Baseus Bowie M2s Ultra: budget buds review
The Baseus M2s Ultra promise a lot for little money: powerful noise cancelling, a comfortable design and a reliable battery life – all for less than 100 francs. I tested whether they were everything they’re made out to be.
I open the box and immediately notice the compact charging case with display. A mixture of high-gloss and matt surface – visually appealing, but somehow also suspiciously similar to JBL’s Live Beam 3. The finish? Solid. No sharp edges, pleasant feel. The case is nice to hold and the magnets gently pull the earbuds into place. There’s a discreet detail at the bottom: a physical button you can press to reset the buds or put them into pairing mode.
The usual accessories await you inside: a short USB-C cable, various silicone attachments, a user manual in what feels like a thousand languages – and a few stickers, because... well, I’m not sure actually?
When you put the earbuds in, you quickly notice how well they sit. Even if you shake your head, they’re not going anywhere. This is a major plus, especially in everyday life or during light sports sessions. Ok, it still depends on the shape of your ears. But I’ve found that I have very narrow, deep ear canals. If they sit well in mine, they’ll sit in yours.
Where Baseus cuts costs
The design is reminiscent of JBL, but with an even better feel. The stems are short, the sensors for in-ear detection are discreetly integrated – but not always reliable. Sometimes the music stops when you take a bud out, sometimes it keeps playing.
Source: Florian Bodoky
Bluetooth 5.3 ensures a stable connection – providing you’re no more than ten metres away from your device. The multipoint function is cool, but also a bit annoying. Sometimes, you’ll suddenly hear a beep because the second paired laptop in your bag has connected with them. Is there a way to control this in the app? Nope.
Speaking of controls: the touch control is solid, but has its limits. Play/Pause isn’t available by default – you have to set this up in the app. The same applies to the skip function. There’s no volume control on the earbuds. The tap gestures are reserved for ANC and music mode changes by default. A strange choice, in my opinion. You also have to activate the in-ear detection, otherwise the music will keep playing even if you don’t have the earphones in.
Source: Florian Bodoky
Still, you can do a lot of «operating work» on the cool display of the charging case – it may seem like an unnecessary gadget, but it’s useful because of the poor touch control. Something I’m really not a fan of is the fact you have to create an account to use the app.
ANC and transparent mode – a little surprise
Here comes the first wow moment: the active noise suppression is impressive for the price. Baseus promises a sound reduction of up to 52 dB, and everyday noises such as fans, street noise and lower frequencies are indeed effectively minimised. On the train, the roar of the rails turns into a gentle murmur, voices in the café are greatly diminished.
That being said, sudden and especially high-frequency noises such as car horns or sirens still get through – which probably isn’t a bad thing. Transparent Mode also has its good and bad points. When you’re not playing music it works fine, but when you do, the amplified sounds remain a bit muffled.
Sound quality – consumer MP3, yes! Audiophile experience? No.
Baseus rely on 10 mm drivers with the in-house BISA technology. The sound result: emphasised bass and treble, while the mids are more subdued. But how does this perform in reality? I listen to a few songs to test it.
Billie Eilish – bad guy
The low frequencies are clearly recognisable, the basses come with a rich punch. However, they lack the ultimate precision and control you’d expect from more expensive models. The sub-bass range isn’t emphasised too much, which means that songs with deep booming bass don’t develop their full impact.
Source: Florian Bodoky
In direct comparison with the JBL Live Beam 3, for example, you notice that the Baseus offer less pressure in the lowest frequencies, without being overpowering. If you’re looking for a very bass-heavy sound, you might miss a boost here – that’s a matter of taste.
John Mayer – Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
The guitar sounds and the warm, full voice of John Mayer should actually take centre stage. But this is where Baseus show their limits: while the vocals still sound nice, the instruments seem a little flat and less nuanced. Women’s voices, on the other hand, benefit. A good example of this is Adele’s Easy On Me.
Her voice is in the foreground and sounds clear, powerful. I notice that the mids could be more present and detailed. The Baseus tends to focus on providing a «pleasant» sound.
Coldplay – Viva La Vida
Here, the highs are clearly audible without becoming shrill or unpleasant. The strings in Viva La Vida come through well, but don’t seem completely clear. If you like listening to classical music or acoustic pieces, you might miss some details here.
Fortunately, the Baseus app offers an equalizer with twelve pre-sets and the option to adjust the «Original» profile. This helps to compensate for the weaknesses, albeit only to a limited extent. So if you want more mids or sharper highs, you can make adjustments here – but you won’t achieve a full audiophile experience.
Source: Florian Bodoky
Overall, the buds deliver a solid sound for pop, hip-hop and mainstream music. As a bass lover, you won’t be disappointed, but you won’t be completely thrilled either. And if you want to hear every detail, you’ll quickly notice the limits of these budget buds.
Battery life – between theory and reality
Officially, the buds are supposed to last seven hours without ANC and 4.5 hours with ANC. The truth? More like four to five hours – the former especially if you use ANC and Multipoint and make the odd call. If you use the charging case, you’ll get a good 25 to 30 hours out of them. At least there’s Quick Charge: ten minutes of charging gives you two more hours of music enjoyment. The manufacturer doesn’t offer wireless charging.
In a nutshell
On the right track but not quite at the finish line
The earbuds provide strong noise cancelling, a comfortable design and a reliable battery life – all for less than 100 francs. This alone makes them an interesting option for price-conscious buyers.
But if you look more closely, you’ll find they have some weaknesses. One major drawback is their accompanying app. It has practical functions like the equaliser and the control adjustments, but the user interface is a dissapointment. For example, if you make any changes, they’re not always applied reliably and connection problems also occur quite frequently.
The touch controls also leave a lot to be desired: the gestures aren’t particularly precise and the customisation options are limited. If you’re used to controlling the volume by touch, you’ll be disappointed.
Another problem is the multipoint function: in theory, it makes sense to have an option to connect the buds to two devices at the same time. In practice, however, there’s a delay when you switch between the devices, and sometimes it disconnects or audio problems spoil the experience. All in all, they’re a decent overall package for their price, but not completely flawless yet. Baseus is on the right track – but not quite at the finish line.
Pro
- Stable ANC
- Practical display
Contra
- Mids are lost
- Connection problems
- Annoying app
Header image: Florian Bodoky
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I've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue.
