To answer the original question, yes, 1-test is a real steroid (not a prohormone).
For reasons not immediately clear to me there are many here that hold it in low regard. Maybe it's because it is legal (in the US) and this somehow makes it less desirable. Whatever the reasons, they have no data (scientific or ancedotal) to support that conclusion. Most of them have not even tried it.
1-Test is very close in structure to primobolan (only missing the 1 methyl group of primo). Due to it's structure, it cannot aromatize so estrogen sides (bloat, increased risk of gyno) would not be seen. It cannot be reduced to DHT either but it may be fairly androgenic in it's own right. Some have reported androgenic sides like hairloss. The only person I know of who has injected 1-test enanthate said he gained 7 lbs of water free weight in two weeks from 500 mg ew. On the down side, he also said he had to stop after two weeks because of the painful injections. 1-Test may be a potent muscle irritant. He compared its effectiveness to primo. Which makes sense given its similarity of chemical structure.
Any AS is going to be more effective injected than absorption transdermally but if all you have is the 1-test base (no ester), transdermal would probably be a good trade off since injections of 1-test suspension could probably be compared to being drop-kicked by god.