1MORE iBFree Bluetooth In-Ear Headphones

About Me
Like most people, I am an avid fan of music ranging from my all-time favorite Metallica to 2Pac to Mozart, YoYo Ma and a lot in between (sorry country but heck no).  I have what doctors would call a compulsive disorder for headphones as I can never seem to stop buying and trying. I am not an audiophile, but I have a worthy quest to find the best headphone / earphone for my tastes and I like to test new gear… a lot. I rely on my ears, and my listening pleasure to determine review scores. I just hope to help other people find nice devices that will suit their taste and their budget.   
 
As my ocd of headphones is expensive I tend to hover around the $200 or less range of headphones, sorry fancy schmancy headphone connoisseurs.  Also I prefer Bluetooth as I am on the go a lot and don’t like cables (que the diss sesh of poor BT quality headphones). Enjoy!
 
Tech Specs for us nerds
·      Drivers : Dynamic, Not stated
·      Rated Impedance : 25 Ω
·      Frequency Range : 20 Hz ~ 20 kHz
·      Sensitivity : 105 dB @ 1 mW
·      Expected Battery: 8 hrs
·      Bluetooth Version: 4.1
·      Codecs: APT-X, AAC
·      Weight: 14g
 
Accessories
·      3 sets Silicone Ear Tips and sports grips (fins) (S M L)
·      1 Micro USB Charging Cable
 
Build Quality
Housings:  The housings are large.  The actual speaker is curved for a better fit, but overall these stick out of your ear quite a bit. The build material is all aluminum making them seem sturdy and well made. 
 
Cable:  The cable is a round, mid-size wire with pretty robust strain reliefs at the earbuds.  The cable is heavier duty than most I have seen and should hold up over time.
 
Functionality/Pairing/Range
 
Pairing for most BT is the same so I will only call out if there are issues.
The iBfree has a built in 3 button controller like just about all BT headsets.  Volume Up, Down, Power, Sync, Track Skip. 
 
Using my OnePlus 3 all buttons worked without issue.
The signal was strong and I was able to walk about 30 ft away before skips in connection.  The best of those I have tried so far.
 
 
Comfort
I will be honest; I don’t like silicone tips.  Once you go Comply, you don’t go back.  So I always buy the correct comply tips to go with my set.  In this case I ordered the 200 series and prefer the comfort line. 
 
Even with these tips my ears become fatigued after a while due to the size of the housing.  I do appreciate the fins that keep them in place, but dang these are big buds.   
 
Now for the overall comfort.  Once you get them in place they are pretty good. The fins hold them in place during movement and the comply tips provide grip and isolation for my ear canal.  Now these are very recessed and don’t go too far into my ear; which I have mixed feeling about as these don’t sound that great.  Normally with comply and a semi-deep fit I get great sound from other buds.   
 
Sound Review
I always test with the same devices and song list:
 
Devices:  OnePlus 3 & Macbook Pro
Songs (don’t judge me):
 
Eagles – Hotel California [Hell Freezes Over Live Edition]
Metallica – No Leaf Clover or Fade to Black
Big Tymers – Still Fly
Jethro Tull – Locomotive Brass
Enya – Oronico Flow
 
The iBfree are quite harsh out of the box on my Macbook.  On my OnePlus I installed the 1More app and was able to adjust the EQ to sound way better.   
 
For out of the box, non-EQ these aren’t that good sounding.  During Fade to Black the symbols are over pronounced and sounded harsh and made me cringe a bit.  The vocals sounded good and clear, but the bass was recessed.  When I played the same track with EQ they sounded great, smoothed out symbols and moderate bass.  With EQ turned out to be a pretty good sound using the “Rock” setting. 
 
Again without EQ Still Fly sounded very weak in the bass department and overall unpleasurable, but with EQ was nice and flat with bass and rounded highs.
 
Comparisons
1More iBfree vs E10BT
 
Same price for both of these.  Out of the box very different sound signature.  1More focuses on highs and detail and Soundmagic focuses on smooth overall sound.  Once you add in EQ they become closer with the E10BT being more sculpted and clean, while iBfree sounding more natural and light. Because iBfree are so big and aren’t as nice sounding I would go with the E10BT.
 
