BASEUS

Give The Affordable Baseus Eli Sport 1 Open Ears A Sporting Chance

Open-ear-style earbuds are all the rage right now. For the life of me, I can’t imagine why as, for my ears, they mostly fail to fit properly and therefore sound awful. To date, the only pair of open ears that I’ve liked, are the Bose Open Ultra. All the other models I’v seen use an ear-hook design that relies on the listener’s ear being in just the right place so that the speakers are positioned just opposite the wearer’s ear canals.

These open-ear earbuds—that’s such a mouthful—are from Baseus. The Eli Sport 1 are open earbuds and principally designed for sporting use. Because open-ears work like mini loudspeakers that you don’t need to push into your ear canal, some people like that idea.

Open-ear designs are also a good way of listening to music while still being aware of what is going on around you because they allow other sounds to reach your ears too. That makes the Sport 1 useful for jogging or exercising in dangerous areas where there may be hazards like cars or other dangers.

The chunky design of the Baseus Elli Sport 1 earbuds provide stability and a longer battery life for more listening time. BASEUS

The Eli Sport 1 have quite a chunky shape and, as I expected, they didn’t want to fit on my ears sp the speakers were aligned with my ear canals. That’s my fault for having large ears and you might find they fit your ears perfectly. It can be quite a hit-and-miss affair.

The Sport 1 are primarily designed for running, cycling or working out at the gym. They have an IPX4 rating which means they are resistant to sweat and light water splashes. The earbuds feature fluorescent plastic stalks that glow slightly in the dark which means they could be handy for jogging in the dark.

The 16mm drivers Baseus has used in the Sport 1 earbuds produce a punchy bass, which is necessary on open-ears. The strength of the bass can sometimes crush and muddy the mid-range frequencies, so I wouldn’t recommend adding any more bass in the EQ function or turning on the bass enhancement setting. Sometimes less is more.

As well as playing music, the Sport 1 can also be used to make phone calls with a smartphone. There are noise-canceling microphones on board but the quality of the sound isn’t the best but that may have something to do with the positioning of the mics on the headset.

The charging case for the Baseus Eli Sport 1 open-earbuds can be charged using the supplied USB-C cable. BASEUS

Baseus has a smartphone app for use with the Sport 1 and it includes an EQ function that has no fewer than 12 presets. You can also tweak the EQ settings to suit your hearing and then save it as a custom preset. The app also lets you peronalize the touch controls on the earbuds and how they work.

The Sport 1 have a larger-than-average battery onboard that Baseus claims can give around 7.5 hours of playtime and almost as much talk time. The storage/charging case takes the total playtime to 30 hours before the case will need recharging. Charging is via a USB Type C port and there is no support for Qi-wireless charging.

As well as playing music, the Sport 1 can also be used to make phone calls with a smartphone. There are noise-canceling microphones on board but the quality of the sound isn’t the best but that may have something to do with the positioning of the mics on the headset.

Baseus has a smartphone app for use with the Sport 1 and it includes an EQ function that has no fewer than 12 presets. You can also tweak the EQ settings to suit your hearing and then save it as a custom preset. The app also lets you peronalize the touch controls on the earbuds and how they work.

With the power stored in the earbuds and the Baseus Eli Sport 1's charging case, you can get up to 30 hours of listening time before the storage case needs recharging. BASEUS

With the power stored in the earbuds and the Baseus Eli Sport 1's charging case, you can get up to 30 hours of listening time before the storage case needs recharging. BASEUS

The Sport 1 have a larger-than-average battery onboard that Baseus claims can give around 7.5 hours of playtime and almost as much talk time. The storage/charging case takes the total playtime to 30 hours before the case will need recharging. Charging is via a USB Type C port and there is no support for Qi-wireless charging.

Mark Sparrow