1More is becoming a household brand in the earphones space. Quick to move along with the trend of ANC in true wireless earbuds, 1More has released the EHD9001TA. It’s a mouthful of a name, but that’s 1More’s first true wireless earbuds with ANC (active noise cancelling).
One feature that make the 1More EHD9001TA stand out amongst the competition is their use of dual drivers – a separate 10mm dynamic driver with a balanced armature. The earbuds retails at S$329.
Unboxing
There is a lot to unbox in the 1More EHD9001TA packaging. Inside the box, you’ll get the following:
- 1More EHD9001TA earbuds
- Charging case
- Conical ear tips (XS, S, M, L)
- Parabolic ear tips (S, M, L)
- Silicon O-hooks (S, M, L, Winged)
- USB-C to USB-A cable
- Carrying pouch
- User manual
Tech specs
- Bluetooth version: 5.0
- Codecs: AAC, aptX
- Charging time: 60 minutes (Quick charge 15 minutes for 2 hour playtime)
- Music playtime: 4 hours with ANC, 5 hours without ANC (10 – 13 hours in charging case)
- Weight: 7.9g (each earbud), 63.2g (charging case)
Build quality and features
Let’s start with the case. The case is made from aluminum and has a some heft to it. The base of the case is a rubber-like material that allows you to charge via any Qi-certified wireless charger. You have a single LED light outside the case to show battery status.
The earbuds are held in placed by the magnets in the case. The hinge of the case snaps back firmly and securely but one thing that annoys me a bit is how top heavy the lid of the case is. Sometimes if I open the case on my desk, any slight movement will cause the case to topple on its lid.
As for the earbuds, they are pretty big sized like the Sony WF1000XM3. The design of the 1More EHD9001TA has a glossy carbon fiber-like finish. Being a larger sized earbuds, it comes with ear hooks as well for added stability if you require. The earbuds generally feel well built, but it is noted that they are not rated for any water resistance rating.
Button and touch controls
One unique feature of the 1More EHD9001TA is that it has both button and touch controls. There is a small button at the tip of the earbuds for controlling volume and skipping of tracks. as well as picking up calls and triggering voice control.
For the touch controls, it is mainly used to switch ANC modes – ANC off, ANC Mild, ANC Strong, PassThrough by double tapping.
Auto play/pause
The 1More EHD9001TA has an infrared sensor built into the earbuds to provide for auto play/pause functionality. This pauses the music when you remove any earbud from your ears, and resumes playback when you put the earbud back in your ear.
Passthrough
The ambient sound mode, PassThrough, which allows outside sound into the earbuds is done pretty well. The sound that comes through is natural sounding and does not sound overly amplified or digitalized.
1More Music App
The 1More EHD9001TA has an accompanying app called the 1More Music. The app is not very feature packed, it is mainly used to update the firmware and disable the auto play/pause feature if you want to.
I personally wished that there was a settings that I could edit what ANC modes will cycle through. The current setup means I have to cycle through four modes. It would have been nice to select only modes I want to cycle through.
Battery life
The 1More EHD9001TA has a decent battery life in 2020 standards. With ANC turned on, you can expect 4 hours of music playback. And with ANC turned off, you can get up to 5 hours. The charging case can provide up to 13 hours depending on your ANC mode.
You do get quick charging on the 1More EHD9001TA, where a 15 minute charge will get 2 hours of music playback. That is pretty impressive.
Charging is done via USB-C or you can opt for the more convenient wireless charging, which I prefer using my Spigen F309W Wireless Charger.
Fit
The 1More EHD9001TA comes with two types of eartips – parabolic and conical. I found the conical eartips to fit better in my ears as it is able to reach deeper into my ear canal for a better seal.
The fit of the 1More EHD9001TA is just okay. The earbuds rest comfortably in my ears but doesn’t create as good of a seal like the Sudio Fem or Creative Outlier Air. The O-hook does aid in keeping the earbuds in my ear.
Pairing and connectivity
Initial pairing the 1More EHD9001TA to your phone is fairly easy. You remove the both earbuds and the name ‘1MORE ANC TWS’ should appear in your Bluetooth settings. The earbuds are seen as one unit in your Bluetooth settings, although sometimes I do see the device ‘1MORE ANC TWS -L’ popping up.
I experienced certain quirks with subsequent pairings. If I remove both earbuds but leave the case open, the earbuds will not pair. But when I remove both earbuds and close the case, the earbuds will pair. And when I put the earbuds back into the case, if I do not close the case, the earbuds will remain connected.
As for connectivity, Bluetooth 5.0, ensured that the connection was really stable and I barely experienced any audio dropouts.
If you want to use just one earbud, you have to use the right side only. When I try to use the left earbud, it gets connected but the moment I close the case, the left earbuds automatically disconnects.
Sound quality
The audio quality is tested based on the firmware V0.03.62.
ANC is turned off
The bass on the 1More EHD9001TA is fast and punchy. The sub-bass is clean and delivered to a comfortable extent, that complements well with the other frequencies. To be honest, I was expecting a little more sub-bass due to the 10mm dynamic driver inside.
As for the midrange, it has great clarity and brings forward the vocals in songs. Instruments and vocals have a lot of detail. One thing that I’m particularly impressed is the audio depth you experience from the instruments and vocals. You are able to discern the different layers of the song, from its bass to the vocals. When it comes to treble, the high notes is delivered with the same clarity and detail as the midrange.
ANC is turned on
There are two levels to the ANC – Mild and Strong.
When ANC is turned on, the music seems to be sucked in and the soundstage becomes narrow. The best way to describe this “new” EQ is like the bass gets pushed into the midrange territory and starts to suppress the mids. Bass presence becomes forward instead of being extended to the ends when ANC is turned off. Personally, I prefer the EQ of the 1More EHD9001TA without the ANC as there is more dynamic range to my music.
Effectiveness of ANC
The Active Noise Cancellation that the 1More EHD9001TA provides is pretty good. It is able to cancel out most of the low frequency noise like fan whirls and traffic. Compared to the Sudio Ett, the ANC is stronger on the 1More EHD9001TA, and cuts out more noise. The ANC does create some cabin pressure effect in your ears, which is more apparent on the Strong setting of the ANC.
Audio-Video latency & Microphone quality
Audio video sync has zero lag while watching from the YouTube app tested on my iPhone 11.
The microphone quality on the 1More EHD9001TA is similar to all other true wireless earbuds I’ve tested. Good to use in a quiet environment, but performance might be a be spotty if you are in a place with lots of background noise.
Conclusion
The use of dual drivers in the 1More EHD9001TA clearly brought out benefits. There is great amount of details in the mids and highs, without the bass seeping into any frequency at all. The level of fidelity and sound separation in the 1More EHD9001TA is really good. However, the ANC does alter the EQ of the earbuds when it is turned on and so I would not recommend turning on the ANC all the time.
For S$329, it has almost all the features that a top tier true wireless earbuds should have except a certified waterproof rating – ANC, wireless charging, great controls, and impressive sound quality.
Where to buy
The 1More EHD9001TA retails for S$329, but there is current a promotion where it is selling for S$299. You can buy it from 1More’s official Lazada store here.
Alternatively, if you frequent Qoo10 like me, you can purchase from Stereo Singapore for S$299 as well and get a lower price by stacking coupons.