Page 2 - A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
On the surface, the 1MORE ComfoBuds True Wireless are a sleek pair of true wireless earphones. Its glossy hard-plastic construction is strong enough for something this compact, although the surface picks up handling marks easily. This is unfortunate, as the carrying case also uses the same glossy finish. The body is similar to the Apple AirPods in the sense they have a longer stem at the base. When I was wearing them, I once mistook the 1MORE ComfoBuds True Wireless for my sideburns, which probably more indicated the fact I needed a haircut at the time. As a whole, the two earphones weigh approximately 3.8g per side, which make them very light. In addition, because the body extends out and downward, the part that is inside your ear feels pretty small. Overall, I was impressed with how unobtrusive these ComfoBuds felt despite their stems.
When it comes to controls, the 1MORE ComfoBuds True Wireless utilize a touch interface with a combination of double or triple taps on each side. The whole body is touch-sensitive and reacts to the combination of taps. By default, a double tap on both sides is used to play or pause music. Meanwhile, triple tapping the left side goes to the previous track, while triple tapping the right side goes to the next track. These can also be used to accept and hang-up calls. If you use the 1MORE mobile app, you can also change these actions, but I will go over these later in our review. Otherwise, these touch controls worked generally well. When I first unboxed the ComfoBuds, I noticed the touch controls were a bit insensitive, but to 1MORE's credit, this was addressed with a firmware update. Afterwards, I did notice a few times the touch controls would activate when I was adjusting the earbuds in my ears, but I do still prefer this to a physical button. Some more fine tuning could be helpful, but it was overall quite easy to use.
Internally, the 1MORE ComfoBuds True Wireless use Bluetooth 5.0 to connect to devices, which is typical for most true wireless earphones. Supported codecs of the ComfoBuds 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 their iPhones, 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 however, which offers even higher bitrates.
Taking a closer look at the 1MORE ComfoBuds True Wireless, you can see another reason they reminded me of the AirPods, which is due to their shape. Rather than using an in-ear like plug with rubber tips, we have a more earbud-like speaker with a rubber tip surrounding it. While it is intended to provide a bit more of a seal than traditional earbuds, it is clear these do not offer the same amount of isolation. The drivers are still 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 speaker has 30 ohms of impedance. Otherwise, the rubber rims around each side are permanently fixed onto the ComfoBuds. 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. However, I probably would not recommend swimming with these.
On each side of the 1MORE ComfoBuds True Wireless are two pogo pin pads to charge the set. Each side is marked with L or R letters 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 the ComfoBuds back in your ear. This automatic play and pause can be disabled in the app if you like, but I appreciate seeing this feature here. 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.
The carrying case was honestly impressive when I first opened the 1MORE ComfoBuds True Wireless because of its petite size. This plastic case doubles as a charging place for the headphones. When it is closed, it measures 68.7mm in length, 30mm in width, and 25mm in height. This rounded tube is easy to hold in your hands and even easier to slip inside your pockets. With a weight of just under 29g, it is also a light case to throw into your bag and forget about it. As you can see, the case opens up like a clam and stays closed with magnets. On the front, there is a single multi-color LED to indicate the battery life. This turns on when you open up the case or when you have it plugged in. The light emits a green hue when you have near full battery, yellow when you have half, and red when it is low. On the back, we have a USB Type-C input for charging purposes.
As these are truly wireless, the 1MORE ComfoBuds have lithium polymer batteries in each side and in the case. Each ear has a 35mAh battery, while the case carries an additional 410mAh. Unfortunately, to keep the ComfoBuds True Wireless slim and light, I expected some sort of compromise, which is realized in the battery life. 1MORE states they were able to get around 4 hours of playback combined with 14 more hours for a total of 18 hours of a fully charged case and headphones. This is rather short, but I can understand this compromise to keep the 1MORE ComfoBuds True Wireless light. When you do run low on energy, the earphones will ring a tone to indicate the low battery life. In addition, my phone reported the battery life of the earphones in the menu.
In terms of pairing, this is another impressive point for the 1MORE ComfoBuds. This starts with a button found inside the carrying case. For initial pairing, both sides must be plugged into the case and you can press the button. Once your phone finds the ComfoBuds and connects, the earphones will always remember the mobile device. Afterwards, every time you open the case, the 1MORE ComfoBuds will automatically connect to the last device. This was one of the fastest pairing that I have tested and it felt seamless. While this is probably meant to imitate the Apple AirPods in their fast pairing, I am quite impressed nonetheless.
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 was a bit of a longer process than I would have liked. There were a few annoyances with the app, including the fact it needed location permissions for some reason. In addition, every time I opened the app, it would go through the quick start guide for pairing and using the ComfoBuds True Wireless, which seemed unnecessary. There is also no way to make equalizer changes. Finally, I noticed my phone battery drained faster with the app installed, as 1MORE MUSIC continued to run in the background. I did not end up using the app for much longer after my initial setting up, primarily because of the battery drain.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
