OneOdio Focus A5 review: bassy wireless headphones with big battery life
OneOdio Focus A5: One-minute review
If you’re considering buying the OneOdio Focus A5, it’s probably because of its excellent battery life – it can last up to 75 hours of music playback if you so choose, which is a very good number. It’s been more than three days straightfar more than twice that of most competitors.
world cheapest headphones It’s a competitive product, but that will make some users’ eyes brighten. If you take long-haul flights around the world, travel in the wilderness for days at a time, or forget to charge your electronic devices, this number could be a game-changer.
You can pick up the Focus A5 for the bargain price of $69.99 / £59.99 (about AU$100)! Sounds like a must-buy, right?
Well, it depends on what you actually want to listen to for 75 hours, and if you’re an audiophile – or anyone who values balanced audio – then the Focus A5 probably isn’t really what you want.
The audio balance on these cans is more wobbly than the famous Italian Towers, delivering overwhelming bass that drowns out important parts of songs. It’s not even a well-tuned bass, so people who just want to listen to 75 hours of ear-splitting music won’t like it either.
Then there’s the feature set – or lack thereof. The OneOdio’s active noise cancellation (ANC) is so light-touch that you’ll even forget it’s on (I recommend ignoring it, as turning ANC on will shave off 30 hours of battery life). There’s also no app, and therefore no equalizer, so you can’t try to fix muddy sound quality.
You can’t expect great audio, advanced feature set and Prices are lower for the same set of headphones (although some options do come close), but most of OneOdio’s competitors tick at least two of those boxes. Since the Focus A5 only hits that last point, aside from its long-lasting battery, it’s hard to recommend them. this Earfun Wave Pro headphones At about the same price, with longer battery life, and better performance in every way—these are an ideal affordable choice among the best noise-canceling headphones.
OneOdio Focus A5 review: Price and release date
- Priced at $69.99/£59.99 (approximately AU$100)
- Cheaper alternative to Focus A10
You can buy the OneOdio Focus A5 for $69.99 / £59.99 (about AU$100, but unlike other OneOdio headphones, it can’t be found on sale in Australia at the time of writing).
This price makes the Focus A5 one of the more affordable headphones you might consider if you’re trying to save money, but the budget headphone market is very competitive.
Our best-in-class options cost just a little more: Earfun Wave Pro headphones Priced at $79.99 / £79.99 (about AU$120), we also rate $60 / £60 / AU$99 highly Sony WH-CH520.
If you’re keen to stick with the brand, OneOdio itself has plenty of other options: there’s also the slightly more expensive A10 and several other ranges of studio, monitoring and mixing headphones.
OneOdio Focus A5 review: Specs
| driver | 40mm |
| Active noise reduction | Yes |
| battery life | 75 hours (ANC off, 45 ANC on) |
| weight | 265g |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.4 |
| water proof | That |
OneOdio Focus A5 review: Features
- no phone app
- Light touch ANC
- 75 hours battery life
There’s no smartphone app available for the OneOdio Focus A5, which makes writing this section easier, but using headphones (or balancing their audio) is a bit more difficult. This means there is no equalizer, which is a huge loss (as we’ll get to that).
You’ll use the “ANC” button on the right earcup to switch between three active noise cancellation modes: On, Off, and Ambient Sound. ANC on the A5 is Very With a light touch, I often didn’t know if I’d turned it on—it felt like the pad’s natural cushioning canceled out as much sound as the ANC.
From a terrible feature to a very convenient one – the OneOdio Focus A5 has a battery life of 75 hours. You read that right – you can listen to it for more than three days straight if you want. That number is with ANC off, which reduces to about 45 hours with ANC on – you might want to opt for a longer-lasting power source, considering how effective I’m talking about the noise canceling.
Being able to listen to music for days on end without having to recharge is a win for the A5, as it means people traveling long distances or without reliable access to power can still enjoy using it.
OneOdio Focus A5 review: Sound quality
- too much bass
- Too few other things
- High maximum volume
When I first started listening to the OneOdio Focus A5, I thought to myself “Wow, bass fans are going to love these headphones,” but as the testing process progressed, I had to revise that thought: “Otherwise they might hate it. they”.
Bass is undoubtedly the focus of the Focus A5’s audio balance. The mix isn’t so much “warm” as it is “bubbly to the touch” because of how much bass there is compared to the rest of the sound profile. My first impression was to assume that bass fans would enjoy this, but as I listened more, that proved wrong.
