On the hunt for a cheaper alternative to well-known earbud brands, I decided to test Baseus Bowie MC2.

I have been a loyal Apple AirPods user for years, and I was perfectly happy with their quality.

That was until I started training for a marathon and went on long runs. This is when I learned that after two hours, my earbuds would die, leaving me alone with my thoughts for an hour or two.

While thinking about upgrading my earbuds, I learned about open-ear headphones. Because of their design, these headphones are often used for sports, as they aren’t placed directly in your ear but sit outside, keeping you aware of your surroundings while still allowing you to listen to some tunes.

One popular brand that sells this headphone design is Shokz. However, I didn’t want to spend $100 to $150 on new headphones, since I wasn’t even sure I liked open-ear technology.

That was primarily because when I tried the iFLYTEK AI translation earbuds, which also include open-ear technology, I noticed some sound leakage.

Instead, I decided to try out the Baseus Bowie MC2, which features an open-ear clip-on design.

What is a clip-on design?

As the name suggests, the earbuds “clip” to your ear, looking like a cuff that secures the earbud from the outside, letting you listen to music while still hearing your surroundings.

While these earbuds are placed on your ear, they’re not actually in your ear canal.

At first, I found the clip-on design a bit uncomfortable because of piercings in my ears. My other concern was that the earbuds would fall off.

But to my surprise, this didn’t happen, and after I got used to them, I sometimes even forgot that I had them on. I also noticed that because they're so lightweight, they don’t fatigue my ears, since they’re not directly in them.

Baseus Bowie MC2 specs: sound quality and battery life

While the Baseus Bowie MC2 earbuds are quite small and lightweight, weighing 5 grams each, I was concerned about their charging case, which is larger than the Apple AirPods case.

I didn’t want to carry it with me wherever I went, but then I thought there would be no way to charge my earbuds.

Nevertheless, I soon realized I wouldn’t need the charging case, since the earbuds could last me hours without charging.

Baseus, a China-based consumer electronics company, claims that the buds can last for 11 to 13 hours on a single charge.

I first started using them while working and noticed I could use them for hours without needing to charge.

My other concern was the sound leakage. That’s why I first tested the buds indoors. I soon learned that this wasn’t a problem, so I took them with me on my runs.

To control the earbuds, each has a button on the back that lets you play, pause, or switch songs.

The only thing I missed was the possibility to stop the track when one of the earbuds is out.

Multiple apps to unlock all features

After using the earbuds, I wanted to see how much battery life was left and change some control settings.

For this, I needed to download the Baseus app and connect the device to see all the relevant information.

Once that is done, you can see the battery life of your earbuds and the case, change sound and gesture settings.

What I found extremely comfortable was Dual-Device Connection. Since I use earbuds on my phone and laptop, this feature switches easily between the devices.

For example, if I’m listening to music on my laptop and suddenly get a call on my phone, the earbuds automatically connect to my phone when I answer. This way, I don’t need to switch them myself or take the earbuds out to answer the call.

While exploring the other capabilities these earbuds offer, I stumbled upon their AI-powered features.

While I’m not a big fan of AI, I was curious to see what else the buds could do.

However, my curiosity was soon followed by a hard eye roll, since I needed to download another app to unlock these features.

The app revealed that the earbuds could be used for translation and live recording. So, I think I spent more time trying to install the app rather than actually using these features.

Baseus Bowie MC2 earbuds: Are they worth it?

While I enjoy the noise-canceling feature, as a person who spends quite a bit of time outside, I do understand why open-ear earbuds are becoming more popular.

However, it’s getting harder to find earbuds that deliver high-quality sound while keeping us aware of our surroundings, especially if you don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars.

Even though it took me a minute to get used to the Baseus Bowie MC2 earbuds, I was glad I didn’t have to worry about how long I could use them until the next charge.

In this case, the battery life was the main selling point, but I found other useful features, such as Dual-Device Connection.

However, I wasn’t very impressed with having to download two apps to find all the settings and features. But perhaps it isn’t much of a hassle for a $60 device.

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