1 More Design Piston Crystal

Overview
The Xiaomi/Mi Pistons have developed something of a cult following over the past couple of years, although opinion remains sharply divided as to how good they really are. The same team have now brought out a similar earphone, albeit with a particular styling aspect, the 1 More Duomi Crystal, with Duomi being Xiaomi’s (China only) music streaming service and 1 More developing quality peripherals for Xiaomi  – check out www.1more.com for the manufacturer’s website. As per Rashmosh and banjoanton’s reviews, the good people were kind enough to ask me to do a ‘no strings attached’ review and share my findings with you.
This review was conducted using ‘standard’ sources ie. laptop, PC plus ordinary smartphones. As befits a product costing $20, lossless media and esoteric headphone amps were not utilized, in order to give a meaningful and realistic test – the question is, do these earphones perform well in ordinary everyday use?
 
 
Packaging
The outer packaging is high-qualit ypaper-covered cardboard, clearly intended to be reminiscent of a jewellery box. It has a split opening, with a nice magnetic snap-shut. The “Your fashion your sparkle” statement on the outside is a bit naff, obviously intended for the Chinese domestic market; the simple and subtle logo alone would be better. Inside the box, the high-quality silicone rubber moulding from the Mi Pistons appears again, this time in a circular format that allows the cable to be reeled on around the edge, with the earphones themselves sitting snugly into the top. There’s a recess on the underside of the moulding that provides space for the alternative tips, with a nice pouch for everyday storage of the earphones. The pouch itself has a concealed metal spring-strip closure and features the logo.
     
 
Earphone Design and Construction
The website notes that the product was premiated in the 2015 iF Design Awards, which   featured the Mi Pistons in a previous year also. There are three colour options: silver, pink and black, although only the silver and pink seem widely available.  The aluminium body is very similar to the Pistons, although with a slightly larger diameter. The R and L are printed on the spigots, rather more clearly than the Piston 2. The Swarovski elements on our sample seemed slightly amber in colour, although this still fitted well with the overall design. The Austrian crystal and costume jewellery manufacturer has a wide range of products, with previous third-party earphones (such as BassBuds) also featuring the ‘elements’ - I would have to say that the design of the 1 More units is more to my taste, even if they are still ‘girly’.
The Kevlar cable is now sheathed in a clear flexible plastic, which is more convincing on the durability front than the braided covering alone. The spigots, where the cable joins the earphone body, are also a little more substantial, as is the control unit. All in all, I can see these earphones lasting quite well; they definitely seem a little less ‘delicate’ than the Piston 2s. 1 More also claim the control unit to feature “the world’s first AI intelligent dual control”, to work fully with both Android and iOS products. The ‘Pause’ and track switching functions certainly worked fine for me, although I couldn’t get the ‘Volume’ option to work within calls on my (Xiaomi) handset. A mic is also included. The gold-plated 3.5mm jack and soft tips (including a graduated version) complete a high-quality package.
 
Comfort and Noise Isolation
I have to confess that I am not generally a fan of in-ear headphones – I have small ear canals and find it very difficult to get them to fit comfortably. Having said this, the Crystals were pretty good (better than the Pistons), with the smaller and graduated tips sitting in well. Noise isolation was also quite good - not perfect, but more than adequate for most public transport situations, for example.
   
