An Affordable Way to Hear Everything

Open earbuds are more popular than ever, offering better awareness of your surroundings than standard earbuds. Early open models were unremarkable, but if the 1MORE S70 earbuds are any indicator, they’re rapidly advancing in terms of both sound and comfort.

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1MORE S70

$100 $130 Save $30

The 1MORE S70 Open Earbuds offer clear sound and an unobstructed open design, plus up to 40 hours of battery life.

Pros

• Comfortable enough you?ll forget your wearing them
• Clear transparent sound with surprisingly powerful bass
• Transparent lid on the case is functional and nice looking
• Microphone blocks noise well

Cons

• Comfort starts to fade slightly after multiple hours
• Touch controls are easy to accidentally activate

Price and Availability

The 1MORE S70 are available via the 1MORE website at $129 MSRP, though you can find them on sale at other retailers for less.

1MORE sells several different models of open-ear earbuds, though the S70s are the current flagship option. For color, you can choose between white and black finishes. I tested the white model for this review.

Striking Design and an Easy Fit

If you’ve seen one set of open earbuds, you have a pretty good idea of what they all look like. The S70 earbuds don’t look dramatically different from most of their counterparts, but that doesn’t mean they’re plain looking.

Both colorways look great, with the black model being slightly more understated than the white model I reviewed. The charging case, often an afterthought with many earbuds, received special attention, with a sleek design and transparent lid that helps it stand out.

While the look is nice, the feel of these headphones is what’s truly impressive. Or, rather, the lack of feel. Finding a fit with open earbuds can be tricky, and maybe I lucked out, but the 1MORE S70 fit me so well I regularly forgot I was wearing them.

During testing, I’d stop playback but keep wearing the headphones, only to later play a YouTube video and react with surprise when the sound came out of my ears rather than my phone a few feet away. Granted, after wearing the earbuds for a few hours, they’d become noticeable. Still, I’ve never had a set of open earbuds simply “disappear” the way these did.

Clear Sound and an Impressive Microphone

I was somewhat surprised to see that the 1MORE S70 only support the basic SBC and AAC audio codecs. Other products from the company like the SonoFlow headphones have supported options like Sony’s LDAC codec in the past, so it’s surprising not to see any similar support here.

The good news is that these offer some of the best sound quality I’ve heard in open earbuds, regardless of price. Early open models suffered from a lack of bass, and that isn’t an issue here. Overall, the earbuds present a clear picture of the audio on the default Studio EQ preset.

“It’s Expected I’m Gone” by the Minutemen is already a clear and wide open sounding song, and the S70 earbuds lean right into that aspect. When frontman D. Boone started speak-singing the verse near the beginning of the song, it sounded almost like he was in the room shouting at me.

The moody keys that open “Tout de Suite” my Miles Davis floated lazily off to my left, adding a sense of space I rarely encounter in earbuds, even open ones. You won’t confuse these for a high-end set of open-back headphones, but the S70 do a lot with this form factor.

One downside of the headphones is the maximum volume is on the low side. I had zero issues finding a comfortable, secure fit with the S70 and, even then, I often had to crank the volume past the 70% mark. If you can’t find a great fit, you’ll likely have to turn them up more.

Fortunately it’s mostly upsides, including the microphone array: two microphones in each earbud. These work in combination with the built-in intelligent noise reduction for clearer call quality, and it’s impressive in action.

In the outdoor sample of the microphone audio, I mention the “quiet” road I’m standing next two. This was sarcasm, since a loud vehicle was passing as I recorded the sample, but it’s barely audible on the recording.

Handy Software, Less Handy Controls

The 1MORE S70 use touch-based controls, which are as fiddly and tough to use here as they are on any other product. Thankfully, if you aren’t a fan, you can disable the touch controls.

For this, as well as controlling several other key features of the S70, you’ll want to download the 1MORE app, available for iPhone and Android devices.

The app lets you customize or disable the touch controls, update the firmware, and enable experimental features. In this case, the lone experimental feature available was multipoint Bluetooth.

You’ll also turn to the app for all your EQ needs. In contrast to the usual presets and custom EQ option, here you’re limited to just six EQ presets. The presets cover the bases well enough, but it would be nice if a future firmware update added a custom EQ option.

Plenty of Battery Life, With More in the Case

One of the main downsides of open earbuds when compared with their in-ear counterparts is that they’re large. On the other hand, this larger size has an advantage: more room for batteries.

The 1MORE S70 feature solid battery life, even when compared to other open earbuds. You’ll get up to 12 hours playback time on a single charge, with the charging case providing more than two full recharges, making for a max of around 40 hours of battery life.

You won’t have to wait long before you get back to your music either. Pop the earbuds in the case for five minutes and you’ll get up to two hours of playback time.

When it comes time to recharge, unfortunately, you’ll need to reach for a USB-C cable, as the S70 case doesn’t support wireless charging. Given the price these sell for, this is understandable, but it’s still a feature I found myself missing.

Should You Buy the 1MORE S70?

1MORE has built a reputation of reliably delivering solid audio products at surprisingly low prices, so I can’t say I’m shocked by how much I liked the 1MORE S70. The sound quality didn’t come as much of a surprise, but the comfort and sheer ability to forget I was even wearing the earbuds remained impressive throughout my time testing the S70.

My minor complaints read like a list of standard complaints that could apply to earbuds of any sort: I’d like to see wireless charging, but understand why it isn’t here, for example. The capacitive touch controls are fiddly and unresponsive, but this is the case for nearly every product with these controls.

The S70 sit at the top of 1MORE’s current range of open earbuds, but still sell for a price that would be mid-tier for most other brands. If you’re on the fence about trying open earbuds but want to make sure you start with a set worth keeping, the 1MORE S70 earbuds would be a great pick.

Your changes have been saved

1MORE S70

$100 $130 Save $30

The 1MORE S70 Open Earbuds offer clear sound and an unobstructed open design, plus up to 40 hours of battery life.