REVIEW – When the email came through to review the Baseus Inspire Series headphones I didn’t hesitate to jump at the chance. I have been looking for a pair of over-ear headphones that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg for a while now. And without getting too much into the review too early, the XH1 are the perfect blend of build quality, features, and price.
⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $149
Where to buy: Baseus and Amazon
What is it?
The Baseus Inspire Series is a selection of 3 different models of headphones from Baseus. The XH1 headphones are a pair of over-ear cans. The XP1 is a pair of standard wireless in-ear buds. Lastly, the XC1 is their open-ear earbuds, meaning they do not go into the ear canal at all so as to allow you complete unimpeded awareness of your surroundings while still listening. Today we are looking at the XH1 model.
What’s included?
- Inspire XH1 Headphones
- Aux Cable
- USB-C Cable
- Carrying Case
- Paperwork and user manual
Tech specs
- High-Fidelity Incredible Sound
- Premium Adaptive ANC
- CloudComfort Wearing Design
- Personalized Sound Profile
- 100-Hour Battery Life
- Lag-Free Bluetooth 6.1
Design and features
I have tried over ear cans-as they are sometimes called in the audiophile space-for a long time. So the XH1 jumped out at me from the start.
I want to first start out by addressing the branding here. It’s not massively in your face but the phrase “Sound by Bose” show up three times on the packaging for these headphones. This could be a little misleading if you don’t know what exactly that means. What I think it does mean is that they have tuned these using the Bose audio profile. Or something like that. They are not all that clear on the website about it all. As an anecdotal note I will point out that my wife saw the box and instantly mentioned the Bose headphones. Take that for what its worth.
As far as fit and finish goes, well, they look and feel great! There is ample padding on the top head piece, and the cushion on the ear cups is extremely comfortable. I was able to wear these for hours without too much fatigue. That also speaks to the weight, or lack there of. You expect large over ear headphones of this nature to be heavy. I can tell you, you don’t have to worry about that. They are a lot lighter then they look. All while retaining a high end finish and feel. I did finally have to take a break after about 2 hours, but that is mostly because I wear eyeglasses and it did start to push into my temples after a bit.
Also about about 4 hours my ears and the sides of my head did start to get a bit sweaty, but that’s to be expected. I think thats more of a “me-issue” as opposed to a Baseus-issue”.
I also have to point out that I have a rather small head. To the point where in the past I have had to return over-ear headphones because the smallest adjustment was still too large for me. But these ones fit perfect on the smallest setting. If in the event you do happen to need to make adjustments the slide of the mechanism is extremely smooth and holds in place really well.
Lastly before we get into actually using them, I have to say I love that it comes with a hard shell case. Its ridged enough to provide great protection if you are taking them with you on the go. And also comes with a nice little velcro pocket to keep cables and miscellaneous item in the inside of the case as well. Very nice touch.
Pairing them with my iPhone was extremely easy. You just hold the power button for 2 seconds while in the bluetooth settings of your phone, and once they show up you hit pair and your off.
Now of course there is an app. Everything has an app. However, what I love about this app is that you can completely ignore it if you like, and the headphones will work just as intended. But if you want to mess around with the sound and settings you have the app to do so. And it gets even better because you don’t even have to create an account. You can select “use as guest” and still have access to everything. I love that!
The buttons are nice and clicky. you have a volume rocker and play/pause button on the right cup, and a power and ANC button on the left cup. The volume adjustment is not as gradual as I would like. Each click up increases it by a significant amount., but you can just go to the device you have them connected to and make adjustments there as well.
On the front of each cup you also have what looks to be the mics. I don’t have a lot to say on that. They are fine. as good as bluetooth calls can sound I guess. I will say, I always use wired earbuds when talking to candidates for work. These are fine, but nothing is going to beat a wired mic.
Im not much of an audiophile so I cant really speak to the highs, mids, lows, and the soundstage. But I can tell you that I like all kinds of music from hip-hop to folk to pop to jazz. Basically anything but country. And It all sounds great! I mean absolutely amazing on these XH1s.
The base is outstanding. I can’t say I have tons of other options to compare them against here at the house, but the base on these is way better than anything else I do have. I would say a noticeable bit better than my AirPods Pro 2. I can literally feel the difference.
The transparency is fine. Environmental noise just sounds like its leaking through, but with a bit of amplification. I works if you need to hear things around you and want to keep the headphones on.
The ANC is ok when you are listening to music. It does a decent job of blocking out external noise. However, when the ANC is just on with no audio playing I can still hear everything. Not in crystal clear detail, but I can still hear it all. I know a lot of people will use ANC on flights just to block out the cabin noise. These just don’t seem like they are going to do it for you. I’m sure they will significantly reduce said noise, but you are still going to hear most of it. If I’m comparing, the AirPods Pro 2 are a little better.
As a test run, while my kids were bickering back and forth one morning I put these on, urned ANC on, and off, and on, and off. I could tell the difference for sure, but it was not as drastic a change as I was expecting.
In regards to the two ports on these, there is a USB-C port for charging, as well as a 3.5mm port for a wired connection. Both on the left ear cup.
On that aux cable it comes with… If I’m being nice its lack luster at best. Its an extremely cheap thin plastic-y cable. Not that I think you need a gold plated 1/4 inch thick aux cable, but I was hoping for something a little nicer then what feels like a $0.05 cable from TEMU. The USB (C to C!!!), while comically short, is more substantial with a rubber soft touch finish, and much thicker than the aux cable as well.
If you do want to use the XH1s wired you can, but you can’t use them wired and powered on at the same time. Which means you don’t get any of the sound profiles. In fact they just sound like a pair of gas station headphones if you use them that way. To be fair, that is not how they are meant to be used. But note that if you use a aux cable and power them on, you hear nothing.
The positive here is that if the battery is dead you can still use an aux cable until you get a chance to charge them back up.
And that battery…! It just lasts forever. I didn’t exclusive use these for the month because I was also testing the other two models, and I was also comparing them to Apple AirPods Pro 2 as well. But I used the ANC a good amount and did not have to charge them once.
Final thoughts
TLDR: These XH1 headphones are great for the price. I was in no way expecting them to preform as well as they did. I guess that is what happens when you go in with low expectations, but they greatly exceeded my expectations. There are some slight shortcomings, of course, but the build quality and performance you are getting for the money is well worth it. I would highly recommend these if you are looking for more of a budget cans experience.
What I like about the Inspire XH1
- Great design
- Base
- Lightweight
- Comfort
- Included hardshell case
- Long battery
- An app thats there if you want it but not required
What needs to be improved?
- better aux cable
- ANC
Price: $149
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.
Baseus Inspire XH1 Adaptive Active Noise Cancelling Headphones, Sound by Bose, Dolby Audio, Premium Real-Time Adaptive ANC, Adaptive Rich Sound, Hi-Res Audio, 100H Playtime - Starlight Off-White
$149.99 (as of November 19, 2025 08:05 GMT -05:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
