likely that your ears will feel better when you put these PistonBuds Pro on.
