Baseus Bowie MA10 Review: A Sound Investment

TWS earbuds are a dime and a dozen. While you can get superb earphones if you have a healthy budget, those looking for affordable alternatives often have to compromise on the sound quality or the features on offer. That’s partly why Baseus’ Bowie MA10 TWS earbuds caught my eye. 

You see, the earphones retail for under $30 on e-commerce portals like Amazon. However, one look at the MA10’s spec sheet – which boasts features like a 140-hour playtime, ANC, and multipoint connectivity – and you’d wonder if the earbuds are the real deal too. Well, I decided to take the earbuds for a spin, and here’s what I make of the Baseus Bowie MA10 TWS earbuds. 

Design and Comfort

The Baseus Bowie MA10 will not win any laurels in the design department. Don’t get me wrong – the earbuds look fine, for the most part. However, the buds sport a utilitarian design and do little to set themselves apart from the herd of alternatives on the market. The same goes for the case too, which is rather bulky.

As a matter of fact, at 3.7 ounces, the MA10’s case barely fit inside the pockets of my jeans. Needless to say, Baseus has opted for function over form, which is totally fine, provided the earbuds deliver on the company’s claims. More on that later, though.

Although the earbuds lack character, they make up for it with their comfortable fit. What’s more, I was pleasantly surprised with the MA10’s unboxing experience. Instead of using cheap cardboard, the MA10’s box has been stylized with the brand’s colors. More notably, the earbuds come with a lot of accessories, including different-sized ear tips and wings that’ll assist you in finding a comfortable and secure fit. 

Add to that, the earbuds and the case – which also doubles up as a charging cradle – feel sturdy too. The case’s hinge doesn’t creak, and the unit shuts with a satisfying slam when you close the lid. The MA10 also comes with an IPX6 rating, so you should be able to sweat it out in the gym with the earbuds.

On that note, the buds offer a resoundingly secure fit, and I couldn’t shake the earpieces off my ears when I was running around my apartment complex or doing weight training. If anything, the buds protrude outwards, so you might find the ear tips bite your ear when you rest your head against a pillow. 

App, ANC, and Other Features

As is the case with most TWS earbuds, the Baseus Bowie MA10 also supports tap-based gesture controls. The control scheme can be used to sift through your playlist, invoke the voice assistant, increase or decrease the volume or flip between ANC and transparency modes. You can even customize the functions invoked by double-tapping, triple-tapping, or long-pressing each earbud via the companion app. 

Truth be told, I don’t recall the last time I was given so many options to finetune a pair of budget TWS earbuds to my liking. What’s more, the gestures work quite well, and I rarely had to tap over and over again for the earbud to register my input.

Since we’re on the subject, you should know that the app offers a slick and user-friendly UI. As such, you won’t have to hunt for a setting and will be able to control most aspects of the earbuds seamlessly. 

Additionally, the app comes with a handful of EQ presets. And, if you don’t fancy the baked-in presets, you can create your own EQ preset, which, once again, is somewhat of a rarity when you’re dabbling with affordable TWS earbuds. If anything, I wish the earbuds shipped with wear-detection chops. You see, I am accustomed to removing an earbud whenever someone wants to engage in a conversation. For the most part, TWS earbuds usually pause the music playback but, in the case of the MA10, I had to go through an extra step and do it myself. 

On the bright side, the earbuds support multipoint connectivity, which is yet another feature that’s usually reserved for high-end TWS headsets. Well, the Bowie MA10 is an outlier in this regard, and it can interface with two devices simultaneously. The feature works as advertised too, and the buds could juggle the audio output from my laptop and smartphone comfortably, which is excellent. 

Speaking of which, the MA10 also gets a low-latency mode of sorts, which can help synchronize the audio and video output when you’re watching movies or videos online. While the feature does work, it doesn’t eliminate the latency completely. As such, I’d advise against using the earbuds to play competitive games like CoD Mobile on your phone. 

The Bowie MA10 can effectively cancel out the noise to a certain degree. While you will get stronger ANC with pricier earbuds, the MA10s could cut through the sound emanating from a car’s engine as well as the chit-chat in a busy coffee shop.

Additionally, unlike some competing earbuds, I didn’t feel like enabling the ANC on the MA10 created a vacuum of sorts in my ear, which is great.

Sound Quality and Battery Life

By now, you must be wondering about the Bowie MA10’s sound quality. Well, you’d be glad to know that the earbuds punch above their weight and sound good, for the most part. That’s not to say that the earphones can hold a candle to more premium devices from Sony or Sennheiser. But, for a pair of sub-$30 earbuds, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the MA10’s sound output. 

Do note that I used the default and Classical EQ presets in the Baseus app to test the earbuds. The latter tends to subdue the low-end output and overturns a clearer mid-range. The default preset, on the other hand, has more roaring bass.

Additionally, the buds don’t support hi-res codecs and transmit audio over the AAC codec. Coming to the meat of the matter, the earbuds tout a bass-forward sound signature, which is evident in tracks like Knife Talk by Drake.

Here, the bits preceding the first verse have a deep rumble, and the bass is relayed unabridged via the earbuds. In fact, the bass output creeps into the mid-range, too, so you may notice that the vocals sound a bit recessed. That said, the audio output – albeit not chockablock with details – is still quite enjoyable. The same goes for Stormzy’s Toxic Trait or K.Flay’s No Duh, which are replete with lively beats. Here, once again, the MA10’s bass output casts a shadow on the vocals and other instruments playing in the background. 

On the flip side, while the earbuds don’t reciprocate the beats clinically, the sound output isn’t inherently terrible or flawed, and you’ll find yourself bobbing your head to the music regardless. Turn the page over to orchestral tunes, and you’ll find even more to like about the Bowie MA10 TWS earbuds. David Kushner’s Daylight, for instance, sounds superb on the headset, and you’ll feel the gravitas in the singer’s voice as he transitions from one verse to the other. 

Additionally, the earbuds don’t sound sibilant, so you can use the set to listen to podcasts as well. I do wish the earbuds offered more shimmery highs. The strums of the electric guitar in Arctic Monkey’s Fluorescent Adolescent, for instance, sound a bit too lethargic. Thankfully, the song doesn’t feel muddy, and the earbuds offer good instrument separation. 

As for the battery backup, the company claims the earbuds can last up to eight hours on a single charge. Additionally, the bundled case can further the music playback time by up to 140 hours. While I couldn’t quite test the company’s claims thoroughly, I was left impressed with the MA10’s battery backup regardless. In fact, I’ve been using the earbuds for almost five days, and I haven’t plugged in the case to a wall outlet yet. Needless to say, the earbuds’ battery backup will not go unappreciated by folks who abhor charging their gadgets every other night. 

Verdict

I won’t beat around the bush at all – the Baseus Bowie MA10 is a superb TWS headset. So much so, I would’ve probably recommended the pair for its sticker price of $39.99. Needless to say, the MA10 is a no-brainer for buyers looking for an affordable TWS headset under $30. Not only do the earbuds sound good, but you’d be hard-pressed to find another headset with as many useful features. So, if you’re strapped for cash or just want a pair of buds to take to the gym, get the MA10 – you will not be disappointed.