New Products

China-based headphone specialist 1More is taking on Apple’s AirPods Pro with its new Aero wireless earbuds, which offer active noise cancellation (ANC), up to 5 hours of playback from a single charge with ANC turned on, and dynamic head-tracking for an improved “spatial audio” experience — all for $110, less than half of what the new AirPods Pro sell for ($249).

The earbuds use an updated version of 1More’s QuietMax adaptive ANC, said to reduce intrusive noise by up to 42dB between 40Hz and 4,000Hz — a wider frequency range than was possible in its previous headphones. In addition, listeners can select one of five noise-cancellation modes, one of which detects ambient noise in real time and applies the “right level” of noise cancellation. There’s also a “wind noise resistant” mode to help reduce microphone interference on windy days and a transparency mode that lets the listener hear what’s going on in the surrounding environment without having to remove the earbuds.

The Aero has a built-in gyroscope that detects the listener’s head movements in real-time to create the illusion of sound coming from the space around the listener. The earbuds also use artificial intelligence to deliver a more robust and detailed listening experience at low volumes.

As is the case with many 1More headphones, the Aero is tuned and balanced by Grammy award-winning sound engineer Luca Bignardi to ensure a “well-rounded but natural sounding headphone.” Sound is delivered through a pair of 10mm (0.4-inch) drivers featuring “diamond-like-carbon diaphragms” and the 1More Music App provides a user-adjustable EQ that also offers 12 presets for quickly adjusting the equalization for different genres of music

Rated battery life is 5 hours with ANC on, 7 hours with it off, extendable to an additional 20 or 28 hours, respectively, when the charging case is fully charged. A 15-minute quick-charge feature is said to provide up to 3 hours of playtime and the Aero supports Qi wireless charging.

Listeners can connect two devices simultaneously to the Aero and switch between them. Small, medium, large, and extra-large silicone eartips are provided along with a USB charging cable.

Can Aero compete with Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro earbuds? In terms of price, the answer is an unequivocal yes. As for performance, our past experiences with 1More have been largely positive but we’ll have to hear them to see how they stack up.

1More is offering a $20 discount through November 18 on Amazon and its own website, usa.1more.com.