I’m back again with new over the head headphones to talk about. This time the company is called OneOdio and they sent me an OneOdio A30 to check it out. Priced roughly around £50, and available in every possible colour, as long as you like black, these will be a perfect addition to my review rack. The question remains: Are OneOdio A30 guilty of more things, than spelling “audio”? I guess we both are going to find out.
OneOdio A30
These Bluetooth headphones fall into a very similar category as the SuperEQ S1 (review) I talked about a few days ago. Inside the box, apart from the super soft pouch, you will find the star of this review: OneOdio A30, USB-C charging cable and 3.5mm jack if you want to go old school and make it work with other devices.
While I’m happy to give extra points for the inclusion of the USB-C port, these points are instantly taken away by a lose ANC (active noise cancellation) toggle. If you shake your head vigorously (not that I shake anything vigorously at my age) you will hear the button rattle. It’s not a deal-breaker as I don’t usually shake my head this bad, but it’s worth pointing out. While on the subject of head shakes, ANC causes a very strange audio effect when the head is shaken, only present when ANC is on. Again, unless you strongly disagree with someone for several seconds, shaking your head in disbelieve – you won’t notice that.
The headphones are padded soft filling wrapped with faux leather. They are comfortable and wrap my entire earlobes to create a perfect seal. I can see myself using OneOdio A30 for longer periods of time. That prolonged time is capped to 25h per session as this is the battery life of the headphones. Thankfully it only takes a couple of minutes to charge them up to an acceptable level and continue listening for another 2-3h.
The earcups twist 90 degrees which suffocate you less when wearing it on your neck. It’s a nice thing to have as carrying over the head headphones is more troublesome than the earbuds.
Features
A standard set of playback controls is mapped to 2 round buttons placed on the left cup. It’s a shame that the buttons don’t come with distinct bumps (the middle button has a small bump only) so I found myself checking all 3 buttons to figure out where to press. Other than that, buttons can call up the assistant and handle call controls.
I have no complaints about the range, or media consumption. YouTube videos were in sync, there was no delay between the video and the audio which isn’t always the case. The range was around 20m in my open office filled with robots. More than I would ever need.
The addition of the 3.5mm jack is nice, but as soon as the cable is plugged in, OneOdio A30 turn off Bluetooth functions. You won’t have access to buttons or the microphone while using an audio jack, but ANC is still available. It’s very similar behaviour to SuperEQ S1.
Another thing worth mentioning is charging. You can’t use the headphones during the charge cycle. The headphones will remain off during the charge. This one is a bit of a bummer, even with 25h battery life, you may find yourself needing a top-up.
Unfortunately, there is no auto-pause – a feature that I really like at work. It lets me stop the podcast automatically reply to my work colleague and resume listening to my stuff without searching through the timeline for the exact moment I got interrupted.
ANC
I spend last week testing robots. I appreciate any gadget that can disable the repetitive robotic noises without the need to drown it in music. While active noise cancellation isn’t particularly strong, it’s enough to cut off the ambient sounds and give me a moment of peace at work.
It’s enough to dump the sound of the mechanical keyboard so it doesn’t feel so clicky and aggressive.
Sound
Let’s talk about the most important aspect of the headphones: the sound. OneOdio A30 perform well in that regard. The bass and low tones are not as pronounced as with SuperEQ S1 but with small EQ tweaks, you will find the level that suits you.
What’s lacking in the beat department, OneOdio A30 compensate with very clean and crystal high tones. Acoustic renditions of my favourite songs sound amazing, and you should really give the Rebel Yell by Billy Idol, a go.
Moving on to the end of the playlists, Crysis 2 – Intro never fails to get the blood pumping. If you like cinematic scores, Hans Zimmer never fails. OneOdio A30 serves the sounds with appropriate quality. Overall, I’m pleased with the sound, and I have no doubts you will be pleased with it too.
Final thoughts
Looks like there is another good contender to the list of decent headphones for around £50. If you don’t care about 3.5 mm cable without the microphone and you are happy not to headbang too wildly to Slayer, you should be perfectly happy with OneOdio A30 wrapped around your ears. Got questions? Leave it in this Reddit thread.
