The 1More Quad Driver are decently versatile wired in-ears with a better build quality than the often recommended 1More Triple Driver. They have a comparable performance for most use cases and a similar sound although the Triple Drivers are a bit more balanced. They're decently stable and portable enough to carry on you at all times, but due to their bigger earbud tips, they're slightly less comfortable and harder to achieve a noise proof fit than the Triple.
Our Verdict
The 1More Quad Driver are better-than-average mixed usage headphones. They're a bit less comfortable than the previous model but easy to use and easy to carry around on your person. They have a well-balanced sound that's good for casual and even critical listening. However, they lack a little in isolation so they won't be the ideal headphones for loud environments.
-
Above-average audio reproduction.
-
Lightweight, ultra-portable design.
-
Low leakage.
-
Sub-Par noise isolation.
-
Poor Soundstage.
-
Larger earbuds can sometimes be uncomfortable.
Decent for neutral listening. The 1More Quad Driver have a decently well-balanced sound but lack soundstage due to their closed and in-ear design. They reproduce tracks with an above-average fidelity but they have a slight bump in their bass that adds a bit more muddiness than on the Triple Driver. They may lack the ambiance for more neutral listeners due to their small soundstage but they should sound satisfyingly good for most casual listeners.
Average for commuting. They're very portable and have a good control scheme, but they do not isolate well enough for the loud environments involved in commuting via public transit.
Above-average for sports. They're small enough to carry on your person, and they have a good control scheme. Unfortunately, the ear buds are relatively large, so they're not as comfortable as the 1More Triple driver. They also don't have detachable cable so the ear buds may get yanked out of your ears if the cable gets hooked on something.
Average for office use. They barely leak so you can play your music playing at high volumes and not distract your colleagues. However, they do not block ambient noise well, so they won't be most suitable headphones if you have a very lively and noisy office.
Average for gaming. The 1More Quad Driver have a wired connection, so they have negligible latency which is suitable for gaming. They also have a decent microphone that's compatible with consoles and PCs and a well-balanced sound. Unfortunately, they lack a good app to customize their sound profile, like most gaming headsets, and the in-ear fit may not be as comfortable for all listeners, especially for long gaming sessions.
- 5.9 Mixed Usage
- 6.8 Neutral Sound
- 5.4 Commute/Travel
- 6.7 Sports/Fitness
- 5.6 Office
- 4.9 Wireless Gaming
- 6.9 Wired Gaming
- 6.6 Phone Calls
- Updated Mar 24, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.4.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Feb 16, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Oct 02, 2017: The microphone has been tested with our new methodology, as explained here
- Updated Aug 10, 2017: Review published.
- Updated Aug 08, 2017: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Aug 06, 2017: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Jul 19, 2017: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Compared To Other Headphones
The 1More Quad Driver are a better-built upgrade to the 1More Triple Driver but they do not sound quite as good. They have a more premium and durable build quality yet they are still compact enough to easily carry around on your person. They're decently versatile for most use cases and they sound good enough for most but they're more expensive than some of the better performing headphones below. See our recommendations for the best earbuds, the best earbuds for bass, and the best noise cancelling earbuds.
The 1More Triple Driver are better headphones than the 1More Quad Driver. The Triple Driver are slightly more comfortable for long listening sessions and their sound quality is better. The Triple Driver block more ambient noise, which makes them a bit more versatile for commuting as well. On the other hand, the Quad Driver feels better-built than the Triple Driver. Also, the Quad Driver perform worse in most of our tests despite being more expensive. Ultimately, the Quad Driver won’t offer as great a value as the Triple Driver.
Test Results
The 1More Quad Driver have a premium-looking earbud design that's a little larger than the 1More Triple Driver. They're shaped to look like a turbine engine and thanks to the metallic finish and subtle red accents on the earbuds, as well as the plastic coated cables, the headphones look and feel high-end.
The 1More Quad Driver are a bit less comfortable than the Triple Drivers. They're just as lightweight and also have angled drivers that don't go in as deeply into the ear canal as some of the other in-ears we've tested. However, the earbuds of the Quad are larger than that of the Triple, making them a bit more noticeable in your ears. On the upside, they provide a wide range of different tip sizes and types (including foam tips) to help you find a fit that's more comfortable for you. However, if you find most in-ears slightly uncomfortable, then you will have the same issues with these headphones.
The 1More Quad have a slightly more responsive inline remote than that of the Triple Driver. They're as easy-to-use and provide a simple and straightforward 3 button set-up for call/music, track skipping, and volume control.
The 1More Quad Driver, like most in-ears, are very breathable headphones. They trap a bit of heat within the ear canal but it's negligible and shouldn't make you sweat more than usual when exercising. The outer-ear remains relatively cool in all conditions, which make them a decent choice for sports and long listening sessions as long as you do not mind the in-ear fit.
The 1More Quad Driver, like most in-ears, are ultra-portable headphones with a small footprint and can easily fit into most pockets. They're super easy to carry around on your person even with the slightly bulkier case.
