The PistonBuds from the Chinese company 1More are affordable no-nonsense in-ears. For about fifty euros you already have earphones at home. Especially compared to other earphones in the same price range, the 1More PistonBuds excel in both wearing comfort and sound quality.
1More Pistonbuds
price € 49, –
Color black and white
Link Bluetooth 5.0
Battery 38 mAh (earpiece), 535 mAh (charging case)
Weight 4.2 grams (earpiece), 35 grams (charging box)
Features microphone, touch control
Connection USB-C
Website https://global.1more.com
8 Score 80
- Pros
- Wearing comfort
- Price quality
- Charging case battery capacity
- Negatives
- No wireless or fast charging
- Microphone
- Touch operation
The 1More brand is still relatively unknown, but the audio products of the brands regularly pass by the editors. Especially the cheaper earphones and headphones from the brand are always very good in the test. For example, I recently tested the 1More ColorBuds, which I have used with more pleasure than many other expensive earphones because the sound quality is excellent and the wearing comfort is optimal due to the low weight and interchangeable rubber tips. These PistonBuds are quite comparable to the ColorBuds. Only the design is slightly different and the price a few tens lower.
The PistonBuds are suitable for all ears due to the rubber tips.
AirPods-like design
The 1More PistonBuds are not an AirPods clone, something that many manufacturers do suffer from a bit. Yet there are some similarities, due to the small stalk that sticks out of your ear. In contrast to the AirPods, these PistonBuds have interchangeable rubber tips, so that they are suitable for almost all ear shapes. In addition, the ears are particularly light. In short, a pleasant design, low weight and favorable fit ensure that these PistonBuds are comfortable and do not fall out of your ear. Not even during movement, even running.
The sound quality is also fine for ears of about fifty euros. You often notice that the bass sound is unnecessarily pumped up to drown out the shortcomings, or you have a tinny sound. Of course, compared to Bose or Sennheiser earphones, the sound is a bit tinny and shrillier and the bass sound is also slightly increased with these earphones. But compared to its prize mates, the sound is crystal clear and balanced. I can still hear a lot of detail in the high and mid sound segments.
The ears do not have noise cancellation. But because they (in my case) closed off the auditory canal well, I noticed relatively little ambient noise. The ambient noise does affect the microphone. Phone calls were a bit difficult because I was difficult to understand.
Battery life
The PistonBuds last approximately 3.5 hours on a full battery charge. That is acceptable, but a bit on the short side. Especially when you take into account that there is no noise cancellation, which usually takes up a lot of battery capacity.
To charge the earphones, place them in the portable charging box, which has enough capacity to charge the PistonBuds about seven times. The box simply charges via a USB-C cable (included). Things like wireless charging or fast charging are not available. Which is not surprising in this price range, it is not a huge loss because the charging box has enough capacity to charge the PistonBuds often.
PistonBuds in practice
The earphones have touch control, on paper then. In practice, it will not help you much. By tapping you can pause or play the music. But other options, such as volume control or playing a next or previous song. That is not possible. There is also an app available, but you can do very little here, except update your earphones. Unfortunately, there is no equalizer or possibility to adjust the tap control.
Conclusion: Buy 1More PistonBuds?
I have tested the 1More PistonBuds with a lot of listening pleasure, those looking for good no-nonsense in-ears have a very good option with these ears. In that respect, 1More is really putting itself on the map as the best supplier of earphones in lower price ranges. The wearing comfort is great and the sound quality is great for its price. The minuses are mainly in the extras, such as the somewhat mediocre microphone and the lack of wireless and fast charging. That is surmountable.
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