OneOdio is back with an upgrade on its Focus series of headphones; it"s a brand you may remember from last year, when we reviewed the Focus A6 and rated it highly for quality as well as the asking price. Now they are back with the Focus A1 Pro, and we take a look and listen!
Disclosure: OneOdio provided a free sample without any editorial input or review pre-approval.
Introduction
As I said with the previous hands-on, I"m no audio buff, but I do know the difference between good and bad-sounding speakers and headphones. I currently own the Edifier 360DB speakers paired to my PC through a Toslink, which was an upgrade from the very much older Creative MegaWorks 250D-THX after they stopped working.
I switched to the Focus A5 from my own Audio Technica ATH-SR50BT with an impedance of 32Ω, simply because I think they sounded great (in my opinion). I use them with my computer when I don"t want to disturb my neighbors late at night.
The packaging arrived unscathed this time, all the way from China. It"s a minimal affair, with the headphones sitting inside a plastic cutout, which is also protected with a plastic sleeve. In between the headphone band is a cardboard box that contains the USB charging cable.
What"s in the box
- 1 x OneOdio Focus A1 Pro headphones;
- 1 x USB Type-C charging cable
- User Manual
With that out of the way, here are the specs:
| OneOdio Focus A1 Pro | |
|---|---|
| Model: | A1P |
| Driver: | 40 mm Dynamic |
| Audio Technology: | SBC, AAC |
| ANC | -48dB Active Noise Cancellation |
| Frequency Response: | 20 Hz - 20 kHz |
| Sample Rate: | 96kHz/24bit |
| Impedance Range: | Up to 32 Ω |
| Bluetooth Version: | 6.0 |
| Bluetooth Profile: | HFP/AVRCP/A2DP/SPP |
| Transmission Range: | >10 m / Bitrate: 990k |
| Maximum Transmit Power: | 20 dBm |
| Wireless Freq Band: | 2402 MHz-2480 MHz |
| Battery: | Li-ion Polymer Battery (600 mAh) |
| Charging Port: | USB-C |
| Input Power: | 5 V ⎓ 500 mA (3.7V 2.22wH) |
| Charging Time: | ≈ 2.5 h (10 mins charging offers 5 h playtime) |
| Playing Time: | ≈ 75 h (ANC OFF) / ≈ 40 h (ANC ON) |
| Color: | Black, Red |
| Weight: | 200g |
| MSRP: | $49.99 |
Design
The Focus A1 Pro are of the "on-ear" sort rather than the over-ear sort I have reviewed a few times for OneOdio. They are completely black. The whole outside of the ear cups surrounding the logo feels like a tiny vinyl record, which is both pretty cool and looks great. Unlike on the Focus A5, there are no ventilation slits on these cans.
| Focus A6 | Focus A1 Pro |
|---|---|
For some reason, OneOdio decided to flip the controls the other way around yet again, so it might take some getting used to if upgrading. However, all of the controls are still on the right cup, with access to the volume controls at the top, which also double as prev/next track when holding down the volume up (next) or volume down (prev) for longer than 2 seconds. I would have preferred a double click on prev/next, as navigating through tracks can be time-consuming due to the two-second pause, with the rinse, repeat between each action.
Below the volume rocker, there is a Multi Function Button (MFB), which is also the power button; tapping once pauses or plays tracks, holding the button down for longer than two seconds powers the Focus A6 headphones on or off.
Then there"s the USB charging port and next to that the Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) button, which is awkwardly placed right on the front, so to use it, you have to make a sort of cup your ears gesture with your hand. It is disabled by default upon powering on the headphones, tapping it once enters transparency mode, tapping again enters ANC mode, and once more disables both ANC and transparency back to "normal" mode. The ANC mode is a bit confusing, because the official product page says it is both -34 dB and -48dB, to make it extra confusing, it is not clarified in the official specifications at the bottom of the product page.
Again, the user manual is not linked on the product page, which is something I have gotten used to from OneOdio; there is a support page, but they only list a few products that have a digital guide.
Usage
Although it might be a bit unfair, mainly due to the different price class, I am comparing with my ATH-AR3BT, which I have owned for around eight years, at the time I paid $120 for them, and the A1 Pro have a quite lower $49.99 MSRP.
The first thing I noticed is that the volume of the A1 Pro are quite a bit lower than the ATH-AR3BT headphones for some reason, this was when connected to my Samsung QN90B television, and my work PC. Also, the lack of LDAC and AptX is a bit sad, but I suppose it is to be expected from a budget set.
I used a combo of Spotify and Tidal for my testing on my PC and phone. I also used them with YouTube playback, with each returning an acceptable quality.
Controls verdict: Finicky
Comfort
The first thing you can see is that the Focus A1 Pro (on the right in the above image) are larger than my beat-up ATH-AR3BT, and they are also a little wider with the headband; however, this does not result in discomfort; they also weigh 10 grams more than the ATH-AR3BT"s 190 grams.
After wearing and listening to music for over two hours while I am working, I wouldn"t say that I "forget" I am wearing them at all, but perhaps more importantly, they don"t bother me. The headset does not feel tight on my fat head at all. I did a comparison pic up above.
Comfort verdict: Great!
tl;dr highlights:
- Bluetooth 6.0
- 75-Hour Battery Life
- Transparency Mode
- Low Latency Gaming Mode
- Fast Charging: 10-Minute Charge, 5-Hour Playtime
Transparency mode
Just like with the previous Focus A6 review, I also tested the transparency mode by playing a YouTube video on my phone of Jimmy Carr roasting a South African heckler, and with the volume right up and holding it near to my left headphone, I could follow along as if I was listening to music through my computer speakers with someone talking. I also tried transparency mode while someone was visiting, and even with the volume down lowish, that person had to talk quite loudly for me to understand them from about 1 meter (3 ft) away.
Noise canceling
While watching TV with the headphones connected over Bluetooth and using Noise Canceling mode, I can confirm that it does drown out the 54-62dB airco noises really well.
If I had to complain about these headphones at all, it would (still) be the two-second pause for previous and next track. Other than that, I can"t really fault them. They are comfortable to wear (even after two hours of having them on, and while I am writing this mini-review), and they sound great.
Overall verdict: Acceptable!
Again, I keep coming back to the Focus A5 headphones that I use on my work PC for music and video conferencing, the A1 Pro are more of a budget choice without any option for lossless codecs or even app control. If you are looking for a cheap pair of on-ear headphones, then these shouldn"t be dismissed at the low price they are available for right now on Amazon.
Right now, these headphones can be picked up on Amazon for only $34.99, which is already $15 cheaper than MSRP.
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