Onesonic offering premium sound at budget price
Onesonic BB-HD1 ANC Bluetooth headphones are comfortable for working out.
It’s special when you get to review a device that’s been designed and sold here in Ireland by an Irish company. Onesonic was born out of a global audio design consultancy Allegro Acoustics, founded in 2010 by David Cawley, from Boyle, Roscommon. A former musician with indie band Super Jimenez, David has a Masters Degree in Acoustics and is a world-renowned specialist in his field with clients across all continents.
David says his lightbulb moment for Onesonic came on a four-year-delayed Honeymoon when he realised his global brand earphones, bought in the airport for the trip, were extremely disappointing and could be much improved.
David says “Ireland is world-renowned for its exceptional music and tech, Onesonic is a natural merger of skillsets in which we are proven, world-beaters. There is every reason to believe that Onesonic will also be a ’Best in Class’ global brand and that’s the plan.”
I’ve been testing the Irish brands first set of headphones the over-ear BB-HD1, which feature, active noise cancellation, Bluetooth 5.0 and up to 20 hours of battery life.
The BB-HD1 uses mostly non-premium plastic materials with a black matte finish. The Onesonic logo is screen printed onto the outside of each earcup in an off-white colour. There’s nothing particularly unique about the design, but I do like the grille on each side and the super-soft protein-based ear cups.
The headband has a soft padding for comfort and the top has the Onesonic logo stylishly bevelled into the top. Each earcup can be extended which reveals the metal band and you can also close the earcups inwards and rotate them by 90-degrees for easy storage in the supplied hard-shell carry case. The latter has the Onesonic logo embossed on the outside and is nice and shallow making it excellent for packing away into a rucksack while still offering good protection. I was surprised to see the BB-HD1’s come with such a quality case considering how inexpensive they are.
There are no fancy touch controls on the BB-HD1’s and this isn’t a downside. On the right earcup are the ANC toggle and the Micro USB port (protected by a rubber flap) for charging. I would have preferred to see USB-Type C but at this price point, it’s excusable.
On the right are three buttons, volume up, down and a combi button for power on/off and Bluetooth pairing. You have to press and hold the power button to turn it off or on and double-tapping it will instantly dial your last phone call number. Not something you want to do by accident!
The buttons are nice and clicky and easy to find, unlike too many headphones with over-complicated controls or touch controls that are frustrating to use.
The soft padding on the earcups is much shallower than typically found on other headphones I’ve used but this didn’t make them uncomfortable to wear, even for long sessions. The headband was just the correct fit for my head but people with smaller heads than mine found the headband didn’t get small enough to fit their head perfectly. There’s just the right amount of pressure for a secure fit and you’d have no problem running with these in cold weather. They feel light and don’t shift when you shake your head.
This is always the subjective part of any headphone review and I’m not an audiophile but after breaking the BB-HD1s in and regularly listening to them for the last month I was really impressed at what they have to offer in their sound signature.
I use Qobuz high-res streaming to push headphones to their limits but I also listened to standard MP3 streams as that’s where most users will use these budget headphones. It’s nice to see these headphones support AptX HD for high-quality streams and it shows when connected to compatible devices. You can also use the 3.5mm cable that comes with the headphones if you have a phone or audio player that has one.
Overall sound quality is surprisingly good considering the cost here. There’s plenty of bass, which shows good control in most tracks, but can start to lose its way in more bass-heavy tracks. I found the mids mellow and pleasing to my ears. I also found the BB-HD1s excellent for listening to podcasts or radio shows with natural-sounding voices.
The highs are a little lacking in clarity but only when compared to more expensive headsets. The soundstage is not very wide and I didn’t get that expansive feeling when listening to classical music that I like.
There’s no companion app to update the firmware, configure buttons or change an EQ which isn’t a big deal considering the price.
Active noise cancellation is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the BB-HD1s are one of the best I’ve used for reducing externals sounds which is fantastic. The only problem is that when you turn on ANC it changes the sound signature dramatically and not in a good way. The sound range is compressed with a noticeable drop in quality and even volume. That being said, it’s great to have ANC when you need it and most of the time I don’t.
It takes up to two hours to charge the BB-HD1s and they’re rated for up to 13-hours with ANC on and up to 20-hours with it off. ANC will work if you have them plugged in via the supplied 3.5mm cable which is a nice bonus.
Despite a few niggles here and there, for the price of the Onesonic BB-HD1s offer exceptional sound quality and performance. When I first started testing these I assumed they were twice the price and was shocked at their actual retail price of €74.99. These are easy to recommend and you really can’t go wrong with the Onesonic BB-HD1s at this price.
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