 
Sound
The very best audio reproduction manages to combine breath-taking clarity and immediacy with a musicality that makes you want to tap your foot or sing along, all the while seeming effortless. While we can’t expect high-end performance at this price, the 1 More Duomi Crystals have an attractive sound. Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ was warm and musical, if not particularly precise. Passenger’s ‘Let Her Go’ was good on voice, but a little muddled overall. The Staves ‘Gone Tomorrow’ was enjoyable, the bass being quite tidy. Somewhat to my surprise, ‘Titanium’ and ‘Elastic Heart’ feat. Sia were both rendered very nicely, while Jess Glynne’s superb voice on ‘Hold My Hand’ had me singing (very badly) along. With regard to classical music, Handel’s stately Sarabande was nicely balanced, with the base well integrated, while Angela Gheorgiu’s beautiful interpretations of Verdi were particularly well reproduced. Soundstage is well represented, although lacking the dynamics and detail of the best.
Overall, this is a very accessible and unfatiguing sound. It is definitely on the warm side, but the lack of precision is compensated for by an absence of splash and sibilance – I’d happily listen to these all day. I also preferred the sound to the Piston 2s. While both feature powerful bass, the Crystals’ is tighter and less ‘boomy’ and dominant, with the complete sound is more musical and integrated.
Verdict
I have to say I really like these earphones, they are well made and packaged, as well as being very nicely designed. The tech seems very convincing also, with much shared with the Piston 2s, but some subtle developments also. The beryllium diaphragm is there, but the crystal closes the rear path, as opposed to the opening at the rear of the Pistons. Most importantly, the more I listened to them, the more I liked their sound - these earphones are really better in almost every single aspect than the Piston 2s.
However, I have to ask who are the 1 More Duomi Crystals intended for, especially outside the Chinese domestic market? Without wishing to appear chauvinistic, while they certainly care about their sounds and style, few ladies are likely to be as nerdy about their gear as us guys. While the Crystals are stylish, sound great and come in at a very good price, I don’t see them having the same ‘enthusiast’ appeal that the Mi Pistons have had. With the styling, these are squarely aimed at a female market, but most women are far too sensible to expend enormous effort in tweaking and trying alternative equipment, they’re much more likely to stick with the mainstream. So we might be buying a few pairs as presents - my daughter is certainly very happy with the review set.
 
 
Manufacturer’s specs
Type: in-ear

Colours: Rose/Silver

CCAW:CCAW

Weight 15g

Speaker impedance: 16Ω

Cable length: 1.2M

Sensitivity: 97dB

Plug: 3.5mm  

Rated power: 5mW

Frequency range 20-20,000HZ

 

 
Where to buy
Beware - watch out for fakes!!!! A glance at Aliexpress or eBay will show you that there are already a plethora of fake versions of the 1 More Duomi Crystal, just as there are many fake Xiaomi Pistons waiting to short-change you.

My my, how time flies. It’s been over a year - and similarly over 136K views - since I wrote my original review for the Beryllium Xiaomi Pistons 2.0, or Xiaomi MK301. During the past year, I’ve gone through these 2.0s, along with a pair of 2.1s and various other IEMs, but I’ve never been quite as impressed with the combination of a sleek design and great audio, as I was with the original Xiaomi Pistons 2.0 (the 2.1s don’t really count as a separate product). However, at long last, Xiaomi has released another product to give the Xiaomi Pistons a run for their money - namely, the ”1 More Design ’Duomi’ Crystal Pistons”. The review sample of the Crystal Pistons I used was supplied.
 
