Thank you 1MORE for sending us this pair of earbuds to review!

I have a work-from-home day job, and so I listen to a lot of podcasts and such during my work day. Because of this, having some kind of headphones on virtually all day is something that I've gotten really used to. I used to use IEMs for this (in-ear monitors), but over time that started to bother my ears, enough so that if I ignore it I'll eventually get an ear infection. So, I typically stick with over-ear or open earbuds. These 1MORE S20 ear clip-style earbuds are really comfortable, and are open enough that I can listen to them while still being able to hear the world around me. Very helpful when the inevitable delivery driver makes my dogs go nuts!

We previously reviewed both the S70 and the S31 open earbuds. Each of those goes around the top and behind the ear, with a speaker that wraps around the front, placing the speaker over your exposed ear canal. This S20 uses an ear clip style that really surprised me. In part it's because I never would have thought of such a design, especially since it doesn't look like it would be all that comfortable. Not only is it comfortable, but I can wear them pretty much all day until the battery is dead without a hint of discomfort.

The way they clip to your ear is quite interesting and seems to be a newer design. Rather than wrap around the ear, these clip right at the closest point right behind the ear canal, so that the clip wraps right around the lower central part of the ear. It's a surprisingly simple design, and works far better than I expected. Having fairly large ears I thought they might not fit well, but while they certainly did fit my wife better with her tiny ears, they still work quite well for me. It looks like squishing the outer part of the clip might be uncomfortable, but surprisingly it didn't bother me at all.

Comfort is king, so it's great that it wins in this area. Being an open earphone, it's also really convenient for a lot of things. As I said before, I can hear it if someone is at the door or my dogs bark, while I can also hear what I am listening to, whether that be a podcast, some music, or even in a phone call or meeting. I can also work on the back patio and still hear nature (or cars) around me, while still listening to whatever I need to. While I wouldn't take these S20s onto the bus or train, they are great around the house. This also makes them great to use when running or biking. By being able to hear all around you, you remain aware of your surroundings, and you can still hear oncoming vehicles or dogs while listening to whatever you like. Very useful!

I have also used them while riding on my ebike, and they stay right in place. I normally wear a helmet that has built-in Bluetooth, but for casual rides around the neighborhood, I often skip the helmet, and these stay exactly where I've left them. I've only dropped them a couple of times when at home, and that's usually when I am fidgeting with them for no good reason.

They sound decent enough given the price and functionality, but I would say that like many open earbuds, there isn't all that much bass, since a good seal is often needed for that and the small drivers in open earbuds works against that. With that said, it sounds perfectly fine for what I usually use it for, podcasts and such. I did listen to music with it and it's serviceable, but it's far from an audiophile experience. While there is a decent enough 1MORE Android app for adjusting the sound profile, to my surprise, changing the EQ didn't seem to make as much difference as I expected. Thankfully, the default sound profile is just fine for me.

That Android app is the same one used for most of 1MORE's current lineup, so I've gotten pretty used to its quirks. It didn't have any trouble detecting or adjusting settings on the S20 earbuds, though this model is lacking features from its more expensive brothers. For example, there is no dual-device mode on this model. I was grateful to see LDAC support, which is one of the highest-quality Bluetooth audio CODECs currently available, though sadly with my sample at least, it crackles a lot and is unreliable. Honestly though, a better CODEC doesn't make that much difference since it's not really a high-performance earbud to begin with.

Most customization does require that app, and it's available on Android or iOS (I tested on Android). That is the easiest way to tell how much battery you have, as it displays the earphone and charging case battery level prominently at the top once you have it paired and connected. You can choose from one of the six available preset EQs from there, though as I mentioned before I struggled to hear a difference on the S20 for whatever reason. Under that are custom settings, where you can change what double and triple tap of each side of the earphones does. Touch and hold is hard-set to activate voice control, which I wish I could change, as it was easy to activate when you didn't want to. I also found that if my hair wasn't perfectly dry, it would often activate on its own.