Page 2 - A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
Unsurprisingly, the 1MORE ComfoBuds Mini True Wireless are indeed the smallest pair of earphones from 1MORE we have reviewed, with an even slightly smaller body than the already compact ComfoBuds Z. They come to us in the Mica White color, but other available colors include Obsidian Black and Cinnabar Red. Thankfully, we have a matte finish on both the body of the case and the earphones, which should resist handling marks and fingerprints better than a glossy finish. The smaller size is a departure from the typical Apple AirPods-like shape we have seen on the ComfoBuds. Each side weighs 3.7g, which is also lighter. Overall, these are pretty unobtrusive in design as they barely protrude out the side of my ears when they are worn. In fact, these are the first pair of true wireless that I can lie down on my side without feeling them jab into my ears, which is a big plus for those who sleep with earphones in their ears.
As for the controls, the 1MORE ComfoBuds Mini True Wireless use a touch interface that responds to a combination of long presses, double, and triple taps. The whole outer area is touch sensitive. By default, a double tap on both sides is used to play or pause music. Triple tapping brings up the native assistant on your connected device. These actions can also 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. Long pressing also lets you cycle between the noise cancellation modes, which are On, Transparent, and Off. Once again, these can also be changed in the aforementioned app. Otherwise, the touch controls worked effectively.
Internally, the 1MORE ComfoBuds Mini True Wireless use Bluetooth 5.2 to connect to devices. The latest revision of Bluetooth supports low energy audio, which may help with increased battery life among other changes. Supported codecs of the ComfoBuds Mini 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. Unfortunately, we do not have support for Qualcomm's aptX or Sony's LDAC codecs here for lower latency or higher bitrates.
Upon closer examination, you can see the 1MORE ComfoBuds Mini True Wireless are bean-like in shape, but have a similar rubber ear tip that surrounds the grille. As mentioned, three more tips are included an XS, S, and L to accompany the medium-sized tips on the earphones. Swapping out these eartips are pretty straightforward. Moving on, you can see the grille that shields the drivers inside. Each side has a 7mm dynamic driver with a graphene diaphragm. It also has a 34Ω impedance rating.
The whole set of earphones have an ingress protection rating of IPX5, which translates to "protection from water projected from a nozzle". As such, these should be safe from sweat or rain, making them great for use on-the-go regardless of the weather conditions.
Each side also has two pogo pin pads to charge the set. They also have small markings of L and R to indicate which side is for which ear. A small black pad can be found in between the two pogo pin pads. This is used to detect if users have the earbuds in their ears or not. When removed, the 1MORE ComfoBuds Mini True Wireless will automatically pause your music until they are put back in your ears. You can also disable this automatic play and pause if you like. There are several holes around for a total of two microphones on each side. This is to help with reducing the pickup of environmental noises like wind or traffic while ensuring your voice is also clearly captured when you are in a phone call. We will see how the microphone performs later in our review.
The carrying case of the 1MORE ComfoBuds Mini True Wireless doubles as a charging dock for your earphones, which is expected. It is round and compact, with measurements of 56.5mm in length, 50mm in width, and 24.5mm in thickness when closed. This should easily fit in your pockets. Its 34.9g weight is also light so users should not notice it in their bags. The shell top opens and closes nicely with integrated magnets snapping the cover closed. On the front there is a single multi-color LED 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 or at full battery, yellow at half, and red when it is low. On the bottom we have a USB Type-C port to charge the case. It can also be charged wirelessly, as it is compatible with Qi-compatible chargers, which is great to see.
The 1MORE ComfoBuds Mini True Wireless have lithium polymer batteries on each side and in the clamshell case. Each ear has a 34mAh battery, while the case carries an additional 440mAh battery. According to 1MORE, we should have a battery life of 6 hours of playback, with an additional 18 hours from the case for a total of 24 hours from a fully charged case and headphones. If you are using this with ANC active, the battery life reduces to 5 hours of playback and a total of 20 hours from a full charge. These numbers are still quite impressive considering the small size of the earphones and case. 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 Mini True Wireless can be connected with a button found on the outside of the carrying case. Both sides must be plugged into the case initially before you press the button. Once connected, the ComfoBuds Mini will connect to the last paired mobile device whenever it is removed from the carrying case. Once again, we have 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, which is something I did prior to any testing.
One new thing that is included here is the integration with SoundID. This runs through a series of questions to help identify your preferred equalizer settings. This is pretty user friendly compared to a set of sliders. Unfortunately, there is no way to make a custom equalizer, even if you are knowledgeable as to what you want. Otherwise, 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. 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