The first thing you’re going to notice about the Crystal Pistons, - whether you're coming from a previous pair of Xiaomi Pistons, or if you're completely new to the Xiaomi ecosystem -, is that they are, indeed, aptly named ”Crystal Pistons”. The Crystal Pistons are aimed at a more ”fashionable” niche of the market than the regular standard Beryllium Pistons, and you can definitely tell. A large crystal, made out of ”Swarovski elements”, dominates the back of each earphone, and it quickly becomes clear that these IEMs are something completely different from what we’ve come to expect from Xiaomi - at least visually. In fact, these earphones are so different that they are being sold under the name of ”Duomi” - the name of Xiaomi’s dedicated music streaming service - , together with the established name of Xiaomi’s long time design-partner - ”1 More Design”. The earphones are delivered in an elegant black container, with a sturdy premium-paper construction and a minimalistic exterior. The phrase ”your fashion, your sparkle” is the only thing engraved on the box, and the box is opened by simply folding the ”reverse seagull-wing flaps” upwards. This ”lid” (of sorts) is neatly sealed by magnets concealed within the black paper flaps, and just below these flaps there’s a stylish, slightly pink certificate that states that the earphones are made with ”Swarovski elements”. Beneath this certificate there’s a circular ”mold”, in the same soft silicone previously known from the Beryllium Piston molds, which the earphones are neatly tied into. The mold rests on a small container, in clear dimmed white plastic, which contains three additional pairs of tips. Beneath this, there is a fashionable ”pouch” for storing the earphones - which makes a satisfactory magnetic snap when it closes. Finally, there’s yet another light pink certificate, which details how you’re supposed to use the volume controls and so on. The price is even lower than the Xiaomi Pistons 2.1, at just $17.99 at the time of writing (although normally it’s even steeper than the 2.1s, at $36.00, and on 1 More Designs own site it’s sold for $64(!)) All in all, this doesn’t seem like the functional, down to earth packaging and pricing of previous Xiaomi Pistons, and it becomes evident that Xiaomi is trying to go after a primarily female, premium target audience with their new ”Duomi” brand. This is only further accentuated by the fact that the most popular color for the Crystal Pistons is a bright pink metallic color, complete with pink Swarovski crystals, although both black and silver editions are also offered. On the inside, however, there’s no doubt that this is nothing except a Xiaomi earphone - but more on this in a short while.
 
If we first finish up with the exterior, these IEMs (In-Ear Monitors) are, despite being a bit overly feminine, actually really sleek and they radiate brisk serenity. My pair was of the silver edition, which seemed like the most masculine choice (although I’m having second thoughts about not choosing black instead), and they exude a sense of chilly ”coolness” (literally), with stylish ear-tips - that look almost frost colored - and exclusive-looking matte brushed silvery aluminium, which goes along extraordinary well to every sort of phone imaginable. The back of the actual earphones themselves have a 15° ”specular edge”, which gently curves down nicely to the dominant Swarovski crystal on each earpiece. The cord is made out of kevlar, just like on the Xiaomi Pistons 2.0, but Xiaomi has gone ahead and improved the durability of the cord by incapsulating the kevlar cord in a super-resistant ”TPE”-material. This should help make the already very resistant kevlar cord nearly impossible to damage by mistake. Further down the cord, it becomes evident that the remote has also been reworked and improved from the Xiaomi Pistons - greatly. Although it looks similar, with matte edges, a brushed surface, and soft plastic buttons, it’s completely reworked on the inside. It now features Xiaomi’s brand new ”AI Intelligent Dual Control Technology”, which allows the user to smoothly use every aspect of the remote’s functionality, whether he’s using an Android phone or an iOS device - and it actually works great, something I’ve waited for Xiaomi to implement. While on the subject of the volume control hub, or ”remote”, it comes equipped with three separate buttons - one for pausing/playing/summoning Siri/rewinding/skipping tracks, and two for raising respectively lowering the volume. It also comes with a microphone, the best part of which is that it actually - surprisingly enough - sounds pretty damn good: certainly more than good enough for clear calls or recording voice-notes, and the microphone is actually good enough to record a decent podcast with. Naturally it can’t compete with high range microphones for $100 or more, but it basically blows the rest of the earphone microphone competition out of the water. The remote hub is, just like on other Xiaomi Piston earphones, situated just below where the two cords from each earpiece intersect and merge to a single one. This is not ergonomically ideal, since the volume control hub becomes positioned just a tad too low, compared to for example the Apple EarPods - where the remote control hub is situated on the right ear cord. Xiaomi brought over the improved and slightly lengthened cord length, which was introduced last summer in the Xiaomi Pistons 2.1, which allows me to wrap the cord nicely around my iPhone 5S, and which is generally just more handy. At the end of the cord, literally, the earphones are connected to your preferred device by a standard, - albeit according to Xiaomi ”gold-plated” - 3.5 millimeter connector plug, which touts reduced signal loss and claims to convey a more ”authentic sound” than the plug in previous Xiaomi Pistons. 
 
