Baseus Inspire XC1 Review: A Big Leap in Clip-On Sound

THE SCORECARD

How the Baseus Inspire XC1 scored

• Comfort

  9/10

  The light feel, smaller silicone driver section and subtle rubber finish make it very comfortable.

• Security of the fit

  9/10

  The buds lock in place well for casual use, weight training and running.

• IP rating

  10/10

  The XC1 has an IP66 dust and water resistant rating.

• Case and battery life

  9/10

  I got 8 hours in the buds and 40 hours in total with the case, plus 2.5 hours of playback from a 10-minute charge.

• Controls

  10/10

  The physical buttons are easy to press, customizable beyond play/pause, and wearing detection worked very well.

• Connectivity

  9/10

  Bluetooth 6.1, SBC, AAC, LDAC, multipoint and a low-latency mode are included, with some LDAC limitations.

• Call quality

  8/10

  Call quality is solid and broadly similar across the Baseus clip-on earbuds.

• App customization and extra features

  9/10

  The app has useful EQ, control settings, battery options, dual-device settings and a find-my-buds feature.

• Sound below 60% volume

  9.5/10

  The XC1 has unusually full, rich bass for an open earbud, alongside clear mids and smooth treble.

• Sound above 60% volume

  9/10

  It sounds especially good from around 60% to 80% volume, though bass-heavy tracks can trigger slight volume fluctuation at very high levels.

The Pros and Cons

How comfortable and secure is the Baseus Inspire XC1?

Baseus has kept the basic MC1 and MC1 Pro clip-on design, but the XC1 feels a little more premium. The part that rests behind the ear has a subtle rubber finish rather than the hard plastic used on the MC1, and the silicone on the driver is slightly smaller. On the ear, though, the feel is much the same: light and very comfortable.

Out of the box, the wire is on the looser side, although I could make it slightly tighter. Combined with the silicone finish at the back of the bud, it does a good job of stopping the earbuds from sliding around. They stayed locked in place for casual use, weight training and running. Side sleeping remains a weak point because the wire sticks out from the ear.

What are the battery, controls and connectivity like?

Battery life is solid at 8 hours in the earbuds and 40 hours total with the case. That is a little lower than the MC1 and MC1 Pro, but still plenty for all-day use. A 10-minute charge gives 2.5 hours of playback. The case is a little thick but remains quite pocketable, and it has a higher-quality feel thanks to its matte lower half. Wireless charging is not included.

Controls are excellent. There is a physical button on the top of the rear section of each bud, with single, double, triple and long-press actions. Play/pause is fixed to a single press, while the other actions can be set to volume, track controls or voice assistant. There is no mute-mic control, and volume cannot be changed from the earbuds during a call.

You get Bluetooth 6.1, SBC, AAC and LDAC. Multipoint lets two devices stay connected, although playback must be paused on one before it switches to the other. The frustrating bit is that LDAC cannot be used with multipoint, low-latency mode or EQ customization. I also found the low-latency mode was not great for shooters and other quick-reaction games.

Does the Baseus app add useful features?

The Baseus app has come a long way. It is cleaner and smoother than it used to be, and the XC1 gets seven EQ presets plus an eight-band EQ that actually works. Dolby Audio is spatial audio without head tracking, but in my testing it made the earbuds sound worse.

There is also a low-latency toggle, an enhanced-battery mode that cuts most of the bass to save battery, an LDAC toggle, gesture settings, dual-device settings and a find-my-buds feature. If you are logged in, the latter uses location; otherwise, it plays a sound from the earbuds.

How loud is the XC1 and how much sound does it leak?

I measured the XC1 at 105.4 dB at maximum volume. It is a little quieter than the MC1 and MC1 Pro, but I still found it loud enough in a noisy environment, including for lower-volume podcasts or YouTube videos.

Its sound leakage rank is 2, which is similar to the other Baseus clip-on earbuds. Clip-ons leak more than in-ear earbuds, so people nearby in a quiet space will hear some sound once you get around 60% volume.

Sound quality below 60% volume: the bass is the standout

I scored the XC1 9.5 out of 10 below 60% volume and had to reshuffle my scoring to fit it in. The bass is the first thing I noticed. Open earbuds cannot produce much deep subwoofer-like bass, but from around 40 Hz and above, the XC1 sounds full. Kick drums, bass guitar and the low end of distorted guitars are richer and fuller than on the other earbuds in my ranking.

The stock Bose EQ sounded a little muddy to me and lacked high-frequency detail. With a subtle bass, mid, upper-mid and treble boost, vocals came through clearer, and keys, guitars, distorted guitars and percussion gained better separation and detail. I found positioning the earbuds a little lower on the ear and angled toward the ear canal helped too.

Treble is smooth and slightly crisp, but it is more laid-back than I would personally like. There is not much upper-treble detail or airiness, although it avoids sibilance. The Shokz OpenDots One is still slightly clearer, with crisper treble and slightly deeper bass, but the XC1 is the winner if bass is the priority at lower volumes.

Sound above 60% volume and key rivals

Above 60% volume, I scored the XC1 9 out of 10. Mids and treble stand out a little more, while the bass becomes punchier. The sweet spot for me was roughly 60% to 80%, where the sound is loud and immersive. Past 80%, the bass does not increase in line with volume, and I heard slight volume fluctuation on bass-heavy tracks with a lot going on, such as metal. This sounds like DSP stepping in to prevent distortion.

The Shokz OpenDots One remains the best-sounding clip-on earbud I have heard. It has slightly clearer sound, crisper treble and bass that reaches a little deeper. Yet the XC1 gets very close, can sound fuller at times, and costs close to half as much. The Soundcore AeroClip has similarly strong overall quality and a little more high-frequency detail, but the XC1 hits deeper in the bass.

Compared with the Baseus MC1 Pro, the XC1 costs roughly double, but the upgrades are meaningful: much better sound quality, especially bass, usable EQ customization and wearing detection. If those extras do not matter to you, the MC1 Pro remains a great-value option, while the MC1 is also close overall and much cheaper.