Since the age of about four I think I have loved music, even now knocking on 50, I still get a kick out of pressing play a favourite track on Spotify, or discovering a new band to listen to.
The louder the better in all honesty, I enjoy nothing more than filling a room with music I love and just unwinding. That’s not always possible though, and I get the same pleasure with a pair of headphones on at night or on a commute, listening to music or a podcast.
That requires a certain degree of quality and any serious headphone user will agree. We’ve all endured the days of naff wired, tinny headphones or earbuds that don’t connect properly.
Even good over the ear headphones have sometimes struggled with keeping the music in and the external noise out.
I have a few pairs of headphones in my gadget draw, some that I think really highly of, so I was interested to see if this pair from Baseus could offer any competition.
The first thing to note here is the price looks really good for headphones that are pushing to be a quality, affordable, yet stylish gadget. There are way more high-end, more expensive headphones out there, but as ever there is that level underneath that where a lot of people shop, and that’s where these fit in.
The inclusion of LDAC (Lossless Digital Audio Codec) is somewhat of a guarantee a headphone set means business, you know the streaming will be good quality via the Bluetooth connection. That’s not the only tech specification that is included to stick these on a higher tier, the inclusion of 50mm bass drivers is serious business and you are expecting something meaty.
I really liked how the headphones looked with a single metal headband and slider adjustments, almost a retro approach. The cuffs are nicely padded and suspended by a metal arm on each side that moves and rotates to match your head movement.
They look very simple, very classy, and they are indeed very light and comfortable to wear, they cuffs can also be folded in for ease of storage when you are finished.
I’m not saying I hate touch button technology and motion swipes to access things, but I’m not too fond of them. I have tried some earphones where you have to hover over the sensors to change a track or adjust the volume, and it is always clumsy.
These go for old school buttons with clicks for noise cancelling, play pause, volume and track changes. It’s very simple, and it’s very indicative of what this product is trying to represent.
They look good, they are comfortable, and they are functional – big ticks and no red flags so far. So let’s look at the sound. There is an accompanying app and that allows you to do a number of things from registering for tech updates, to tweaking the graphic equalisers, a bass boost, and more.
Within this app you can activate various noise cancellation settings with modes for commuting, the outdoors, etc. It’s a really nice touch. The noise-cancelling aspect is interesting. They are pretty good and they do drown out lots of noise to let you concentrate on what you are listening to, but you can hear things still, voices for example, just not very loud and very feint.
You can get some noise cancellers that are total blankets to all exterior sound, that’s not the case here, but that doesn’t mean they don’t do a great job for the money. That ability to alter the sound on the app to adjust to your surroundings, helps a great deal.
The bass boost is really noticeable and offers a very deep, impressively rich sound through the bass drivers that will improve any material, very good for example on calls. The built in microphone for calls is to a good standard, certainly better than some I have used previously. This will do a good job for you.
The inclusion of spatial audio is way more than being just another gimmick, designed to give you a full head tracking 3D sound experience. Charging can be done via the included USB C charging lead, there is also an audio lead that can go straight into a stereo or amp. You can expect a charge to give you anything up to 65 hours of audio, but with all the high end features included and activated, it would be less.
To summarize – these are very high quality for the money you are paying. They are effective noise-canceling headphones, to a point. They sound great, they look pretty sophisticated, and they are comfortable to wear.
I would have preferred the inclusion of a carry case, but that’s not a big deal. These won’t take the place of my go to headphones for my very regular use, but as a lighter, quality alternative, there are certainly scenarios where I will use these.
What you may like
I am a huge fan of the Skullcandy Evo headphones. These are my favourite pair of headphones and like the Baseus Bowie – they are so rich in sound they are an absolute joy. They do go to a higher level which is expected due to the price point and I would always point people to look into them. These are a considerably higher price than the Baseus pair.
One of the highest rated products under the noise cancelling category on Amazon is this budget pair of £26 headphones. The RUNOLIM Hybrid headphones are absolutely inundated with five-star reviews in the comments section and are seemingly well worth further investigation at the really low price.