You can, however, tell that the Crystal Pistons have amazing audio as soon as you plug in the smooth - and surprisingly tight and comfortable - ”Pacifier Grade Silica”-tips and turn on your music. The sound is crisp and clear, and the Crystal Pistons have no trouble bringing forth intricate background melodies which generally go undiscovered. Similarly, Spotify’s ”Extreme” quality and Beats Music’s HQ audio really come to their right with the Crystal Pistons, where the subtle improvements of high quality audio are perceptible. I’m going to keep the audial review short, but the bottom line is that the sound is, just like with the Pistons 2.0 and 2.1, simply insanely great - for any pair of earphones. The Crystal Pistons deliver an impressively wide soundstage, both clear low and high frequencies, low distortion and feature a crisp and ”sparkly” tremble which stands out. This, along with a bass that can be appreciated by anyone, since it’s still tight enough for audiophiles to be able to enjoy it whilst it is also powerful enough for the general public to be satisfied, makes the Crystal Pistons a lot like the Xiaomi Pistons. I would also dare to say that the imaging in the Crystal Pistons, to a certain extent, is better than in the 2.1 Xiaomi Pistons. This, however, is only true to a certain extent, since the quality of the imaging is reduced more and more as the song goes on, and the audio sometimes quickly becomes muddled after extraordinary imaging at first. I think I have found the reason to this, which I present in the next paragraph.
 
If we continue to the innards of the earphones, we see that this is because Xiaomi built these IEMs around their absolutely astounding beryllium drivers, first introduced in the MK301 Pistons, and you can definitely tell that these are top-notch drivers. The Crystal Pistons also feature a reworked dual dampening system, called the ”Pistons Acoustic Dampening Technology System”. This is a lot better than Xiaomi’s other dampening systems traditionally utilized in the company’s non-Beryllium earphones and even superior to the dampening system in Beryllium Pistons, but I doubt it’s something we’re going to see introduced in the Xiaomi Pistons 3.0. The reason is simple - the Beryllium Xiaomi Pistons instead use an ingenious ”sound channel”, which allows fragments of the audio to pass through a small hole, protected by a mash-net on the back of the earpieces. Allowing unwanted audio to leave the earpiece, ironically, makes the Beryllium Pistons better isolated, and prevents that the audio ever becomes muddled. The Crystal Pistons, on the other hand, eschews this sound channel, and instead places its large Swarovski crystals on the back of the earpieces. This makes the Crystal Pistons generally leakier than the Beryllium Pistons - although they’re not as leaky as for example Apple’s EarPods -, and I believe that this is also the reason as to why the imaging decreases in quality. This is because the Crystal Pistons utilize a ”rear sound-wave path”, just like the Beryllium Pistons, but where muddled excess audio is channeled out of the earpiece in the Beryllium Pistons through the rear sound channel, excess noise is unable to escape in the Crystal Pistons. According to the technical details of the ”Acoustic Dampening Technology” in the Crystal Pistons, excess noise is instead reflected by the sound chamber walls, and are being ”bounced” back onto the Hi-Fi Beryllium diaphragm drivers, which naturally impedes sound restoration. This makes the audio just the slightest bit jumbled and messy compared to the Beryllium Pistons after a while - although it’s important to keep in mind that this is nearly undetectable.
 
