Back Bay Duet 50 Pro earbuds let you skip the pricey brands

Paul McCartney hits a familiar bass line on his ‘64 Rickenbacker, Ringo taps the high hats and after a few seconds of what they called gobbledygook, John Lennon sings a familiar line:

Come together, right now

Over me

I heard this all clearly using the Back Bay Duet 50 Pro wireless earbuds. For me, they meant I can skip the pricey earbuds from more well-known brands.

I recently wrote a glowing review of the Amazon Echo Buds, talking up their Active Noise Reduction (ANR), fancy touch controls and voice activation. 

I stand by every word I said, but (and it’s a big but) if you’re just looking for a great set of wireless earbuds and are not interested in all the extra bells and whistles, look no further than the Back Bay Duet 50 Pro wireless earbuds.

Released on July 1, 2020, the Back Bay Duet 50 Pro focused on improving their already popular Duet 50 model. A major divergence from their original model is battery life. The Duet 50 offered 40 hours with the case, while the Pro’s have a stunning 130 hours. 

My favorite feature by far is that the headphone case serves as a 2600mAh power bank. This means my headphone case can charge my iPhone. For a quick comparison, the $235 AirPods Pro offers a meager 24-hours of battery life with the charging case and no power bank, leaving my iPhone for dead. (Duet 50 Pro’s only cost $55, by the way.)

The audio quality on these earbuds is phenomenal whether you prefer the Beatles, Skillet, Lecrae, or the Blue Van. Their Boston-tuned  “American Hi-Fi Sound” offers great sounding bass, a mellow midrange tone, and clear highs.   

It has taken me a while to get used to the controls, although frankly, I’ve never enjoyed using controls on any wireless earbuds.

Having tried both touch controls and physical controls, nothing has impressed me yet. The touch controls on the Echo Buds were responsive and easy to use, but I triggered them every single time I adjusted them.

Or scratched my ear.

Or moved my hand in any upward motion. 

By contrast, the physical controls on the Duet 50 Pro’s won’t leave you skipping tracks accidentally, but I find pressing a button that then pushes the entire bud deeper into my ear canal can be uncomfortable. Additionally, pressing the button multiple times (i.e. volume up/down) is very clumsy, and I dread mistiming the double-press to reject a phone call and accidentally answering it.

Ultimately I think the problems with the controls are the result of poor design options in general, rather than any mistake Back Bay has made, so I will reserve my wrath for someone more deserving.

In the end, these buds are infinitely less expensive than their more well-known counterparts. They offer features others haven’t even thought of and provide hours of incredible, all-American sound long after their competitors have been put back in their boxes to charge. Ultimately, Back Bay has set the standard for high-quality wireless earbuds at a price accessible to most consumers.