Hardware

Published on December 17th, 2023 | by Scott De Lacy

Baseus Bowie MA10 – Wireless Earbuds with ANC Review

Baseus have presented a strong entry in the wireless earbuds market with the Bowie MA10.

The notable selling points is the Bluetooth V5.3, IPX6 rating and the posted 140 hours of total battery life.

The specifications:

Source: Product website

It is important to note that the small cells in the earbuds themselves would never provide for 140 hours of continuous use, nor should any person attempt that feat. As stated in the notes:

Baseus lab tests show a maximum of 8 hours of audio playback on a single charge, and a total of 140 hours counting charging case’s, with ANC turned OFF and volume at 70%.

Essentially, the 140 hours is likely due to the large cell that is provided in the charge case and consequently, is responsible for the larger size than that of competitors.

BRC Baseus Rapid Charge provides 2 hours of playtime on both earbuds after just 10-min charge with the charging case based on Baseus lab tests. Conditions apply on abovementioned[sic] 2 hours of playtime.

Although not a unique feature, fast charging of 10 minutes for 2 hours is a perfect combination that would suit most people, especially when the average person would likely take a break at that interval anyway.

Unboxing and first impressions

Yes, the envelope was upside down. But that seemed to make sense.

The box opens like a book, with a magnetic snap-lock that is satisfying to open and close.

Inside, a tidy envelope containing the quick start guide and required compliance documentation.

Includes quickstart guide, manual, short USB cable, and stickers!

The only downside here is the tiny font used, which appears to be around 8pt.

The charge case containing the earbuds, the accessories bag and of course the small charge cable is all included and well placed. Very elegant, and very appropriate.

The charge case is quite hefty compared to some other brands, and this is something to consider for those who would want to carry their earbuds in their pocket.

The rubber bottom is a nice touch, which most other brands do not include. From a travelers point of view, being able to place this charge case on a tray table and know it wont move or go flying about is a very welcome change compared to other brands.

The most striking difference here is that there are no tactile buttons on the earbuds, rather they are touch sensitive. This is a departure from the common designs and perhaps may be a hit with those who prefer non-tactile and touch sensitive interfaces. Time will tell however if this design is popular and if the touch sensitivity is not problematic. There is something to be said for feeling and pressing a button, as a deliberate and precise action. Touch sensitive buttons can easily be falsely triggered by scratching around the ear, or moving about; but they do look cool!

Baseus Smart Application

The application is easily found on the app store, but a QR code is also available. Installing the application is a simple one button, followed by the usual permissions that are needed. Although it is a bit odd that camera access is requested, where as other similar applications can provide Bluetooth access without camera permissions.

The application is easy to find and has had a lot of downloads.

Interestingly, Amazon is the only 3rd party Identity Provider.

Guest mode was used for this review.

There is a sense of distrust and unease, be it reasonably derived or not, that the the application may be accessing just a bit more information than one would like. For example, location is needed in order for the earbuds to connect to the app – and that just seems very peculiar, as none of the other brands we tested require this.

When tested, the EQ settings would apply to the ear buds when denying location/other permissions, only to then stop responding a few seconds later, after which the application advises that the earbuds need to be ‘connected’ in order to apply changes. This only seemed more suspicious and reinforced this unease.

The app is actually quite well presented. The documentation is accessible, with the full PDF in an embedded browser. Additionally the EQ is more comprehensive and sports a lot of presets.

Battery life and status is prominent, as is the gestures and noise reduction settings. Being able to customise the gestures is on par with other brands and is welcome.

Overall, aside from the overreaching permissions, the application is excellent, responsive, intuitive and well laid out. The colourful iconography is very apt and professionally designed and the buttons are designed for optimal touch performance. There is no friction point in the application where it is difficult to navigate or control, nor does one have to go hunting for any option.

Audio Quality and Testing

Music

The first test of music was so bottom heavy that it felt like stepping into a 20 year old’s V8 Commodore from the 1990’s complete with a sub-woofer the size of ¾ of the cargo space. That is to say that the bass was strong, with higher then average presence and everything from about 900Hz to the top had reduced presence and amplitude.

Of course, the bass sounded good, along side with the ANC, it was truly a unique sound by default.

Once paired with the application and cycling through the EQ’s, there is a happy middle ground and presence that is agreeable for most people and music genres.

EQ and Response

The MA10 is perhaps optimised for bass. This earbuds are absolutely perfect for those who love Doof-Doof, or think that the bass guitarist should be front and centre in the band.

Using a function generator application, pushing out a sweep from 1kHz to 2kHz over 10 seconds, the right cuts out ahead of the left around 8 seconds, indicating an uneven high end threshold.

A 1Hz sine wave created an interesting feint ‘cycle’ sound, which would likely be tiny mechanical movement of the speakers. Both evenly respond. Adding FM modulation and you get that ‘humming’ cycling sound that you often get when gaming and heading towards that generator you have to disable!

