1More ComfoBuds Mini Review

The 1More ComfoBuds Mini deliver fantastic audio for the price, with a great emphasis on bass notes and vocals, and an overall warm and dynamic sound. While the audio is top-class, I did experience some logistical issues using them – which did ruin the experience somewhat. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t let that put you off; it’s just something that those interested should keep in mind.

Introduction

The 1More ComfoBuds Mini sport a striking, sleek design, and come with active noise cancellation.

While I wasn’t able to achieve a decent fit, they do come with four sizes of ear-tips that should work for most people.

Considering their price, I was impressed by the 1More ComfoBuds Mini’s audio. However, there are some drawbacks: the weak fit and inconsistent touch controls hindered the experience.

Design

• IPX5 water-resistance rating
• Touch controls proved unreliable
• Multiple silicon earpieces included
• Earbuds can be difficult to place back into the charging case

The ComfoBuds Mini sport a sleek design, and the pebble-shaped charging case is enjoyable to hold in the hand. The model I was reviewing was the Cinnabar Red option, with the earbuds themselves looking shiny and expensive.

However, I did find that their small size made these buds difficult to position back into the charging case, and I regularly got the left and right buds mixed up when closing the case. This isn’t a deal breaker, though.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the earbuds to fit into my ears particularly well, either. This is despite the inclusion of four sizes of silicon eartips. In fairness, I suffer such issues with almost all silicon earbuds – such as the Gravastar Sirius Pro – as a result of my small ear canals, so I imagine the majority of folk won’t experience the same issues with the design.

Supported by an IPX5 water-resistance rating, the ComfoBuds Mini can handle a low-level spray of water. In my time with the buds, I never got them fully wet – and since they fitted poorly in my ears, I rarely wore when doing exercise – but they faired just fine during walks in wet weather.

Like the 1More Pistonbuds Pro earbuds, I was disappointed by the touch controls here. In my experience, I wasn’t ever able to get them to work as intended. They did react on occasion, often when I was pushing the buds back into my ears, although that was more inconvenient.

Features

• 1More app is good for controls
• ANC is great
• Decent battery life

While I will be delving deeper into the sound quality in the next section, I was impressed by the effectiveness of the ANC on the ComfoBuds Mini. The feature worked well even in noisy environments, while also being impressed by how well the wind noise reduction (WNR) ANC worked.

I was able to use these earbuds on public transport, with minimal noise seeping in from the outside world. They proved handy for use in the office, too, to minimise distractions. Overall, I think the ComfoBud’s Mini deliver one of the best ANC solutions I’ve experienced in a set of earbuds.

These earbuds suffer few issues connecting in quiet areas, but in busy signal areas such as train stations, for example, I struggled to get them to connect to my phone on occasion. And while they did connect to my laptop, they refused to reconnect to my phone unless I completely turned off my laptop; as you can imagine, this became rather annoying.

In the end, I learnt to disable Bluetooth on any other devices they were connected to before attempting to reconnect. It’s something to keep in mind if you want to use them on multiple devices.

1More Music (available on Android and iOS) is worth downloading, especially since the ComfoBuds Mini’s touch controls are so finicky. From it I was able to toggle ANC and its three modes: Strong, Mild and WNR with the difference between Strong and Mild ANC was distinctive.

However, I was disappointed to see that there were no EQ presets to be found; in general, other than ANC, there was no way to alter the audio. Considering that the 1More PistonBuds Pro also use the 1More app, and offer EQ settings you can toggle, I think 1More is missing a trick by leaving out such functionality here.

However, you can check the battery life of each earbud and the case in the app. 1More states the ComfoBuds deliver six hours with ANC off, and 24 hours with the charging case. In real-world use these times proved accurate; I was able to get around six hours of use with a mix of ANC turned on and off, and I rarely had to charge the earbuds overall.

These earbuds are said to deliver smart playback, which should see them pause playback on removing a bud from the ear. However, in my experience, the auto-pause function rarely worked. I got around this by removing them both – which proved super-annoying, especially if someone was trying to speak to me.

Sound Quality

• ANC, ANC WNR and ambient modes
• Amazing soundstage
• Bass shines through

Despite my other issues with the ComfoBuds Mini, it really comes down to their audio quality – and in this regard, I was super-impressed by the performance these buds delivered.

Before we get onto ANC, the original preset works very well, and I was impressed with the depth the buds managed to achieve. Audio here is solid and nuanced, and I found that the earbuds were able to create a fantastic soundstage.

The 7mm drivers created a wide array of sound, with Elvis Presley’s A Little Less Conversation building in depth as the song trundles forward. The King’s voice sounds smooth and defined, with his vocals sitting towards the front of the soundstage while the instrumentals come in around the sides.

Comparing the playback of the ComfoBuds Mini to my AirPods 2, the former display far more detail with regards to each specific instrument, with the saxophone during the chorus sounding more impactful through the ComfoBuds Mini.

I found that with most genres these buds delivered great energy and good tonal balance; superb depth in bass notes and crisp highs. There wasn’t ever any distortion or harshness on show with music, with the overall experience feeling far more premium than you’d expect for the price.

Turning to ANC, I was impressed by the ComfoBuds Mini’s performance in this area. The ANC was effective, elevating the quality of the audio delivered – more so than even the Huawei FreeBuds Lipstick, despite the price difference. Using ANC on Presley’s Burning Love, the piano starts on the right of the soundstage, slowly merging in the centre with the drums as the vocals kick in, creating a warm and dynamic sound that stays distinctive.

With less bass-heavy songs, such as Jordy Searcy’s Only Know How to Love You, the ComfoBuds Mini deliver an impactful performance, with Searcy’s high notes displaying nuance without ever sounding harsh. The high piano notes in the background are complemented by the soft drums, again creating a warm and balanced experience.

My preference was to use ANC mode or the Normal preset over Ambient mode, just as I prefer minimal outside noise to make its way through. Nevertheless, for those occasion I was waiting for my drink at a coffee shop, or to hear train announcements, the Ambient mode proved useful; you can still catch a lot of chatter and sounds coming from around you. The audio was slightly diminished as a result, although it didn’t sound poor; just slightly less distinctive compared to when I had ANC turned on.

In addition, I was pleased to note that the WNR ANC also worked brilliantly, successfully blocking out much of the whirring whilst walking through particularly gusty areas. This is great news for those who, like me, prefer that ambient noise is kept at bay.

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