Bauhn Premium Wireless Earbuds

This post contains affiliate links.

Wireless earbuds, which use a Bluetooth connection rather than a conventional 3.5mm plug, have become the thing over the last several years. Apple, more than any other company, launched this phenomenon: Apple AirPods first launched in 2016 and within two years were the company’s most popular accessory. For kids and adults alike, AirPods are both an envied accessory and a bit of a status symbol.

As with many products, success breeds imitation. Today you can find no shortage of wireless earbuds and headphones on the market, most of them far cheaper than AirPods.

Is it a surprise that Aldi, the German grocery store, would try to cash in on this trend? If you don’t know much about Aldi, you would probably be very surprised. But if you’ve watched the grocer’s imitation game closely, you’re practically expecting it.

In fact, the store already has offered imitations of AirPods. In 2022, Aldi stealth released its own AirPod knockoffs under a third party brand, Tzumi. In 2023, Aldi returned with another set of earbuds under a house brand, Bauhn.

Bauhn Premium Wireless Earbuds (Product Code 705947) are an Aldi Find. They’re only in stores for a short time, and once they’re sold out, you won’t be able to get them in stores again until they come back, whenever that might be. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products that aren’t currently at your local store.

At the time of this post, the earbuds are $14.99. That’s a tiny fraction of the cost you’ll pay for AirPods, and less than any other Bluetooth earbuds I can find online. These are even $5 cheaper than the Tzumi earbuds sold in 2022.

They came in both black and white. I picked up a white pair.

Unboxing:

The box’s contents include:

• earbuds
• three sizes of silicone tips (one set pre-installed)
• a charging / storage case
• a charging cable (USB-C)
• a manual
• a warranty card

Contents of the box.

A couple of notes about the contents. One, it does not come with a charging plug, just a USB cable. Chances are you probably have either a socket charger from a phone or some other way to plug and charge your devices.

Two, the buds come with a 3-year warranty. This is a big upgrade over the 2022 Tzumi buds, which had no warranty at all. The warranty provider is Customer Care USA (Tempo) a common Aldi warranty company that we’ve had good experiences with.

Features:

(Click to enlarge.)

There are some key features to mention about this pair. For one, they utilize Bluetooth 5.3, which has significant distance, speed, and energy advantages over previous Bluetooth versions. For another, they have an IPX4 water resistance rating, which means they can survive splashes of water, a helpful quality for outside use. They claim a range of up to 33 feet, use time of up to 7 hours, and standby time of up to 40 hours. They also have a microphone, which allow for hands-free talking through connected devices.

When you first pull the buds out of the case, one of them will start flashing. That means the set is in pair mode, and you’ll want to use your device to search for them and connect to them. The manual says they will remain in the pair mode for up to 5 minutes, after which they’ll turn off if not successfully paired.

The buds operate with simple touch buttons identifiable with a silver circle. They don’t click audibly the way traditional buttons do, but you’ll know they’re working if you have them in your ear because they’ll broadcast a clicking sound through the earbuds themselves.

Here is a rundown of the button functions:

• Touch either earbud once: play / pause music, answer / hang up phone
• Hold touch button for one second: summon Siri / Google Assistant
• Touch either button twice: reject a phone call
• Touch left button twice: previous song
• Touch right button twice: next song
• Touch left button three times: volume down
• Touch right button three times: volume up

The case also deserves special mention. Like many wireless cases today, these function as both a charging port as well as a case. Also like many cases today, the case has its own battery pack, so it will recharge the earbuds even if they’re not plugged in via USB to a power supply, so long as there is still power in the case. The case has indicator lights on the side that will flash when charging and remain on when charging is completed.

Testing the Earbuds:

I put them through a number of paces, including pairing them to a Windows laptop and Android phone. I also tested both the music and phone call features.

I should say that, first and foremost, the sound quality is pretty good. In my experience (and in the experience of most other people) wired headphones produce superior sound to Bluetooth, but as far as Bluetooth earbuds go these aren’t bad. They are comparable to, and maybe slightly better than, the Tzumi earbuds Aldi sold in 2022. The sound quality is better than I might expect from grocery store buds, with decent sounds in the mid and upper ranges and a modest amount of bass. The connection was also, on balance, stable.

The microphone is also fine. We tested a phone call and my other tester could hear me well enough through the bud mic, even when I was 10-20 feet from my phone.

I also like how these fit in my ears. They feel secure, thanks to both the silicone tips and the general design of the buds. While I didn’t run with them, I did walk with them, and at no point did they fall out.

I have mixed opinions about the touch controls. Single touch is fine. Pausing and playing and answering the phone is easy. So is summoning Google Assistant. Things get more treacherous when using the two- and three-tap controls, which are harder to nail down. Sometimes I’d try to lower the volume and get a pause instead, for instance. And I’d be nervous about trying to reject a call with a two-tap and accidentally answering the phone. It’s finicky enough that I’d probably opt to reach for the phone itself rather than mess with the buttons in most instances.

The Verdict:

How good is a $15 pair of Aldi branded wireless earbuds? Not too shabby, actually. They are relatively easy to use, boast a good fit and solid Bluetooth connection, and have a decent sound output. They’re not perfect — the multi-touch button functions leave something to be desired and the bass isn’t exactly world-shattering — but all in all you could do a whole lot worse for this price point. I don’t know yet about durability, but the 3-year warranty is a nice extra.