Pairing and Customization

Pairing the 1MORE ColorBuds 2 is a piece of cake since they go into pairing mode immediately when you take them out of the case. The protocol is to initiate pairing with a previously paired device, and there is no multi-point support, making it a 1:1 device. It paired easily with both my phone and laptop, and voice prompts at various stages confirm the pairing status of the earphones. 1MORE does not mention the exact Bluetooth chipset, but the adoption of aptX Adaptive and cVc for the microphones heavily indicates the use of a Qualcomm QCC50xx series chipset, especially because of the latest Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity and hybrid ANC. As it stands, there is SBC, AAC, aptX, and aptX Adaptive for codec support, which is quite good even in the absence of LDAC and LHDC. My relatively old phone had aptX available, as did my Windows 10 PC and laptop.


The ColorBuds 2 is supported by 1MORE Music App, a dedicated mobile app available on the Google Play Store and Apple app store. Reviews for the app are middling at best, although a lot of the complaints boil down to connectivity issues with older 1MORE products, so take those for what you will—I had no issues whatsoever with the ColorBuds 2. Installation is simple enough, and it is best to have the earphones paired to your phone or mobile device before proceeding. The app then takes a few seconds to find them before giving you the option to go through a setup assistant, including for choosing the specific color. It will then walk you through the various touch controls in a quick tutorial.


The home page is a collection of several option menus while also being a quick visual indicator of the earphones connected to the mobile device. A render of the ColorBuds 2 shows up at the top, in the color you chose earlier, with the battery levels for the earphones and case shown separately below. The 1MORE logo in the top-right corner is a substitute for the typical hamburger menu, but pressing it still takes you to the various settings. These include "smart burn-in," which takes 12 hours and is a divisive feature that will please some and be scoffed at by others. The other pages are self-explanatory and include a contact page, generic FAQs about TWS earphones, and an experimental feature for a battery level widget on your mobile device screen. Whether or not you go through the whole smart burn-in process, there will be a pop-up message on the home page confirming set-up is complete, and ANC mode is the default. Notice that the operating modes are ANC and pass-through, so there is no normal/standard mode.


The other options on the home page are for customizing how the IR sensors will affect playback, with the default for both pausing and playback. The custom settings page allows for only two of the various pre-set touch controls to be changed, with 1MORE deciding the default configuration is best for business with the rest. You can also check for and update the firmware when available, access the quick guide for the ColorBuds 2 in the app itself, and play license-free soothing sounds found in the app. But the biggest part of the app for me, as it should be for you, is the integration of SoundID. It's not as complete as I'd like in that the app does not cater to those who already have a SoundID account and associated profile, with both 1MORE and Sonarworks saying they are working on adding this feature down the line. As it turns out, it assumes you are new to SoundID and makes you go through the whole process of setting up a profile by A/B testing chosen songs from different music genres. The profile is then uploaded to the earphones. You can read more about the process here.