In the running for best budget headphones of 2026, OneOdio’s Focus A1 Pro outperform what you’d expect from a pair that’ll set you back US$34.99. While they won’t outshine premium audio tech, they leave the competition in their price bracket for dead.
I’ve sung the praises of OneOdio before, and I stand by every word. Those cans have since been a constant and reliable travel companion over the last eight months, be it blocking out screaming kids on flights or turning down the volume of busy city streets. And they’re the one bit of tech that I rely on when on the road that I rarely have to charge, because the battery life is so damn good. This was echoed by one of our other writers, who was equally surprised – and impressed – by a OneOdio studio set.
So I went into this review with a bit more knowledge of the brand, and some skepticism: How good could a pair of $35 headphones be, given that budget-friendly audio tends to come at a cost in other areas. Here, the costs are pretty obvious. There’s no accompanying app to adjust levels or equalizer, which can be a deal-breaker for some. The 38-dB Active Noise Cancelation (ANC) is adequate but not as effective as the more expensive OneOdio models (if sub-$100 is expensive), but again, you won’t find that many over-ear models with premium sound-muting at this price point anyway.
As for the sound, music is crisp and bright, podcasts play with a richness that I didn’t expect – headphones on the cheaper end of the scale often deliver tinny, compressed-sounding audio in this department – and distortion is low. They have a 20 Hz to 20 kHz range, so are more than enough for everyday use, even if they could have benefited a little from a boost in the volume department (Either that, or I’m overdue a hearing test). Of course, audiophiles are unlikely to be lured over to the budget side with these, but they’re not really the model’s target market.
OneOdio
Again, the battery life is magnificent – where the company’s specs say you’ll get around 70 hours on a charge (without ANC), I am tempted to take OneOdio at its word. Largely because by the time they signal they need to be plugged in, I’ve already forgotten how long it’s been since I last charged them. Much like the Focus A6 that live on my ears – with ANC on – it’s a nice “problem” to have, only needing to plug them in once a week or so. Realistically, listening with ANC will probably get you in the ballpark of 50 hours of battery life, which is still a solid performance that even with heavy use will most likely carry you through several weeks of commuting to and from work. They also feature the “speed charge” function, where a quick 10-minute boost of power extends their life several – up to five – hours.
Much like the other models the A1 Pro has Bluetooth 6.0 capabilities, and are easily paired and connected to other devices (phone, laptop). They also paired with my projector without much fuss and let me block the sound of a loud TV in another room so I could watch Pluribus – a series which doesn’t have a whole lot of noisy action scenes to drown out intrusive background noise. They also have dual-device connectivity, which I wish my A6s had, allowing for automatic switching between, for example, phone and laptop, rather than having to swap over manually.
OneOdio
As for the wear, I found them comfortable but not quite as well-fitting as the more oval-shaped cups of the Focus A6. They mostly covered my ears, but feel a bit more “on ear” than “over ear”. Much like the Focus A6, though, controls (volume, power-on/off and ANC) are on the base of the right cup, along with the USB-C port for charging. The buttons can feel a bit same-y, but you get used to the positioning before long. Overall, they’re pretty comfortable, and hold up to a lot more punishment than their plastic-like appearance suggests. While I haven’t had the chance to batter them in luggage as much as my A6 cans – the look was one of the criticisms of that model, too – OneOdio is in the business of making deceptively sturdy tech. If you want to keep these looking new, however, you’ll need to provide your own carry bag as the Pro doesn’t come with one.
They also come with a 0.089-second low-latency Gaming Mode, though I only used them while playing Pokémon Legends: Arceus on Switch, so that’s not really a test of its efficacy.
All these points, of course, come with the reminder that these are sub-$35, and for that, you get more than you’d expect. The Focus A1 Pro headphones are available for $34.99 from Oneodio or resellers such as Amazon.
Source: Oneodio
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