1MORE ComfoBuds Mini

The 1More Comfobuds Mini earbuds are exceptionally small and light and provide decent if unexceptional audio for your turbo sessions while being unaffected by sweat. The battery life is reasonable, and you're getting good value for money here.

Before we get going, let's make it clear that we've been reviewing these while on the turbo. I ride outside while wearing earbuds a lot – sue me – but the safety instructions for these earbuds say 'Do not use in traffic'. It wouldn't be fair if we judged them in a scenario for which they're not intended, so we stuck to the indoor trainer with these.

1More claims its Comfobuds Minis are the 'world's smallest active noise cancelling earbuds' and they really are tiny.

The earbuds themselves aren't a regular shape but their maximum dimensions are 17 x 15 x 13mm. Each one is less than 4g, while we weighed the case at 35g – so the two earbuds plus the case come in at under 43g. I can't say I'm especially fussed either way about the size and weight of wireless earbuds but these are way smaller and lighter than others I've used.

Most earbuds that I've used for sport have had some sort of fin or arm to hold them in place, but you don't get anything of that kind here. You really don't want earbuds to come out unexpectedly because, without wires to tether them to your device, they could end up anywhere.

With the 1More Comfobuds Minis you get several different sized silicone tips to fit different ear anatomies. I picked the ones that felt most comfortable and that was sufficient for me. I expected them to fall out sooner or later when mashing out a sweaty session on the turbo but, fair play, that never happened. I didn't find myself needing to dab at them so that they'd stay securely in position either, and I promise you, I've had some super-hot turbo sessions this summer. Remember when we had the record UK temperature? All my riding for a few weeks was in the garage from hell recovering from a wrist operation. Your card's in the post, right?

The earbuds have an IPX5 rating meaning that they're protected against low pressure water stream. More significantly, it means that they should be sweatproof, and I've found that to be the case.

One thing I've experienced with some sports earbuds is a temporary drop in volume caused by sweat covering the sound filter even when no moisture is getting inside. I've not had this happen at all with the 1More Comfobuds Minis. They keep on performing no matter how much sweat you send their way.

Several functions can be operated via the 'touch area' on the back of the earbuds while they're in place. 'Touch and hold' switches between Active Noise Reduction, Transparent and Off modes, for example. This worked reliably enough.

'Double tap' lets you answer or end a phone call. It also allows you to pause and play your audio. You can, though customise these settings via 1More's smartphone app. If you prefer, you can double tap the right earbud to increase volume and double tap the left one to reduce it, or set it so that double tapping allows you to move to previous/next tracks. There are quite a few different options available to you.

Noise reduction levels

The app also allows you to choose different levels of active noise cancelling (ANC): Strong to eliminate most external noise, Mild to filter out human voices, and Wind Noise Resistance, which... well, you can probably work that one out for yourself.

These noise reduction modes aren't perfect but they do help to remove background sounds. They can muck up the audio in certain environments, though, making it sound like it's coming up through the plug hole in a sink.

I didn't use these noise reduction features much. I left them turned off (the default setting) while training and couldn't hear the turbo even with music at a reasonably low level – just the sound of a loud freehub when I stopped pedalling.

Transparent mode

And what about the Transparent mode? It works by taking some feed from the built-in microphones and mixing it into the audio so you can hear what is going on around you. This is fine for a lot of things but it won't let you hear the traffic around you while cycling outside. The mics pick up too much wind-crackle for that. If you were to use these for riding outdoors, you'd need to turn the Transparent mode off so you'd be pretty much isolated from traffic sounds.

Otherwise, the sound quality is pretty good. It's clear and crisp enough, even if the bass is a little lacking. I've got a couple of other pairs of wireless earbuds – more expensive models from Bang & Olufsen (£299) and Jaybird (£160) – and the sound quality of these lags behind them, which is what you'd probably expect considering the price difference.

You can alter the settings substantially through a simple SoundID system from Sonarworks where you tell the app which sound you prefer, A or B, a number of times until it zones in on what you like. If the sound you end up with isn't quite right, you can't tweak it manually beyond that, which is a bit annoying. You have to go through the SoundID thing again.

Battery life & charging

Battery life is fair. You're looking at about six hours of music playback between charges with active noise cancelling switched off, and about five hours with it switched on.

The case will recharge the earbuds three times – empty to fully charge takes around 70 minutes –before it'll need recharging itself, which will take around 90 minutes from flat. This means you can get up to 24 hours of playback before you need to put more juice into the case.

This case is a neat bit of gadgetry that's reliable and well made. It's like a pebble that's small enough to sit in the palm of your hand. Inside, the earbuds are held in place by magnets and they switch on and connect with your device (your phone or whatever) via Bluetooth when you open the lid.

A price of £92.99 puts the 1More Comfobuds Mini earbuds roughly on a par with the Nothing Ear 1 buds Liam tested at £99 (read his review here) and they're over £100 cheaper than the Beats Fit Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds that George tested earlier this year (review here). I think the price is pretty good for what you get here.

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Those concerned about losing tiny earbuds, or who want to ride outdoors while hearing what's going on around them, might be happier with some bone-conduction phones like the Mojawa Mojo1s that Anna tested, which cost £119.

Conclusion

All in all, the tiny 1More Comfobuds Minis have a lot to recommend them for indoor training. The noise reduction and transparency modes could be better, but the sound quality is reasonably good and they don't care how sweaty you get.

Verdict

Small, light earbuds that are comfortable to wear, and they don't care how sweaty you get on the turbo