OneMelon Drops review: Small but powerful

The OneMelon Drops are among the smallest earbuds we've tested. And perhaps the best we've tested, too. What's so good about these wireless earbuds? And what's not so good? Find out in this review.

In this article

• 1. Specifications: OneMelon Drops
• 1.1 Sound quality
• 1.2 Microphone: calls and video meetings
• 1.3 Fit
• 1.4 Earbud controls
• 1.5 Battery: how long do they last?
• 1.6 ANC
• 2. Conclusion: our verdict

Pros and cons

Here are the pros and cons of the OneMelon Drops. See at a glance whether these earbuds are right for you.

To help you decide quickly, we'll start with our verdict on these earbuds. Here's our conclusion on the OneMelon Drops:

OneMelon Drops specifications

• Price: ~100
• Chipset: yyyy
• Codec: AAC +
• Bluetooth: 5.2
• Range: 10m
• Case battery: 250mAh
• Earbud battery: 35mAh
• Cable: usb c
• Waterproof rating: IPX4

A compact fit, then. That calls for a smaller battery, yet battery life is still good. Despite their small size, the audio specs are impressive. They also support better codecs for optimal sound. And Bluetooth 5.2!

OneMelon Drops sound quality

The midrange. That's the first thing I listen for when I put a pair of earbuds in. Is it there? That matters to me.

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And yes: the midrange is clearly present. The first song I played (and I'm not quite sure I dare tell you which one) immediately put a pleasantly surprised look on my face. That sounds surprisingly good!

Sound quality score: 9

Nicely full. Not too full. No subwoofer effect and no excessive bass. To my ears, the bass is exactly where it should be.

Love that subwoofer sound? Are you a bass head? Then you can skip these earbuds. Want to hear every part of the frequency range? I've always insisted that's the way to go.

Then the OneMelon Drops are just right. You get rich, full bass, without an overpowering woofer in your ear. In Spanish, they call that 'al punto' when talking about food. The chef makes a circle with their thumb and index finger, and their mouth forms a circle too: "al puntooo."

Anyway, back to the OneMelon Drops. Here's the nice part: I took these OneMelon earbuds to Gran Canaria. That's one of the perks of being an Eardopes reviewer.

You get to choose which earbuds come on vacation. I tested them thoroughly during my trip. Now that bit about the Spanish chef makes more sense, too.

Back to the OneMelon Drops now!

Is AAC even enabled? AAC is a codec these earbuds support that allows higher-quality audio transmission. No! They're still set to SBC.

On many phones, Bluetooth defaults to the SBC codec rather than AAC. I recommend switching to AAC. It makes the sound a lot better.

The verdict: the sound is beautifully balanced, and excellent as a result.

Microphone: are the OneMelon Drops good for calls?

Besides listening to all that music, sometimes you want to call friends or family. Or, on very rare occasions, coworkers. Speaking of coworkers, it's useful to test whether the OneMelon Drops work for online meetings, too. And, you guessed it, I've had a few inspiring meetings with the OneMelon Drops.

We're among the few reviewers who test the microphone too. Perhaps other reviewers skip it because it's a lot of work. But we think it's an underrated part of earbuds. A good mic really matters.

Listen to how the OneMelon Drops microphone sounds here.

Connecting to my laptop went smoothly. That can sometimes be a challenge, but these earbuds handled it just fine. Take a look:

My laptop found them as soon as I opened the charging case. That's when the earbuds enter pairing mode, looking for a connection. One click, and they were connected.

Then I just had to select my earbuds as the audio output.

Then you're ready to use them. In Teams, your earbud microphone will now be heard in your meetings too. These earbuds are a good choice for online meetings.

It's important that your laptop has a good Bluetooth connection. Some laptops don't. "How am I supposed to know whether my laptop's Bluetooth connection is good enough?" I can hear you thinking.

I'd just try it and see whether everything runs smoothly when you connect to your laptop. If not, no big deal. Buy a Bluetooth adapter that plugs into your laptop's USB port. Problem solved. Then virtually any earbuds will connect properly to your laptop.

So the OneMelon Drops have a good microphone. Better than the wide range of earbuds priced from €20 to €60. Not as good as earbuds costing €150 or more.

Microphone score: 8

It's nice that the Drops' microphones have ENC. It means the person you're talking to hears less background noise.

Then there's transparency mode: once you're used to it, you won't want to go without it. It lets you hear your own voice clearly while talking.

Buy OneMelon Drops

In short: a good mic. Well suited to calls and online meetings.

Fit: how do the OneMelon Drops feel?

Did we mention that the OneMelon Drops are the smallest earbuds we've ever held?

