In what world is an MSRP of £149.99 in the UK compared to $80 in the US from day one justifiable? I can't tell whether that first number was just a marketing ploy used to convince people that the current price of £85 is a massive deal or not, but even £85 is still not competitive against what those in the US get. Other regions get similarly shafted to where 1MORE really needs to get its price parity on par with others in that people outside the US know they are not going to get as good a deal, but also typically don't get treated as badly, either.

But let's take $80 for the 1MORE ColorBuds 2, especially since US prices are best considered for comparisons in general, whereby direct competitors are primarily from the likes of Padmate, Lypertek, Cleer, Tronsmart, and a bunch of other Chinese companies. Most of these are using a similar, if not identical, Qualcomm chipset with Bluetooth 5.2, cVc microphones, and hybrid ANC options. Some go further by making the case more technologically competent with fast charging and Qi wireless charging, which the ColorBuds 2 does at the lowest price of those mentioned here. 1MORE has also worked with Sonarworks to get a dedicated SoundID profile for the ColorBuds 2 in addition to having SoundID natively integrated into the 1MORE mobile app. I would have liked to see SoundID account support, but this will be the first time for most people, which has it work out well enough in practice.

What does not work out fine in practice is 1MORE's decision to go with a really unique implementation of active noise cancellation that is always on, sparingly working for noise reduction by itself while making for an unimpressive sound signature most of the way. It does result in a novel warmer and forward-facing midrange presentation that might appeal to those with a preference for vocals in songs, as well as general movie watching or talking with others online. But the many mishaps along the way to get there, which have been detailed on the previous page, keep me from recommending this set.