Sports headphones have always been a special category of headphones.
Users who want to buy sports earphones are more concerned about the wearing design of the earphones. They are more concerned about whether the earphones are stable or comfortable than whether they sound good or not.
But there is a fish and bear’s paw relationship between wearing stability and comfort. If you want more on one side, you will have less on the other.
Just like the NW-WS series of wearable WALKMAN players launched by Sony in the early years, they first used the in-ear design, and designed the player into a wearable ring design, and firmly “pressed” the earphones on the ears through the connection structure The above, thus obtaining the stability that swimming is not afraid of falling.
But since they are all pressed against the ears, there is basically no comfort. Although the official added the Bluetooth headset function in the last generation, it is hoped that users can also use it in daily environments, but this wearing mode can only be persisted when exercising, and it is almost impossible to wear it for a long time in daily life.
In addition, manufacturers have also made other attempts, such as Shaoyin’s bone conduction earphones, Sony’s new Float Run, etc. These are designs that ensure stability but do not need to be “worn” into the ear. More It’s for comfort.
It’s just that this design that keeps the distance from the ear will also cause problems in sound. Either it will become eavesdropping if other people get close, or the speakers are too far apart, the sound is difficult to enter the ear, the external interference is too large, and the volume needs to be increased and it will be super difficult to hear clearly.
Now, 1MORE earphones have also joined the camp of this new design, launching a new generation of flagship open sports earphones 1MORE S50.
Faced with this series of problems, 1MORE chose to add a directional sound transmission ring to the S50, which provides a direct connection to the ear for sound transmission while fixedly wearing it, which solves the problems of wearing and sound performance, making it comfortable, stable and The sound shows that the three have reached a new balance point.
Lightweight 10g earphones
The 1MORE S50 uses a standard one-piece earhook design. The earhook part is made of elastic soft material, and the earphone can be clipped into the ear directly from top to bottom.
The earphones adopt an open design. In order to support the entire wearing form, 1MORE made a structure similar to the shape of the flat head plug with liquid silicone, which acts as the wearing part inside the ear.
The silicone is soft enough that it can be rotated arbitrarily after putting it in the ear, and it is easy to adjust and wear.
Soft silicone can’t be as stable as traditional earphones. The main force point of the earphones is transferred to the earhook, and the force on the inner side of the ear is concentrated on the top of the lower foot of the antihelix.
Fixed by liquid silicone earmuffs and earhooks, the 1MORE S50 is still very stable to wear, and there is no problem with shaking your head or anything.
In addition, the earhook can evenly spread the main wearing pressure on the back of the ear. The earhook rubber plug is a soft structure, and there is no main stress point inside the ear, which will make the wearing feeling of 1MORE S50 light and make it more comfortable. People forget that this is a true wireless headset weighing only 10g.
For those users who want to wear earphones more easily or who can’t use in-ears, the S50’s wearing feel is quite friendly.
But if you often wear earphones that go deep into your ears, and feel that the earphones must fill up the ear space to feel safe, you have to adapt to the feeling of wearing earphones or empty ears when wearing the S50.
Also, if you are a user who needs to wear glasses, you must arrange the wearing order of the earphones, glasses, and mask before going out, otherwise you will have trouble when removing one of them.
After the earphones use the integrated ear-hook design, another problem will arise-the charging box is too large.
The 1MORE S50 charging box is close to the size of PowerBeats Pro, a circle larger than the regular flat charging box, and a little bigger than the lid of my 12oz water cup. If you want to put it in a pocket with a relatively small space like jeans, the charging box can take up all the space.
But fortunately, the large-size charging box can hold a larger-capacity battery, and the physical pairing buttons can be stored inside, leaving only the USB-C charging port under the hinge. The appearance becomes more integrated and clean, with a wireless charging coil inside the flat bottom, which supports QI wireless charging.
Back to the headset, the touchpad of the 1MORE S50 is placed in the area where the LOGO is located, and behind it is the microphone opening for noise reduction in calls. The openings are waterproofed, and the waterproof level of the entire body is IPX7. It is no problem to rinse with water directly after exercising.
All magic standard configuration, cutting-edge sense of hearing
As we all know, when the earphones are not close to the ears, the “ambient sound mode” is quite open all the time.
The advantage is that you don’t need to take off your ears or pause the music to communicate with others, but the surrounding sounds will also enter the ears. And the sound output is not guided, and it sounds sloppy if it is too scattered.
In order to solve the problem of loose sound dispersion, 1MORE made a channel in the silicone earplugs of the S50, and the sound can pass from the channel to the ear, realizing the role of an “air duct”.
In addition, the S50 also complies with the 1MORE flagship standard in terms of materials.
They added 1MORE’s unique dual-magnet strong magnetic design combined with internal and external to the unit part, and improved the power of the unit by using the internal and external dual magnetic structure. 1MORE officially stated that the internal and external dual magnetic circuit design can increase the driving force by 40%, increase the volume of the output, and reduce the attenuation effect before the sound is transmitted to the ear.
The unit diaphragm also uses a common DLC diaphragm, focusing on highlighting the high-frequency and detailed performance of the sound.
As a headset of 1MORE, the S50 has naturally received Sonarworks sound calibration and tuning by Lucas Bignardi, and the standard configuration of these 1MORE headsets will naturally not fall.
The S50 sounds good in quiet environments. Although neither is a sports earphone that fits close to the ear, the sound output volume of the S50 is much stronger. Like I listen to music at a relatively high volume, the volume used by the S50 is actually only one or two levels higher than usual, which can meet the needs of a quiet environment.