In conclusion, the 1 More Design ’Duomi’ Crystal Pistons are great earphones. They are a more refined version of the Xiaomi Pistons 2.1, and they have basically kept everything that made the MK301s great and just added on that. The ”AI Intelligent Dual Control Technology”, which (finally) makes all the volume control hub buttons fully functional is a most welcome addition, and I’m pleasantly surprised that Xiaomi brought over the expensive Beryllium diaphragm drivers from the MK301. The Swarovski crystals are another expensive addition, and I honestly can’t understand how they can make a profit from offering them for $17.99. The headphones are an absolute steal at that price, and I believe that it would be worth to buy them even at $36 or $64 if you don't previously own a pair of Xiaomi earphones. However, I will not replace my pair of Xiaomi Pistons 2.1 with these as my daily driver, mostly due to one thing - the design. The design is what these earphones are all about, but I’m simply not a fan of the crystal approach. This might simply be because I have that Y-chromosome which we are being told seems to be the root of so much trouble or simply because I'm not enough of a fashionista, but I don’t feel like walking around with gems sticking out of my ears. Perhaps I would reconsider if the audio was dramatically better than the Xiaomi Pistons 2.1, but the Crystal Pistons and Beryllium Pistons are basically at the same - extremely high - audial level. If anything, I would say that the Beryllium Pistons are ever so slightly better than the Crystal Pistons, since they feature the rear sound channel which relieves the diaphragm  drivers from noise disturbance - but the difference is ever so slight that I might just be imagining it. Compared to any other earphones, these are simply amazing IEMs. The Crystal Pistons deliver crisp and clear audio that’s far ahead of the competition. I’d say, if you haven't tried Xiaomi Pistons before, you should place an order immediately. $17.99 really is an unbelievable deal for a pair of earphones of this quality, and if you believe the technical analysis diagrams, then the Crystal Pistons Earphones beat a pair of Beats HEADPHONES in both Sound Pressure Levels and Total Harmonic Distortion. If you on the other already own a pair of Xiaomi Pistons, I would say that if you're fashion oriented and don’t have a particular dislike of premium crystals (albeit they’re just as small as a petite bead), you should definitely go for them. Simply, there’s a chance that my Xiaomi Pistons have finally found a superior pair of earphones - in Xiaomi’s new, fashion oriented yet absolutely superb release. 
 
 
The first pair of earphones to rival the fit and finish along with the first-rate audio of the Beryllium Xiaomi Pistons is Xiaomi’s latest creation - the sleek and design oriented ”1 More Design ’Duomi’ Crystal Pistons”. The silver edition which I received as a review sample has got a very ”wintery”, cold look to them - which is not something bad. The pure white ear-tips blend in wonderfully with the matte, brushed and silver-anodized aluminium, together with the clear, transparent crystals that give the product its name.
 
 
The Crystal Pistons are impeccably packaged, just as one has come to expect from Xiaomi - although these earphones are actually being sold under Xiaomi’s Duomi brand name. They are neatly wound around a soft circular silicon mold, in which the Crystal Pistons are firmly placed in the middle. Just like Xiaomi traditionally does, the company has included a bag of additional tips tucked away beneath the mold, and, as a first, the company has also included a pouch for storing the earphones in a stylish manner, instead of having to wind them around the mold like with previous Beryllium Xiaomi Pistons.
 
 
The Crystal Pistons come equipped with three pairs of additional tips, besides the ”normal sized” pair already mounted on the Crystal Pistons themselves. The most interesting addition here are the ribbed ”sport”-tips, which have replaced the previous ”conversation”-tips Xiaomi has been fond of including. The Sport-tips are sure to work better than the Conversation-tips, at least, and there’s also both ”small” and ”large” tips, so you'll be sure to find something you like. The tips are also surprisingly comfortable for stock tips. The biggest improvement, however, in these earphones are Xiaomi’s ”AI Intelligent Dual Control Technology” which finally brings unabridged control of the volume control hub to global users on both iOS and Android. Finally!
 
 
Although the box for the Crystal Pistons is completely reworked from the Beryllium Xiaomi Pistons’ boxes, and that it features the ”Duomi” logo in white right next to the tagline ”your fashion, your sparkle”, this is still the top-notch packing we’ve come to expect from Xiaomi. The packaging is surprisingly small while keeping higher quality than Xiaomi’s signature cardboard packaging. Even after arriving here in Sweden, and having been shipped halfway across the world, the packaging did not have the slightest scuff and looked crisp and inviting.
 
