1 More Design Piston earphones review

Xiaomi’s piston earphones were quite a hit when they initially came out, and the buds seem to sell even even now. The 1 More Design Piston earphones seem to offer very similar features at comparable prices, but with a design that’s radically different (and appeals to a different section of people, in my opinion).

I spent a couple of weeks with the earphones and tested them out with my various phones, laptop and FiiO X3, and here’s the results for you to see.

1 More Design Piston Earphones Unboxing

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i6D6HxxrQM] It appears as though the unboxing experience is something that the makers have orchestrated  with a lot of thought. The buds come neatly wrapped around a round rubber bar, which itself comes in a cardboard box that opens like a double door fridge.

Inside, apart from the rubber bar holding the earphones, sits some paperwork and then a little pouch which you can use to either store the earphones themselves or the additional tips that come along with the earphones.

In all, it’s an unboxing experience that will leave you very satisfied. You certainly don’t expect this from a sub-$20 set of earphones!

1 More Design Piston Earphones Specifications

You can’t really expect too much from very entry-level audio equipment, but the 1 More Design Piston Earphones offer respectable internal specifications for the money. The buds come with an impedance of 16 Ohm, with a sensitivity of 97 dB. There’s the usual frequency response of 20-20,000MHz. Lastly, the earphones have a power rating of 5mW. Take a look at the list below to get all the specifications in one place.

• Impedance: 16 Ohms
• Sensitivity: 97 dB
• Power Rating: 5 mW
• Frequency range: 20Hz – 20kHz
• Plug: 3.5mm jack
• In-line Remote: 3 buttons

1 More Design Pistons Review: Build Quality

The earphones come with a standard 3.5mm jack that features sturdy, good quality housing around it. The general design scheme, in fact, is very much similar to Xiaomi Piston buds. There’s a nearly identical-looking in-line module on the 1 More Design Pistons, with the same buttons and layout. The module has a very metallic look but I believe is made out of plastic.

The cable itself isn’t as sturdy as the Xiaomi Piston’s kevlar covered wire, but still feels decently well put together thanks to some good quality, grippy/rubbery plastic encasing the internal wires.

The housing that covers the driver is made out of the same materials as the in-line module. They do look like they could take a beating!

1 More Design Piston Earphones Audio Quality

The earphones don’t sound as good as they look, but that could be a way of complimenting the looks (if ‘Swarovski crystal elements’-studded earphones are something that you would want to own). Depending on what music genre you’re into, the earphones can either be your daily companions (all casual, no audiophile stuff here!) or once-in-a-blue-moon partners.

My daily drivers (no pun intended) are the dual-dynamic Brainwavz R3s, and to say the least, there’s a massive difference in sound. On the 1 More Design Pistons, the sound hits your ear all at once, while the R3s seem to leave it up to your eardrums to mix the high and low frequencies. It is just very hard to explain in words.

Unlike the Xiaomi Pistons, the 1 More Design Pistons don’t really live on bass, so there’s a lot more neutrality in the kind of sound they produce, and consequently, the type of music genres they’re suited to. If in case you’re a basshead, I’d reckon you look at other options. This is certainly not to say that the 1 More Design Pistons lack bass; in fact, I am quite a fan of the natural levels of bass on the earphones.

The soundstage on the earphones doesn’t seem very wide… if you manage to get your hands on a good quality flac, the soundstage your mind will imagine will perhaps be of a classic rock band playing in a large hall… with a tad bit of echo around. This also means that mids on the 1 More Design Piston earphones sound very much like they should.

The earphones however lack highs, or treble. This gives you the impression of a very flat-ish signature, which somewhat is the case also. But then again, lack of too much bass means that the earphones don’t overdo the lows.

In a nutshell, I’d give the 1 More Design Pistons a 7/10 for the very natural sound they produce.

1 More Design Pistons Review: Conclusion

The retail box mentions the product comes with Swarovski Crystal elements embedded onto the buds, just to give it some more emphasis. Like you just read, the 1 More Design Piston earphones produce decent sound that is very much acceptable, but isn’t mind blowing. You probably won’t have a hard time choosing between the Xiaomi Pistons and the 1 More Design Pistons, because each pair of buds offers a distinct sound and of course, a very different look and feel.

Many prefer to have earphones that exaggerate bass, and if you’re one of them, the 1 More Design Piston earphones aren’t for you. You would be better off with something like the Xiaomi Pistons!

The 1 More Design Piston earphones can be bought from ibuygou.com for $17.