Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+ True Wireless Earbuds - Bluetooth 5.0, Hi-Fi Sound, In Ear Headphones for iPhone and Android with Charging Case and App Control (Black)

I had been using a pair of wired earbuds (Nokia - they were always pretty decent) for years and was quite happy. My Galaxy Note 9 has a mini jack plug but going forward I knew that wireless was going to be the only option.I had been given Amazon vouchers for my birthday and decided I would treat myself to some wireless earbuds. The options available are ridiculous! I think I had about 20 different items saved to my compare list.I went from looking at the £30 range to £50 to then considering the £100 region. After much deliberation I was left with the Cambridge Audio, Lypertek and JBL.I am so glad that I chose the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+ earbuds.I am writing this a week after purchase and the case has not left my pocket. The earbuds however have been in and out continuously. Opening up the case you find the buds solidly held inside by magnets. They light up straight away and by the time you have popped one in your ear you hear the welcome sound of "Melomania connected". The button controls are simple with Google Assistant available to action your requests - this does only work when you have paused your music though. I am blown away by the sound quality and coupled with my subscription to Deezer which provides HQ tracks and my phone which offers Dolby Atmos (to be fair I have no idea what this is) I am hearing elements of my music choices that have previously been lost to my ears.I chose the memory foam buds and these really work well. You can really ram them in and get a snug fit or they still stay in your ear when gently inserted. I don't fear them falling out at all. I have connected them to my phone, my laptop and even tried them out connected to the TV. All brilliant and completely removes me from the sounds of three children bickering.First couple of days I had the connection momentarily dropout on one ear whilst walking. I was slightly concerned and was going to contact the support. I did a quick google and found a Cambridge Audio page referring to the Touch model. In this it suggested choosing which bud to remove from the case first. With my phone in my left hand pocket I now take the left earbud out first and this is the first to then connect to the phone. I have had no dropouts since. Battery life is fantastic. I have only just run out of juice with the case after a week of solid use. I had read a review that mentioned the microphones not being great but have taken many calls on the phone and Whatsapp and those I have asked are impressed with the call quality. I do look for the L and R symbols though and aim to have these pointing towards my mouth.These are definitely going to get a lot of use and I feel like I have invested in high end equipment that will stand the test of time.

These Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+’s were my second option. I initially bought a set of Soundcore P3i earbuds, but returned them the next day as I couldn’t find a point wherein my ears were properly sealed, resulting in a tinny, weak sound. I tried all three silicon tips provided, but no option worked for me. This was a shame, as I love my Soundcore Q30 wireless over-ears, and was hoping that the P3i’s might deliver similar results.The Cambridge Melomania 1+’s are probably the best sounding in-ear buds I’ve had. I loved their sound straight out of the box - nice and balanced, with tight bass, smooth mids and clear treble. Nothing is overwhelming or harsh in terms of tone, and these buds offer great detail - with a nice, wide, airy presentation. I’ve rinsed them with everything: classical, old school drum ‘n’ bass, jazz, metal, reggae, rock and pop, and it all sounds great - they take everything in their stride. If you’re a basshead then you might want to look at other options, although I found the lower frequencies to be just right. Listening to a bass-heavy recording such as Lee Perry’s ‘Scratch The Super Ape’ or Massive Attack’s ‘Mezzanine’ still delivers the cavernous frequencies you’d expect.You get a load of earbud tips to try out - both silicon and foam - and I found that the large silicon options worked best for me, giving the tightest seal. The memory foam tips I found a bit hit and miss - I had to fiddle around to get a proper fit, and seemed to get different results each time. The buds aren’t noise cancelling and don’t claim to be, but do a pretty good job of blocking out surrounding noise. I would definitely say that the sound quality is very much dependent on finding the right bud tips, though - so play around with the options presented to find what works for you.You’re encouraged to download the Melomania app, which offers preset EQ settings (I found the default setting to be fine, but it was nice to have the option) and up to three of your own customised versions. It also gives an indication of battery life for each earbud. They don’t seem to drain battery equally, but this is normal apparently. The app itself is nicely presented and easy to navigate - but I’ve found it to be very buggy. I’ve had to force close and re-open the app a few times to get it to connect to the buds. In fact, the app is without a doubt the most buggy on my iPhone. This is a real shame. Cambridge, maybe think about your tech department! As a comparison, the Soundcore app I use with my Q30 cans has not given me any trouble whatsoever over the past two years.Each earbud contains a physical push button in the housing which enables you to play and pause music, skip back and forth through tracks, raise and lower volume, answer calls and summon your phone’s virtual assistant. This works very well, although I’ve seen that some folk complain that when adjusting the buds for the perfect fit, they’ve inadvertently pressed the buttons and skipped tracks or paused their music. This is easily done, but the app helpfully provides an option to disable use of the button for some - or all - functions, so that’s quite good.The Melomania buds themselves are housed in a diminutive and very smart-looking carry case when not in use, which doubles as a charging station. The battery life seems fine - I charge the case every week or so when one light out of five lights are showing on its battery indicator, based on around 3 hours of listening each day. This might not be as advertised, but is a decent amount of juice.In conclusion, I can’t see any reason not to give these earbuds full marks. The fact that they were initially on sale for £120, then £100, and now £50 (!?) is a no-brainer trial purchase at least. Even with the few small drawbacks, these are brilliant earphones. I would find it hard to believe that there’s a better option at this price.

PROS-Good sounding pair of wireless earbuds-Great mobile companion app-Excellent battery life-Lots of ear-tips included (even memory foam ones)-compact charging case sizeCONS-Can become uncomfortable to wear for prolonged duration (after 3-4 hours)-Sometimes transition between using both earbuds to using just one wasn't as smooth as I'd like-no active noise cancellation ( a con depending on use case)-no ambient mode- on my unit it had an issue when updating the earbuds firmware-----Overall was really pleased with the experience for the price it's being sold at, sadly I had to RMA my unit as it had a few issues1. Sometimes the earbuds would randomly disconnect while playing media, leading some awkward situations on the tube while I fumbled to try and mute my phones volume.2. It started skipping Audio and sometimes the audio would jump from one earbud to another.In the end I decided to return the new unit they sent me as replacement (great after sale customer service from both Amazon and Cambridge Audio), as I have gotten a free pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro with my phone purchase.