Fashion Headphone Review 2023 1MORE Aero

1MORE Aero are an overall improvement over previous 1MORE headphones, but they struggle compared to their competitors. Find out why in the review below.

After making the Triple Driver in-ear monitors, 1MORE can’t seem to make another product quite as successful. Could 1MORE Aero be the worthy successor?

The truth is, the Aero are the most compelling TWS earbuds from 1MORE to date. Mostly because they improved on features that ComfoBuds Mini and Evo underdelivered.

Earbuds’ solid noise cancellation is finally useful for everyday commuting, and ambient sound mode finally performs more naturally.

The 1MORE Music app entrusts you with fully customizable EQ (which you have to use to get the best sound, but more on that later) and even offers a Spatial Audio feature similar to Apple’s.

All sounds well until you start comparing 1MORE Aero to the competition, which costs less but performs better in some areas.

Are extra features enough? Let’s find out.

Sound

Star Rating 3.5 Almost Great

1MORE Aero are muffled and a bit bassy by default but come back alive when you apply custom EQ. Just don’t expect miracles, as the treble leaves a lot to be desired.

Hear the sound signature below.

1MORE Aero can sound drastically different depending on the EQ. Out of the box, they sound incredibly muted, despite the claims of being tuned by a Grammy-winning audio engineer.

Fortunately, custom equalization saves the day by providing much-needed clarity to the midrange and treble. In the end, we liked the tuning of the Aero much more than ComfoBuds Mini and Evo.

However, you soon hit these earbuds’ technical limitations.

Bass: Too much rumble that needs EQ

A bigger 10mm dynamic driver inside 1MORE Aero produces some serious rumble.

Using a Default EQ preset, the rumble often gets too intense. That might work for hip-hop or other music genres that utilize a lot of sub-bass. However, it muddies the midrange, which is already recessed.

Reducing the sub-bass in the equalizer helps the sound to breathe and clear up. You still get a nice rumble, but not to the point of getting a headache.

The overall bass control is adequate for all music genres, even when it has to handle double bass pedals.

You will get tighter bass in competitors like EarFun Air Pro 3, but at least for metal, the Aero offer more enjoyment.

Midrange: A bit muffled even after EQ

Out of the box, midrange frequencies are relatively recessed and quiet. Accompanied by louder bass, they struggle to make vocals and instruments sound interesting.

With the help of EQ, both get more presence and energy. Vocals sound more natural and upfront, while electric guitars get more “angry” and fun.

Furthermore, you can hear a noticeable improvement in dynamics, with louder instrumentation and snare drum hits.

However, the clarity isn’t quite where it should be. Everything still sounds a bit unrefined and lacking smoothness.

Treble: Smooth yet unrefined

Higher frequencies are noticeably lacking by default. Boosting the upper spectrum makes everything sound clearer.

On the other hand, clarity doesn’t mean texture and resolution, which is something 1MORE Aero audibly lacks.

While cymbals produce a lovely, smooth shimmer, they miss texture and detail. They aren’t interesting, so you quickly forget they’re there. This kind of performance is typical among earbuds under $100.

The soundstage is wide enough to place instruments slightly out of your head. However, vocals, especially female ones, can be pretty intimate.

Imaging is also relatively accurate, but due to soft treble performance, you can’t quite pinpoint where the sound is coming from.

How does Spatial Audio perform in 1MORE Aero?

The new Spatial Audio feature in 1MORE Aero works similarly to Apple’s version by tracking your head movements and moving the sound accordingly.

Imagine a band playing in front of you. If you turn to the right, you will hear most of the sound in the left ear. If you turn 180°, you will hear them playing in the back of your head, and so on.

However, we can’t help ourselves but think this feature is a gimmick. It might provide a unique movie-watching experience, but we don’t see it as useful for listening to music. It makes the sound less detailed.

How does Smart Loudness perform in 1MORE Aero?

Smart Loudness is another sound-related feature that boosts quiet and reduces louder parts of the audio. Essentially, it lowers the dynamic range to make details more apparent.

You can toggle the intensity of the features with a slider. The bass gets affected the most, as it becomes incredibly rumbly at maximum setting.

