Subjective Audio Analysis
Testing audio products by ear is a difficult task. There are subjective parts to testing by ear, which unfortunately cannot be eliminated. My taste or preference will bleed into the results. However, taking the time and putting the 1MORE Fit SE Open Earbuds S30 through its pace will hopefully eliminate, or at the very least, reduce as much of the subjectivity possible. There is extremely expensive equipment attempting to come to some sort of objective measurement, but it is still a challenge, since every person will pick up a pair of headphones and experience it slightly differently. With that in mind, I will do my best to provide an objective measurement through extensive tests and with a good understanding of my reference pair of headphones. I am testing the 1MORE Fit SE Open Earbuds S30 primarily as wireless headphones connecting via Bluetooth to my phone or laptop, as they are marketed as Bluetooth earbuds, so they will be tested as such.
As we have mentioned in my past audio reviews, there are really no true objective measurements for speaker sound quality. As the reviewer, however, I will put it through a series of subjective tests to try to come up with the most objective rating possible. Yes, it is quite a paradox haha. Tests were conducted primarily wirelessly via Bluetooth 5.3 with a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which has support for both AAC and aptX. After over 50 hours of break-in time -- well above the typically required period -- we put the 1MORE Fit SE Open Earbuds S30 to the tests. All tracks were uncompressed or high bitrate files.
Starting with the lower frequencies, the 1MORE Fit SE Open Earbuds S30 did not offer the strongest sounding bass. This was not surprising due to the nature of open earbuds. I noticed some bass boost in the middle to upper bass range when listening to bass-heavy genres particularly. The bass generally a solid and punchy sound to it. Diving deeper though, the drum kicks and bass guitar riffs were lighter and hollower. The sound also begins to sound boomy when the volume is turned up all the way.
With the midrange, the 1MORE Fit SE Open Earbuds S30 performed very similarly to the Fit Open Earbuds S50, which is to say there was a bit of a drop where one would expect to hear the vocals of a song within this range. Instruments like acoustic guitars and pianos sounded clear and rich. Voices had the same recessed issue with these earbuds, lacking a full range on songs with lots of energy. Like the S50 earbuds, the midrange was strongest in the middle region, with the bottom and the upper end lacking in definition.
Moving to the highest end of the frequency spectrum, the 1MORE Fit SE Open Earbuds S30 presented us with some potential. The S30 earbuds produced clean and bright sounds until getting cut off at the peak ends when it came to pronounced instruments like pianos and violins. This was also true when listening to electric guitar solos, where the climaxes would not quite hit due to the limitations of the earbuds. Looking at the full frequency spectrum, the 1MORE Fit SE Open Earbuds S30 forms an interesting, inverted W-shaped sound signature, which makes for an odd listening experience.
In terms of soundstaging, the 1MORE Fit SE Open Earbuds S30 provided advantages that closed design earbuds could not, that being better width and depth. The sound was actually provided a better auditory image than the 1MORE Fit Open Earbuds S50 due to the lack of earbud tips. When using these earbuds to listen to live performances, the tracks felt more open as if I were actually there thanks to the open design. The image created by these earbuds when listening to these live performances was clear and painted a full picture.
The 1MORE Fit SE Open Earbuds S30 did a fairly good job with layering and frequency separation. The frequency separation was also acceptable, with every frequency level containing distinct detail. The sound coming from the vocalists, instruments, and any electronic sounds were all very clean, especially when all played in parallel. There was no noticeable electronic distortion at maximum volume, which is always a good quality for earbuds to have. There was noise leakage, although this should be expected due to these being open earbuds. It should be noted that there is more noise leakage here than the 1MORE Fit Open Earbuds S50 due to the lack of earbud tips, which users may want to be cautious of if cranking the volume up in public areas.
Above are two sample microphone recordings using the 1MORE Fit SE Open Earbuds S30. The first one was recorded indoors, and the second one was recorded outdoors on a hot summer evening. These earphones performed well when it came to speaking, with my voice sounding very natural and clear. Some background noise was captured, specifically from a fan running due to the hot summer evening, but not enough to be distracting, which is a good attribute with this earbud set. These earphones will work just fine for phone calls and casual recordings both indoors and outdoors.
These earbuds proved more than sufficient when it came to battery life. It lasted 13 hours at 50% volume, which was beyond what was the advertised 10 hours per charge. With the carrying case, you get an additional two full charges from the case, making it so you will not have to worry about charging these earphones for long periods. The wireless range was also very strong. I received good audio quality for distances greater than 10m from the source without any noticeable drops. There was some slight latency when watching videos and playing games, but most users will likely not notice this.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
