1More Penta Driver P50 earphones review

Usually, if given the choice between wired and wireless, I’ll always choose the latter. It has little to do with quality, either. It’s just that wires can get in the way, get tangled up, and feel restrictive by their nature. But sometimes, the minor inconvenience is worth it, as in the case of the 1More Penta Driver P50 in-ear headphones.

Packed with five drivers in each bud, they offer incredible sound quality that more than makes up for the restrictions of a wire. That said, the design of the buds is a bit weird. I used the things for over a week before I got used to putting them on. The buds swivel on the wire, and they’re designed to hook over your ear and insert from the top, which sounds odd but actually feels very comfortable when they’re in situ. It’s just a shame it’s not easier to pick them up and put them on.

They come with a little black carry bag, but even then it’s a pain to have to bundle up the wires between uses. Again, wireless wins here, but the fact they have a little tiny bag for storage is nice. It’s not the best-looking material, but it does the job. They also come with a range of rubber and foam buds to change to your convenience. Thankfully, they also have a USB-C adapter, which helped with my wife’s Google Pixel that doesn’t have a 3.5mm port.

But even with these features and the high-quality sound, some may struggle to justify paying £170 for these over a pair of noise-cancelling wireless buds for half the price. You’re paying for the quality, of course, but when you consider there are no apps to tweak the output, and no controls besides skip buttons and play/pause buttons on the online remote, it can seem a little barebones. But what the P50 lacks in features it makes up for in raw quality.

I’ve been using them primarily with the Steamdeck for gaming, and the audio output is impeccable. A game like Lies of P that relies so heavily on its audio for atmosphere is perfectly served by the Penta Driver P50s. It’s a common misconception that more drivers automatically equals better sound, but for anything like gaming that requires clear surround sound, these are simply fantastic.

Again though, I find myself coming back to the price. £170 for wired buds and no option to tweak or adapt the output seems, well, not very competitive. There are so many solid alternatives for half the price or less that unless your only concern is sonic quality, you might be better served elsewhere. That being said, of course, there’s a reason why I have a drawer full of earbuds and a garage full of headsets and the 1More Penta Drive P50s haven’t left my Steamdeck in over a week. Make of that what you will.