Wanna share my recent review of the baseus Encok W04 Pro wireless earphones and whether is it the Best Alternative for Apple Airpods
In the past few months, I have tested quite a few wireless earbuds from Baseus, namely, WM01, W03 and I will be re-doing a review on the WM01 plus *SPOILER ALERT* haha! And now it is the W04 Pro. Other than that, I also have other products from Baseus, such as charging cable, cable organisers, USB port adapters.
And I must say that I have been pretty impressed with the build quality and reliability of their products.
Now, the W04 Pro retails for S$25 or S$35 on Lazada Singapore, depending whether you want the Pro or Non-Pro.
Pro comes with USB-C & wireless charging, while the Non-Pro comes with just USB-C port
So I have been testing the W04 Pro for technically speaking one day, if we don’t include the need to charge them the night before. But before you go out and hit that “BUY” button, I specially highlighted the Top 3 things you should consider first.
For microphone tests, feel free to check out my video and go to the later half.
Basic features
- Dimensions: (L) 45mm x (W) 23mm x (H) 56mm
- Weight: Charging case: 32g. Earbuds: 6g
- Touch controls on earphone head.
- Earhone: Up to 5 hours. Charging case: Up to 15 hours.
- USB-C port, Wireless Charging (Pro only)
- Bluetooth 5.0
- 13mm Dynamic driver
- IP54 water & dust proof rating.
#1: Battery Life
- Let’s talk about the 1st major thing to consider about the W04 Pro and that is BATTERY LIFE
- The battery sizes of both casing and the earbuds are 400mAh and 37mAh respectively.
- The company claimed that the earbuds can last Up to 5 hours on a single charge
- The casing can provide an additional 15 hours, giving the user a total of 20 hours.
- On my testing, the earphones lasted around 5.5 hours on music at 100% volume.
- Talktime on the W04 Pro was around 5 hours as well
- For mixed usage, it lasted 4 hours (3-hour Music 100% and 1 hours Talktime)
- The case was able to provide 3.5 charges to both earphones.
- The case takes around 1 hr to charge the earbuds 0-100
- It takes around 1.5 hrs via cable and 3 hrs via wireless charging.
- Overall, the battery life performance is quite on-par with what the company advertised.
#2 Functionality
- Now, let’s move on to the 2nd major thing to consider. It’s day-to-day Functionality.
- Initial BT pairing experience with my Apple iPhone 12 Mini was an absolute delight.
- Once you open the lid, you will see “Baseus Encok W04 Pro” pop up on the BT profile screen.
- Tap on it and it only takes 2 seconds to complete pairing.
- Once you put the earphones on, it is easy to forget you have them on as they feel almost weightless, similar to Apple Airpods.
- W04 Pro doesn’t trap heat. so I do not feel any ear fatigue even if I wear them for 4 to 5 hours straight.
- Just like the Apple Airpods, W04 Pro doesn’t go into your ear canals, which is excellent for people who don’t like things going into their ears.
- The bluetooth connection is very stable. I did not experience any intermittent disconnection.
- In terms of controls, W04 Pro comes pre-installed with a few touch commands, namely:
- For music
- 2x R Play/pause
- 3x L previous track
- 3 x R next track
- For calls
- 2x L/R Answer or hang up the call
- Long press L/R reject call
- Others
- 2x L Activate Voice Assistant (Google/Siri)
- The touch controls are very responsive. Since the touch controls are located on the earphone heads, so you don’t need to worry about accidentally skipping a track or ending a call if you grab the stem to make some adjustments.
- Too bad Baseus did not include any single tap for vol control.
- For those of you who want more control, the Baseus app do not support W04 Pro.
- When it comes to gyming, working out, jogging, the IP54 water & dust proof rating is really handy. As this means that you don’t need to worry about some water and dust damaging your earphones if they drop out.
- But seriously, Will they drop out? Well, they didn’t move at all when I was jogging. But, I won’t really recommend them for workouts or exercises which have wide and sudden movements
- If you still want, I will strongly recommend you to get earhooks or earwings.
#3 Sound quality
- Now, Moving on to the 3rd major thing to consider is Sound quality.
- The W04 Pro uses 13mm drivers. It supports SBC and AAC.
- During my listening, the lack of proper seal and fit, means I can hear the music and all the outside noises like it’s nobody’s business. And this has a direct impact on the sound enjoyment level. It is fine at home or in quiet places such as library or an empty cafe. But its difficult, if you are in a bus or train or noisy environment.
- Good thing is that the volume output is loud thanks to the big 13mm drivers.
- The company claimed it was supplemented by a high-elastic PU composite diaphragm which can restore delicate vocal, instrumental music and a solid surging drumbeat.
- Sounds fancy right? But is that the case in the Real World?
- Vocals are clear
- But no surging drumbeats and definitely little to no bass.
- Overall, music quality is only so-so.
- When it comes to watching videos through Youtube and Netflix. there is almost no sound delay.
- For gaming, there is some slight Sound effect delay. But i feel it is still ok for casual gaming.
Mic quality
- For microphone tests, feel free to check out my video and go to the later half to hear the Mic quality of these earphones. Remember to put on your headphones.
Final Verdict
- Are they worth it? Should you buy the Baseus W04 Pro or get something else? Well, putting aside the only major drawback is that it lacks the sound quality of the Airpods, I personally feel the W04 Pro is a far cheaper alternative to the AirPods for casual listening or watching videos privately, and people who don’t want things sticking into their ears.
- The microphone quality is also loud and clear enough for calls and video conferencing.
- If you don’t need the wireless charging feature, you can save a further S$10
