1More SonoFlow noise-cancelling headphones. Impressive noise cancelling and sound quality

Edwin Chabuka

23 October 2023

Most of you have probably never heard of these guys before. They are called 1More and they make audio-related products including this pair of headphones. The SonoFlow. So let’s see how they stack up in 3 main categories. We will look at comfort, features, and sound quality. Also thanks to Mi Store for handing me these to abuse for a week.

Comfort

The cups are nice and deep, not extremely deep like some of the studio headphones offered by the likes of Sony that make you look like Megaman when you have them on. They are a happy medium. Clamping force is a bit on the tight side which is good because it keeps them secured to your head but can get uncomfortable when worn for extended periods of time. Oh, and these cups are also replaceable so if they get worn out you can swap them for new ones. Sony better be taking notes.

I want to nitpick thought. There are subtle creaks here and there when you have the headphones on. When you yawn or eat you will hear it but it’s subtle, not very noticeable but you may hear it here and there.

Weight is not bad, they are primarily made of plastic which helps with the weight. I would say they weigh the same as the Sony WH-1000XM4s. They also have a soft pad on the crown of the headband for added comfort. Apart from the tight clamp pressure which can ease off with use, these are some pretty comfortable sets of cans. Now let’s talk features.

Image for YouTube video with title 1More SonoFlow wireless headphones. The noise canceling is impressive, and so is the sound quality viewable on the following URL https://youtube.com/watch?v=i-UQRAo9PCU

Features

If we can call the box features then that’s a good place to start. There is a hard shell case for storing the headphones and it’s slightly bigger than the case for the XM4s. Also, pro tip, packing these headphones can be a faff if you don’t pay attention to the orientation of the letters in the box. Sony goes a step further and puts a diagram for you so you can’t mess it up.

Headphone Type	Over ear headphones
Replacable cushions	Yes
Connectivity	Bluetooth with LDAC Hi-Res wireless audio 2.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable Hi-Res wired audio USB-C port
Headphone App	Yes
Noise Cancelling	Active Noise Cancelling
Audio Passthrough	Yes
Headphone controls	Power button Volume buttons ANC button
Playback Controls	No
Built-in Voice Assistant	No
Charging Time	0-100% in 1hr 20min 5 min charge = 5hrs
Battery Life	70Hrs (Noise Cancelling Off) 50Hrs (Noise cancelling on)
Weight	256g
Price	US$130

I will mention a small detail that both these headphones have that I love. So on both the 1more and the Sony, the cup that houses the charging port, both of which are USB-C, very nice, and is not folded when the headphones are in the case allowing you to charge them whilst they are safely packed up in the case. A very small touch but one I love a lot.

Alright so on the hardware features you get a USB-C charging port that can get you 5 hours of listening time with a 5-minute charge and a full charge in 1hr 20 minutes. It’s 3 hours to a full charge for the XM4s if anyone was wondering. So 1More charges rapidly.

It also lasts longer. With a full charge and noise canceling off, you’ll get 70 hours of music playback vs. 38 hours on the XM4s.

These headphones also support wired audio but with a catch. The audio jack for the headphone side is a pretty uncommon 2.5mm jack so it comes with a 2.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable. Which is very hard to find compared to a 3.5mm cable on both ends. You definitely do not want to lose or damage this cable.

For controls, you have a power button, noise canceling button, and volume buttons all on the right cup. I personally feel it’s a bit of a shame that there are no playback controls so you will have to stick to your playback device for playing, pausing, or skipping tracks.

These headphones come with active noise cancellation and audio pass-through for when you need to pay attention to your surroundings. For my audio nerds out there, they also support high-resolution audio for both wired and wireless connections including LDAC. Remember these features will only work if the device the headphones are connected to also supports them.

Of course, it’s not a party without an app for all the fancy buttons. In the app, you can switch between different listening modes. Noise-canceling mode is very impressive and provides the richest listening experience. What intrigued me was how it worked. So it does not all come in at once. It almost sounds like it runs a few cycles identifying specific sounds in your surroundings and silencing them one by one. The nerd in me loved that and it only takes about 10 seconds to completely mute your environment. It’s very good! A solid 8.5 out of 10 for me.

Pass-through still needs a lot of work. I am not sure if it is the quality of the mics or if it is the passthrough engine inside the headphones but it does pump in a bit of a hiss similar to what I heard with noise cancelling on the Huawei Freebuds 3. The hiss can be distracting I mean at times I thought someone had left the tap open. I had moments where I would free an ear so I could properly listen to what was going on around me. I’d give it a 5.5 out of 10.

