Talking of important listening, the XC1 work with Sony’s hi-res succesful LDAC Bluetooth codec, do you have to occur to personal a appropriate Android telephone (sorry, iPhone customers). Utilizing LDAC can reveal extra element, particularly when listening to a supply of lossless audio, however for these earbuds, I don’t suppose the juice is definitely worth the squeeze. Utilizing LDAC disables your EQ settings and Bluetooth Multipoint, and the XC1 battle to take care of a gentle Bluetooth connection when LDAC is ready to its highest-quality setting.
Baseus additionally contains two Dolby Audio modes (Music and Cinema), which are supposed to create a extra immersive, spatial expertise. For me, it’s the alternative. I discover they wash out the sound, with Cinema being downright muddy. At 60 p.c quantity, there was greater than sufficient energy for an attractive listening expertise indoors. Exterior, I wanted a bit extra oomph.
Past Music
{Photograph}: Simon Cohen
Calling on the Encourage XC1 is sweet. Whether or not indoors or open air, your callers will discover it straightforward to grasp you, and nearly all background sounds are saved at bay. Nonetheless, as with most clip-style open-ear earbuds, your voice received’t be crystal clear—some distortion does handle to creep in, notably when exterior.
Baseus charges battery life on the XC1 at eight hours per cost, with 40 hours of complete use if you embrace the case’s battery, numbers which are solely eclipsed by the OpenDots One’s 10/40 combo. Baseus assumes 50 p.c quantity and doesn’t embrace using both Dolby Audio or LDAC. LDAC will be very energy hungry, usually decreasing battery life by as much as 30 p.c, which is another reason to keep away from it.
Open-ear earbuds aren’t for everybody, however with nice sound high quality, a snug, clip-style design, and easy-to-use controls, the Baseus Encourage XC1 are a wonderful selection. They test a number of bins for a worth that’s significantly lower than their nearest opponents, together with robust water and dirt resistance, non-obligatory LDAC mode, and Bluetooth Multipoint. The one factor that’s lacking is help for Auracast. Sadly, that function has but to see widespread adoption. In case you’re after an reasonably priced pair of open buds that compete with the perfect, these are among the many greatest we have tried.