Compared with the Sony Float Run, which has to turn up the volume every day, the S50 is a reasonable performance.
1MORE made a channel inside the rubber plug, which “guides” the sound to the ear like a tube, making the sound more concentrated, and the energy loss of the mid-to-high frequency will be reduced.
The S50 can bring out good mid-to-high frequency performance, with sharp and distinct details. However, because it does not support high-standard encoding, some details will appear rough or split, but considering its own shape and the attributes of “sports headphones”, such performance is already very good.
The loss of low frequency will be more serious, and you can feel the obvious energy loss when listening to it.
The presence of drums is not as strong as earphones. If you want to listen to some “moving times” music during exercise, the S50 will be a little weak in the low frequency, which is also the impact of the completely open design. .
Although the low-frequency performance was not outstanding, thanks to this fully open design, the S50 gained a wonderful sense of air. Just like LinkBuds, there is no wearing mode that is completely isolated from the environment, which can make the sound development special, just like listening to songs in an open environment.
Even if you are listening to a studio album, the sense of space presented will be much wider than the “closed box” displayed by conventional headphones.
However, the position of the vocals is a little bit behind. It is not a big problem during daily exercise, but if you listen to it in a quiet environment, you will feel a little far away from the singer.
Marathon battery life
When it comes to the features of the S50, battery life must be at the top of the list.
The S50 headset is plugged with a 60mAh battery, and the body supports 11 hours of playback. Combined with the charging box, it can achieve 38 hours of playback time, which is longer than some head-mounted flagships that turn off noise reduction. The single battery has 11 hours of battery life. It is no problem to run two or three marathons, or to charge once a week or even two weeks.
It’s just that the battery life is too long, and the awareness of charging may fade after a long time of use. It may be left alone, and it will run out of power when it is used over time.
Fortunately, the S50 comes with a fast charging mode of “charging for five minutes and playing for two hours”. If you really forget to charge it, you can charge it with a mobile power bank for 5-10 minutes before entering the gym, and the battery life of about 2 hours should be fine if you insist on simple training.
For the wireless part, the S50 uses a solution that supports Bluetooth 5.3. Although the encoding only supports SBC and AAC, it is enough to cope with sports scenes. The connection response speed is also good, and the headset connects to the phone and computer very quickly. Through the interaction of physical buttons, the headset is also easy to quickly pair with new devices. Compared with the two-finger interaction that requires two fingers to press the ear, the pairing mode of the S50 is in line with the human interaction logic.
It’s just that the S50 in my hand is still an early firmware, and the connection stability is average. In an office with an unusually large number of Bluetooth devices, the S50 occasionally experienced small intermittent transmissions.
The current delay will also be slightly more obvious, and there will be a perceivable delay of about half a beat to one beat on the sound and picture. If you just listen to songs or play games that don’t pay much attention to sound, such as placement, tower defense, or card games, then the S50 can handle them all. If it’s an FPS game, it’s not recommended.
Sports headphones that are full of wear and sound
Judging from the current performance, I think the 1MORE S50 sports earphone is a sports earphone that puts all its skills on wearing comfort, battery life and sound performance.
The total playback time of 38 hours is already the top in the industry. Even if commuting time is added, there is no problem in using it for a week without charging. In contrast, I am more worried that this long battery life will blur my charging consciousness, and it will become more embarrassing to find out that there is no battery when it is time to use it.
However, 1MORE has also thought of this point, providing a fast charging mode of “charging for five minutes, playing for two hours” to solve this urgent problem of forgetting to charge. As long as you simply charge a small battery before exercising or going out, and then make up a full charge after arriving at the destination or after exercising, the battery life problem will be solved.
Wearing is the second very prominent advantage of S50.
1MORE can make a pair of earphones with a weight of 10g on one side realize ultra-light wearing, minimize the foreign body sensation and ensure stability at the same time, which is really not easy. They evenly distribute the pressure to the back of the ear, and then use the flat head structure made of soft silicone to assist in the fixation in the ear. It is a very clever way to make an air-conducting tube in the middle.
In terms of sound, the S50 is considered a “down-to-earth” one among these fully open earphones that don’t fit the ears.
Unlike Float Run, where the volume is turned up to the maximum, the sound still melts in the ear, the S50 can feel a strong sense of energy in the low frequency. Although not as obvious as the LinkBuds on the ear, the sound performance of the S50 is much more solid under the combined effect of the sound duct and the unit with a certain acoustic quality.
Maybe when running, the sense of low-frequency energy will not be as obvious as other in-ear sports headphones, but the general outline of the sound details can be heard. In a quiet environment, the naturally unfolding sound characteristics paired with what can be called a solid sound performance in open-back headphones, the S50 can present a special sense of spatial listening.
The design innovation of the rubber plug is not only for sound quality, but also improves the safety for users who wear it for running.
It’s like turning on the ambient sound mode all the time, users can hear the outside sound without taking off the earphones, no matter how loud the earphone volume is, the external ambient sound cannot be completely blocked. When encountering special situations, people can react immediately.
Now, I think the S50 is a flagship sports headset specially designed for outdoor sports. Whether it is wearing experience, battery life and sound performance, it is very suitable for outdoor running scenes.
And its current shortcomings, I think it is still some small problems in optimization and connection. If these two points can be overcome, then 1MORE S50 is still a pair of true wireless headphones that can be used in all scenarios.