1More iBfree vs Brainwavz BLU-Delta
 
Again these are similar price.  The iBfree’s have a much harsher high end and less bass.  They actually are a bit piercing right out of the box.  I installed the EQ app by 1More and this really improved the sound.  Also they recommend a burn-in for these.  So time will tell if sounds improve.  Overall the BLU-Delta sound was preferred.
 
Conclusion
I heard a lot of great things about 1More and specifically their trip driver buds, but these are not in the same league.  They are harsh and tinny out of the box and require a good amount of EQ to sound nice.  I can appreciate the customization and burn-in capability; but in the end I want to just connect and go and not fiddle with EQ. 
 
The fit was ok with comply tips and the fins, but these are so big that they fatigue my ears over time. 
 
I had high hopes 1More and think you can do better, who knows maybe when I burn them in the sound will match the Soundmagic, but I feels that’s wishful thinking.   

My first Bluetooth earphone review is from non other than 1More, a US/Chinese company that has been making waves in the earphone market with their very affordable and high quality designs.
 
1More  is an audio company headquartered in San Diego, California but probably has strong ties to China, which in my opinion is great because the Chinese personal audio market is hyper-competitive. I first heard of them a few years back when I had just started to get interested in the audiophile community and hobby, as the Xiaomi Pistons 2.0 in ear earphones was making waves in the budget segment and it turned out 1More was the company behind the production of that cheap wonder. They eventually decided to go off on their own to make their own products, and needless to say, with their great track record I only had high hopes for their newest earphones.

Since the launch of the iPhone 7 there's been a surge in wireless solutions for the 3.5mm jack-less smartphone, and 1More is probably also targeting this market. I haven't tried that many Bluetooth earphones before, but there were a few that were trying to target a budget segment while claiming quality that utterly failed.

1More hasn't let me down so far (check out the 1More Triple Driver review!) with their aggressive pricing yet ability to achieve amazing sound, so I was also interested to see what they could achieve with their first Bluetooth product.


 

 
Summary for the Lazy

Pros:
-Comfortable and well built, modern design
-Extremely ergonomic and snug fit
-Long lasting battery life
-Acceptable sound quality

Cons:
-Low amounts of bass impact; not for the bass lover
-Mids and highs are artificial sounding



 

 
Specs

Driver: Single dynamic driver
Charging Time: 2 hours
Standby Time: 240 hours
Talking Time: 10 hours
Music Play Time: 8 hours
Wireless Range: 10 m
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.1
Bluetooth Protocol: HFP / HSP / A2DP / AVRCP
Input: 5V 1A
Weight: 14 g
In-line Remote Control: Included
Color: Red/Black/Green/blue


 
 
Design, Comfort, & Connectivity

If there was one thing that stood out to me as a relative wireless earphone amateur, it would be the design and build quality of the iBFree. Aesthetically, it's not especially unique - it has a time tested cylindrical barrel design, but the finishing is nicely polished. The nozzle area is made out of a smooth matte plastic which transitions to a metallic material for the rest of the housing. In this case, we received the red coloured version of the iBFRee (it also comes in grey, turquoise, and lime!), stylishly interjected by bands of black due to the cable strain relief attachment point being black as well. From here, the colour shifts yet again back to a red for the cable. The volume, power control and mic is made out of a sturdy, smooth, high quality plastic that I could find no faults with. The cable is also very soft, matte and easy to manipulate.



Combined with the soft plastic "ear hooks" that come out from the nozzle and nestle snugly in the concha of the outer ear, and only weighing 14g, the iBFree might look quite hefty as the housing is on the large side and sticks out slightly, but in my testing it has been one of the most comfortable earphones I've worn. All of its edges are rounded, soft, and comfortable, and if the tips or ear hooks don't fit, it comes packaged with S, M, and L sizes. I tried swinging my head around quickly, jumped around, and tried to dislodge it and for the most part it stayed very secure in my ears. Very impressive.
 

 

 

 
Connectivity was as simple, painless. Simply hold down on the middle power button for around 3-4 seconds and it'll power up and automatically be visible to your mobile device for syncing. I also did not experience any disconnections. I used it with Skype for over an hour, walked around and went to the toilet while my phone was in my room, and the connection never faltered even once. The battery has so far been admirably long lasting as well. My initial tests in the first few days where I tested it on and off with phone calls and simple music playback, left it lying around before powering it down immediately still left it with ample amounts of battery, and I have no doubts that their specified battery life is anything less than listed.
 

