The mid-range and treble are muddy and tinny, and the percussion pinched my eardrums.
Positives include an attractive design and decent battery life.
Some of thebest headphonesare deceptively priced.
But overall, youd still want a great-sounding pair of cans.
Could the decent wired connection sound quality, sleek aesthetics, and comfort make up for it, though?
Find out the full story in this Baseus Bowie 30 Max headphone review.
theyre only 109, so if youre in the U.K. youre getting a much better deal.
This places them at the top end of ‘budget’ and the lower end of ‘mid-range’ headphones.
Our best overall cheap headphones are the$54 1More SonoFlow SE, which performed fantastically in testing.
If you want to save money, Id recommend those instead.
Even if they are a little swivel-happy, these headphones look the part.
Theres a range of other features.
The effectiveness of said features is another question, which Ill discuss in more detail below.
Theres head tracking spatial audio, customizable EQ with the Baseus app, and Low Latency Mode.
Gamers will be happy its an option.
Baseus Bowie 30 Max headphones review: Call quality
The call quality is good on these headphones.
So Id call that a win for these mid-range headphones.
You get 50 hours with ANC and 65 without ANC, which is better than theAirPods Maxs 20 hours.
then these would be good cans to get.
However, in many tracks without extreme bass, the sound quality was muddy and tinny.
Baseus specs suggest these headphones have upgraded audio detail by 300%, and enhanced bass by 200%.
Theres no quantitative data on these numbers and Im not sure what metric this is compared against.
First, Ill discuss Bluetooth with no spatial audio or head tracking.
Vanilla, so to speak.
I first ventured over to Deezer and listened to Rina Sawayamas entire SAWAYAMA album.
Next, I tested the headphones with LDAC enabled and I couldnt tell a massive difference from vanilla listening.
So if you listen to solely bass-heavy tracks, you could get away with these headphones.
This is where these headphones live up to their price.
I actually liked this more than I thought I would, after listening to them with Bluetooth.
The sound quality still isnt great, but its getting there.
I listened to HEAT by SG Lewis and Tove Lo, which is a glittering, floor-filling house track.
Tove Los syrupy, modulated vocal was alive with sugar and spice and everything nice.
Heres where my brief adoration was cut short.
Oh, how I wish I hadnt.
You know that sound that cleaning a window with a microfiber cloth makes?
Combine that with driving super fast with the windows rolled down and thats what the head tracking sounds like.
However, I cant recommend these cans for their wireless sound alone.
The bass was good, but the mid-range and treble sections were tinny, muddy, and pinchy.
Some songs sounded better from my MacBook speakers.