There are also some manual and preset EQ settings. A total of 12 to choose from as well as a 10 band EQ if you have a specific sound profile you prefer that’s not available in the presets.

There are also some soothing sounds which are supposed to help you sleep. Personally, I would not use these. They really do not sound natural enough or have the fidelity that I expect which just ruined the illusion. I throw that feature under gimmick, YouTube can do a better job with that. Sounds about the right time to move on to the sound quality.

Sound Quality

Okay so because of the hissing when using passthrough, I would recommend that you not listen to anything in the realm of music or movies in this mode. Because just why would you want to do that? Switch on the brilliant noise cancelling and it’s honestly a lovely, balanced, bright sound experience.

The soundstage is nice and wide with a very decent representation of the whole frequency range. The bass stands on its own and does not distort the crispness and clarity of the treble. It’s not straining at all to listen to audio of any genre. You can even max out the volume and it will maintain very decent performance throughout.

Verdict

1more made some very good headphones here. They sound amazing, they have a useful set of features and 70 hours of battery life is insane. They are retailing for US$130 at the Mi Store which places them in a category that I have been most excited about when it comes to headphones. Value for money.

Just like smartphones, exciting stuff is happening in the midrange headphone market. There is so much action from a lot of new players like Anker’s SoundCore series and even legacy brands like Sony have been giving a lot more attention to their CH range.

The US$80 to US$150 price range now has headphones that sound as good as the premium US$250+ headphones and the only differentiator is features. 1More SonoFlow is a very good pair of bluetooth headphones. There is some very stiff competition in this class of headphones and 1More made sure it’s close to the top of the pile. Not bad 1More. Not bad.

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11 comments

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Stone Cold Steve Austin

23 October 2023 19:43

My Samsung A50 phone fell and how has two cracks. 😢 Can a cracked AMOLED screen be fixed without replacing it?

Reply
1. Anonymous
  
  23 October 2023 21:32
  
  no baba no an no forever u see amoled screens are nt your usual screens when they break there are little lights which jus cannt be replaced unlike lcds u jus replace the glass or digitizer and voila
  
  Reply
  1. Stone Cold Steve Austin
    
    24 October 2023 06:10
    
    @Anonymous Thanks.
    
    Reply
Anonymous

23 October 2023 21:34

too expensive u can get better quality for tha price asiri ma beats or sony with same features

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The Last Don

23 October 2023 22:48

I expected you to mention anything about bit depth and sampling rates on the Hi-res side if you want to be a serious audiophile. Also do they have compatible DACs etc This is what I look for in headphones. Read something about it.

Reply
1. Edwin Chabuka
  
  24 October 2023 06:55
  
  Interesting. So yes we can do a deep dive on what Hi-Res audio is. The LDAC on the SonoFlow supports up to 990Kbps audio transfer rate. However, sampling rates are applied to the audio file you are playing and not the audio device doing the playback. It’s probably its own entire video.
  
  The part I want to highlight on your comment is that in as much as these Headphones support Hi-Res audio, they are mid-tier Bluetooth headphones. A true audiophile would buy high impedance wired headphones that use a very high quality external DAC with enough juice to drive said high-impedance headphones. And such studio-grade monitoring headphones are close to or go beyond $1,000.
  
  This is just to give you a reference point of where the 1More SonoFlow are and where general expectations lie. In the review I was constantly referring to the Sony WH-1000XM4 because those are considered to be some of the best Bluetooth headphones money can buy. Thats the benchmark that the 1Mores can fight to compete with.
  
  Then there is also the source material you are playing. Hi-Res audio is nothing if the audio files you are playing are MP3. The codec for Hi-Res audio is Flac or Wav which are called lossless formats with very high bit depth and sampling frequencies of 24 to 32 bits and 96 to 1KHz. This makes lossless files quite big but also very hard to find. And unless you are using a paid music streaming service, you will not be listening to lossless audio. I might be wrong but i think the typical buyer of such headphones is concerned with how good the noise cancelling is, the battery life and the general sound quality. Since Hi-Res is a standard meaning it’s the same accross various audio playback devices and brands, it’s supposed to perform the same in all cases. It’s a nice to have and an added selling point for someone who can use it.
  