From a straight up frequency test with a sine wave at 50% amplitude, frequencies from under 3Hz are inaudible, and from around 1-8Hz are audible and heavily felt, which is incredible, although arguably not desirable (for long exposure!). The frequency response was a bit weaker from 10Hz through to around 30Hz in the left earbud, which is perfectly fine. Surprisingly all the frequencies are audible through to 22kHz for both earbuds.

The frequency response was weaker (less audible) from ~12kHz for both ear buds, whilst the left was stronger in higher frequencies and the right was very weak up around 21-22kHz, they both equally proved that the ear buds are optimal at lower frequencies.

The EQ offered by the application also reinforces these findings, as the sound from the top end is just not as nice in quality as the lower end is. The instinct was to drop the bottom end down to compensate a more flatter, duller and compressed top end, in order to prevent the top end from becoming too ‘crispy’. Sadly there just doesn’t seem to be enough headroom to get the balance exactly right, so the “clear” and Baseus “classic” EQ profiles will tend to win out against the more bass driven options provided.

As expected, the sound quality is impacted more in the top end when ANC is enabled, which is inline with all the other brands. When cancelling out the surrounding sound, ‘air’ is often removed, which changes the dynamic of the sound reaching the ear.

Active Noise Control (Noise Cancelling)

The Active Noise Control in the MA10 is outstanding. In the application it is part of the Ambient sound screen. This one system can enable the microphone to pickup and bleed through the outside environment at a very low volume with the subject audio, to increase awareness around you; or can actively cancel surrounding noise. You can also turn off the feature entirely and be subject to the conditions.

Baseus also provided several profiles for the Noise Reduction Mode, which allow the listener to dial in the level of noise reduction (and air mix). This is perfect for those who find noise reduction increases anxiety or that it is too weird. These profiles and settings can help target the sound quality profile that the user can enjoy.

During testing, the sound of very loud and annoying refrigerator and washing machine were completely drowned out. It works.

Comfort

Although the MA10 is not a perfect fit, there are several innovations. The body of the earbud is designed to caress the ear and is not entirely supported by the insertion into the ear canal.

The rubber body on the earbud allows a softer and close touch to the ear whilst enduring movement. When testing the comfort and fit, those inserts do move and slight adjustment seems to be necessary for the alignment to work properly. However it is not instinctively apparent to a user that they may need to do this.

The other concern is that the initial assumed correct fit, forces the ear bud closer to the ear lobe as it sits inside, this is great for the ear lobe, but seems to apply counter-pressure to the inner ear canal depending on the angle.

Simply put, after wearing them for 30-60 minutes, there was a constant feeling of needing to adjust, that something was irritating or applying some pressure against the ear canal. It is only after a longer period of use will the user eventually rotate the ear bud to an angle that does not cause discomfort or pressure in the ear canal.

The comfort may be perfect for others and 3^rd party reviews have been positive. Because the fit is very different to what most consumers would expect, it is easy to insert these incorrectly, experience discomfort and dismiss them out of hand.

Touch Buttons Response

As expected, the touch response was simply problematic. Accidental touch functions were activated on every single comfort adjustment. But when attempting to toggle between play and pause, it required several attempts to make it work.

Soft and hard taps made no difference, but success always required moving the hand away and waiting a moment before trying again. Tapping the buttons always felt like it transferred the force directly to the ear canal which also contributed to the comfort concerns.

The buttons work, but instead of seamless, it was frustrating.

They also will not work through covered skin, eg not glove friendly.

Final Thought

At the time of review, the Baseus Bowie MA10 retails for $39.99 USD. For this price point, there is a lot of value in this product compared to some others on the market.

The stand outs features are the powerful bass (if desirable), the long battery life, and brilliant noise cancellation and custom profiling.

The unique fit is actually quite innovative once the penny drops, but it can take some trial, discomfort and error to get to that point.

The concerns are:

• The touch buttons which are cumbersome and unreliable. Most of the functions that are needed are usually controllable from the device and may not necessarily be a crippling factor in the decision. Don’t bother if you rely on the buttons.
• The charge case, is larger than most others on the market, so not the best choice for travellers.
• Privacy concerns? The application seems to want to have access to device and data that it does not need and pushes for registration.

The Bowie MA10 is well worth considering at this competitive price point.

For more information, please visit https://www.baseus.com/products/bowie-ma10-tws-wireless-earbuds or https://www.amazon.com/Baseus-Bowie-MA10-Cancellation-Microphones/dp/B0C99BNKTH

About the Author

Scott De Lacy Scott has a professional IT background spanning over 18 years, is an hobbyist electronics designer, talented musician, holds qualifications as a trainer and experience in emergency and community services sectors. He reviews Movies, PC and XBOX One games, and hardware.

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