Baseus Bowie 30 Max review: head-tracked spatial audio and ANC on a budget, but these headphones have one fatal flaw

Baseus Bowie 30 Max: two-minute review

The Baseus Bowie 30 Max headphones are a perfect example of some cans that bite off more than they can chew. At a glance, you’d think these are an incredibly competent pair of Bluetooth headphones. They offer LDAC higher-resolution audio, proprietary head-tracking technology, active noise cancellation, customizable button controls and incredible battery life. But something may throw up a red flag fairly quickly – the low price.

That’s right, although the Baseus Bowie 30 Max have a list price of $149.99 / £109.99, you’ll realistically never have to pay quite so much. They’re already discounted on Amazon and the Baseus website has them available for less than that too. We’ve already spotted them going for as little as $69.99 in the US – that’s really cheap for some headphones with all of the above features. So is it too good to be true?

Frankly, yes it is. In fairness, getting up to 65 hours of listening is excellent, better than even some of the best headphones around, but things go pretty downhill from here. Head tracking, though functional, will worsen overall audio quality – though admittedly not as badly as the ‘fixed’ spatial audio option, which leaves you with almost sub-nautical sound littered with tinniness.

General audio quality isn’t amazing either. Out of the box, bass is thin and treble sounds are pretty grating at higher volumes. And sure, there’s a Bass Boost option in the Baseus app, or even custom EQ options, but these are only able to improve – not cure – the Bowie 30 Max of their sonic shortcomings. This means that the added detail you’d expect to uncover with the inclusion of LDAC never truly comes to fruition and fundamental flaws in sound means these headphones are held back from competing strongly against budget rivals.

It isn’t all doom and gloom. These are some decent looking cans with a relatively attractive rectangle-like design. Mic and call quality is decent too and ANC, though far from silence-inducing, is able to dull external noise competently. You can also customize the function of the headphones’ ANC button, which is a neat inclusion.

However, these are ultimately small wins in the context of disappointing audio quality. Unfortunately, if you’re in the market for some cheap ANC headphones, there are better options available to you. I have some personal recommendations in the ‘Also Consider’ section of this review, but if you’d like, you can consult our guide to the best cheap headphones, where we run you through some incredible alternatives that offer plenty of bang for your buck.

Baseus Bowie 30 Max review: price & release date

• $149.99 / £109.99 (around AU$230) list price, but already discounted
• Launched in the US and UK September 2024
• Australia release date and pricing TBC

To be honest, reader, I’m a little confused on pricing for the Baseus Bowie 30 Max. They have a list price of $149.99 / £109.99 (around AU$230) on Amazon US/UK, but just head over to the Baseus website and these are only $79.99 (or $69.99 with an in-site coupon). On top of that, despite only releasing in September, these have been hit with discounts and coupons on Amazon. So really, I’d aim to pay around that $70/$80 mark if you really want to grab these.

The Baseus Bowie 30 Max are available now in the US and the UK, although the company isn’t planning to sell them to the Australian market. They’re available in one color option – Black, although this is pretty clean in fairness (more on this later).

Baseus Bowie 30 Max review: Specs

Baseus Bowie 30 Max review: features

• Decent head-tracked spatial audio
• Companion app compatibility
• Adequate ANC

When it comes to features, the Baseus Bowie 30 Max appear to pack in some seriously impressive options for often sub-$100/£100 cans.

I’m mainly talking about head tracking – a great inclusion for some budget headphones, but one that produces mixed results. Audio does dynamically shift with head movement quite well, which is ideal for following sound across a screen when viewing video content.

The catch? You take a hit to audio quality. When listening to Wasurechau Hitotoki by Fishmans, vocals and percussion became very tinny with head tracking active, which frankly, made it unpleasant to listen to. But as I say, this feature is predominantly for video, so I tried watching some Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth gameplay on YouTube. And again, although audio did shift as I turned my head, the actual quality was noticeably worse than when head tracking was turned off, making for a disappointing user experience.

Even worse was the Fixed spatial audio option. But when listening to Rock With You by Michael Jackson I didn’t get expansive, spacious sound at all; instead it sounded as if I’d journeyed around 10ft below sea level. Vocals sounded warped and inauthentic while percussion lacked sharpness, so I switched this off again pretty quickly. The out-of-the box audio didn’t exactly make this song sound amazing either, so I found myself playing around with EQ options a fair bit – but I’ll get onto that in the ‘Sound quality’ section.

OK, maybe spatial audio might not quite hit the spot, but how do the other features fare? Well, ANC wasn’t too bad. At around 60% volume a lot of outside sounds were fairly dulled, although a lot of sounds – whether lower or higher-frequency – still crept through with relative ease. For instance, even at around 75% volume, I could make out the sound of my colleague typing next to me. So don’t expect the near-silent listening experience you’d get from some more premium cans, like the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, for example.

The story so far is certainly one of disappointment, although Baseus didn’t let me down on battery life. I kept the LDAC ‘hi-res’ codec activated throughout almost all of the testing process and predominantly listened at quite high volumes, but found my playtime to be in-line with the 50 hours ANC claimed. You even get up to 65 hours with ANC off, which is an excellent serving of battery life. So, if you’re someone that often forgets to charge their devices, this shouldn’t matter too much with the Baseus Bowie 30 Max – they can keep going (and going) for quite some time.

Baseus Bowie 30 Max review: sound quality

• Thin bass out of the box
• LDAC audio support
• Highs can get quite tinny

I’ll be upfront – the Baseus Bowie 30 Max didn’t offer the best listening experience out of the box. When listening to I Want You by Moloko, I felt that percussion and higher-pitched vocals were pretty grating at higher volumes and even sounded a bit tinny. I should mention too, that was with LDAC audio turned on – the benefits of which never felt truly realized.

