These $55 headphones lasted me days before needing to be charged, and they’re full of comfort

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The 1More’s SonoFlow SE headphones supply a no-frills listening expertise, specializing in nice sound, consolation, and battery life.
• At $55, the SonoFlow SE headphones have a 70-hour marathon battery, delivering all-day listening for a small value.
• You will not get any high quality noise-canceling tech, and the bodily button controls might not be best for some.

A good pair of headphones can value you lots of of {dollars} if you need deluxe options, similar to supreme noise cancellation, fancy audio modes, long-lasting battery life, and extra. And let’s be sincere — many individuals aren’t prepared to spend that a lot cash on one piece of tech that they solely use a couple of hours a day.

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1More’s newest launch provides to its over-ear headphones line with the 1More SonoFlow SE headphones. The SonoFlow SE differs from its predecessor, the 1More SonoFlowin a couple of methods, slicing again on audio high quality, noise-canceling, and different stylistic options in lieu of affordability.

So, are you able to discover a good pair of headphones for lower than $60? I feel you’ll be able to, however you must mood your expectations. This is how the Sonoflow SE fared throughout two weeks of testing.

The Sonoflow SE’s sound high quality is nice, however its power is dependent upon your listening quantity. For instance, once I listened to Sampha’s Suspended at a low quantity whereas using on the subway, the sound got here out tinny and hole.

The extra delicate notes of the music did not totally ship on low-to-medium quantity, because the decrease frequencies of the music failed to face out. Nonetheless, you do get stunning and strong sound at larger quantity ranges, due to the 40mm dynamic driver contained in the ear cups. Whereas listening to Sampha’s Solely at the next quantity, the complexities of the artist’s voice got here by way of stronger, the bass grew to become extra profound, and the background vocals and instrumentals shimmered.

I attempted out the headphones in numerous environments, from quiet workplace areas and break rooms to loud subway vehicles, and I discovered the energetic noise cancellation (ANC) not as efficient in noisy environments.

On the subway, the place you’d ideally need the clanging noise of equipment to be muffled, I may hear practically each sound outdoors of my headphones with noise cancellation on, and twiddling with the ANC button produced negligible outcomes.

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The Sonoflow SE headphones are light-weight and really snug, however their construct high quality is much less sturdy than your dearer choices. I wore these headphones for a whole workday, freed from any head, neck, or ear pressure.

At over 70 hours of playback, the battery life is long-lasting, and if you could replenish your depleted battery, 5 minutes of charging gives 5 hours of playback. Whenever you flip the headphones on, a voice will announce the headphones’ battery standing, which is useful in case you do not need to entry the app for battery life stats. I wore these headphones on the workplace, and it took a couple of lengthy workdays earlier than I bought the battery all the way down to 50%.

The button controls to show the headphones on or off are finicky, as they’re all located proper subsequent to one another. As an alternative of a button for pausing and enjoying audio, you need to press the ability button, which took me a while to get used to.

I discovered you need to press the ability button for 3 seconds to show the headphones on and as much as six seconds to show them off. I’ve typically by accident stored the headphones powered on longer than I needed due to this counterintuitive function, successfully draining the battery.

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I voice-recorded myself to check out the microphone capabilities. After I performed the recording again, I sounded a smidge muffled and metallic. I would not advocate these headphones in case you’re planning to participate in lots of voice calls or Zoom conferences. However for pure consolation and music-listening functions at an ideal value, the SonoFlow SE headphones work effectively.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

The 1More Sonoflow SE headphones are the reply for anybody in search of an honest pair of reasonably priced headphones. In the event you’re in search of a pair of uber-budget-friendly headphones that promise nice sound and lengthy battery life, the 1More Sonoflow SE headphones are for you. However keep in mind, for $55, you are getting what you pay for, plus just a little extra in some classes.

If you would like robust noise-canceling options for an reasonably priced value, these will not minimize it. The noise cancellation does not ship, they usually’ll depart you vulnerable to interruptions in noisy environments. I can see these headphones being an ideal workplace companion if you don’t need your costly headphones to depart the home.

However if you need a pair of snug headphones that may final you a few days earlier than even considering of recharging, the SonoFlow SE headphones are worthy of your consideration.