1MORE SonoFlow in the test: good over-ear headphones with ANC

Review: 1MORE SonoFlow

 Silence at the touch of a button - What sounds a bit like dreams, headphones with active noise cancellation try to make reality. This works more or less well and in many cases has an influence on the sound quality.

For a while, the 1MORE SonoFlow accompanied me on my travels and in everyday life. In this test report, we will clarify whether the comparatively cheap ANC headphones can convince.

1MORE SonoFlow: design, processing and scope of delivery

The 1MORE SonoFlow has an elegant yet timeless appearance. The closed housing consists almost entirely of plastic. The metallic coloring and clean processing quality still convey a feeling of high quality. 1MORE has reinforced the size-adjustable headband with aluminium.

The headband and the ear pads are made of a particularly soft foam and are covered with artificial leather. The insides of the ear pads are bright red, which spices up the predominantly simple appearance a bit. The left-right indicator is printed on the inside in abbreviated form L and R, so that you can immediately see in which direction the 1MORE SonoFlow has to be put on.

The bracket between the housing and the bracket is designed to be flexible. This allows the driver housing to be folded in and moved freely horizontally by approx. 50°. When folded, the 1MORE SonoFlow can be stowed away in the supplied transport case to save space.

Speaking of the scope of delivery - it includes the headphones, the practical transport case, a USB-C charging cable and a 2,5 mm to 3,5 mm jack audio cable, which allows the headphones to be operated without Bluetooth. There is also a quick guide and a warranty card to hand.

Let's take a quick look at the ports and control buttons. All buttons and a microphone are located on the right driver housing. Worth mentioning is the power button, which is placed separately from the two volume buttons and the ANC button. It is not possible to operate the headphones by touch.

At the ends of the housing is the connection for the 2,5 mm audio cable on the right, and the USB-C connection for charging the headphones on the left. A total of 3 LED indicators provide information about the battery, the operating status and the ANC.

One thing the 1MORE SonoFlow is missing is an IP rating. Without it, it is difficult to estimate how well the headphones are protected from the ingress of dust and water. If you want to wear the headphones for strenuous sports or in the rain, you should be aware of this!

1MORE SonoFlow: Wearing comfort

With over-ear headphones like the 1MORE SonoFlow, the ears of the wearer are ideally completely enclosed. This has an impact on the wearing comfort, the noise suppression and the sound.

Personally, I was impressed by the wearing comfort of the SonoFlow. The headphones encased my ears perfectly and thanks to the soft cushions, I could wear them for a long time without any problems even as a person who wears glasses. A prime example of the good wearing comfort was a long-haul flight I recently took on, during which I had the headphones on my head for more than 8 hours without interruption.

Due to the low weight of 250 g and the good mobility of the driver housing, at some point I no longer noticed the headphones. There were no pressure points after the slightly longer session.

However, wearing comfort is a very subjective issue. The ear cushions of the SonoFlow are comparatively narrow and depending on the shape or size of the ear, it may well be that the wearing comfort is not ideal.

1MORE SonoFlow: Hardware

Dynamic 40 mm drivers installed on both sides are responsible for the sound, covering the frequency range from 5 Hz to 40 kHz. 1MORE specifies the headphone impedance as 32 ohms.

On the wireless side, the 1MORE SonoFlow supports Bluetooth 5.0 with the HFP/A2DP/AVRCP protocols. Compatible audio codecs are SBC and AAC, as well as Sony's LDAC, which achieves a three times higher bit rate (up to 990 kBit/s) compared to SBC. Users of an Android device in particular benefit from this. Apple device users will have to settle for AAC due to the lack of support.

The support of Bluetooth multipoint is also worth mentioning. This makes it possible to pair the SonoFlow with two devices at the same time without having to switch back and forth between the devices.

1MORE SonoFlow: Sound quality

 First of all: The perception of sound differs from person to person. This is how the 1MORE SonoFlow sounds to me:

Sound signature and spatiality

As with the last ones I tested 1MORE EVO, is the sound signature of the 1MORE SonoFlow in collaboration with the Grammy winning sound engineer  Luca Bignardi  developed. This in no way makes the SonoFlow headphones for audiophile music lovers.

 The headphones are tuned for the general public. The sound shows itself with a soothing warmth, so that it does justice to casual, everyday music enjoyment very well. In my opinion, the spatial imaging, which lacks a bit of localization sharpness, falls a bit short. If you activate LDAC, the display becomes a bit more realistic.

Depths, mid and highs

The SonoFlow is able to produce deep and round bass. The bass is somewhat emphasized compared to the rest of the spectrum, but without being obtrusively dominant. The headphones sounded slightly blurry in the middle bass region. The mid-range is expressive, so that instruments can be easily differentiated. With LDAC it even feels a bit more precise.

In the treble range, the headphones are rather conservative and limited in the upper range. This limits the perception of fine airiness in the sound image. An unpleasant sharpness does not occur.

Active Noise Canceling (ANC)

I was able to test how well the QuietMax ANC of the 1MORE SonoFlow performs on the previously mentioned long-haul flight. Anyone who has ever flown knows the noise in the interior cabin. Especially if you couldn't get one of the "quiet" seats.

The ANC can be switched on at the touch of a button via the headphones or via the app. Provided you use the headphones via Bluetooth. ANC is not possible in wired mode, since the headphones cannot even be switched on. This can be unfavorable on the plane, since many entertainment systems only accept a cable connection.

If the ANC is switched on, it becomes audibly more comfortable on the plane. The SonoFlow has filtered out the annoying hum considerably. The 45MORE SonoFlow cannot keep up with a Bose QuietComfort 1, but the Bose headphones cost three times as much as the SonoFlow.

In addition to ANC on and off, there is another mode. The so-called “Transparency Mode” increases the perception of the surroundings. This is particularly useful when you want to listen to an announcement or when you are driving in traffic.

1MORE SonoFlow: operation and app

I couldn't really get used to the placement of the control buttons. Although the keys are clearly highlighted, you have to twist your wrist again and again to reach them. Touch operation would have been more convenient. 

An individual assignment of the control buttons is not possible. For example, songs can be changed by holding down the volume buttons. You can call up the voice assistant by pressing and holding the ANC button.

The 1MORE MUSIC app is required to be able to use the full range of functions of the 1MORE SonoFlow. The app can be downloaded free of charge from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. You should definitely do that, because LDAC can only be activated via the app.

Otherwise, it is possible to control the ANC via the app and there are 12 equalizer profiles as well as a user-defined equalizer that can be adjusted in 10 steps from 69 Hz to 14053 Hz with +-3 dB. The SonoFlow also receives new firmware updates via the app.

1MORE SonoFlow: Microphone and calls

The headphones use a total of 5 microphones for telephone calls and voice calls. Disturbing ambient noise is filtered out with the help of artificial intelligence. The voice quality via the SonoFlow is clear and is reproduced in a way that is easy for the listener to understand.

Even loud background noises are effectively suppressed, although the voice quality decreases somewhat here.

1MORE SonoFlow: Battery

1MORE specifies the capacity of the battery as 720 mAh. According to the manufacturer, the runtime varies between 50 and 70 hours, depending on whether the ANC is switched on or not. This value also corresponds to my experience. After about 50 hours, the headphones had to be plugged in for the first time.

It uses a USB-C port for charging. The entire loading process took about 85 minutes. At least more than the 80 minutes that 1MORE states.