Page 2 - A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
Physically, the 1MORE ComfoBuds 2 True Wireless is a sleek pair of true wireless earphones. It has the same glossy plastic construction as the original, which results in picking up handling marks and fingerprints easily. Both the case and individual earbuds have this finish. These still have an Apple Airpods-like shape with its long stem that comes out of the base. Each side weighs 4.3g, which is slightly heavier than the original ones. You will notice that the body on the ComfoBuds 2 is thicker. This slightly larger body is due to the larger internal battery, as we will look at later on. Once again, these are pretty unobtrusive in its design and do not protrude out of your ears much when they are worn.
As for the controls, the 1MORE ComfoBuds 2 True Wireless use a touch interface that responds to a combination of double or triple taps on each side. The whole body is touch-sensitive, including the stem that leads down the ear. By default, a double tap on both sides is used to play or pause music. Triple tapping brings up the assistant on your connected phone, whether it is Google Assistant or Apple Siri. However, this can be changed in the 1MORE MUSIC mobile application. When you are receiving a call, a double tap on either side will pick up the call or hang it up if you are in an ongoing call. Otherwise, the touch controls worked similarly to the original one, which is effective. There were some times where a false click would be registered, but I still prefer a touch interface over a physical button.
Another upgrade from the original is the fact the 1MORE ComfoBuds 2 True Wireless use Bluetooth 5.2 to connect to devices. The latest revision of Bluetooth should support low energy audio, which may help with increased battery life among other changes. Supported codecs of the ComfoBuds 2 True Wireless include SBC and AAC. SBC, or Subband Coding, is the default Bluetooth audio codec with decent audio quality and low processing power requirements. This codec maxes out at 328 kbps. AAC, or Advanced Audio Coding, is preferred by Apple's devices and maxes out at 250 kbps. Despite having a lower maximum bitrate, AAC is still known to offer better sound quality. We do not have Qualcomm's aptX codec implemented here, which offers even higher bitrates.
Taking a closer look at the 1MORE ComfoBuds 2 True Wireless, you can see we have the same earbud-like speaker with a rubber tip surrounding it. The intent is for these to create a bit of a seal compared to traditional earbuds, but they still do not offer the same amount of isolation as ear tip models might. One thing that is changed is the fact 1MORE has allowed these rubber tips to be swapped out with a larger set included in the box. Removing and installing different tips are pretty straightforward. Moving on, you can still see the drivers are directed into your ear. Each side has a 13.4mm driver inside. I was unable to determine their frequency response range, although we do know each one has 28Ω of impedance. Moving on, these earphones have an ingress protection rating of IPX5, which translates into "protection from water projected from a nozzle". As such, these should be protected from sweat or rain, making them great for athletic use on-the-go, whether indoors or outdoors.
On each side of the 1MORE ComfoBuds 2 True Wireless are two pogo pin pads to charge the set. Each side is marked with L or R to show the intended side for the ear. There is a small circular pad near the drivers and this is used to detect if users have the earbuds in their ears or not. When they are removed from your ear, you will notice your music will pause until you put them back in your ear. This automatic play and pause can be disabled in the app if you like, but I appreciate seeing this feature. Around each side of the true wireless earphones, we have two microphones for a total of four. The intention is to ensure the environmental noises like wind or traffic noises are suppressed while your voice remains clear when you are in a phone call. We will see how the microphone performs later on in our review.
Looking at the carrying case, the 1MORE ComfoBuds 2 True Wireless come in a very slightly larger enclosure. This clamshell case doubles as a charging place for the headphones. When closed, it measures 68.8mm in length, 30mm in width, and 26.4mm in height. Even with its miniscule increase in height, this round tube case still slips easily into your pockets. Its 26.9g body will also mean you can throw it in your bag and forget about it. The shell top is held closed with magnets. On the front, there is a single multi-color light to display the battery life. This turns on when you open the case or plug it in for charging. The light is green when you are near full battery, yellow at half, and red when it is low. On the back, a USB Type-C port is here to charge the case.
The 1MORE ComfoBuds 2 True Wireless have lithium polymer batteries on each side and in the clamshell case. Each ear has an increased 43mAh battery, while the case carries an additional 410mAh battery. As such, we see an increased battery life of 6 hours of playback, combined with an additional 18 hours from the case for a total 24 hours from a fully charged case and headphones. This battery life rating is notably increased, making it much more acceptable than the original ComfoBuds, while still keeping the overall body light. Most phones, whether running Android or iOS, will report the battery life in the operating system, so you can rely on that or the mobile app to figure out how much juice is left.
For pairing, the 1MORE ComfoBuds 2 True Wireless can be connected with a button found inside the carrying case. Both sides must be plugged into the case initially before you press the button. Once connected, the ComfoBuds 2 will connect to the last paired mobile device. Once again, 1MORE has implemented a quick pairing process, which is both seamless and fast.
The 1MORE MUSIC application is available on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store for you to download to your mobile device. On the main page, the app reports your battery life for each ear. It offers a basic amount of customization to let you modify the automatic play and pause functionality as well as the tap actions. This lets you reassign the actions to change the volume or activate your voice assistant. Furthermore, you can also update the firmware for the earbuds, though ours came with the latest firmware already installed.
Three additional features are now found when using the ComfoBuds 2 with the app, which include a gaming mode to reduce latency between the earphones and your device, equalizer settings, and soothing sounds. Going into the equalizer settings, you can see 1MORE has included several presets, but there is no way to make a custom equalizer. The Soothing Sounds area is the same as what we saw with the 1MORE ComfoBuds Z True Wireless, allowing users to listen to ambient sounds for sleeping purposes. However, you cannot set a sleep timer for how long it plays for. There were still some quirks with the app, including the fact it needed location permissions for some reason. It also still drains my battery life on my phone, even when the application is not running in the foreground. This again meant I ended up uninstalling the 1MORE MUSIC app after making any configuration changes for the sake of my device.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
