True wireless headphones are now commonplace, and while there are plenty of offerings, the best options are still a bit pricey. Back Bay, however, thinks it has the solution to that problem, with the new Bay Audio Duet 50 true wireless headphones. At under $50, the headphones could be an absolute steal. But are they truly worth considering? We put the Back Bay Duet 50 true wireless headphones to the test to find out.
Contents
Review of Back Bay Audio Duet 50 Wireless Earbuds
1. Design
The first thing you’ll notice about the Bay Audio Duet 50 true wireless headphones is their design, and they’re noticeably small. That’s generally a good thing for true wireless headphones — and it may well play into comfort later on.
The buds themselves are relatively simple. They feature a black design, along with the Back Bay logo on the face of either bud. They also each have a button — which makes it relatively easy to control the headphones. Unfortunately, pressing that button means pushing the earbuds into your ears, which can be a little uncomfortable.
The case is also pretty small, coming in at around three inches wide. The case is also all black and has the Back Bay logo along the top of the device. On the back of the case, there’s a MicroUSB port for charging. We would have liked to see a USB-C port here. It’s 2019, and even for cheaper devices, USB-C should be the standard, not the aging MicroUSB.
In the box, apart from the headphones and the charging case, you’ll get a MicroUSB charging cable, along with a total of four extra pairs of ear tips, bringing the total pairs to five.
2. Sound Performance
Inexpensive headphones often do away with solid sound quality — but thankfully these headphones don’t sound bad at all. Sure, they don’t sound incredible, but for a pair of headphones in this price range, they actually have a lot going for them.
Let’s start with the bass, which is relatively deep and powerful. Kick drums are able to punch through a mix pretty easily, and bass guitars sound smooth and deep. They’re not Beats headphones, by any means, but they still offer a good bass response, which we were glad to hear.
The mid-range is pretty well-tuned too. There’s a solid low-mid response, coupled with enough high mids to push through a vocal or guitar track.
The area that suffers the most is the high-end response. The high-end extension is a little lacking, and the highs that are there seem a little muted. Still, not bad at all for headphones in this price range, but something to note.
The headphones had a fine soundstage, but we did hear some distortion, even at moderate levels. It wasn’t over the top, and most probably won’t notice it.
3. Battery & Connection
The earbuds are small; however, they nonetheless supply an unbelievable battery life. It seems that the dimensions don’t have many adverse penalties for the battery. These earbuds can be utilized for at least eight hours at a time, whereas the case affords a complete minimum of 40 hours of use. That is way more than the overwhelming majority of true wireless headphones. The headset connects to your listening machine by way of Bluetooth 5.0, and also, you get listening to vary of about 10 meters or 33 ft. We found that the earbuds had been reasonably good at sustaining a robust connection without skipping or leaping.
Once the first pair is complete, all you have to do to connect the buds from that point forward is take them out of the case and put them in your ears. They’ll automatically connect so you can start listening to your music, and throughout over a week’s worth of testing — even in a crowded gym — I never had any issues with the Duet 50 connecting to my phone. I noticed some audio cut-out when moving too far away from my phone in an area with a lot of other wireless signals (Planet Fitness is packed on Tuesday nights), but in my 1200+ sq ft apartment, I can move around freely without a hitch.
We would be quite happy with the earbuds even if they cost around $100, so the $45 retail price makes them that much more appealing. For anyone on a budget that wants to treat themselves to something that looks and feels like they spent more than they did, the Duet 50 fit the bill perfectly.