 
Sound quality

Although my experience of it has mostly been positive due to its good ergonomic design and battery life, and I do think that the iBFree is a great budget wireless option, as a pretty serious audiophile I couldn't help but notice that the sound signature/tuning was just a bit askew.

My initial impression of its sound was over emphasized high end clarity. As dynamic drivers are usually decent at producing bass, and most budget options these days tend to emphasize bass strength, I was slightly taken aback by the huge amount of midrange and treble presence in the iBFree.



Bass impact, while not completely absent from the experience, was very light, and will leave EDM and bassheads wanting more - much more. It can eek out some subbass rumble if you play very bass heavy songs, but the bass quantity is decidedly lacking.

The lack of a full low end presence is also glaring in the lower mids area, with a significant dip in the frequencies here. Coupled with an over emphasised upper midrange and highs that are a little too eager to draw out every tiny treble detail, the iBFree tends to have a bit of thinness to vocals and instruments and slightly too much sibilance as a result.

However, I could tell that the actual ability of the driver to produce decent resolution sound was actually very acceptable, and so whatever drawbacks I felt the iBFree had were merely tuning issues that could be resolved through some quick EQ (equalisation).

Using the default EQ setting on my Android phone, I pulled back the extreme highs and the mids slightly and the lows instantly returned.​

 
 
Through some simple equalisation on my phone, I was able to bring back much of the fullness and body of the sound by pulling back the extreme peaks in the high end, and while it's not the strongest bass ever, it is much easier on the ears as the sibilance is dialed way down.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a nicely designed, reliable, comfortable, water resistant, Bluetooth earphone at a great price of 60USD, and either don't mind a bass light and high emphasised sound or are willing to play with your phone's EQ settings (I swear it's not hard), the iBFree is a very good choice of product. 1More hit many of the right spots in their design, especially in the ease of connectivity and ergonomics, but in my opinion slightly missed the mark in terms of audio quality. I have high hopes that 1More will be able to create a much more balanced sound in their next iteration of the iBFree.

Introduction
 
I have recently had the good fortune to review 1More’s excellent Triple Driver 1001 In Ear Monitors and their MK802 Bluetooth full-sized headphone and was left extremely impressed with both. 1More is producing some truly excellent products which can seriously rival competition that costs significantly more.
 
Over the past few weeks I have tried out quite a few over-ear bluetooth headphones in a mad search for the ‘ultimate’ bluetooth headphone. In looking for the ultimate, sound quality had to be the primary consideration.
 
I tried the Bose QC35’s, V-Moda Crossfade Wireless, Sennheiser PXC550’s (I wanted to also try the new Sony MDR1000x models but they appear to be sold out with a two month waiting list - and I’m the impatient type. Having tried some of the best noise cancelling headphones I feel that perhaps that’s not the direction I really want to go in. I found the noise cancelling function on both the Bose and Sennheiser headphones to be absolutely outstanding at reducing noise but I felt that both headphones had made compromises to the sound quality to achieve this.
 
My usual wired headphones consist of the following (all of which are used regularly):
 
Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10 - IEM
1More Hybrid Triple Driver - IEM
Sony XBA H1 - IEM
Apple Earpods
Audio Technica ATH50X - Full Size Over-Ears
 
Playback electronics include:
 
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (an excellent audio player - especially with the inclusion of the Neutron player).
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5
AgpTEK H01 - Micro SD based lossless player with a very powerful amplifier on-board.
 
My music tastes are beginning to vary in my old age - Rush, Pink Floyd, Queen, Bach, Fleetwood Mac, Vivaldi, William Orbit, Hanz Zimmer - you get the idea. Most of my music is well-encoded MP3’s (either 320K rips - some of the older stuff ripped using EAC/LAME (with some cool psycho-acoustical filtering applied) and some downloaded FLAC files. In other words, perhaps not the best in the world but certainly a significant step up from entry-level.
 
My criteria in order of importance is:
 
Sound Quality and Volume
Ability to pair with two phones
Reliable Bluetooth connection
Battery Life
Facility to use wired connection
Comfort
 
I can tolerate some discomfort as I am frequently having to remove my headphones when working but they’ve gotta sound good and loud.  I normally like a sound signature that’s neutral (with perhaps just a hint of deep bass) normally. I don’t tend to mind a slight dip in treble as I’m quite sensitive to shrieking  (that’s what happens when you’re married).
 
