Bose wants to expand its reach. Not too long ago, the company partnered with Skullcandy for its latest earbuds, but recently, it announced another partnership with Chinese charger company Baseus. The Baseus Inspire XH1 over-ear headphones have a lot to offer, and in my review, I found that they’re among the best in their price range. But alongside the over-ear headphones, Baseus and Bose have also announced a pair of earbuds in the form of the Baseus Inspire XP1 wireless earbuds, which also have the Sound by Bose branding.
While the Baseus Inspire XH1 headphones are a clear winner in their price category, the earbuds have a little more competition. So, do they sound as good or better than anything they compete with? I’ve been using the Baseus Inspire XP1 wireless earbuds to find out.
Baseus Inspire XP1 design and comfort
The overall design of the Baseus Inspire XP1 earbuds doesn’t necessarily break any boundaries or stray far from convention. The earbuds have a stem design, and while the earpieces themselves are a little larger than some other models, that doesn’t really impact how they look — and we’ll get into comfort later. It also makes sense that the earpieces are slightly large — these aren’t designed to be open earbuds, like the also-new Baseus Inspire XC1.
Along with the earbuds, of course, is the charging case, which has a large lid that covers much of the top of the round case. On the bottom of the case can be found a USB-C port, while on the lid is the Baseus logo and “Sound by Bose” branding.
The way the earbuds fit in the case is slightly awkward, but it’s not a big deal. The earbuds are placed on their correct left and right sides, but you have to turn them around to face the other way to put them in the case, or when you take them out to put in your ears. It’s not as convenient as being able to put the earbuds in the case and take them out with one motion, and I don’t quite know why any brand does anything other than that.
In the box, apart from the earbuds and the charging case, you’ll get a few extra pairs of ear tips and a charging cable. It’s everything you’ll need, though the ear tip selection is a little basic compared to some models out there.
Despite the slightly larger earpieces, the earbuds are relatively comfortable. The size helped ensure they stayed snug in my ears, but while they could get slightly uncomfortable over longer periods of time, it certainly wasn’t over the top — I’ve used much less comfortable earbuds. They didn’t feel quite as comfortable as the likes of the AirPods Pro or Nothing Ear earbuds, but that’s a pretty high bar.
Baseus Inspire XP1 features and app
The Baseus Inspire XP1 earbuds offer a range of features that are designed both to improve audio quality and to make the earbuds reasonably easy to use. As far as audio goes, you’ll get support for LDAC and Dolby Audio, just like the over-ear Baseus Inspire XH1 headphones.
The controls are a little finicky. They’re touch controls that work through a touch surface on the upper stem. I strongly prefer other control methods for wireless earbuds, like squeeze controls, similar to those on the AirPods Pro. Touch controls are difficult to use on such a small surface, they can trigger unintentionally, and tapping the earbuds is loud and uncomfortable.
On the Baseus XP1, you’ll double-tap to play or pause audio, tap and hold to cycle through noise modes, and tap three times to activate your mobile assistant. You can customize these controls, though, including selecting different controls for each of the left and right earbuds — and things like volume and down are options in those customizations.
The Baseus Inspire XP1 earbuds work through the Baseus app, which I quite like. The app is well-designed, easy to use, and gives you access to a range of features and settings. From the main screen, after the earbuds are connected, you can control things like noise modes, and you can tap into settings like the EQ. The app has a 10-band EQ built in, which is pretty good — and better than plenty of more expensive headphones, including Bose’s own app, which has a basic three-band EQ that doesn’t even label frequencies. Overall, most should find it easy to control the earbuds using the Baseus app.
Baseus Inspire XP1 battery and charging
The battery life on offer by the Baseus Inspire XP1 earbuds is only fine. Baseus rates the earbuds as offering eight hours of continuous listening and 45 hours with the charging case. However, that’s with ANC turned off, which changes things a little. There are earbud models out there that hit eight hours with ANC on, and if I had to guess, I’d assume that the total listening time with ANC is somewhere in the 30 to 35-hour range. To be clear, that’s still not bad, but it’s not groundbreaking by any means.
The earbuds charge through a USB-C port in the bottom of the charging case, but they don’t support wireless charging. That’s a little frustrating, even at this price point. Plenty of cheaper wireless earbuds have wireless charging, and at this point, it’s kind of table stakes.
Baseus Inspire XP1 sound
The Baseus Inspire XP1 earbuds offer “Sound by Bose,” and while it isn’t immediately clear how involved Bose was in the tuning of the earbuds, I can say that they sound very good, especially for earbuds at this price point. They were able to deliver deep and powerful bass, along with enough clarity to keep music exciting.
They’re not the most neutral-sounding earbuds, though — by default, they have a bit of a mid-frequency cut with boosted highs and lows. You can get around this with the EQ if you want something a little more neutral, and if you’re fine with a tuned EQ profile if it means the music sounds good, then rest assured you’ll get it here.
The earbuds were able to produce ultra-low sub-bass frequencies about as well as any earbuds I’ve heard, except for some ultra-premium models. They weren’t quite as good at producing crisp details as some more expensive earbuds, but they certainly outperformed many in their price range. They performed about as well as my favorite wireless earbuds, the Nothing Ear earbuds — which I consider to be among the best at any price point.
I will say, however, listening with noise cancellation or without it yields a dramatically different frequency curve. With ANC disabled, the earbuds were a little more mid-heavy and lacked the bass that they offered in noise cancelling mode. Transparency mode made music sound a little closer than with ANC enabled. It’s a bit disappointing, because most users will want to be able to select an EQ setting and stick with it no matter what mode they’re listening in.
The noise cancellation tech on offer by the earbuds is actually very good, especially for earbuds in this price range. The earbuds were able to cut out quite a bit of noise, including the hum from plane engines, and busy chatter in a cafe. Sure, there are earbuds out there with better noise cancellation, but those cost significantly more — and I found the Baseus Inspire XP1 earbuds to beat anything else under $150 or so. The transparency mode wasn’t as impressive, though — it added hiss to the mix, and while my environment sounded fine, it wasn’t the most natural experience.
Conclusions
Retailing for $129.99, the Baseus Inspire XP1 earbuds are solid wireless earbuds that perform pretty well, with good noise cancellation and a solid frequency response. They’re not perfect — the transparency mode is only fine, and they lack features like wireless charging — but they’re generally a workhorse pair of wireless earbuds that most users will like using.
The competition
The problem for Baseus is that it faces tough competition, even at this price point. Ultimately, the Nothing Ear earbuds are a better option. They sound as good or better, offer a more customizable EQ, have wireless charging, and provide a more comfortable fit. Their battery life isn’t as good, but it’s good enough. If you don’t mind waiting a little, it may be worth looking at the upcoming Nothing Ear (3) earbuds, which Nothing has started teasing online.
If you really have a hard limit of $130, then consider the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds, which have a great battery life, sound excellent, and also have perks like wireless charging and spatial audio support.
Should I buy the Baseus Inspire XP1 earbuds?
No. You should buy the Nothing Ear earbuds or the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds instead.
