Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+ True Wireless Headphones Review

The Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus look very similar to the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Truly Wireless and have an earplug-shaped design that sticks out of your ear. They still look polished and sleek though, with metallic detailing near the ear tips. They come in 'Black' and 'White'.

The Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus are fairly comfortable. While they're lightweight, they're still a little bulky and can put pressure on smaller ear canals, which can become uncomfortable over time. Their controls can also push the buds deeper into your ears. Luckily, they come with several pairs of differently-sized silicone and foam ear tips to help you find the best fit.

The Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus have okay controls. The buttons are clicky, and some controls are split between the left and right buds. Pressing twice on the left earbud skips to the previous track while the same command on the right bud skips the track forward. You can also press and hold the left earbud to lower the volume or press and hold the right earbud to raise the volume. There's a chime to let you know when you've reached max volume. You can press either bud once to play and pause audio or answer calls. A long press rejects calls while a double press ends calls or activates voice assistance if your audio source is paused. Unlike the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Truly Wireless, they're fairly easy to pair, and you can press and hold for three seconds to enter pairing mode.

On the downside, you can easily register a command by accident when you're putting the buds into your ears. Using the controls can also apply pressure and push them deeper into your ears.

The Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus have a very breathable design. They don't really trap heat inside your ears, and you shouldn't notice a difference in temperature, even during moderate physical exercise.

These headphones are very portable. They're lightweight and don't take up too much space in most pockets or bags. Their carrying case is also very small, and you should have no problems taking it with you on the go.

The Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus have a great case. It's small, lightweight, and is rated IPX5 for water resistance, although we don't currently test for it. There are five LED lights underneath the lid to let you know how much battery life remains. Inside the case are two lights for the left and right buds' battery life. There's a USB-C port on the side of the case to charge it up.

The Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus have a good build quality. They feel similarly well-built as the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Truly Wireless. They're completely made of hard plastic, except for the foam and silicone ear tips, and seem like they could survive a couple of accidental drops without taking too much damage. They're also rated IPX5 for water resistance, although we don't currently test for it.

These headphones have good stability. Once you achieve a good fit, they should stay in your ears, even during moderate physical activity.

• Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus headphones
• 5x foam ear tips
• 5x silicone ear tips
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Carrying case
• Manuals

The Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus have a bass-heavy sound profile. They deliver intense thump and boom, which some users may find muddies their mixes. Their treble range also is underemphasized, so vocals and lead instruments are veiled. Luckily, their companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets to help you adjust their sound to your liking.

The frequency response consistency of the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus is outstanding. As long as you can get a good seal, you should be able to achieve consistent bass and treble delivery each time you use them.

The bass accuracy is satisfactory. It's overemphasized across the range, which results in extra thump, punch, and boom in your mixes. However, some users may find they sound muddy and cluttered.

The mid accuracy of the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus is great. There's still a bit of overemphasis coming from the bass range into the low-mids, which can muddy and clutter your mixes. The rest of the range is fairly neutral though. While a slight dip in the mid-mid can nudge vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix, these sounds are still clear and present.

The treble accuracy of the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus is okay. The entire treble range is underemphasized, so the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments are veiled. Sibilants like S and T sounds are dulled.

The peaks and dips performance of the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus is good. There's a peak from the high-bass to the low-mid, which adds boom, though some users may find it muddies and clutters your mixes. A dip in the mid-mid nudges vocals and lead instruments to the back of your mix. A small peak in the high-mid intensifies vocals and lead instruments while the uneven low-treble makes their upper harmonics bright and veiled. Another peak in the mid-treble turns sibilants like cymbals piercing.

The imaging performance of the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus is excellent. The weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. However, the phase response has a couple of peaks in its treble range, indicating a high mismatch between the left and right drivers. It's very audible, even in regular listening content, and in our subjective listening, the right earbud is louder than the left. That said, the L/R drivers are well-matched in amplitude and frequency, which are important for the accurate placement and localization of objects like voices or game effects in the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit and yours may perform differently.

The passive soundstage of these headphones is terrible. Creating an out-of-head and speaker-like soundstage is largely dependant on activating the outer ear with resonances. Since in-ears completely bypass the outer ear and don't interact with it, sound seems like it's coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you. They also have a closed-back design, so the soundstage is perceived as more closed-off than that of open-back headphones.

The Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus' weighted harmonic distortion performance is decent. There is a large peak in the treble range, though it can be hard to hear with real-life content. Most of the range falls within good limits, resulting in mostly clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when used in this configuration.

Update 09/03/2021: We incorrectly reported that these headphones have active noise cancelling. However, they don't have this feature and we have changed 'Noise Cancelling' to 'No'. We have also retested 'Noise Isolation' but there hasn't been a change in this test's performance or scoring.

The noise isolation performance of the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus is satisfactory. They don't have active noise cancelling (ANC) so they rely on their passive abilities to help block out noise. As a result, they have some trouble reducing the low rumble of bus and plane engines. However, they do a much better job of blocking out office chatter and the high-pitched hum of an AC unit.

The leakage performance of the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus is outstanding. Their leakage is quite low so even if you're listening to your audio at high volumes, and people around you shouldn't be able to hear it in a moderately noisy environment like an office.

The recording quality of the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus' mic is sub-par. Your voice sounds thin, lacking depth, and slightly muffled.

The noise handling performance is okay. The mic struggles to separate your voice from moderate ambient noise. If you're taking a call from a busy street, your voice may be drowned out, so whoever's on the other end of the line may not hear you clearly.

The battery performance of the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus is middling. They have two different battery settings that you can access via their companion app: 'High Performance', which is advertised to give you the best quality sound experience, and 'Low Power'. Using the High Performance mode, which is advertised to last seven hours continuously, we measured less than five hours of continuous battery life, which is a bit disappointing. We also tested the headphones using the Low Power mode, which is advertised to last nine hours continuously. We measured eight hours with this mode. That said, battery life varies depending on usage, and your real-life experience may vary.

We don't consider the Low Power mode to be a Power-Saving feature as it's meant to extend their battery life while you're using them. If you're looking to conserve battery life, you can use one bud while the other one charges.

The companion app is good. Unlike the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Truly Wireless, they're compatible with the Melomania app, which offers a graphic EQ and presets to help you adjust their sound to your liking. You can also see the battery life for each bud, check the codec and turn off aptX or AAC, and turn off controls that you don't need. You can adjust the audio mode between 'High Performance' and 'Low Power' if you want to extend the headphones' battery life.

The Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus have satisfactory Bluetooth compatibility. Unfortunately, they don't support NFC or multi-device pairing. They also have high latency on PCs when using SBC or aptX codecs, and your audio and visuals may fall out of sync. On the upside, their latency on iOS and Android devices is much lower, which makes them suitable for streaming video. That said, some apps and devices compensate for latency differently and your real-life experience may vary.

These headphones can't be used wired. They come with a USB-A to USB-C cable to charge their case.

The Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus are compatible with Bluetooth-enabled PCs. However, you won't be able to connect them any other way.

These headphones come with a carrying case that provides roughly four additional charges. Unfortunately, they don't support wireless charging, and only have a USB-C port to charge the case.