Review of headphones for watching YouTube or Netflix OneOdio A30

The surprisingly compelling package below $60 ticks all of the essential boxes. OneOdio A30 are among the best cheap wireless headphones we’ve tested.

Overall, packaging and presentation don’t promise much. Headphones are somewhat lightweight, rattle when shaken, and have a rather stiff headband adjustment.

While they feel noticeably better in hand than the A11 model, they still don’t look as premium as Aukey EP-N12, another budget headphone.

Still, as soon as you turn them on, you start liking them more and more.

The sound quality, Bluetooth range, comfort, call quality, battery life, everything turned out to be great.

Even the active noise cancellation, despite a noticeable hissing noise from the left channel, is decent enough for commuting and airplane travels.

Let’s go into more details to get a better picture of what you get with OneOdio A30.

Sound

Star Rating 4.0 Great

The sound is quite V-shaped with ANC off. In contrast, the bass is perfectly flat with ANC on, while the treble stays sparkly and a tad too bright.

Like with many affordable headphones, these too change their sound when you enable noise cancellation.

The difference between the two modes is mostly in the bass, which gets surprisingly flat with ANC function enabled. Also, it slightly lowers sound volume.

Bass

Starting with ANC off, the sound signature is noticeably V-shaped. There’s a good amount of bass boost that, thankfully, doesn’t sound overwhelming.

It brings out extra rumble, which makes bassy genres or instruments more fun to listen to.

The bass stays nice and punchy, with decent control, even on faster tracks.

Turning ANC on completely flattens the bass. This is probably the flattest bass response I’ve seen so far.

It retains control and speed, but it’s much quieter. You can still hear some rumble, but only when you truly focus on what you’re listening to.

Midrange

Mid-frequencies are pretty similar between the 2 modes. Lower mids are relatively neutral and sound natural.

Vocals benefit from this kind of tuning, portraying them very naturally and fully.

However, everything from the upper midrange upwards is elevated, which gives the sound too much power.

Consequently, vocals can sometimes sound overly sibilant. Instruments like electric guitars and keyboards can at times appear a bit too shouty and aggressive.

Sibilance is far more present when you enable ANC. The latter only flattens the bass and slightly boosts the upper midrange and treble.

On the other hand, extra bass from the ANC OFF mode helps balance out that slightly aggressive higher frequencies.

Treble

As mentioned, high frequencies in OneOdio A30 are boosted and quite sparkly.

Thankfully, the treble is fairly detailed, and it doesn’t get splashy when a track gets too busy.

Cymbal crashes are nice and crisp, with a good amount of air.

The soundstage is about average for closed-back headphones, pushing sounds just slightly out of your head. That prevents songs from sounding too congested.

Moreover, the imaging is also quite good but not pinpoint accurate. There are some blurry spots in between channels, but nothing that would ruin your listening experience.

Overall, as long as you keep ANC off, the OneOdio A30 can sound very fun and quite natural, despite the punchy bass and treble boost.

The problem with the sound with ANC on is that the upper midrange and treble are too boosted and therefore too harsh.

I’m sure engineers at OneOdio had good intentions and were very close to making a truly audiophile experience for under $60.

While you don’t quite get that with the A30, their audio quality is still great for the price and are worth checking out.

There’s no difference in audio performance in wired mode compared to Bluetooth mode.

Comfort & Fit

Star Rating 3.5 Almost Great

Thick memory foam earpads are plush and overall comfy, but they don’t go fully around your entire ear. Due to relatively gentle clamping force, they don’t feel secure on your head.

The OneOdio A30 have thick, plush earpads. They’re at least half an inch deep, so your ears don’t touch the foam covering the drivers.

However, your ears do touch the earpads. For the pads to fit an average-sized ear comfortably, they have to accommodate at least 3 knuckles.

In the case of the A30, they fit around 2.5 knuckles, which is slightly too small. Fortunately, memory foam inside the pads prevents them from squishing your ears too much.

Still, after some time, you will start noticing an aching sensation, which will force you to take a break.

As for stability, these headphones aren’t meant to be used in a gym. The clamping force isn’t strong enough to securely keep them on your head.

In contrast, they will stay put just fine when commuting or working in an office.

Durability

Star Rating 3.0 Good

The OneOdio A30 build feels a bit cheaper, with minor rattling noises and hollow-sounding plastic. At least the metal inside the headband provides some additional sturdiness.

