As I strolled through CES 2025, I nearly overlooked 1More’s exhibit, but I’m grateful I made a stop. Nestled among their range of wireless earbuds and headphones was a pair that piqued my curiosity. Their design caught my eye — a fusion of Sony’s WH-1000XM5 and Apple’s AirPods Max — but what truly impressed me was their functionality: these are 1More’s inaugural Wi-Fi headphones, potentially making them the first of their kind at a price that many can afford.
Officially named the 1More SonoFlow Max Over-Ear Headphones HQ70, the company anticipates a September 2025 release. Pricing details remain under wraps, but considering 1More’s reputation for high-quality sound at budget-friendly prices, I would speculate they’ll retail for under $300.
While that pricing might sound steep, there’s currently only one other brand offering Wi-Fi headphones: the prohibitively expensive $2,199 Hed Audio Unity.
Why do I find Wi-Fi audio so appealing? It delivers significantly more bandwidth than Bluetooth. Although Bluetooth can theoretically offer lossless CD-quality sound (if both devices support aptX Lossless), physical distance and wireless interference can easily compress that quality to a lower level. In contrast, Wi-Fi can seamlessly support lossless audio at high-resolution bit depths and sample rates, which allows for more flexibility. Moreover, once a Wi-Fi connection is established, your phone acts merely as a remote control, enabling the headphones to connect independently to internet-based music streams, similar to wireless speakers like Sonos.
However, Wi-Fi tech does pose a significant challenge: it tends to consume a lot of battery power, which has delayed its integration into wireless headphones.
Despite this concern, there’s room for optimism with the HQ70. While the full specifications haven’t been disclosed, it has been indicated that in Bluetooth mode, these headphones can last up to 75 hours with noise cancellation disabled. Such impressive battery life hints at a promising performance when operating on Wi-Fi.
Apart from Wi-Fi capabilities, 1More seems to have ambitious plans for the HQ70. Based on a preview document shared by a spokesperson, features will include voice and gesture controls, camera functionality, spatial audio, multipoint connectivity, LDAC codec support, a reminder system for standing up, a fall detection sensor, and intriguing “local storage with real-time sports data.” The specifics of that last feature remain unclear, but details will likely emerge soon.
Although the HQ70 I tried on was not a functioning model, I did get a brief sense of comfort while wearing them for about 30 seconds. While that’s not enough to judge long-term wear, they felt pretty comfortable during that short time.
1More also showcased another intriguing but unidentified product, which appears to be a set of clip-style open-ear earbuds reminiscent of the yet-to-be-launched S20 model in the U.S. What stood out to me was the charging case, which features two components that connect magnetically rather than through a hinge. The lid includes its own battery, a small color touchscreen, and a speaker.
The touchscreen interface resembles that of JBL’s Tour Pro 2 and Tour Pro 3, although 1More clarified that JBL was not involved in creating this forthcoming product. The screen may display battery levels and controls, and potentially lyrics — a feature that 1More is set to introduce with the S70 AI open-ear earbuds this year.
There’s also speculation that these earbuds could enable real-time translation and transcription, though it’s unclear if users will be able to utilize both the earbuds and touchscreen concurrently for this feature.
Little else is known regarding these distinctive open-ear earbuds; 1More has not disclosed pricing, launch dates, or even essential specifications like battery longevity. However, assuming these are indeed the S20 with an enhanced case, we may expect features such as Bluetooth 5.4, IPX5 water resistance, high-resolution audio with LDAC support, 11mm composite diaphragm drivers, and multipoint functionality.
