1more ComfoBuds 2

The new 1more ComfoBuds 2 are light as a feather and look quite appealing with their matt housings and bright status LEDs at the ends of the “wings”. The plastic units have touch functions, support Bluetooth standard 5.2 as well as the audio codecs SBC and AAC. For everyday and sporting use, these earphones are protected against water and sweat according to IPX5 certification.

The compact charging case with status LED is, like the earphones themselves, not particularly robust, but it is pleasantly light weight. Depending on the volume, it increases the playing time from about six hours to a total of 24 hours – which is a considerable increase for both the headphones and the case compared to their predecessor. The charging case works with a USB-C connector and requires a charging time of80 minutes, with fast charging cycles also provided.

In practice

The first version (read the review) was less convincing in terms of fit. The concept of earbuds is that they only rest at the opening of the ear and do not in the ear. At that time, this had a negative effect on the sound quality. So I was pleasantly surprised when I put the new ComfoBuds in my ears. They fit much better and without pressure in my ear and delivered a full sound image with sufficient but, compared to in-ears, reduced external insulation.

Some people may see this as an advantage because they can communicate better with their environment. In fact, the ComfoBuds 2 can be quickly taken out of the ear to talk and just as quickly put back in. Nevertheless, earbuds remain a matter of taste …

The touch functions (firmware 4.00.07) are limited to double and triple clicks. This works reliably with a pleasantly light touch. From the factory settings, you have access to music playback (start/pause), answering calls, and calling up the Speech Assistant. The commands are configurable via the free 1moreMusic App (iOS, Android). There, volume control and track skipping via touch functions can also be set as required. However, I found it surprising that the manufacturer does not offer single clicks. This understandably protects against operating errors and is actually undermined by double clicks. But in my opinion, the user could be offered the choice of increased functionality.

Additionally, there is a switchable function that reliably pauses music playback when the earpiece is set down which also automatically resumes it when the earpiece is placed back in the ear.

Other notable features include an equaliser with twelve pre-sets developed in collaboration with Sonarworks and a mode that lowers the delay of sound outputs, making it suitable for movie enjoyment and gaming. The app also offers the possibility of making firmware updates.

In practice the Bluetooth link is stable – there were failures in this aspect in our test of the previous model. However, the range was reduced compared to competing products. If you want to move around several rooms without a smartphone, you should use a different pair of headphones. However, I had no problems when my phone was in my pocket if I was on the move. I will deduct a point for the fact that the earpieces repeatedly remained connected to the phone while in the case, which led to irritation during phone calls.

Sound

The dynamic composite drivers with a diameter of 13.4 mm delivered a surprisingly coherent and powerful sound on my iPhone 8, considering the low price of just under 60 euros.

“Celestion Echo” by Boris Blank and Malia sounded spatial with an appealing low bass. With “Morph the Cat” (Donald Fagen), however, it was noticeable that the low bass was not fully present. Nevertheless, the ComfoBuds 2 can sound powerful, especially at higher playback levels, which, by the way, will not disturb the person sitting next to you.

The ComfoBuds 2 also achieved a balanced sound image in the mid-range spectrum: pop, electronic music, powerful hard rock by AC/DC and aggressive metal tracks were reproduced credibly. Acoustic instruments and voices, however, lacked a little warmth, while the high-mids sounded a little too sharp. Accordingly, genres such as jazz, singer/songwriter or even classical music were not necessarily among the strengths of these headphones.

Do not expect silvery overtones in the treble. The ComfoBuds 2 deliver enough detail to convey a certain speed, detail resolution and three-dimensionality in addition to the central information in this frequency range. However, they tended to sound too harsh in the borderline range.

In view of the price range, one should of course not expect audiophile performance. Due to the fit, the signal-to-noise ratio was lower, which affected the perceptibility of quiet details. Explicitly dynamic works were not very convincing, especially in mobile use. Basically, I would recommend trying out the headphones before you decide to buy them.

Despite the help of Sonarworks, the equaliser pre-sets did not convince me once I’d tried them out. In complex mixes, they were too intense for my taste and therefore too accentuated in the wider frequency ranges. I would therefore have preferred a solution with self-adjusting controls.

The voice quality during telephone calls was remarkable. I was consistently assured of good speech intelligibility during conversations via the four microphones and an integrated noise suppression system. Incidentally, it was quite possible to “work” with only one ComfoBud in your ear.