The bass eliminates other aspects of the mix. The vocals fade into the background, like the band manager forgetting to plug in a microphone, and the guitars sometimes cut in, but more often than not (especially the high notes and hooks) fall to the same fate as the singing. Some of the other midrange aspects of the song, like the keyboards and rhythm guitar, have about the same chance of being heard as finding your phone if you dropped it on a boat.
Bass headphone fans might simply accuse me of saying this just to tap into my dusty creative writing prowess, but there’s more reason to rail against bass tilt: even this aspect of the audio is problematic.
The bass is quite muddy, so there’s less “thump” and more “tap” – lacking energy or urgency and saying nothing loudly. according to AmazonThe Focus A5 has a custom 40mm dynamic driver (this information is conspicuously absent from OneOdio’s own website), and judging from other reviews of OneOdio products, this sound profile is a recurring feature in its headphones.
I can’t completely rule out the Focus A5’s audio choppiness – some people might really like the hiccups of bass. I don’t think I’ve ever met these people and have no evidence that they actually existed, but I can’t rule it out.
OneOdio has added support for the LDAC codec and High-Resolution Audio certification for the headphones, but I’m not sure the headphones need more detailed bass – they need less.
Now I want to say one good thing: the OneOdio Focus A5 is really, really loud. With the headphones hanging around my neck, I can hear the music perfectly at maximum volume – no one can complain that they’re too quiet!
OneOdio Focus A5 review: Design
- slim appearance
- Solid color options: black
- feeling a bit fragile
OneOdio didn’t reinvent the Focus A5’s steering wheels, but I like their slim look between the metal pivots, textured cups, and gold and silver color scheme.
Don’t get me wrong, these headphones are very similar to the vast majority of budget headphones, but with a few enhancements here and there. They are available in a single color: black.
The cup on the right has all the controls of the Focus A5: there’s an ANC button that switches between three modes when pressed, a power button, and a volume rocker. Nice and easy. The USB-C port for charging is also on this side.
At 265 grams, the headphones are a bit lighter than some competitors I’ve tested, but they feel flimsy. The cup rattles and rotates slightly when you’re not wearing the A5, there’s no included carrying case, and I couldn’t find any mention in the OneOdio’s fact sheet if the can has an IP rating. Therefore, I was very careful with the headphones during testing, although they were never damaged enough to justify my caution. They may very well feel fragile, but are actually very sturdy. Still, I’d like to be more confident about it.
OneOdio Focus A5 review: Value
I’m all for “cheap and cheerful” headphones, and the OneOdio Focus A5 are just that on the surface: you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a great feature, but also some not-so-great aspects.
However, its choppy audio and questionable feature set may cost the A5 some of its “delight points” – especially when similarly priced rivals simply don’t have the same issues.
At this price, the products themselves aren’t a bad value, but there are better values out there.
Should I buy OneOdio Focus A5?
| property | notes | grade |
|---|---|---|
| feature | While battery life is great, the lack of apps, equalizer, or powerful ANC functionality isn’t. | 3/5 |
| sound quality | This isn’t for audiophiles or anyone who values sound quality. | 2/5 |
| design | The headphones look elegant but feel fragile. | 3.5/5 |
| value | For the price, you can overlook some of the issues, although it has a lot. | 2.5/5 |
Buy them if…
Don’t buy them if…
OneOdio Focus A5 review: Still worth considering
| Header Cell – Column 0 | OneOdio Focus A5 | Earfun Wave Pro headphones | JBL Tune 670NC |
|---|---|---|---|
| driver | 40mm | 40mm | 32mm |
| Active noise reduction | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| battery life | 75 hours | 80 hours | 70 hours |
| weight | 265g | 268g | 174 grams |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.4 | Bluetooth 5.3 | Bluetooth 5.3 |
| water proof | That | That | That |
How I tested OneOdio Focus A5
- Tested for three weeks
- Test at home, in the office, on public transport and while walking
Before writing this review, I used the OneOdio Focus A5 for three weeks, basically every day listening to music, watching streaming TV, or playing games.
Throughout my testing, I used the Focus A5 with my Android smartphone via Bluetooth. Streaming is done via Spotify, Netflix and a range of games, which I listen to mostly at home or on various public transport in my city, but also some in the office or while walking.
I’ve been testing gadgets at TechRadar for just under six years, including many budget headphones and other OneOdio products.
- First review time: December 2024
