1MORE Piston Fit In-Ear Headphones Review
You may not have heard of the brand 1MORE, but you probably have seen or even used a product made by them. 1MORE is the brand behind Xiaomi's affordable, well-built and superb sounding headphones. The most affordable 1MORE in-ear headphones you can get right now would be the Piston Fit, priced at $29.99. Do they offer the same excellent bang-for-the-buck we see on Xiaomi headphones? Should you get one? Let's begin with the review.
Unboxing - Plain & Simple
From the size of the packaging box to the plastic wrappers, the Piston Fit's unboxing experience is very reminiscent of the original Piston Basic aka Paperback. Tear open the box and you will find three things: the earphones wrapped in plastic, two sets of extra ear tips (small and large), as well as an instruction manual. The earphone's cable is tied up nicely with taped.
This is really unlike what we see on 1MORE's costlier headphones, which comes in really fancy packaging, but it isn't a necessarily a bad thing. Just like on the Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro, this is done so that 1MORE spend on things that matter, like sound and build quality.
Design - Excellent. What Else do You Expect from 1MORE?
With other headphones of this price or higher, you can expect plastic housing with paint that will scratch off after a few months of use. But 1MORE does things differently. All 1MORE products, no matter how much you pay, are exquisitely designed and built with fantastic craftsmanship. The Piston Fit is no different. It features an aluminum alloy housing, whose shape and design is a combination of the Mi Piston 2 and Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro. The headphone jack housing is also made of the same metal, with similar design to that of the Piston 2.
There are only 2 areas where you will find 1MORE cut cost in terms of design. Comparing the Piston Fit side by side with the Pro or Pro HD, you will notice that the lower portion of the cable is slightly thinner on the Piston Fit, so it doesn't feel as sturdy. Next, the play/pause button and microphone housing is made of plastic unlike the Pro and Pro HD. Also, there are no volume controls, only a play/pause button. This might be a deal breaker for some.
Sound - Great for Non Audiophiles
The Piston Fit places great emphasis on mids and a little on bass, which isn't exactly my ideal kind of in-ear headphones. I did a comparison with my daily driver, the Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro HD (S$49.90), with my iPhone SE using Spotify at Extreme Quality with the following songs:
1. 当爱来敲门 by 张碧晨
2. 李白 by 李荣浩
3. 忘了如何遗忘 by 郭静
4. Lying From You by Linkin Park
I selected 当爱来敲门 to be in the list because the Pro HD had static issues whenever it plays this song. I was curious if the Piston Fit had the same issue and from my testing, it does not. However, the Pro HD was noticeably more detailed and clean. 李白 and 忘了如何遗忘 sounded a little muddy on the Piston Fit. Meanwhile, the Pro HD, with its superior treble and wider soundstage, provided a sweeter, livelier experience.
Listening to "Lying From You" is a completely different experience on both earphones. In the first ten seconds, I liked the Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro HD better due to the very prominent highs, which sounded a little underwhelming on the Piston Fit. However, when the bass and vocals kicked in, the Piston Fit provided a much more immersive experience. That said, the bass of the Piston Fit is not what I would consider to be satisfying.
*not an iPhone SE
Considering the price different, the Piston Fit performed pretty well. I do not have any similarly priced in-ear headphones to do side by side comparison at the moment but I can confidently say that the Piston Fit is among the better sounding S$30 in-ear headphones I have owned. For regular media consumption, the Piston Fit provides a pretty immersive experience.
I wanted to compare the Piston Fit to the regular Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro but mine was damaged after multiple rounds of washing in the washing machine. The headphones still worked though, but doesn't sound as good as before, so it would not have resulted in a fair comparison.
Comfort - Light and Tight
Due to the light weight and angled earphones, the Piston Fit fits in my ears very well and is really comfortable to wear for prolonged periods. Despite vigorously shaking and swinging my head around, I was unable to get the Piston Fit to fall off, or even get the sensation that it was coming off. If you run a lot and do not mind wired earphones, you will love these.
Others - Missing Volume Controls, Burning In, Etc.
1MORE headphones are known to require burning in after unboxing, before it can perform to its true capabilities. I downloaded the 1MORE Assistant app from the Apple App Store and left the earphones to burn in for hours. There was slight improvements in the level of details but, not a lot has changed after the burn in process. My opinions above still holds.
Again, the lack of volume controls can be really troublesome sometimes. Perhaps 1More thought that it would be too costly to implement their signature intelligent controls so they decided to completely remove it. Or perhaps it was a cost saving decision. Either way, I wish there was volume controls at least some form of volume controls, even if they only work on one mobile platform and even if I have to pay a dollar or two more.
The microphone on the 1MORE Piston Fit is among the best I have tested. It produces surprisingly crisp and clean recording, without the background static that was present on many headphones I have used recently, including the Pro HD and Plantronics Explorer 80. Great stuff.
Conclusion - Budget Headphones, Premium Build
Just from looking at it, you can tell that the Piston Fit is a 1MORE product. The stunning yet familiar design and absolutely amazing build quality, without sacrificing sound quality, is what makes 1MORE unique. If you are an audiophile, the Piston Fit is not for you - at only S$30, you can't expect that level of quality. So who exactly is it for? If you watch a lot of videos and only listen to music occasionally, you probably wouldn't want to spend too much on a pair of in-ear headphones. For that kind of usage, I highly recommend the Piston Fit.
Where to Buy?
The 1MORE Piston Fit can be purchased from any of 1MORE Singapore's authorized dealers, including Popular bookstores and Analogue, as well as the official 1MORE Lazada page for $29.90. If you can grab it at the current S$19.90 promotion pricing at Popular Bookstores, that would make it an even sweeter deal. View the complete list of authorized stores here.
