
BS1 Experience Version Review: A Value Earbud
The BS1 Experience version is an earbud developed and branded by Penon Audio. Featuring a silver cable, a 15.4mm dynamic driver, and a relatively low price-point, the BS1 has the foundation to become a high-value earbud. But does it pull it off?
You can find the BS1 for sale on Penon Audio here, for $39.
Disclaimer: This unit was provided to me free of charge for review purposes. I am not affiliated with Penon Audio beyond this review. These words reflect my true, unaltered, opinion about the product.
Preference and Bias: Before reading a review, it is worth mentioning that there is no way for a reviewer to objectively pass judgment on the enjoy-ability of a product: such a thing is inherently subjective. Therefore, I find it necessary for you to read and understand what I take a natural liking to and how that might affect my rating of a product.
My ideal sound signature would be an extended sub-bass with a leveled, but textured, mid-bass. The mids should be slightly less pronounced than the treble, but still ahead of the bass. I prefer a more bright upper range.
Source: The BS1 was powered like so:
HTC U11 -> USB-C adapter -> earphones
or
Hidizs AP100 3.5mm out -> earphones
or
HiFiMAN SuperMini -> earphones
or
PC optical out -> HiFiMe SPDIF 9018 Sabre DAC 3.5mm out -> earphones
All music was served as MP3 @320Kbps or as FLAC.
Amping did not increase sound quality in any noticeable way.
Sound Signature
Treble: Songs used: In One Ear, Midnight City, Outlands, Satisfy
Treble is pretty good, as I expected. Earbuds have typically been pretty good at providing competent upper-ends and the BS1 is no exception. There’s a surprising amount of air and energy in the upper register.
There is no sibilance at all, which is nice. I’d rather not have my earbuds stab my ears every time someone ssspeakss.
Extension is decent, but is really capped by the BS1’s form factor. I can’t fault it for a trait every earbud posses.
Mids: Songs used: Flagpole Sitta, Jacked Up, I Am The Highway, Dreams
The mids are full and dynamic. Instrumental separation is above average, and timbre is solid. Guitars have a good crunch, violins are sonorous, and drums are quick.
Vocals are clear and have a nice weight to them. The BS1 feels more partial to female voices than male ones, but either way it still sounds pleasant.
Bass: Songs used: Moth, Gold Dust, In For The Kill (Skream Remix), War Pigs (Celldweller Remix)
Bass is, in relative terms, above average, but in absolute terms, pretty subtle. Again, this is less to do with the tuning choices of the manufacturer and more to do with the inherent limitations with the earbud form-factor. Earbuds don’t create any real seal on the inner ear, making bass hard to transmit.
That being said, for non-electronic genres, the BS1’s bass is definitely adequate, and those who use exclusively earbuds will be pleased with the BS1’s sound signature.
Packaging / Unboxing
The BS1 comes in a plain blue cardboard box. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of it as it was disfigured by customs. Oh well.
Build
Construction Quality

The BS1’s build is fairly competent. The driver housing is built from a glossy-finished black plastic. The cable-to-driver-housing has some stress relief that is fairly par for the course.
The cable itself is a 4-strand silver cable enclosed beneath a single plastic sheathe. Microphonics are minimal, and the cable is pliable and fairly tangle-resistant. It also has a chin-strap built in.
The BS1’s cable terminates with a 3.5mm jack housed in metal and plastic. It has a fair amount of stress relief and is about average for portable-audio in this price range.
Comfort
Comfort is a hard metric to standardize given the unique anatomy of each person’s ears, so take my testimony with a grain of salt.
The BS1 is comfortable, but becomes noticeable within my ears after around two hours. It’s not a bad time by and means, but it is hardly the best I’ve seen.
Accessories


The BS1 comes with about what I’d expect from a $40 earbud. Inside the box you can find:
- 1x soft-case
- 12x sets of foam coverings
- 1x shirt-clip
Summary
The BS1 Experience Version is a good earbud for the price. Reasonable durability, a good cable, and pleasant sound all make for a well-constructed earbud. So if you are in the market for something good-sounding, but not too fancy, the BS1 may be worth looking at.

