Review: 1MORE Sonoflow Pro Bluetooth 5.4 ANC Over-Ear Headphones HQ51
Description
After my LDAC adventures with my QCY Melobuds Pro, I decided to try some over-the-ear headphones instead. Thanks to yet another OzBargain posting, I was alerted to the Xiaomi-related 1MORE Sonoflow Pro HQ51 Bluetooth 5.4 ANC headphones being sold at a marked-down AU$90.99 via Amazon AU. Having previously reviewed some 1MORE products, I had a feeling these would be decent, so I decided to plonk down the cash gift cards for a pair. After all, a pair of these is less than the price of a set of genuine Apple Airpods Max ear cushions, which go for an extortionate AU$99. Not to mention the headband mesh issues and sweatgate which has left me using my Airpods Max less and less … a shame since the active noise cancellation on that is superb.
Will these 1MORE Sonoflow Pro headphones be good enough to become my daily commuter headphones?
Unboxing
The unit arrived in a colour print cardboard box, with shrink wrap that had an allowance for the hanger tab.
The front of the box shows the headphones inside of their stylised “1” typeface. The unit claims certification with Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless, having their QuietMax AI Noise Cancellation (since everything needs AI, right?). Other claims include being tuned by a Grammy Winning Sound Engineer and fast charging where 5 minutes of charge provides 10 hours of play time.
The back of the box has more details about the product, including the use of Bluetooth 5.4, 80 minute charging time, 100 hour (ANC Off) and 65 hour (ANC On) playtime, 720mAh battery, 5V 1.1A input and 246g weight. Looking at the icons, it’s interesting to see one indicating that the unit doesn’t come with a charger – this is the first time I’ve seen something like this. The unit I purchased is date coded August 2024 and has a barcode number of 6933037204193.
Some of these features are repeated on the side. Another potentially important feature for some is the support of traditional cabled input, for those situations where Bluetooth is not appropriate or available.
Inside the box, the unit is ecologically packed, using its supplied carry case to provide protection while in transit.
A user guide is also included.
Within the carry case, we have the folded headphones, a piece of foam to separate the cups to prevent them from “clashing” in transport, and cables inside a milky-white plastic bag.
With the earcups unfolded and the band extended to the full length, the headband can accommodate even larger heads than mine – and mine’s pretty big. The blue colour is actually quite similar to that of the Audiotechnica ATH-M50xBL which I quite like (as that’s what I use at home). There are openings for the noise cancelling microphones on the backs of the cups, but the design is mostly rather plain and understated.
United States
