Jazz headphones review OneOdio A11 jazz headphones review

OneOdio A11 are a decent set of Bluetooth headphones with an average performance in all categories.

At first glance, OneOdio A11 look decent for cheap headphones. They even have earcups with a chrome finish to make them look more premium.

However, close inspection reveals these aren’t built to last. Plastic construction and fragile-looking hinges don’t feel very reassuring.

Furthermore, the earpads sit on top of your ears, and since they’re a bit stiffer, they start hurting pretty soon.

Unfortunately, even the audio quality is uninspiring. The sound is way too boomy and it lacks transparency and body.

The best thing about the OneOdio headphones is the microphone quality. It does a pretty good job of keeping your voice nice and clean.

If you’re on a strict budget of under $40, are the OneOdio A11 worth checking out? Read the more detailed review below.

Sound

Star Rating 2.0 Adequate

The sound signature is bass bloated, and the technical performance leaves a lot to be desired. Sadly, the A11 lack resolution, transparency, and detail.

The price is usually an indicator of quality, but sometimes a product can positively surprise you with crystal clear sound. Unfortunately, OneOdio A11 aren’t one of those products.

Bass

Low-end has a decent extension, but it doesn’t reach those rumbling frequencies due to questionable seal.

The bass is also quite sloppy and uncontrolled. Drums in the “I Will Remember” song by Toto don’t feel impactful nor realistic. Instead, they’re somewhat muddy and lack detail.

Simpler, more pop-oriented genres sound just fine. But as soon as the track becomes busier, headphones like to mush everything together.

The presentation gets even worse when enabling bass-up EQ mode (by pressing a dedicated SuperEQ button). The powerful bass veils all the details, making it hard to listen to and enjoy music.

Midrange

Mid-range frequencies sound okay for the most part but lack transparency. There’s some sort of a veil that prevents vocals from truly coming to life.

Also, a heavy peak at around 8-9kHz can make the sibilant words very harsh. It does depend on a track since some sound just fine, whereas the others come through quite piercing.

Treble

Higher frequencies are boosted and shimmery. Thankfully, they aren’t too harsh or piercing.

Again, while they have the potential to sound good, it feels as if some kind of veil is holding them back. As a result, they seem a bit splashy and metallic sounding.

The soundstage is pretty wide for a closed-back design. However, since headphones can’t produce many details, the sound instead feels distant and hollow.

Imaging capabilities aren’t that great, as you can’t quite pinpoint from where the sound is coming.

An overall tuning is much different than the one from the OneOdio A30 model. Also, the latter probably uses higher-quality drivers. Consequently, there’s a night and day difference in audio quality.

One thing I’ve noticed is that when you stop playing audio, there’s an audible white noise present in the background. After a couple of seconds, the headphones go silent.

This effect is especially annoying when you scroll through YouTube’s app, and videos start playing automatically but without sound.

At that point, headphones think you’re watching a video, they activate, but you only hear white noise.

Thankfully, you don’t hear it when listening to music.

Comfort & Fit

Star Rating 3.0 Good

On-ear fit mixed with rigid ear cups and somewhat stiff earpads isn’t the best combination for long listening sessions. At least they stay stable on your head.

The headband and earpads are dressed in plasticky faux leather. Thankfully, it’s relatively soft, which helps with the on-ear feel (pads don’t enclose your entire ear). Similarly priced Samson SR850 are much worse in that regard.

Earpads use standard foam that’s a bit too dense to offer good comfort, especially since headphones rest on top of your ears.

Also, earcups can only move up and down, but not left and right. As a result, you can’t quite adjust the earpads to fit properly on your ears.

The latter results in comfort that doesn’t last for a long time. They’re okay for 30 minutes, after which you have to take a break or readjust them.

On the other hand, the fit is more than adequate for daily use. The A11 have a moderate clamp force, which is sufficient enough to endure rapid head movements.

Keep in mind that stability still isn’t good enough for rigorous workouts.

Durability

Star Rating 2.5 Average

Due to cost restrictions, the A11 aren’t built that well. The most concerning are the foldable hinges that are entirely plastic and could easily break.

As mentioned under the comfort category, OneOdio didn’t use the best materials for making the padding on the A11.

The same goes for the rest of the build. Hinges responsible for the folding mechanism are entirely made of cheap plastic.

Even a headband adjustment mechanism is entirely plastic. A small plastic pin can’t really hold earcups in place, so they keep on extending even when applying a tiny bit of pressure.

Another concerning thing is exposed cables. You actually start pulling the wires if you fully extend the earcups, which can damage them.

The only thing that somewhat saves the looks of the A11 is the chrome finish on the back of the earcups.

With the included faux leather pouch, you can store them conveniently to prevent scratches but not protect the Bluetooth headphones from drops.

All in all, you have to treat the OneOdio A11 headphones with care if you plan to use them for a long time.

Battery

Star Rating 2.5 Average

Headphones use the old-school micro-USB port and lack fast charging. At least the battery life of 23 hours and 11 minutes should last you a couple of days.

The A11’s battery life lasts for around 23 hours and 11 minutes (based on our test). That’s more than enough for a couple of days of listening.

However, in a world where 40 hours or more per single charge is relatively common, the OneOdio A11 seem pretty average.

Even many ANC headphones can do better with active noise cancelling enabled.

Furthermore, they don’t officially support fast charging and are using a micro-USB port. While you get the charging cable in the box, it’s quite short, and most of us are already rocking USB-C.

That means it can be rather annoying to charge these headphones with such a short cable.

Features

Star Rating 3.0 Good

Headphones offer a basic set of onboard controls, a dedicated SuperEQ button, and an AUX port for wired listening.

OneOdio A11 provide a standard user experience, with an essential set of buttons under the right earcup.

There you’ll find dedicated volume up and down controls and a multifunction button for playback and turning headphones on and off.

A fourth button enables the Super EQ technology, which is essentially a bass booster if you crave more rumble.

By using the same button, you can also enable a voice assistant to perform voice commands.

Noise Isolation

Star Rating 3.0 Good

Despite a finicky on-ear fit, headphones do an okay job at passive isolation, blocking a decent portion of background noise.

On-ear earpads aren’t the most effective when blocking ambient noise passively. Since OneOdio A11 are something in between on and over-ear, they don’t create the tightest seal.

However, they still do a good job at passive noise isolation. Results are just slightly worse than what you get with over-ear headphones, like the A30 model.

Still, if you plan to use them in noisier environments, like public transport or streets, you will have to crank up the volume higher to drown out surrounding noise.

Of course, the latter is never a good idea if you want to keep your hearing healthy.

Bluetooth

Star Rating 4.0 Great

The A11 have an average Bluetooth range and a standard list of audio codecs. Not much but fair for the price.

OneOdio A11 have a Bluetooth 5.0 with a stable connection, with no random audio cuts during regular use.

The Bluetooth connection distance is only average, reaching the second brick wall, after which the audio becomes unlistenable due to constant stutters.

The first pairing is simple. You only have to turn on the headphones and select them in a Bluetooth menu on your smartphone.

Multipoint?

No, OneOdio A11 can’t handle multiple simultaneous connections between two devices. For example, headphones can’t automatically switch from a laptop to a smartphone if you receive a phone call.

What Bluetooth Codecs Do They Use?

Headphones use a default SBC and AAC. That’s more than enough for both Android and Apple Bluetooth-enabled devices.

Strangely, Android Bluetooth devices automatically select AAC, even though they work best with the SBC Bluetooth codec.

Is There an Audio Lag?

None whatsoever. You can easily watch videos and play games without overly annoying lag.