  Reply
  1. The Last Don
    
    24 October 2023 17:23
    
    I have some Hi-res audio in Flac format on my phone though I don’t have a DAC to play them with but when I play them on my Technics home theatre system you can hear all the notes and bits on the music coming from the different speakers as if they are being played from a live band. As a follower of Hi-res audio I find there are some good lower priced Hi-res headphones online from review sites like What Hifi some even selling below $100.
    When you have time please visit the site and glean some more information on AV systems and give us a glimpse of what is happening in that kind of world. I know you know how to explain such HiTech stuff to the layman.
    Keep up the good work.
    
    Reply
Adrift without my Anker

24 October 2023 00:40

Funny that the day you post this is the very day my precious Soundcore Q20s got snatched right off my head! I believe it’s a sign from God… that I’m too poor to afford these things 😂. I’d seen these pop up in my recommendations and apart from the 3.5mm to 2.5mm cable thing, lack of direct playback control on the cans and that real money price, these actually could have been very compelling to me! I’m just too spoilt by Anker. Spending the same money on their Soundcores (new but foreign MSRP or Zim price for old stock or open box and demo units) would put me within spitting distance of a premium experience with most feature boxes ticked.

Anyway, nice review. A quick dive into Hi-Res audio as suggested would be interesting. Even though my ears tap out at discerning upto 256 AAC, I’m sure the golden ear squad would appreciate it. And if I ever get over the trauma of being stupid enough to cut through the park as it got dark with my NC mode light blazing bright like a beacon to all the street bros, I’ll put these on the short list! For now, it’s back to my low profile ultra super mega basic $20 discounted to $10 for a limited time offer no name Amazon earbuds 🤣

Reply
Cee Bee

1 November 2023 14:07

Hi

Thanks for the review. Almost bought them when they came out, was it last year, having just acquired the XM4s and seeing the XM5s arrive not long after, it was that sort of year for me.

However, from all the reviews l saw on youtube l was sorely tempted, the 70 hour is something special l am not sure if there is anything near there with most brands doing 20 to 30.

For me l did not fully appreciate the benefits of Noise Cancelling (NC) until l got a pair of Volkanos, would you believe it, which l gifted to someone else. For the money which was well south of 100, they are the best at that price point, in my opinion.

However, it has been a revelation! It came into its own one day in a bus full of talkative types with a tour guide on those personal loudspeakers devices. The moment l switched them on is the moment l realised, what everyone was going on about, up to the point had been using them at home.

You are in a virtual cocoon of peace and quiet and you get to choose what you listen or do not listen to. For those who have not tried ANC(Auto Noise Cancelling) l urge you to. It is incomparable. Sony is good but Apple and Bose are allegedly the kings unless we involve the XM5s. I also love the fact that should the lithium run out, you can simply plug them in to your phone which has a headphone jack, something like hens teeth these days. However you lose the ANC bit.

As for the XM4s other than the fact that sensor is no longer pausing music when l remove the headphones and doing that annoying thing of stopping music whenever l start to talk or hum though l have never set the option, they have been good. As someone who once in a while makes intercontinental trips, these really help to reduce the stress of travelling on our ‘special’ passport.

Anyway l think you are right about this brand – Soundcore which coincidentally is owned by Anker the power guys. l had my eye on those too. My next purcahse all being well might be the XM7s if and when they come out due to the high initial capital outlay, unless an especially good deal comes along or something tragic happens to the 4s.

You are right about the look though, l do not cycle or walk with them, lol, they just make you look like something else. lf l had Strive’s budget l would be getting the Sony XM5 earbuds or the Sennheiser Momentum 4s. However, given the issues one of my friend has had with those. He has had them replaced under warranty at least 4 times, l might have to think twice about Sennheiser.

I love the way ths XM4s work and that app is brilliant, well most of the times. LDAC is good when you have it but if you can use Spotify or Tidal you will really love these. It takes about 24 hours to travel home normally and l have never run out of juice, that is testament to the XM4’s amazing battery life. I loved the case until the wonderful chaps at the newly refurbished international airport, decided to repossess them once l forgot them on one of those trolleys. It had some handy features like the mesh on the outside to store cables or cards. The diagram to tell you how to fold them etc. As the ones l have are the blue ones, it was a nice difference to the usual black or ivory coloured ones.

Great review looking forward to more content of this type. l am happy you can share your experiences with them as it is hard to know unless you borrow these and actually use them for a protracted length of time.

Any chance you could do home audio? Like separates. Please no sound bars. Some of us are old school we remember the days of Technics/Panasonic, Sony, AIWA, Kenwood, Pioneer, JVC, Sansui, AKAI etc. Or if you go back further WRS, Supersonic or Tempest etc. Those were the days!

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