While you can’t expect too much from a budget brand, some models have surprised me in the past.

However, the OneOdio A30 definitely use cheaper plastic that feels lightweight and hollow when knocked on.

Each ear cup swivels and folds without any squicky noises, which is a good sign. However, since the hinges are fully plastic, they might be the first thing to break.

Going into the more positive side, earpads use soft pleather with tight stitching that doesn’t seem cheap.

There’s also a decent amount of padding on the headband. Although the stitching work could be better.

For extra sturdiness, OneOdio added a metal frame into the headband. However, it doesn’t feel too comfortable stretching and twisting the headphones.

Battery

Star Rating 3.0 Good

While 25 hours of playtime is more than respectable, the battery gets dropped to 17 hours and 50 minutes when you enable ANC. Headphones don’t support fast charging officially.

Most wireless headphones have a long battery life that lasts at least a few days of daily use. The one in the A30 can play music for up to 25 hours.

Enabling background noise cancellation does take its toll, reducing the battery life down to 17 hours and 50 minutes respectively. While that’s about average, it’s still almost three hours more than advertised.

That puts the headphones somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Officially, the A30 don’t support quick charging. Thankfully, they have a USB type C port for charging which is faster.

And if you run out of juice, they also carry a 3.5mm audio port for wired connection.

Features

Star Rating 4.0 Great

The A30 have a surprisingly great call quality, a decent array of commands, and active noise cancellation (ANC), all for a budget price.

The headphones don’t offer many premium features, but they do the features they have very well.

Active noise cancelling works pretty well, especially for the price point. You can fold them to save space in a backpack or swivel both ear cups to lay them flat on your chest.

You control headphones with physical buttons on the right earcup that are nicely dampened and not obnoxiously clicky.

The set of commands is long enough so that you don’t have to reach for your phone constantly. And, there’s a flight plug in the box for when you’re traveling.

Noise Isolation

Star Rating 3.5 Almost Great

Plush earpads create a slight vacuum that keeps most of the ambient sound out. Of course, if you’re not playing music, you can still hear everything around you.

Overall passive noise isolation is pretty standard. Much like the rest of closed-back, over-ear headphones, the A30 reduce the loudest sounds around you.

Headphones work best at reducing higher frequencies, while low-end remains almost intact.

To better block ambient sounds, you’ll have to use ANC.

Noise Cancelling

Star Rating 3.0 Good

The A30 are quite successful at eliminating low-end hum, but they struggle with higher frequencies. Also, there’s an audible hiss in the left channel when you enable hybrid ANC.

Budget wireless ANC headphones can’t do miracles when it comes to active noise cancelling, and the OneOdio A30 prove the point.

In general, they’re doing a good job with lower frequencies, reducing engine noise down to a minimum.

On the other hand, higher frequencies stay almost intact. Still, as long as people don’t talk too much, you should feel comfortable wearing these during flights and commutes.

There’s no Ambient sound mode to boost surrounding noises. You have to turn off the music or take them off to hear ambient noise.

Be aware that there’s a hiss coming from the left channel. You shouldn’t notice it during a flight or commute. But if you plan to use them somewhere quieter, it can get annoying.

Bluetooth

Star Rating 4.0 Great

Expect a reliable connection with a standard Bluetooth 5.0 range, a basic set of audio codecs, zero lag for watching movies, but no support for multipoint.

Just like most other wireless headphones with Bluetooth version 5.0, the range is pretty average. Once you pass a second brick wall, the audio starts stuttering and becoming unlistenable.

Otherwise, the connection is solid, with no weird hiccups and dropouts during normal use.

The first pairing is very straightforward. You initiate it as soon as you turn the headphones on.

When pairing to another device:

Turn off the headphones

Then, turn them on and hold the button until you hear a voice saying “pairing”

Find them on your Bluetooth device and pair

Multipoint?

No, headphones are unable to skip between two different Bluetooth devices seamlessly.

You must manually switch between a laptop and a phone to answer a call.

What Bluetooth Codecs Do They Use?

Headphones use basic SBC and more Apple-friendly AAC Bluetooth codecs. You can’t really expect more than that at this price point, as it would only add to the cost.

Is There an Audio Lag?

None whatsoever. When watching videos, the audio is perfectly in sync, regardless of what operating system you use.

When playing video games on a smartphone, the audio lags ever so slightly. It isn’t noticeable in slower games, but it could be a problem in more competitive ones.