OneOdio contacted me directly so that I tested their headphones. It’s a Hong Kong based brand that is still not as well known as some Asian competitors. Even so, its products are already being sold by lots of online retailers. The headphones I’m going to talk about today are the A30s, which sell for around $50-70.
It’s an over-ear bluetooth model, with padded capsules that fully cover the ears. It has Bluetooth 5.0 connection, USB-C for charging, P2 port for wired connection and, of course, the now popular ANC (Active Noise Canceling) feature. The packaging is very simple, but it includes a synthetic leather bag for transport and a P2 cable.
The headphones are made of matte black plastic with a glossy area on the sides of the shells. They seem durable when holded, but they have some pieces that shake in sudden movements, which doesn’t cause that nice “unity” feeling. The capsules rotate and fold, making transportation a little easier.
On the head, the A30 have a medium to tight fit, with moderate pressure on the ears. I found them to be comfortable, although in the Brazilian summer they generated some heat after 1 hour of continuous use. That’s because the padding in each capsule is thick, deeper than that found in models like the Edifier W800BT, which I have used a lot in the past few weeks.
Let’s talk about sound. The original audio profile is more closed, with a shy mid-range and weak treble. But I prefer this setting to the one that is heard when noise cancelling (ANC) is turned on: in that condition, a good amount of bass is swept away, creating a “thin” radio style sound. I am being a bit exaggerated to better explain what happens, but in any case, the factory sound, without ANC, is preferable.
After all, how effective is noise cancelling here? In fact, it works as an attenuation, since it has limited impact. Persistent low tones are muffled by, let’s say, 50-60%, and high piched sounds are only slightly reduced. It’s a common result for the simplest ANC systems, found in a lot of budget headsets. As the earcups already provide a good passive noise cancelling, my chosen way to listen to music was with no ANC.
During my tests, I didn’t notice any signal drops when using the product, something I was very satisfied with. It also didn’t present any sound delay when I watched videos on YouTube or series on Netflix, so it seems ready for multimedia.
The battery is average. In my experience, with bluetooth and ANC in action, it lasted about 16 hours. With bluetooth only, autonomy rises to something around 28 hours. And when there’s only ANC activated, I expect to achieve more than 40 hours. About this last statement: yes, it’s possible to use the A30 “turned off”, in wired mode, with active noise cancelling enabled, something that many similar models don’t offer.
I didn’t mention anything about the built-in microphones. right? They are only average, picking up audio without much strenght, as if it comes from someone at the back of the room. Still, perfectly audible and without interruptions. You can use it in video calls.
The OneOdio A30 are average headphones. They don’t have any fantastic prominence, nor do they have big downsides. As they also work in wired mode, they are versatile and get the job done for daily use. But I think they are worth buying only it if they appear at competitive prices when compared to other budget models. Competition is very strong, though.