These headphones come with the same stylized hard case of the 1More Triple Drivers. It will protect the headphones from scratches, drops, and impacts as well as minor water damage. It's a bit bulky but should still fit into most pockets and bags.
The 1More Quad Driver have a good build quality that feels durable. They're a bit better built than the Triple Drivers. The cables are thick and have a good plastic coating that will prevent them from getting damaged by regular wear and tear. The earbuds are also dense and a good combination of metal and plastic that won't break from a few drops or accidentally walk on them. Unfortunately, they do not have a detachable and replaceable audio cable like someof the other in-ears we've tested like the Tin Audio T3, KZ ZS-10 or BVGP DM6.
The Quad Driver are as stable as most in-ears that do not have any stability tips. They're a bit larger than the Triple Drivers but aren't particularly less stable during casual listening sessions or while running. They're so lightweight that unless you pull them out yourself or the cable gets hooked on something, they will rarely fall out of your ears, especially if you use the foam tips.
- 1More Quad Driver Headphones
- Earbud tips (x9)
- Carrying case
- Airplane Adapter
- Manual
The 1More Quad Driver have a great frequency response consistency. Like most other in-ear headphones, if the user is able to achieve a proper seal/fit using the assortment of tips that come with them, then they should get a consistent bass and treble delivery with every re-seat.
The 1More Quad have an average bass performance. Low-frequency extension is at 60Hz, which is about average. Accordingly, low-bass, which is responsible for thump and rumble common to bass-heavy genres, is lacking by more than 4dB. Mid-bass, responsible for the body of bass guitars and the punch of kick drums, is relatively well-balanced but shows a tilt favoring high-bass. High-bass is over our neutral target by more than 5dB, making the bass of these headphones noticeably boomy and muddy.
The mid-range is very good. Low-mid has a 4dB bump, which is the continuation of the high-bass overemphasis. This thickens vocals and adds a bit of mud and clutter to the mix. Mid-mid and high-mid are within 0.4dB of our target and nearly flawless.
The treble is great. Low-treble is within 0.75 of our neural target. The bump at 4.5KHz brings a bit of excess brightness to vocals and leads but is too narrow to have a big negative effect. Mid-treble is underemphasized by more than 4dB, around 7KHz, negatively affecting the sibilances (S and T sounds) on vocals and cymbals.
The imaging is great. Their weighted group delay is 0.17, which is very low. The GD graph also shows that the entire group delay response is below our audibility threshold, suggesting a tight bass and a transparent treble reproduction. Additionally, the L/R drivers of our test unit were exceptionally well-match, ensuring an accurate placement and localization of objects (instruments, voices, video game effects) in the stereo image.
The 1More Quad Driver have a poor soundstage. Creating a large and speaker-like soundstage is partially dependent on having a speaker-like pinna activation. However, these headphones, due to their in-ear design, bypass the pinna and don't interact with it. Therefore, their soundstage will be perceived to be small and located inside the listener's head. Their closed-back design also means that their soundstage won't feel as open as open-back earbuds like the Apple AirPods (1st generation) Truly Wireless and the Bose SoundSport Free.
The isolation performance is sub-par. In the bass range, occupied by the rumble of airplane and bus engines, they achieved no isolation. In mid-range, important for cutting out speech, they achieved about 9dB of isolation, which is about average. In the treble range, occupied by sharp S and T sounds, they reduce outside noise by more than 30dB, which is also good.
The leakage performance of the 1More Quad is excellent. These headphones do not leak in the bass and mid ranges, and the significant portion of their leakage is between 3KHz and 6KHz, which is quite a narrow range. This indicates a leakage that is very thin sounding and mostly consist of S and Ts (sibilances). The overall level of the leakage is not very loud either, peaking at around 55dB SPL at 1 foot away, which is about the same as the noise floor of most offices.
The in-line mic has a good recording quality. The LFE (low-frequency extension) of 302Hz indicates a speech sounds relatively thin. The HFE (high-frequency extension) is at 3.4KHz, and there's also a noticeable dip around 6KHz. This shows that speech recorded or transmitted with this mic will lack some detail and brightness.
The in-line microphone of the Quad is average at noise handling. In our SpNR test, they achieved a speech-to-noise ratio of 19dB, indicating they are best suited for quiet and moderate environments. However, they will struggle to separate speech from ambient noise in loud situations.
The 1More Quad Driver In-Ear are passive headphones with no active components and therefore, do not require a battery.
These headphones have no compatible app support.
The earbuds are wired and do not have a Bluetooth connection. If you want a versatile wireless Bluetooth headphone for around the same price and sound quality, consider the Skullcandy Grind or the JBL E55BT.
These headphones have negligible latency since they're wired. This makes them a suitable option for gaming and watching movies.
The 1More Quad, like the 1More Triple Drivers, have a 1/8TRRS audio cable with an inline remote microphone that's compatible with consoles and PCs.
These headphones do not have a dock. If you need a headset with a dock that also has a wired connection for gaming or watching movies, then consider the SteelSeries Arctis 7. However, they won't be as portable as the 1More Quad.