1MORE ComfoBuds Pro Review: $95 AirPods Pro Killers?

1MORE claimed that these US$95 earbuds are “AirPods Pro” killers. But are they? The 1MORE ComfoBuds Pro has a weird name, but hey, a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, right?

These earbuds come in a pill-shaped sort of carrying case, and we have the black version, although it looks more like gunmetal grey. Regardless, I like the matte finish on the case, I like that even though the earbuds are kinda glossy, fingerprints aren’t too obvious, and I absolutely love the tiny red accent on the outer microphone. It’s a very 1MORE design aesthetic; I previously reviewed the 1MORE True Wireless ANC earbuds and they had the same look too, which is pretty nice, continuity-wise. 

There’s a USB-C charging port on the rear and inside you get your earbuds along with a button to trigger pairing mode. The earbuds are those stemmed ones, but instead of a straight stem, these taper to a point; it might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but it does provide a refreshing change to the AirPods and AirPods lookalikes everywhere.

At the bottom of each stem, there’s an LED light that flashes when the earbuds are in pairing mode or charging. Don’t worry, they stop flashing once you put them in your ears.

There’s also touch controls, which are just okay in my experience. Sure, they’re responsive, but 1MORE removed the single tap feature, which can be a plus for some people. Other than that, there’s also very limited customisation when it comes to what you can choose for the tap and hold, double tap and triple tap functions.

So, these are aptly named because they really are comfortable. There are a few sizes of ear tips in the box, but medium worked fine for me, and they just sit really nicely in the ear. There’s no wearing fatigue even after a few hours, and they’re light enough that if you’re really engrossed in work or something, you might just forget they’re there.

But how do these sound? For something that costs under US$100, or S$159, I think they sound really good. You get a very pleasant sound that has just the right mix of bass, a slightly recessed midrange and treble that is well tamed as long as you don’t push the volume too high. If you go past 70% or so, you might notice a bit of harshness start to creep in, but with the ANC in these, you rarely need that loud a volume.

Oh yeah, there’s also ANC in these! There’s a few modes, strong, mild, transparency, off and wind noise reduction. I mainly left these on strong ANC, and the noise reduction… Well, it’s really not too bad. Some noises were still present, but overall, it felt like there was distance between myself and the noise, so I’ll give these a passing grade. Wind noise reduction is great though, and I tested them on a super windy day. Really excellent, and if you’re looking to use these while running or cycling or whatever, turn on the wind noise reduction mode, you’ll be glad. 

There’s also IPX4 water resistance, so yeah, sweat won’t be a problem with these. Battery life on these are pretty decent too, with about six hours on a single charge, and 20 hours total with the charging case.

Some downsides though; firstly, there’s no wireless charging. Yeah I know, it’s not fair to expect a pair of $95 earbuds to include it, but I have to just put it out there. Secondly, as I mentioned before, the limited customisation on the touch controls? Not great.

Third, the ComfoBuds Pro uses an odd method of switching between ANC modes. I have mine set to Strong and Transparency, but for some reason, there’s no way for me to go directly from Strong to Transparency without first going through the Off setting. It’s a bit annoying, but hey, I’ll cut it some slack.

These really are a good pair of earbuds if you’re looking for something affordable. Are they better than the AirPods Pro? Not really. The AirPods Pro still have much better functionality when paired with other Apple devices, and the overall experience with those are better too. But keep in mind, the ComfoBuds Pro are less than half the price of the AirPods Pro, and they offer serviceable ANC, a pretty decent sound and better battery life. I always say that you get what you pay for, but in this case, you’re getting a little bit more than what you’re paying for.

---

Content by Cheryl Tan