Introduction

Nowadays, TWS (True Wireless Stereo) headphones are all the rage for a good reason: completely devoid of any wires, they're very convenient to use. You take them out of their carrying/charging cradle, insert them into your ears and are off. However, some users, myself included, still prefer wireless headphones based on the so-called neckband design. Here, the wire that connects the earpieces loops through a thick, easily bendable band you put around your neck. Personally, I find this approach more practical compared to the TWS design because I don't have to worry about losing or stepping on an earpiece. It also saves me from walking around with a bulge caused by the not-so-tiny carrying/charging cradle. For almost a year, my go-to neckband wireless headphones have been the 1MORE Dual Driver BT ANC (reviewed here). Much to my excitement, 1MORE recently released the successor, the 1MORE Dual Driver ANC Pro.



Coming in at $149/€165, the brand-new Dual Driver ANC Pro wireless headphones are more expensive, but have a long list of improvements. They received Bluetooth 5 and high-quality LDAC codec support, the IPX5 certification, increased battery life (from 7 to 20 hours), improved active noise cancellation, stronger magnets on the earbuds, and a couple of other tweaks, including a slight design overhaul for a stealthier black aesthetic. 1MORE aren't out to compete with themselves, though—the press materials they gave me made it perfectly clear they're after some of the best neckband-style wireless ANC headphones on the market, such as the Bose QuietControl 30 and Sony WI-1000XM2. Both cost exactly twice as much as the 1MORE Dual Driver ANC Pro while blatantly falling behind in certain aspects, such as water/sweat resistance and charging time.

Specifications

• 1x 13.6-mm dynamic driver (neodymium magnet) + 1x balanced armature
• 32 Ω impedance
• Bluetooth 5 (SBC, AAC, LDAC)
• Battery life: 20 hours (ANC off)/14 hours (ANC on)
• Fast-charging support (10 minutes for 3 hours of playtime, 1 hour for full charge)
• Voice assistant: Apple Siri, Google Assistant
• In-ear neckband design
• Built-in controls (volume, next/previous/play/pause, answer/drop calls, ANC mode, and Wind Resistance mode)
• Built-in Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation
• IPX5 rating
• 4 pairs of replacement ear tips
• Carrying pouch, USB-C charging cable, and USB-C to 3.5-mm adapter
• Weight: 44.3 g

The Package

The 1MORE Dual Driver ANC Pro Wireless Headphones are packed inside a foldable, sturdy white and gray box whose front and back show off the headphones and specifications. On the front, you'll notice that these headphones won the iF Design Award 2020, as well as the CES 2020 Innovation Award.


The inner side of the foldable flap is covered in sketches that serve as sort of a quick-start guide. Here, you'll also find a message from Luca Bignardi, 1MORE's lead sound engineer, which mentions that the sound of the 1MORE Dual Driver ANC Pro wireless headphones was sculpted around the needs of human ears instead of flat lines that satisfy acoustic engineers.


Here's everything you'll find neatly organized inside the box: the headphones, a user manual, some stickers, a carrying pouch, USB-C charging cable, USB-C to 3.5-mm adapter (for wired use), and three pairs of replacement ear tips of various sizes.