Something that puzzled me was Baseus’ claim that the Bowie 30 Max have “super bass”. I definitely didn’t feel that initially. When listening to Love Foolosophy by Jamiroquai, the groovy bassline was relegated to a small-part background actor and the choppy guitar riff and vocals sounded too forward. Admittedly, the thin low-end was improved significantly when I toggled on Bass Boost in the Baseus app, but of course, the grating highs didn’t stop.

I knew what I had to do… I took to the EQ settings to make amends to the Bowie 30 Max’s sonic shortcomings. Unfortunately, I found the different presets – including Baseus Classic, Clear Vocals, Hi-Fi Live, Pop and Rock Classic – lacked enough definition. There were noticeable differences between them, sure, but it was pretty minimal for the most part. Instead, I found the best solution was to create my own custom tuning, with a bit more low-end weight. A lot of users may be OK with tailoring their own sound, but if you’re someone that wants straightforward, hassle free listening that could be a bit of a turn off.

So, after customizing my own sound were my woes overcome? Well, not entirely. Despite having a bit more bite, bass and electric guitars in Walk Up by Geordie Greep sounded fairly muddy and instrumental separation was lacking. Vocals in White Mustang by Lana Del Ray also sounded boxy and constricted, resulting in an unnatural-sounding delivery. I would say, though, that lower-frequency sounds were no longer hidden away to a frustrating degree and the overall listening experience became at least adequate. So if you do decide to snap these up on a discount sale, it’s 100% worth shifting away from the top-heavy Baseus Classic EQ calibration.

One aspect sound-wise that was somewhat redeeming was mic quality. When recording the opening of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, my voice was pretty clear-cut, with only a bit of ambience in the background. Call quality, meanwhile, was a bit more middling in terms of quality, but still totally passable. I was still, however, underwhelmed with the audio on offer from the Baseus Bowie 30 Max – especially given the manufacturer’s claim that they offer “superior audio quality”. I’m sorry to say that this is not the case.

• Sound quality score: 2.5/5

Baseus Bowie 30 Max review: design

• Tidy design for the price
• Although the headband is a little plasticky
• Customizable button controls

I’ve been quite critical of the Baseus Bowie 30 Max so far, but one area I think they succeed more in is design. When at a discounted price, these headphones look great for the price you pay. They have a more rectangular, classic look than a lot of cheap options and small ring lights on each can add a nice splash of style too.

The headband isn’t the most padded thing in the world, but I was able to happily listen for multiple hours on end. Looks-wise it is a tad plasticky – and the glossy finish means you can see fingerprints fairly easily, but it’s not particularly ugly or anything.

Speaking of a plasticky look, the button controls suffer from a similar issue, feeling a little cheap. They are, however, nicely laid out and, despite volume down, up, and play/pause being quite close together, they’re easy to use. There’s also an ANC button that can handily be customized using the Baseus app to switch between noise cancelling modes, EQ settings, or spatial audio options.

The Bowie 30 Max are also decently portable. They’re not as compact as a model like the Anker Soundcore Space One Pro or anything, but they can be folded up for carrying in a backpack or tote bag. These are fairly lightweight headphones too weighing in at 11.3 oz / 320g and have decently soft earpads, so they’ll not be too uncomfortable for longer listening sessions, even if the headband isn’t top quality. My main complaint here though is that these cans don’t come with a carry case or similar for keeping them safe during longer journeys.

Finally, don’t expect anything super-fancy or hi-tech from these design-wise. There’s no waterproofing or touch controls – although this isn’t too bad if you’re getting them on discount for around $70/£70. What you do get though is an AUX port for wired listening and USB-C charging, the latter of which can give you as much as 14 hours of playtime from a 10-minute recharge – not bad.

Baseus Bowie 30 Max review: value

• Even when discounted, rivals perform better
• Head tracking nice at this cost, but mixed quality
• Ultimately, sound quality not good enough against competitors

If we’re going by their $149.99 / £109.99 list price, I’d argue that the Baseus Bowie 30 Max are totally outclassed by a wide array of competitors, competing against competitors in the same ballpark, like the Sony WH-CH720N, for instance (more on those later).

However, from early discounts, I suspect these will be available for far less for a lot of the time. Early sales and coupon offers on Amazon US/UK even put these as low as $69.99 / £68.79, so don’t look to pay much more than that. And sure, at this price, getting features like spatial audio is undoubtedly impressive. But, what matters above all is good sound quality and I would argue that’s adequate at best with these headphones. Some of the best cheap headphones – like the Earfun Wave Pro – will likely prove to be a much better value pick.

Should I buy the Baseus Bowie 30 Max?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Baseus Bowie 30 Max review: also consider

Baseus Bowie 30 Max review: How I tested

• Tested across the course of a week
• Used in the office, while on walks and on public transport
• Predominantly tested using Tidal on the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE

I spent a week testing the Baseus Bowie 30 Max headphones in a number of settings, including: my apartment; a train; bus; and while on walks. This let me get a real taste for ANC quality, regardless of environment.

When listening to music, I played the entirety of the TechRadar testing playlist and listened to hours and hours of tunes from my own personal library. I predominantly tested using Tidal to make use of LDAC, but I also tested the headphones using Spotify, YouTube and Messenger (for calling). I mainly connected the headphones up to the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE when conducting tests.

Where appropriate, I compared these headphones to the Sony WH-CH720N, judging them side-by-side with the Baseus Bowie 30 Max to gauge audio quality, features and design choices.

First reviewed: October 2024

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