REVIEW – In my never ending quest for headphones that are just right, I’ve learned that anything that goes in my ears (such as AirPods) will eventually hurt. As a glasses wearer, I’m stuck with headphones with pads that around the outside of my ear. Lately there have been many “open ear” earbuds that cradle the outer ear, but the lack of bass is the huge trade off. Imagine my surprise when I slipped on the Baseus Eli Sport 1 open ear headphones.
What is it?
The Baseus Eli Sport 1 open ear headphones are true wireless headphones with a listed 7.5 hours of playback time on a single charge. The carrying case extends that time to up to 30 hours. An optional detachable neckband helps keep things tethered.
What’s included?
- Baseus Eli Sport 1 open ear headphones
- Charging case
- USB-C cable
- Neck strap
- Instructions
Tech specs
Click to expand
Open ear design
Titanium memory wire
7.5 hours runtime, 30 hours with charging case
IPX4 water resistance
Design and features
The Baseus Eli Sport 1 is a typical true wireless earbud design that charges in a clamshell case. They’re held in the case by magnets.
The outside of the headphone has a silvery touch sensitive area that can be programmed for volume, track, and other features in the app. On the underside is the speaker and contact points for charging.
The case is charged via USB-C (cable included). The top lid is clear so you can see the LED glowing through the case.
Here’s the case next to Apple AirPods. The Baseus is obviously larger due to the shape of the headphones.
There’s an optional cord that twist-locks into place. These are not required but might be useful if you tend to lose these.
Assembly, Installation, Setup
The app lets you change settings such as what each side (left, right) does when you tap the surface.
There’s also a low-frequency enhancement and low latency modes. Somehow, the headphones could not remember these settings after they “sleep”.
You can select from preset EQ modes. The page is quite colorful.
When paired to my iPhone, I found two listings under Settings > Bluetooth. I don’t know why.
I was able to pair them to my Macbook Pro. You’ll see the battery level on the right.
Performance
I wore these for three hours, which is the length of the longest Zoom meetings I participated in. After three hours, I felt a tiny sensation at the top of my ears, but nothing too painful.
Nothing can compare to the sound of in-ear headphones or a full-size set of over the ear headphones. Lots of acoustical energy- especially bass- is lost with these open air headphones,
But this is where Baseus appears to defy the laws of physics. Through some kind of trickery, the Baseus Eli Sport 1 open ear headphones somehow recover a lot of that low-end. I was so surprised I actually caught myself bopping to the music for a long longer than I would normally do in private or public.
I tried wearing these through a three hour Zoom session from my Macbook Pro and after an hour, even with a full charge, the audio dropped. I was heartbroken. Finally, a set of open air headphones that didn’t hurt like crazy broke a connection during a meeting? I haven’t been able to reproduce this bug since.
What I like about the Baseus Eli Sport 1
- Fully wireless
- USB-C charging
- Open air comfort
- Good bass for open air headphones
What needs to be improved?
- App or headphones don’t remember previous low-frequency / low latency settings
- Mystery dropout happened once (haven’t repeated it)
Final thoughts
Until something better sounding or more comfortable comes along, the Baseus Eli Sport 1 are my go-to open-ear headphones, full stop.
Price: $69.99
Where to buy: Baseus and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Baseus. Baseus did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
