The 1More Sonoflow headphones are our pick of the best noise-cancelling headphones for budget buyers despite having a name that’s very close to that of toilet and macerator manufacturer Saniflo. And now there’s a sequel: the Sonoflow Pro HQ51. As before, they’re exceptionally affordable for noise cancellation: the sticker price is $90 (about £70 / AU$135) and there will be $20 discounts for early bird orders.
The new Sonoflow HQ51 looks pretty much identical to the current model, but the ear cushions are leather this time around. However the key changes are internal, including better battery life and noise cancellation that, according to 1More, beats the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700. That’s a lofty claim given that Bose’s headphones are really good – and cost over four times more (when they were new).
Sonoflow HQ51: key features and specs
The battery life of the Sonoflow was already impressive at 50 hours, but now it’s even longer: a claimed 65 hours with ANC on and 100 hours with ANC off. That’s even higher than the might Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 or Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, both of which hit 60 hours and received lavish praise from us for it. Oh, and again, cost multiple times what the 1More do.
Sound quality should be improved too. There are new 40mm diamond-like carbon drivers that 1More claims delivers lower total harmonic distortion than the mighty Sony WH-1000XM5, and like Sony‘s headphones the HQ51 support the hi-res LDAC codec for wireless music.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict that the 1More cans won’t be better headphones than Sony’s; we didn’t think the current version excelled in the sound quality department and while new drivers are likely to sound better, I suspect we’ll still be looking at good rather than jaw-dropping.
I think it’s telling that the metric being used in the marketing is total harmonic distortion: that’s something that’s largely meaningless to the average listener. THD is a measurement of signal accuracy but once you get down to the kind of tiny distortion levels you’ll find in headphones such as the WH-1000XM5, the distortion is inaudible. It’s in other areas that the extra cost of the Sony headphones is felt.
But we’re still looking forward to 1More’s new headphones a lot. The current Sonoflow cans are a steal, so to get improved ANC and audio for the same money – or even less if you early-bird it – is even better. As we said in our Sonoflow review, “You’ll find better ANC and sound but, crucially, not for this price.”