However, this is another feature that we consider a gimmick, despite being developed by Sonarworks. It makes the sound unbalanced and overly bassy and warm.

In conclusion, 1MORE Aero can please most casual listeners who don’t seek audio perfection. We can easily see them as our backup pair if our main earbuds stop working.

However, they cost $110, which puts them above the likes of EarFun Air Pro 3 and Edifier W240TN, both great-sounding earbuds with a darker sound signature yet smoother, fuller performance.

As a result, it isn’t easy to justify paying an extra $30 for a less refined sound.

Check out similar headphones:

Best wireless earbuds under $100

Best noise-cancelling headphones under $100

Comfort & Fit

Star Rating 4.0 Great

1MORE Aero can comfortably rest in your ears for many hours and even endure some light workouts. But they will fall out of your ears if the workout gets intense.

Earbuds might look big, but they only weigh 4.9 grams each, so you barely feel them in your ears.

They come with 4 pairs of oval ear tips with a small difference in size. You have to check them multiple times to ensure that the tips you picked are actually the same.

The oval eartip shape better adapts to your ear canal without creating pressure. The housing is also super smooth, so you don’t feel any hot spots that would cause pain over time.

While comfort is excellent, stability is only OK. OK for casual listening and maybe light exercises, but definitely not for running or jumping.

In our head-shaking test, earbuds quickly started to lose grip and eventually fell out of ears.

Here are the top earbuds that don’t fall out during exercise:

Best workout headphones

Best headphones for running

Durability

Star Rating 3.5 Almost Great

1MORE Aero feel solid, with an IPX5 rating ensuring protection from sweat and heavy rain. On the flip side, the case has a cool design but a very fragile lid.

Earbuds sport an AirPods-style design with a long stem meant to bring the microphone closer to your mouth.

While this design seems fragile, it would be challenging to break the earbuds open. Even if they accidentally fall on the floor.

1MORE claims they have an IPX5 rating. That means they can survive sweat, rain, and even shower. You can safely use the Aero outdoors or in the gym.

On the other hand, avoid using them near standing water as they officially can’t survive submersion.

The most problematic part about 1MORE Aero is the charging case. The bottom part seems solid, but the lid is made of thin plastic attached to a thin hinge.

Since it’s big and opens at a weird angle, you might push it too hard and crack the hinge.

The latter opens at an angle, so it slightly lifts the case. It looks cool from a design standpoint but is impractical for durability reasons.

Battery

Star Rating 3.0 Good

Battery test: 1MORE Aero lasted 4 hours and 58 minutes in our battery test, which is as advertised, but also much lower than the competition. At least they fast-charge by adding 3 hours of juice in just 15 minutes.

1MORE advertises 5 hours of battery life with ANC enabled and 7 hours with it disabled. In our battery life test with ANC on and at 50% volume, we go precisely:

4 hours and 58 minutes

That is as promised, and you can expect another 15 hours (or 3 additional charges) inside the charging case. But that’s relatively low by today’s standards.

Average true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation can last up to 7 hours per charge, which places the Aero somewhere at the bottom near older models like Apple AirPods Pro.

While disabling ANC means you get around 7 hours per charge and additional 21 hours in the case, you have to use ANC if you want the best sound quality.

Fortunately, earbuds have pretty fast charging support:

You get 3 hours of playtime after a 15-minute charge.

If you forget the cable on your trip and only have your smartphone, you can charge the case using Qi wireless charging.

Features

Star Rating 4.5 Almost Perfect

1MORE Aero are full of useful features that can make your user experience more personalized, even though some are a gimmick. At least the microphone is consistently good in all environments.

Alongside ANC, ambient sound mode, Spatial Audio, and Smart Loudness feature that we covered in separate categories; 1MORE Aero offers even more.

In the companion app, you also get a “Smart burn-in” feature, Bluetooth multipoint, automatic play/pause sensor, touch controls customizer, Soothing sounds, and custom audio equalizer with presets.

Control customizer

1MORE app lets you customize double and triple-tap gestures with mostly music playback controls and the ability to summon a voice assistant.

Strangely, it doesn’t let you change the tap-and-hold gesture, which is reserved for toggling between ANC and ambient sound mode.

