Verdict
The Melomania 1 + are as good as you could get for sound quality below £ 50 . The design will undoubtedly put some off , but in terms of value there are n’t many earphones as compelling as what Cambridge Audio has put forward with these buds .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
At first glance melomania may have you thinking of something else but they really refer to a erotic love of euphony – just in case you were wondering .
The Melomania 1 + put back theoriginal Melomania – winner of a Trusted Reviews award back in 2019 – and carry on where that pair left off with an ambition to render high - lineament audio at an low-cost price .
Launching in 2021 , the Melomania 1 + are available at their gloomy price yet at £ 49.95 . On a performance - per - pounding ranking , it ’d be tough not to see the Cambridge sit luxuriously up on the lean of the honorable affordable earphones .
Design
There have been many true wireless designs but few as unique as the Melomania . Unlike the more traditional - shapedMelomania Touchseries , the Melomania 1 + ’s conelike shape looks like a bullet that ( safely ) goes into the auricle . They attend unconventional but endure by the same principle of any reliable wireless earbud when it comes to creating a disturbance isolate seal .
They slot in easily enough , avoiding any chafing with the silicon ear - crown providing a mild first point in time of impinging . The embodiment of the earphones allows for some literal wriggle room to force them in , their noise isolating timber are solid in the amount of noise block . A generous selection of silicon and computer storage foam ear - hint are usable for the good comfort . I prefer wear these than I do the master .
Another aspect to consider when adjusting the tantrum is call quality . Just above the ‘ remaining ’ and ‘ right ’ logos is the mike – this must be manoeuver downwards for optimal call operation .
forcible push controls are at either final stage of the earbuds , an audible click signal when the button has been pressed . The control schema is simple : a unmarried tap on either bud plays / break , a double tap on the proper skip forwards or skips back on the left , while a hold raises or frown the volumes .
I do n’t imagine some will like the plugged - in feel these earphones produce but I did n’t mind it , and after a while I got used to its odd shape . Our critique of the original Melomania described them as functional and while there ’s a degree of function over elan here , I ’d say the Melomania 1 + have a sense of style because there are few like it . IP rating remains at IPX5 and this rating only covers the phone .
The case they come in is petite in sizing , flips open to reveal the earphones which can be slightly tricky to take out – it feels like claw are needed if you have big fingers . There ’s a row of five small light-emitting diode lights that show the display case ’s remaining bombardment , with theUSB - C port(new for this model ) for charging located on the side . Like the earphone , there ’s a choice of black or white but manoeuver online and there ’s an orange protective case with a carabiner seize useable for £ 10 .
Features
There ’s no noise cancellation , transparence mode or wear out sensor detection – none of the more advance features seen on late phone . That make the Melomania 1 + something of a throwback to an earlier period of budget honest radio ( as in , two years ago ) .
The Melomania app is well stocked for feature article . There are graphics for bombardment liveliness , the power to disable touch controls , equaliser circumstance , along with the alternative of creating three custom equivalent weight . you could convert the codec the earphones play in ( a choiceof aptXor AAC ) , update the firmware and switch audio recording modality from Low Power to High Performance and frailty versa . Switching modes takes time but provides battery benefit if switching to the Low Power mode .
Those benefit are extra life with 9 hr per bud and 50 in sum , which are similar figure to theCreative Outlier Air v3that ’s available for a few pounds less . Switch to High Performance and it drops to 7 hours and 35 in totality . The overall electric battery is a little jumping from the original ’s 45 but it ’s the plus of the High Performance that ’s the bigger boost as I ’ll get to in the audio section .
I ’ve found the headphone do n’t discharge at the same charge per unit ; after an hour ’s use the left field was at 82 % and the right field at 92 % , but harmonize to Cambridge Audio its normal for the primary earphone to drain quicker . Perhaps for the next model simultaneous transmission to both earphones could be introduced to alleviate this .
Bluetooth connectivity is v5.0with SBC , AAC and aptX codecs ( SBC ca n’t be disabled in the app ) . Connectivity is by and large fine but in meddling areas it can get spotty . Walking through Waterloo station and the connectedness broke up to the power point where audio was blinking in and out through each bud .
Call tone is better than mediocre . Walking down a master road with cars and jalopy passing by the person on the other ending commented that they could hear me well enough and that while there were setting noises for my voice to contend with , they were n’t distracting enough to cause trouble .
Sound Quality
I admit I was n’t as keen on the original Melomania as most were . I think there were beneficial for where true wireless earbuds were in 2019 , but I experience the Melomania 1 + are a obtrusive measure up from their predecessors in the healthy domain .
The Melomania 1 + offers a plenteous bass functioning – more oomph , more punch and more weight . Comparing the two models , the low frequency execution of Easy Life ’s skeleton is much better served but that ’s not the only part of the Melomania 1 + ’s performance that ’s heighten . It ’s a smoother - sounding performance , with vocals that have more character and occupy a bad presence within the soundstage . The Melomania 1 + has more meat on its finger cymbals .
Elsewhere the stereo effigy is more convincing , with more noticeable depth to tracks and honest retrieval of detail and extra limpidity and definition of instrument in The Bad Plus ’ Advil . With the original , screen background component of a trail seemed to have less definition and could almost past me by , whereby the Melomania 1 + are more able to get and describe detail within a caterpillar track .
Dynamically they ’re not one - note either , the difference between still and tacky is conveyed well , and the timbre of notes are a little more distinct and obvious to hear .
They ’re not as kinky in tone as the original , and I finger the high frequency response of the master copy is sharper and clearer with more top end radiance hear to GoGo Penguin ’s Raven , but the trade - off is that the bass is n’t as well emphasize . I intend the Melomania 1 + happen upon a good counterpoise and look , and as a result ferment better with more music genres .
The bang-up sense of equilibrium is obtrusive with Jacob Collier ’s All I Need ( with Mahalia & Ty Dolla ) , but also more notable is there ’s less signal noise for clearer playback . The soundstage is wide , and the Melomania 1 + strike a more natural tincture with both voices and instruments . These are the benefits High Performance mode bring over the original . They ’d be a very ripe buy at their original price , but for £ 50 you ’d struggle to find a best - sounding yoke .
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Should you buy it?
: There ’s plenty of competition around the £ 100 mark but in removing themselves from the ruffle , the Melomania 1 + assert themselves as an excellent budget buy .
If you do n’t like the ‘ secure in ’ design of wireless earphones then you certainly wo n’t be bring home the bacon over by the Melomania 1 + .
Final Thoughts
Such was the inundation of truewireless earbudslaunched throughout 2021 , there was n’t time to cover everything . One pair that slue through the cracks were the Melomania 1 + and judging by their carrying out , they should n’t slip by you .
It helps that Cambridge has reduced the price to £ 49.95 , which will stick around for the foreseeable hereafter . By lose weight the price , it further withdraw the Melomania 1 + from the cabal of noise cancelling bud around the £ 100 mark . In terms of performance per pound , it ’s hard to ignore the value the Melomania 1 + crack .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every headphones we review thoroughly over an lengthened period of time of time . We use diligence - standard tests to compare feature properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to go over a product .
Find out more about how we quiz in ourethics insurance policy .
FAQs
There is no ANC on this poser , the Melomania 1 + block out external strait through their passive noise isolating designing .
Full Specs
Sustainability
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