Physical Properties
 
The iBFree Bluetooth earbuds are similar to a number of inexpensive bluetooth earbuds out there - but with one pretty obvious exception - they’re made of metal rather than plastic. This definitely gives the earbuds a premium look and feel which is most definitely welcome. When you consider the kind of use that these types of earbuds are going to be put through when compared to regular headphones, you can see just how important the build quality is. I suspect you could accidentally tread on these without them getting damaged - although I’m not going to do this for obvious reasons.
 
 

 
The metal used is very lightweight and, to be honest, I haven’t noticed a difference in weight between these and the more regular plastic bluetooth earbuds I used before. There is a rubber strain relief and rubber trim around the headphones as well. The cable is a kind of hybrid between the flat ribbon cable that is now used on many headphones but it is rounder and fatter than them as well. I get the impression that this cable could withstand a fair amount of punishment without snapping or developing a fault - only time will tell but I have to be honest, I tend to try and look after my stuff but accidents will always happen I suppose.
 
The micro USB port is covered with a tight fitting flap which I found difficult to open the first couple of times but seems to open easier now. Charging doesn't seem to take too long - with the red led simply switching off when fully charged.
 
Comfort and Controls
 
The shallow fit for me made the headphones slightly uncomfortable to start with because I’m used to a deeper fit and I spent quite a lot of time twiddling around with them to try and get the best fit possible. With all the tips I tried I found that the fit was always somewhat shallow. The earbuds come supplied with three different sized tips and ear guides which can help keep the headphones in place when you’re being active for some people. I did have problems getting them to fit with the supplied tips but I had a spare set of tips which came with my Sony IEM’s and they definitely made a difference. The fit is still shallow compared with some of the other IEM’s I have tried though and this does potentially spoil these headphones - by gently holding the iem’s in your ears, you can clearly hear just what these headphones are potentially capable of. The problem is that you need to get as good a fit as possible as this helps makes the bass shine through with some real presence.
 

 
 
The controls are pretty typical of this type of bluetooth headphone but they do appear to be of better quality than those found on the cheaper brands. I still had a little difficulty in finding the PLAY/PAUSE button sometimes and often found myself turning up the volume rather than pausing the music. Callers reported that voice calls were quite acceptable and the bluetooth range was definitely better than their cheaper counterparts. I would have liked to see a slightly longer section of cable between the controls and the earbud itself as I find it difficult to see the controls when wearing the headphones with the cable in front of me and virtually impossible to use with the cable behind my head. I suppose this is a personal preference and I am a fairly big chap with a fairly MASSIVE head!  The iBFree feature voice prompts to advise you of power, connection and battery status. I am pleased to see that 1More didn’t have the headphones beep every time you change the volume - that’s something I really hate.  The bluetooth connection is fast and reliable. I was surprised at the effective range - normally quite poor on these types of headphones. Whilst they cannot compete with bluetooth headphones like the 1More MK802’s and V-Moda Crossfade Wireless full sized headphones, this is definitely understandable considering the differences in their size.
 
Sound Quality
 
Down to the nitty-gritty. After all, this is what headphones are all about.  The iBFree uses the APtX Bluetooth protocol which offers higher resolution - this can be heard in the upper mids and treble.   Out of the box they are very bright. Bass is there and it’s quite nicely tuneful and detailed but the problem is the higher frequencies are boosted a little too much for my liking. In all fairness I have to admit that I have got used to the sound signature of the V-Moda Crossfade Wireless full sized headphones and they do tend to have an emphasised bass and a slightly laid back treble. The iBFree headphones have pretty much the exact opposite sound signature and I did have a bit of a problem adjusting to this.
 
The good news though is that they respond favourably to small adjustments to eq to compensate for this and the drivers in the IBFree are very good and offer a nicely detailed and punchy sound when appropriately adjusted. The mid frequencies are nicely clean and clear - not being either enhanced or recessed. This really becomes apparent when listening to female vocals and classical music. In fact, with an appropriate eq setting applied, these have a very similar sound character to their fabulous triple-driver iem’s - and that is quite a compliment. I used to be quite averse to equalisation - being of the belief that you lose something in the sound quality the moment you reach for the control but as my listening is now exclusively digital and I use one of the best MP3 applications on the market - Neutron - for nearly all my listening, I’ve realised that it doesn’t really hurt to give things a little tweak from time to time. The only problem I have now with using eq is remembering to switch the effect off again when I have finished using that particular headphone.
 