It's remarkable how compact these earbuds are. That makes them especially suitable for small ears or small ear canals. In fact, they're number 1 on our list of the best earbuds for small ears.

The one Eardopes editor who kept finding earbuds too big tested every pair. Which ones actually stayed in? Which could she confidently wear outside without constantly worrying they'd fall out? That's what she tested:

You can see that the OneMelon Drops fit much better in the ear. According to our colleague, the others could fall out at any moment. Not a nice feeling.

These are a good choice, especially if you have small ear canals. The pocobob Z are currently the best earbuds for small ears.

Different sizes are included in the box. So even if your ears are average-sized, you can use these earbuds comfortably.

Fit score: 8

So the fit is the best we've tested, especially for small ears. Another nice touch is the ear fin on each earbud. It's a little protrusion. Take a look:

Their low weight also makes a big difference to comfort. Each earbud weighs 3.2 grams. What? Yes, really. 3.2 grams.

Earbuds usually weigh about 5 grams. Heavier ones weigh around 7 grams. But these weigh just 3.2 grams.

It's impressive that all those features and the OneMelon Drops' sound quality fit into 3.2 grams. It almost feels unreal. Holding them in your hand, you think: "Okay, very light, but that can't mean much for the sound. And I doubt they'll have many features, either."

But then you read the box. "Hmm, ENC, ANC, transparency mode." Then you put them in. "Hmm, that's surprisingly good sound." That's pretty much how it went for me. Then I took them on vacation to Gran Canaria for this review:

From that moment on, my friendship with the Drops was sealed. Nice earbuds to take on vacation.

ANC: how good is the noise cancelling?

These earbuds have ANC. That stands for active noise cancelling, which reduces unwanted background noise.

I tested the OneMelon Drops' active noise cancelling on a plane. When you switch from transparency mode to noise cancelling, you can hear a difference. A lot of background noise disappears. But the earbud needs to form a good seal in your ear.

So you do hear a difference when you turn ANC on. But ANC shouldn't be the reason you buy the OneMelon Drops. The strength of these earbuds is how well they fit, even in small ear canals. As for noise cancelling, I've heard better ANC. So if that's your main reason for buying earbuds, I'd choose a different pair.

ANC score: 5

Turn on noise cancelling by tapping the touch control 4 times. You'll hear a *bliep*, and noise cancelling turns on. It works well.

Earbud controls

The earbuds use touch controls. No physical buttons, just touch.

I don't have a preference myself. Buttons can be good or terrible, and the same goes for touch controls.

What matters most with touch controls is that they always respond and are easy to find with your finger. What I like about these earbuds is that the touch control sits right on the flat part of each earbud.

Controls: 8

The earbuds consistently respond to touch. I had no problems with that. I did sometimes miss the touch area when tapping. These are small earbuds. But after 3 tries, you know exactly where to tap, and it works fine.

It's nice that you can adjust the volume on the Drops. Tap twice, holding your finger down on the second tap. So tap, hoooooold. On the right, that turns the volume up. On the left earbud, it turns the volume down. That saves a lot of hassle when you're out and about and want to lower the volume.

It takes 4 taps to turn on ANC or switch to transparency mode. That feels a bit much. I'd prefer 2 or 3 taps.

There's also no difference between left and right, except for skipping tracks and adjusting volume. That's an opportunity for OneMelon. For example, they could let you control ANC with 2 taps on the left. On the right, you could switch between game mode, sleep mode, and music mode.

How do the OneMelon Drops touch controls work?

All in all, the touch controls work well.

Battery: how long can you use the earbuds?

You can use the earbuds for quite a while. Each earbud has a 35mah battery, and the charging case has 250mAh.

The manufacturer says you can use the earbuds for 5 to 6 hours without charging. And I have to say, I used them from start to finish on a 4.5-hour flight. So they passed that test.

That said, 250mAh is on the low side. Earbuds costing €100 usually have around 320 mAh. You'll need to recharge the case from time to time. Some earbuds come with charging cases that are more like power banks, and you hardly ever need to charge those.

When the charging case is empty, its red light lets you know. The nice part is that you can charge the case with a wireless charger. So you can charge them wirelessly. If you insist on it, these wireless earbuds never have to touch a wire.

Battery score: 6

Enough battery life, then, but no power bank-style charging case. Still, it's nice that you can charge the case with a wireless charger.

Conclusion: are the OneMelon Drops good?

The OneMelon Drops are good earbuds for sound, microphone quality, and especially fit. That last point is what sets them apart. Often find earbuds too big? These are ideal. Is ANC your top priority? I'd buy a different pair, although these do have ANC. Want to use them for working from home or making calls? With ENC and transparency mode, they're a good choice.

Buy OneMelon Drops

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