Furthermore, it’s strange that a single tap has no gestures. That could be a safety measure against accidental presses, or even ghost touches (registering a tap when you walk and your warm breath travels to your earbuds).

Custom EQ & presets

1MORE Aero earbuds have a 10-band equalizer with a +/-3 dB range. It gives you just enough freedom to lift the sound clarity, but it could use a wider range for fine-tuning.

On the other hand, the 12 EQ presets in the app don’t sound particularly good. If you have to pick one, go with the Classical.

Smart burn-in

Burn-in phenomenon is highly debatable in the audiophile community, with some recommending it while others saying it doesn’t exist.

The idea is that by playing noise through your headphones for multiple hours at a time, you stretch up the drivers, which causes them to perform to their fullest potential.

Instead of you finding the right track to do a burn-in, the app does the procedure for you.

Noise Isolation

Star Rating 3.0 Good

1MORE Aero have decent passive noise isolation comparable to most true wireless earbuds. However, loud sounds can still interfere with your music, so using ANC is often a must.

Most TWS earbuds are successful at blocking a good amount of higher frequencies but ineffective at lower ones. 1MORE Aero are no different.

They can reduce about the same as 1MORE PistonBuds Pro, a cheaper competitor. The ear tips sit relatively shallow, so you don’t get a good enough seal to expect miracles.

Keep in mind you hear only a little ambient noise if you also play music. If you want to block as much noise as possible without music, you have to use the ANC.

Noise Cancelling

Star Rating 3.5 Almost Great

1MORE Aero earbuds are really impressive at blocking low-end frequencies, but they disappoint at higher ones. Also, the ambient sound mode is far better than in other 1MORE products.

ANC is pretty decent; hear the difference below.

Active noise cancelling on 1MORE works in 2 extremes. On the one hand, earbuds perform incredibly well at reducing low-frequency noise.

Even more so than competitors like EarFun Air Pro 3. With Aero, you hear less rumble coming through, which makes them an excellent pick for commuters.

Unfortunately, earbuds struggle to reduce midrange and treble frequencies. Compared to the abovementioned EarFun, the latter are much more successful at blocking traffic noise and speech.

You can pick between 4 ANC modes: Strong, Mild, WNR (wind noise reduction), and Adaptive mode.

What about ambient sound mode on 1MORE Aero?

Ambient sound mode performs much better than in other 1MORE headphones. You no longer hear a high-pitch sound, as if the audio is way over-boosted.

However, the feature still doesn’t sound as natural as with competitors. It focuses primarily on voices, which still sound muted.

Nevertheless, you can easily carry on a conversation with someone right next to you.

Bluetooth

Star Rating 4.0 Great

1MORE Aero sport a decent indoor connection range of 40 feet and multipoint support. While they have zero latency with videos, you have to force them to use the SBC Bluetooth codec.

Earbuds come with Bluetooth 5.2, which offers robust close-range connection. We have yet to experience stutters with our device nearby during our testing.

Moreover, in our indoor long-range test, earbuds managed to play music right after passing the second brick wall at 40 feet (12.2 meters). After that, the audio stopped altogether.

The latter is an average result. It means you can mostly move around rooms next to a room with a transmitting device.

How do you pair 1MORE Aero?

When you pair them for the first time, earbuds automatically start searching for a device to pair.

To pair them with any additional device, you must place them in the case, close and reopen the lid and hold the button at the bottom of the case for a few seconds. Earbuds go into pairing mode when the light flashes on the base of the stems.

What Bluetooth codecs do they use?

1MORE Aero use only SBC and AAC. For the price and audio performance, that seems reasonable since they wouldn’t benefit from a higher-quality Bluetooth codec.

Is there audio latency?

If you use SBC, you shouldn’t notice any lag in YouTube or social media videos. However, Android defaults to using AAC, an inferior codec for this operating system.

Google should already fix this issue as using AAC can introduce lag in some earbuds and even make the sound quieter.

To temporarily fix the lag, you must force earbuds to use SBC inside the Developer options. However, they will go back to using AAC once they re-pair.

On the other hand, no trick can help you with mobile gaming. The lag is mild but definitely not suitable for competitive gamers.