Bass can go nice and deep without distortion. It’s also lean and tuneful - kinda reminds me of the bass on the Etymotic ER4P (when there is no eq applied). Bass notes are easy to follow and don’t muddy the mids - nicely done. I must admit I have boosted the bass a little with these but that’s because I feel I’m not getting the best seal possible and feel I need to compensate. Once I find the ultimate eartips, I suspect I shall flatten the bass down again.
 
Mids are nicely detailed. No additional eq is required. The iBFree’s really shine with the mids - especially with female vocals. Mids are never harsh or ‘shouty’ and this is always a welcome characteristic with in ear monitors.
 
Highs - without eq I found them way too bright. The highs are detailed though and with eq applied, offer lots of detail and a nice metallic ‘sheen’ to cymbals. I suspect the ultimate top end frequency response with these headphones is well beyond my hearing threshold.
 
Competition
 
Competition for bluetooth headphones is definitely hotting up - perhaps this is thanks to Apple choosing to abandon the headphone socket on their latest phone or perhaps it’s because the technology is now capable of producing very high quality sound without the compromises found in the last generation of wireless headphones. Much of the competition is inexpensive all-plastic devices but the electronics in these inexpensive sets is competent - 1More have clearly put emphasis not only on the electronics but also in the driver technology and overall construction. This makes the additional cost over their inexpensive counterparts definitely worth the extra expenditure in my opinion. With a reasonably subtle amount of eq applied 1More’s iBFree have a wonderful, open sound with a nice amount of punch and power. The headphones have a very low noise floor when actively connected and once the music starts playing, even very quietly, this noise floor completely disappears. These headphones. when eq adjusted, have a sufficiently ‘flat’ signature to enable pretty much all genres of music to shine. The inexpensive buds cannot offer this sound quality - they mostly tend to emphasise too much bass and not offer enough detail.
 
The sound characteristics of in ear monitors is far more ‘intimate’ than what’s found on full sized headphones and sound leakage is definitely not as pronounced - this could have made them ideal for listening to music in bed - unfortunately they do protrude somewhat and you can’t comfortably lay on your side whilst listening to them. This is something where 1More’s Dual Driver Capsule hybrid in ear monitors have a definite advantage as you can comfortably lay your head on your side with those on. Only problem is, they’re not wireless. If 1More combined the earpieces of their Capsule headphones with the electronics of their iBFree bluetooth headphones, they would have an absolute ‘KILLER’ headphone.
 
Conclusion
 
The bright signature is a little off-putting for me. I resisted applying eq for a couple of days hoping that their top end would dim down a little with burn in or perhaps my brain might burn in a little but in the end I had to see if they would take to some eq and the good news is that they do without any downsides when using Neutron.
 
I struggled to get a good fit due to their shallow insertion depth. With this in mind, they’re excellent when sat down to listen to music but when walking the dog for example, I found that I had to keep making small adjustments to them in order to maintain a decent amount of bass presence, It’s a shame that the fit isn’t a bit better because they sound great when properly inserted. I’m currently going through my collection of assorted buds to try and find one that’s going to work best with these - Sony Hybrids fit just fine and I am getting some favourable results with them.
 
Assuming you can overcome these issues, I think they’re excellent and tick so many boxes.They’re capable of going loud without distortion and definitely have the capability to sound good - especially if you get a good fit and/or can make some changes to the eq to increase the bass and decrease the treble.
 
I am more than happy to compare these with some of the higher-priced IEM’s on the market - including wired ones. Whilst I think I will always prefer the sound quality and overall characteristics of Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10’s and 1More’s excellent E1001 Triple Driver headphones, these definitely share some of their qualities. Highly recommended.
 
1More's U.S. Web Site
 
https://usa.1more.com/products/ibfree-bluetooth-in-ear-headphones
 
1More's Amazon Link
 
https://www.amazon.com/1MORE-iBFree-Bluetooth-Headphones-Microphone/dp/B01H8140TU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481065827&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=1more&psc=1


Postscript

I've just tried these headphones with an old set of tips from the Etymotic ER4P'S I used to have and the sound character has changed considerably - bass is brought forward and the highs are crystal clear. Basically a huge improvement and they are now kind of like having a pair of Bluetooth Etymotics. Yup they are really that good.