We almost walked right by 1More’s booth at CES 2025, but I’m glad I stopped in. Sitting there amidst the company’s existing wireless earbuds and headphones was a set of wireless cans I didn’t recognize. I was struck by the design — they look like a mashup of Sony’s WH-1000XM5 and Apple’s AirPods Max — but it’s what they do that really caught my attention: They’re 1More’s first Wi-Fi headphones, and if all goes well, they could be the first Wi-Fi headphones that are priced within reach for most people.
Their official name is 1More SonoFlow Max Over-Ear Headphones HQ70. 1More expects them to be available by the end of September 2025. We don’t know how much they’ll cost, but given 1More’s reputation for delivering high quality audio at ultra low prices, my guess is that they’ll be under $300.
That might seem expensive, and yet, so far there’s only one other set of Wi-Fi headphones on the market: Hed Audio’s outrageously pricey $2,199 Unity. Honestly, I’d kind of given up hope that any other manufacturer would try to make Wi-Fi happen.
Why am I so enthusiastic about Wi-Fi? Wi-Fi offers much greater bandwidth than Bluetooth. While Bluetooth is theoretically capable of lossless, CD-quality audio (when your gear is aptX Lossless compatible), distances between devices and wireless interference can quickly degrade this link back to a lossy level of compression. Wi-Fi, by contrast, can easily support lossless audio up to its maximum hi-res bit-depth and sample rates, with room to spare.
Better yet, it gives you the ability to wander freely without needing to be in Bluetooth range of your phone. In fact, once a Wi-Fi link has been established, your phone becomes a remote control — the headphones should e able to connect to an internet-based music source on their own, much like Wi-Fi based wireless speakers such as Sonos.
Unfortunately, Wi-Fi comes with one very big hurdle to overcome: it’s very power-hungry, which is one reason why the technology has been slow to appear on wireless headphones.
Still, there’s reason for optimism on this front with the HQ70. 1More hasn’t released a full set of specs, but we’ve been told that in Bluetooth mode, these cans will last up to 75 hours with noise cancellation turned off. That kind of Bluetooth longevity bodes well for Wi-Fi.
Beyond Wi-Fi, it looks like 1More has some interesting plans for the HQ70. According to a preview document a spokesperson showed me, there will be voice and gesture control (in the form of head movements), camera control, spatial audio, Multipoint, LDAC codec support, a built-in reminder to stand and a sensor to detect falls, plus “local storage with real-time sports data.” No idea what that last one means, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon.
The HQ70 at 1More’s booth wasn’t a working sample so I can’t offer any insights around sound quality, but I did slip them on my head for a bit. 30 seconds won’t tell you much about long-term comfort, but they felt pretty good to me.
In a world where Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Qobuz, and Deezer all offer instant access to lossless, hi-res music, it’s sad that there’s only one set of wireless headphones that can let you hear all of that extra detail. It’s even sadder that they cost as much as a decent gaming laptop. Let’s hope 1More’s HQ70 pushes the industry into new territory.
1More also had a sample of another as-yet-unreleased product, but this one was more mysterious.
It’s a set of clip-style open-ear earbuds that look a lot like 1More’s S20 — which haven’t been launched in the U.S. yet — but it’s the charging case that wowed me. It’s made from two separate parts that magnetically latch together instead of using a hinge. The “lid” has its own internal battery, it’s own tiny color touchscreen, and it’s own speaker.
The touchscreen interface looks a lot like the one JBL created for the Tour Pro 2 and Tour Pro 3 wireless earbuds, though 1More says JBL wasn’t involved in the development of this unnamed product. The screen can be used for battery level and controls, and possibly lyrics display, a feature 1More is bringing to the S70 AI open-ear earbuds this year.
They may also possess the ability to do real-time translation and transcription, though it’s not clear to me if you can do this using the earbuds and the touchscreen simultaneously.
Little else is known about these unique open-ear earbuds — 1More wouldn’t reveal a price, a launch date, or even some basic specs like battery life. However, if we assume these are the S20, but with an upgraded case, we can expect: Bluetooth 5.4, IPX5 water resistance, hi-res audio with LDAC, 11mm composite diaphragm drivers, and multipoint.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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