Great high quality doesn’t have to come back at a excessive value; a mantra 1More continues to perpetuate every time it releases new headphones or wi-fi earbuds. What makes this all of the extra compelling is that the corporate doesn’t skimp out alongside the best way.
The SonoFlow Pro HQ51 are a main instance of that. It’s a pair of over-ear headphones following up on the earlier SonoFlow, which proved themselves as severe upstarts in their very own proper as the most effective headphones below $100. You do make sacrifices when paying lower than $100 however you stretch out each greenback right here towards some actual worth every time you utilize them.
The firm already had a robust basis to work with from the earlier SonoFlow, which explains why the Pro HQ51 bears such a robust resemblance. Aside from colour variances, every little thing else is in the identical place, from the hinges to button placement. They fold up precisely the identical manner, although these show simpler to put into the included case as a result of there are not any indents inside. There’s extra room for cables, too.
Keeping it acquainted
On the headphones themselves, 1More makes use of what appears like the identical leather-based for the ear cushions and headband. This is a good suggestion, given how comfortable and cozy it was the primary time round. The reminiscence foam inside additionally feels plush with out constraining your head over longer listening classes. It additionally helps that the headphones are light-weight, with good hinges for the ear cups. Fit is so subjective, however these ought to really feel nice.
Granted, they might not come off as all that thrilling simply them. The firm selected to not make any aesthetic modifications aside from the black and blue colour variants. The SonoFlow Pro HQ51 aren’t flashy, although that hardly makes them ugly. They simply haven’t got a specific design trademark, until you depend the Louboutin-style pink interior ear cloth a pleasant contact.
I’ll say, off the bat, that I’d watch out about utilizing these headphones for runs or exercises. They haven’t got an IP score, so with none official water resistance, you take an opportunity each time you sweat whereas carrying them.
If you are keen to try this, you might like that there are bodily buttons for all controls right here. The NC button cycles between energetic noise cancelation (ANC), transparency, and turning each off. Volume buttons do the plain, however you may as well maintain Vol+ to return a monitor or Vol– to skip one. Press the ability button as soon as to play/pause or reply/grasp up a name. Double-press it, and your telephone’s voice assistant will get up.
Sounding above their weight
I discovered it attention-grabbing that 1More went into launching these headphones with some boastful claims. Merely suggesting {that a} pair of sub-$100 cans might ship decrease whole harmonic distortion than Sony’s WH-1000XM5 is a attain. The common thought for any pair of headphones is greater THD means extra distortion within the audio sign, which impacts sound high quality.
Slight variances are onerous to measure for many ears, so do not look into that an excessive amount of right here. I’ve no possible way of verifying 1More’s declare apart from testing each headphones and coming to the conclusion that I am unable to detect any audible distinction relating to distortion ranges, particularly.
This declare comes primarily from the brand new 40mm diamond-like carbon drivers 1More put within the SonoFlow Pro HQ51. It additionally has one thing to do with the actual fact they assist the LDAC hi-res Bluetooth codec.
Overall, sound high quality is excellent—higher than the earlier SonoFlow. The largest distinction to my ears is the mids, reflecting a stability that does proper by the strong bass and treble you get from the Pro HQ51. You’ll hear this just a bit extra with hi-res tracks from streaming providers like Tidal, Amazon Music, and Qobuz, although you will additionally catch the development with extra compressed audio from Spotify and different sources.
LDAC assist is not there by default since that you must flip it on within the app below the Shortcuts menu. Note that doing so means you possibly can’t have spatial audio on, so that you’re pressured to decide on between them every time.
Despite throwing some shade at Sony, 1More’s greatest transfer is delivering the form of sound many will in all probability agree with. Resonant, with good bass and crisp highs, their efficiency out of the field nonetheless does not inform the total story.
As earlier than, the 1More app offers you an EQ with 12 presets plus the choice to create your personal. The Studio preset is a flat curve, which represents 1More’s default tuning for these headphones. You can get fairly artistic right here as a result of it is a 10-band EQ for extra exact tuning changes — one thing not typical for cheaper headphones. Testing each the presets and your personal customized ones is value your time as a result of they’ll actually change what sort of sound you get.
As earlier than, the 1More app offers you an EQ with 12 presets plus the choice to create your personal.
ANC and transparency have a task to play right here as effectively. You might discover that turning each off (in a quiet place) permits slightly extra of the mids and highs to come back out. I did not discover instantly however my ears sensed a distinction. Not that utilizing noise-cancelation is dangerous. Audio sounds nice with it engaged.
As for the act of really canceling background noise, do not anticipate Sony or Bose-level silence right here. That would not be a good expectation anyway however I can let you know these do a strong job coping with low-frequency sounds. Nothing groundbreaking, thoughts you, simply higher than you may anticipate for headphones on this value vary.
It’s truly the passive isolation you get from the cosy match that helps rather a lot. ANC augments that and makes for a pleasant mixture whenever you’re making an attempt to not hear what is going on on round you. Transparency is ok whenever you do, even when there’s nothing all that stunning about it in comparison with the earlier SonoFlow headphones.
Calls and different options
Wired playback is an possibility should you want it. 1More features a 2.5mm-to-3.5mm cable for such a function. You lose out on the ancillary options whenever you do, and you could have to boost the quantity extra typically whereas listening that manner. It appears like a miss provided that different budget-friendly headphones have managed to no less than depart some entry.
For telephone calls, you should utilize the headphones both manner as a result of the cable has an inline microphone. Again, you will want to stay to Bluetooth if you would like extras whereas speaking, just like the onboard mics drowning out a few of the background noise to listen to callers higher. In my checks, callers did not level out any main points, although in addition they did not lavish reward on name high quality, for what that is value.
The SonoFlow Pro HQ51 assist multipoint connections to remain paired with two gadgets concurrently. Here, too, you will must allow the characteristic first below the “Experimental Features” menu below Settings. Toggling it on reboots the headphones, so maintain that in thoughts whenever you want it.
Unbelievable battery life
The SonoFlow Pro HQ51 are rated at as much as 100 hours with ANC off. Leave ANC on, and you’ll go as much as 65 hours. Both figures are simply ridiculous in a great way. While they’re primarily based on default quantity ranges and with out another notable parts thrown in, like LDAC or spatial audio, you possibly can relaxation assured these cans will play for a very long time earlier than you hear a low battery warning.
I had them for weeks earlier than penning this evaluation and solely needed to cost them as soon as. I might hear for hours and barely see the battery share drop. Regardless of what options you utilize or quantity you like, energy consumption is not one thing that you must fear about right here.
And should you do, a five-minute fast cost may give you as much as 10 hours of playback (ANC off), which feels form of mind-boggling.
Headphones value each greenback
The 1More SonoFlow Pro HQ51 really feel like a cut price, plain and easy. For $100 (or much less, given 1More’s routine reductions), you get over-ear headphones that not solely outperform their value but in addition serve discover towards some that value double the worth. You’re not getting over-ears able to unseating the flagships among the many greatest wi-fi headphones, however that is not the purpose.
These headphones are a giant worth proposition in that they ship greater than you may in any other case anticipate. Great sound enhances the strong characteristic set and seemingly limitless battery life. When you are merely trying to get the fundamentals proper, the SonoFlow Pro HQ51 provides you with all these and extra.
Incredible worth
The 1More SonoFlow Pro HQ51 headphones can play for as much as 65 hours with noise cancelation on, solely including to the wonderful worth add you get with them. Their nice sound will maintain you listening to all of the content material you like.
