Looking for a pair of budget-friendly headphones in this review we check out the latest from the brand OneOdio the OneOdio Focus A5 with its star feature of 75 hours of battery life.
First Impressions
We have reviewed several OneOdio products as they have been around for over 10 years now such as the OneOdio Monitor 60. I was interested to see what the OneOdio Focus series had to offer, consisting of the A10 or A5 models. In this review, we focus on the OneOdio Focus A5 which is available in three colour options:
- Black
- Blue
- White
In this review, we got sent the white version which is available for £59 falling into the budget end of the market. The key features of these headphones include:
- Ergonomic Design
- Dual High-Res Audio Certification
- LDAC Audio Technology
- AI-Based Adaptive ANC
- Hybrid ANC with 45DB depth
- Transparency Mode
- 75 hours battery life (ANC Off) /45 hours battery life (ANC On)
Now the budget end of the headphone market is a very competitive one so when releasing a new pair of headphones brands to need create a feature that will make the consumers raise their heads. The battery life with the Focus A5 is a whooping 75 hours with ANC off or 45 Hours with ANC off and the headphones also come with fast charging. Now before we continue with this review, I want to set your expectations if you’re an audiophile these won’t be suitable for you. These headphones are designed for the more casual listener.
OneOdio comes with ANC but the quality of the ANC is unfortunately a bit of a light-touch to the point when you switch off the ANC compared to when ANC is on you might not even notice the difference. OneOdio has not provided you with an app so no chance to adjust the EQ so you are stuck with the audio levels provided. That said let’s take a deeper look into these headphones.
Unboxing
The OneOdio Focus A5 packaging showcases the model of the front of the packaging with the main features on the side of the box such as Smart Adaptive Noise Cancellation, Bluetooth 5.4, AI-Based Smart Call Noise Cancellation & Fast Charging.
The back of the packaging simply provides you with a more detailed view of the headphones.
Open the packaging and you are provided with a user guide, USB-C charging cable and headphones themselves. The headphones come with a plastic wrap which when removed you notice how light the headphones are. Could they have offered anything else a storage case would have been nice.
Design
OneOdio has not done anything extraordinary when it comes to the design of the OneOdio Focus A5 they come with a metal pivot, textured caps and a gold-silver colour scheme.
The headphones come with pleather material on the earcups and headband which after long periods of use can make your ears and head a little sweaty after long periods of use. The rest of the headphone’s outer structure is made using polycarbonate, but you will notice the headband also has a metal layer for stability.
In terms of the controls as you might expect everything is all on the right cup you have the USB-C port for when these need charging. Then in terms of buttons, you start with the ANC button that toggles between the three modes – Normal Mode, ANC Mode & Transparency Mode. You then have the power button which is also a multi-function button that is your play/pause button, voice assistant and call control. Finally, you have the volume rocker. As you can see below OneOdio keeps things simple.
In terms of the build of the headphones they weigh 256g which is nice and lightweight however, they do feel a tad fragile. The cups are flexible and can rotate 90 degrees and fold when you’re not using them.
Something I was disappointed with when it comes to these headphones, I could not find an IP rating and there was no carry case provided so these white headphones are prone to getting marked so easily.
Features
The main features of these headphones are the ANC button and battery life. However, OneOdio does not provide you with an app to offer any real special features such as allowing you to select a preset EQ or even just allowing you to customise the EQ. I feel this is a big loss considering most brands we have reviewed recently such as Jabra, Cleer & Motorola all provide such apps.
The ANC button is located on the right earcup and allows you to switch between ANC and Transparency mode. Unfortunately, in testing the OneOdio A5 over the last few weeks I could not tell the difference in sound quality so just decided to keep the ANC off as the earcup pads removed as much sound as the ANC did.
The star of the show regarding these headphones is the battery life 75 hours with ANC off or 45 hours with ANC on. This is one very large battery which even beats the likes of Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 giving you 50 hours. When it’s time to charge the OneOdio Focus A5 take about 1hr & 30min.
The ability to listen to music for several days without having to charge is a big bonus, especially for those who forget to charge their headphones or for those who travel a lot.
Sound Quality
We have been testing these over the Christmas period and the one thing you can say about these is bass is the focus point of the OneOdio A5 audio balance. The bass is just overpowering compared to the rest of the sound profile. The bass just blows out every other aspect of the audio. When we listened to “Alice Merton- No Roots”. The vocals fade into the background and the guitar sounds have the same fate as the vocals.
The sub-bass just dominates the whole sonic image it rumbles and drones around your ears. The monstrous sub-bass lets the mid-bass appear unfocused which it actually is not. Ignoring the sub-bass, the mid-bass attack is decent. The low end does not smear into the vocals and is rendered rather well. That sub-bass is quite a bit away from the lower midrange.
Vocals are quite natural, well defined and well-placed. Midrange resolution and clarity rise and fall with low-end action. In less bassy pieces, they perform well. Luckily that sub-bass does not influence the treble, which also has a good extension. Treble is well extended and surprisingly well resolving with no shrillness or graininess found. The low-end adds depth to a super tall soundstage of average width and contributes to good spatial reproduction.
The OneOdio Focus A5 comes with added support with LDAC codec and Hi-Res Audio Certification to the headphones. It’s nice to have but the impact of this is you get a more detailed bass when most listeners would say you would want less. The other bonus when it comes to the sound quality is how loud they can get pump up the volume to 100% and the whole train carriage can hear your music.
Verdict
The OneOdio Focus A5 are budget-friendly headphones that won’t surprise many considering the price. The one feature you are getting is a very long battery life but it is worth it when the audio quality is lacking. OneOdio puts too much focus on the bass and this has impacted the rest of the audio quality and the lack of app prevents you from adjusting that all-important EQ which would have been the saving grace for these headphones.
The sub-bass just dominates everything in its path and that is disappointing. The ANC feature does reduce some of the unwanted noise but becomes more of a noise-muffling effect compared to actual noise cancellation and I also felt the ambient mode was just not effective at all.
The OneOdio Focus A5 look the part and price-wise at £59.99 they won’t hurt the wallet I just feel the overpowering sub-bass means and poor ANC there are better headphones in the area of the market.
Product Rating
Design: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars
Features: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars
Sound Quality: 2.0 out of 5.0 stars
Value For Money: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Overall ranking: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars – 3 stars
The OneOdio Focus A5 Hybrid ANC Headphones are available via Amazon for £59.99
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