Do Open Ear Type Buds Really Help with Awareness?

TL;DR - Do you feel that open ear buds actually improve your awareness?

I didn't like how I couldn't hear much at all when using my in-ear buds when someone started talking to me. For a few years I've been wearing just one in hopes that this would help. But while it's easier to talk to someone, it's still not that easy and I still don't hear when they start talking to me. So, I bought Baseus MC1 Pro and have been using them for a few days.

I try to keep them on a low volume to make it even easier to notice when someone starts speaking to me. But I still find it difficult to notice when someone is trying to get my attention unless they are in my line of sight. I sort of feel that there are two parts to awareness: actually receiving the sound of something I need to hear and my brain noticing it. I'm not hard of hearing so I figure my brain just isn't processing it. And so I'm not sure open ear actually help that much at all. (Note, I tried wearing just one and that just lowers the experience too much.)

And the little these open ear buds do help comes at a big cost: not great quality sound and not great volume. In fact, for podcasts, I find myself maxing out the volume and still wanting a bit more. I do know that I can lower them on my ear so that the sound is going more directly into my ear but then that defeats the purpose.)

That said, in a quiet environment I really like the sound of music from the MC1 Pro, perhaps because I've always used cheap earbuds in the past.

Thanks for your thoughts on open ear and actual awareness vs. in-ear type.