When in ear comfort is a priority for you what you want is a clip on earbud. I’ve had these clip earbuds – the 1more s20 for a week now and I can tell you what makes them good and their not so good aspects that may not be obvious on first viewing.
What’s good on the 1More S20
The design
For some reason earbud manufacturers put in the work when it comes to the design and finish of their clip earbuds. Because I have TWS in ear buds from 1More and the level of attention to detail and quality of finishing is no where near what you’d get on the ear clip s20. And I’m all for that these buds look and feel like high end jewelry.
If you know me you’d know I’m not really a fan of shiny things but the glossy finish on these is so finely executed that I don’t mind. Everything just feels so solid and well put together. I feel like if you threw this off a cliff you’d pick it up at the bottom, put them back on and they’d be totally fine.
Comfort
If you’re interested in a clip earbud it’s most likely cos you want something comfortable that doesn’t stress your ear canals. In ear buds are notorious for ear fatigue. The ear clip s20 delivers 100% on that front, these are as comfortable as can get.
Each bud weighs about 4.8 grams slightly heavier than the average in ear buds. However, because these sit on your earlobe and not in your ear canal where they’d otherwise exert pressure on the canal walls, it’s hard to notice any uncomfortable weight or pressure even when you have them on for extended periods.
Call quality
Call quality on these was excellent, took me by surprise as a matter of fact. So good I’d say it rivals or even outperforms the call quality on top rated in ear TWS buds like the Melobuds N50. On my side I could hear the receiver with pristine clarity and on the other side they could hear me loud and clear with no sound muffling or anything of that sort.
What you’re hearing now is my voice straight out of the mic of the S20 and this is in a room with some background noise. Might not sound that impressive CO but for wireless earbuds this great, certainly very impressive for an earbud at this price point.
Battery life
The 1More S20 will stay on while you’re actively listening to music for more than 7 hours and if you keep them on standby, connected to your phone, they can go three days without needing a charge. Crazy good numbers for a wireless earbud and I’m guessing much of that is down to how the design of these allow the manufacturer to pack in more battery in the earbud themselves, that’s compared to TWS in ear buds. Compared to other clip earbuds like the QCY Crossky for instance the S20 stacks up good as well. The Crossky I just mentioned goes a similar 7 – 8 hours on active listening.
What’s bad on the 1more S20
Sound quality
If you’re buying these it’s probably not for the sound quality so this is perhaps a moot point but it still has to be said. Compared to in ear buds like the 1more Q21 the sound performance on this is abysmal at best.
There’s literally no bass, mids essentially fly off into the space around you I presume because I could barely hear them and the only reprieve sound quality wise are the trebles which come off fairly good, and it still not good enough in my opinion.
That said compared to other clip buds the clip S20 holds its own quiet well. There are few better sounding clip buds at this price point and I’d say if you’re the kind of person to prefer an open soundstage, with emphasis on vocals rather than the beats and all of that other stuff that makes the music listening experience immersive then you can live with the ear clip S20.
Noise cancellation
Clip on earbuds by virtue of their design are practically incapable of noise cancellation at least not with the current tech available, I don’t think.1More itself doesn’t advertise noise cancelling of any sort on these buds.
Again, this is stating the obvious but if you go on to purchase one of these having expectations of noise cancellation you’re going to be thoroughly disappointed. It’s not implemented, doesn’t exist on this bud, end of story.
Verdict – Should you buy the 1More S20?
If you’re in the market specifically for a budget clip on earbud it’s hard to go wrong with the 1More S20. It’s a great all rounder, well made, great call quality, awesome battery life, it’s superb fit and comfort and great sound quality when compared with its peers.
If you just want a good sounding earbud, maybe you’re here listening through a review for a clip on earbud by mistake, you should checkout in ear buds, those beat clip ons sound quality wise on every metric and some of them can be very comfortable too. And, my current best cheap in ear TWS earbud is something made by 1More, the 1More Q21.