 
The Crystal Pistons feature two, bead-sized Swarovski crystals on the back of each earpiece - just where Xiaomi Pistons have the grooved patented Xiaomi CD-pattern. The Swarovski crystals come with their own certificate, although I doubt that they are truly real - with both Beryllium drivers and Swarovski crystals, this product is worth closer to $100. The Crystal Pistons also use a new special form of audio produced through the exclusive ”Crystal Sound Technology”, which ”adopts full frequency bands, and enables low-distortion acoustic design for authentic music”.
 
 
The Crystal Pistons use the same exclusive (and excellent) Beryllium diaphragm drivers as the latest Xiaomi Pistons 2.1s. However, the Crystal Pistons bring a much improved dual dampening system called the ”Pistons Acoustic Dampening Technology System”. This is leaps and bounds ahead of the dampening system Xiaomi has previously used, and superior even to the dampening system of the MK301 Pistons. If Xiaomi can pull it off to integrate the Acoustic Dampening Technology in an earphone whilst keeping the rear audio-channel of the Xiaomi Pistons 2.1, they are gonna be so far ahead of the competition that they won’t even be able to see them in the rear-view mirror.
 
 
As always, it seems, Xiaomi has brought yet another surprise to the table. Tucked away at the very bottom of the stylish black box is a fashionable pouch, with a large Duomi logo on it, and which you can use to keep your Crystal Pistons in. The pouch closes and opens with a satisfying magnetic snap, and if you’re in the market for a pair of Swarovski earphones, why not sweeten the deal by getting your own pouch. Although personally I wouldn’t ever want to unplug my Crystal Pistons and pack them away.

WHY THESE?

 
The kind people on iBuyGou (www.ibuygou.com) kindly offered me a pair of Xiaomi-like headphones to review here, as I actively have been using my Pistons the last year, and as these are almost the same headphones. 
 
They probably figured that a lot of the people here would enjoy the headphones as much as I, because it is almost exactly the same headphones as the Xiaomi Pistons, only a bit more "Girly" if you like. 
 
 

MANUFACTURER?

 
The manufacturer of this product is Xiaomi. Apparently, 1More Design is the OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer, meaning that they actually provide the product o them. Duomi Music, which is labeled at the top of the round headphone-holder, is Xiaomi's music streaming service, which only is available inside of China. 
 
 
PRODUCT:
 




 
 
The headphones came shipped in a black, design box made by 1More Design. It resembles the standard Pistons packing but there is a difference. On the top of the box it says "Your Fashion Your Sparkle", kinda making you think that this model is more about fashion than about music. But hey, it is almost the same sound as the Xiaomi Pistons. 
 
This particular version of the headphone is a Silver one, and the backside of the headphone is disguised in some sort of diamond-like material. The remote control is exactly the same as the Xiaomi Pistons one, meaning that the buttons are a bit hard to "feel". To summarize the look and feel of this headphone; 
 
It is almost exactly like the Pistons, but if you want to have another design, a slightly "girlier" one, this is absolutely the one for you. If you are into, what they call fashion, then yes. Absolutely. 
 
There are extra tips in the packing as well.
 
SOUND QUALITY:
 
Many of you have tried the Xiaomi Pistons, and as I've mentioned several times in this review, the sound is almost exactly the same. If you could go any direction, I would probably say that it is a little worse than the Pistons, but not at all much. Also, that is my personal preference, I do believe that many of you would think other. But still, the sound quality is extremely pleasing, and for the price, they are a real steal. 
 
 
SUMMARY:
 
I have had the headphones for a while now, and I have really been enjoying them. Clean, crisp and great sound. Wide soundstage and in general extremely good headphones. The thing is this; I don't like the design. I'm not the guy wearing diamonds and such, and therefore, I'm going to stick to the Xiaomi Pistons. However, they really are a steal for that price, and if you thinking about buying them, do so, you won't be let down at all. Or do as I, give them to your girlfriend, or mother, or sister, brother or friend or anyone who might like the diamond design. 
 
If you are thinking about buying one, the cheapest place is ibuygou, and I strongly recommend them. Fast shipping, great service and they are actually the only placing selling these headphones for one. 
 
 
Hope this review was helpful in anyway, and have a nice day!