Skip to main content

1More’s new wired earbuds pack five drivers and planar tech for $170

1More Penta Driver P50 wired in-ear earbuds.
1More

The new wired earbuds from 1More appear to be a technical tour de force. The Penta Driver P50 use five drivers per earbud and feature detachable MMCX connections. That’s what you might expect to find in a set of high-end in-ear monitors (IEMs), not a set of $170 wired earbuds, and yet that’s what the Penta Driver will cost when they go on sale in mid-September.

Multi-driver wired earbuds (and increasingly wireless earbuds) aren’t that unusual. The existing Triple Driver and Quad Driver earbuds from 1More are a testament to that. However, inside the Penta Driver is multi-driver combination I don’t think we’ve ever seen before: a diamond-like carbon (DLC) dynamic driver has been layered with four “planar diaphragm” drivers.

1More Penta Driver P50 wired in-ear earbuds.
1More

Normally, multi-driver earbuds mate several balanced armature (BA) drivers with each other, or in combination with a single dynamic driver, but planar diaphragm drivers are a different beast — or at least, they should be.

Recommended Videos

I’m honestly a bit perplexed by the label. In looking at an image of the driver and the exploded diagram of the Penta Driver, those so-called planar diaphragm drivers look nothing like the planar magnetic drivers I’ve seen in other IEMs like the Audeze Euclid. Instead, they look just like balanced armatures to me.

I’ve asked 1More for a full explanation of how the drivers work and will update this post when I hear back. In the meantime, the company says its unusual combo will deliver precise and balanced audio output across the entire frequency range.

The Penta Driver are made from aluminum alloy and are hi-res audio certified, which means they can reproduce frequencies as wide as 20Hz-40kHz. The included analog cable is made from silver-plated oxygen-free copper and terminates at the earbuds using MMCX connectors — a very handy feature that lets you use the Penta Drivers with any other third-party MMCX cable or wireless adapter. That’s a big change from the Triple Driver and Quad Drivers, which have permanently wired cables.

1More Penta Driver P50 wired in-ear earbuds.
1More

The cable also has an inline remote with a mic for calls, making it a good substitute for the wired buds that might have shipped with your smartphone — assuming your smartphone came equipped with a traditional 3.5mm headphone jack.

But even if your phone is USB-C (soon, even the iPhone will use this connector), 1More has you covered — it includes a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone adapter in the box, along with a protective pouch and eight different sizes and styles of silicone and foam ear tips.

The company hasn’t said what kind of digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is housed in the USB adapter, but it probably isn’t particularly high-end.

Once again, 1More has come up with an impressive value proposition — audiophile-grade wired earbuds for under $200. Of course, that’s on paper. But 1More has seldom let us down when it comes to real-world performance, so we’re very optimistic. We’ll let you know as soon as we give them a spin.

Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
1More’s ColorBuds 2 boast way more features and a lower price
1More ColorBuds 2 in gold.

We know from experience that 1More has a proven track record for delivering premium audio products at affordable prices, and its latest true wireless earbuds, the $80 ColorBuds 2, appear to be no exception. Packed with active noise cancellation (ANC), transparency mode, and wireless charging, you can buy them today in black, white, and gold. And 1More is offering a $10 discount for orders received before October 5 if you use the code "COLORBUDS2."

They're the most recent set of true wireless earbuds from smaller brands that manage to include a huge array of features for well less than $100, putting pressure on more established brands like Jabra, whose recently released Elite 3 also cost $80.

Read more
1More’s $95 ComfoBuds Pro are the latest AirPods Pro alternative
1More ComfoBuds Pro

If you've been considering buying Apple's AirPods Pro, but have remained hesitant because of their relatively high price, 1More has a possible solution. Its ComfoBuds Pro true wireless earbuds provide a virtually identical feature set for $95 -- that's $154 less than the AirPods Pro's regular $249 price.

Available in a satin-finish black or matte white, the ComfoBuds Pro use the same elongated stem shape as the original ComfoBuds, which debuted earlier this year, but they provide a better seal with your ear canal thanks to the use of silicone eartips. But their key feature is hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC), which makes them an interesting alternative to the much pricier AirPods Pro.

Read more
1More unveils the Colorbuds, a new pair of vibrant wireless earbuds
1more announces colorbuds pink

1More has not one, but two more headphones coming your way soon.

The consumer audio company has announced two pairs of new headphones, the $100 ColorBuds true wireless headphones, and the $50 Stylish Bluetooth Pro headphones. The new products will be launching on July 28 and are available for pre-order on 1More.com.

Read more