The good folks at SOUNDPEATS have sent me their new "Clip1" headphones to review. They are easily the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn.
Typically, headphones fall into three broad categories.
- In ear, like the Apple EarPods.
- Over ear, like the Beats.
- Bone Conducting, like the AfterShokz.
But these are not typical headphones. These are part of a new category of "cuff" audio. They clip (gently!) to your ears. It's actually a pretty clever way to stop your earbuds falling out - and means no uncomfortable foam stuffed into your ear canal. And no wax build up! They only weigh 5g, so are almost unnoticeable while wearing them.
Here's the obligatory promo shot:
And this is what it looks like in my ears:
You can adjust where they sit to make them more comfortable or bring the speaker closer to your ear canal. Here's it riding low on my earlobe.
Just like all modern earphones, it comes with a charging case. The case takes USB-C and doubles as battery storage.
Pop the buds in, wait 10 minutes, take them out with 2 hour of playback charge. The button on the back allows you to pair the clips to your Bluetooth device.
What's In The Box
As well as the clips and their case, you get a small instruction leaflet, a short charging-only lead, and some stickers.
Sound Quality
OK, but how do they sound? Look, I'm not an audiophile - I'm not going to bore on about sparkling centre-stage and ambient high-ends. They sound good. They're not remarkably different from any other headphone. They're small, so you're not going to get the brain-pounding bass that you might get from a heavier over-ear set. They don't completely fill your ear-holes, so you'll be able to hear some of the world around you.
On that note, because they're not sealed into your ear that means there's no noise-cancellation. It also means a small bit of sound leakage. Fine if you're out jogging, but probably best not to listen to anything loud while on public transport, eh?
And, yes, they do go loud. At 50% volume they drowned out the sound of my typing. They have enough power to be relatively painful (if that's what you want) and can absolutely be heard by other people.
But the sound quality is fine. Sure, they have LDAC and all sorts of fancy equaliser features. But the reality is you're probably listening to streaming audio while out in a noisy environment. I listened to a variety of stereo demos and they all sounded great.
I tried a couple of pitch-sweep apps and heard from ~40Hz to ~14kHz. That may be my ears though! Either way - more than good enough for music and voice.
Speaking of vocals, the Clip1 has "AeroVoice™" which claims to be a wind noise reduction mode when speaking. Here's a quick recording of me speaking while standing outside.
Call quality was fine. I could hear people and they could hear me. Similarly, recording on Android was pretty good.
Not as good as a dedicated microphone, but good enough for calls.
The nice thing about the clips is that you can choose how high on your ear you want them. Depending on the size and shape of your lugs, you can have the speaker as far away or as close as is comfortable. Personally, I like them tucked just under my earlobes - but having them ride at the top makes it much easier to hear my surroundings. Either way, the clip are gentle and don't pinch. I find them much easier to wear for a long period than most other cans.
Features
They also come with a few cool features. Most impressive is the auto-ear detection. A gyroscope inside each clip means they automatically know which one is in your left ear and which is in your right. You don't need to look for a little symbol or try and work out which one fits - just clip 'em on and start listening.
Like lots of modern headphones, they will auto-pause your music if you take them off your ears. Unlike the Pixel Buds, they won't pause if you start talking. Placing them in their case and closing the lid immediately disconnects them from your device.
They can connect to two devices simultaneously. Again, that's pretty standard for this class of device. You can listen to music from your laptop and also have your phone connected to take calls. However, this feature isn't available if you use LDAC.
To set up LDAC and other features, you'll need to use their proprietary app.
The App
The PeatsAudio App isn't mandatory, thankfully. It is an iron law of the universe that hardware companies simply can't make decent software. You'll need the app if you want to update the firmware on the Clips. Not that it tells you much about what the firmware update fixes.
It displays the battery level of the clips and their case in this comically large graphic:
You can also fiddle around with the audio equaliser if that's important to you.
There's also an EQ test which attempts to create a personalised listening profile depending on the state of your hearing.
You can set the various sound modes - including LDAC and Dolby.
The most useful thing about the app is the ability to configure the touch controls. Unlike the Pixel Buds, there's no "swipe" detection for changing volume or tracks. Instead you can manually set the actions for double-, triple-tap for each ear.
You can also set various modes and launch your device's AI assistant if you want. Except, this screen is a lie. They only support double- and triple-taps! I spoke to the manufacturer and they said:
Regarding the custom key, please kindly note that Clip1 differs from our other touch-controlled devices as it uses tap controls. Single taps have a high false-trigger rate, and enabling single taps would actually cause more issues. Therefore, this model does not support single taps or long presses.
I wish they supported swipe though. With multiple taps, your timing must be precise so as not to trigger the wrong function.
The app has annoying habit of prompting you to perform a firmware update - even when you're on the latest version.
Annoyingly, you need to register an account before you can use the app. Worst still, you cannot use the app without granting it Internet access! If you're on the tube and have no connection, you won't be able to change the EQ or set the button functions. Rubbish!
I suggest you install the app, configure the device, and then uninstall immediately.
Linux and Android Compatibility
Of course! Bluetooth is a mature, well-supported technology. They connected to my Linux laptop without any problems.
And, yes, even the LDAC codec was supported!
Similarly for Android, LDAC and Spatial Audio were detected.
There were no connection issues - they paired quickly and without fuss.
Bugs
When I got them, they would only play in mono - one of the buds was reporting a dead battery, although it was happy to play audio. Only one channel played though. Because of the low battery, I couldn't run the firmware update function from the app. I tried running the "reset" function which did make them forget my phone - but still didn't fix the battery issue. There's also a "drainage" function which played some loud tones repeatedly - I suspect this is to attempt to drain the batteries quicker. Both buds continued making noise for a while - even though one was claiming to be dead.
I switched to the LDAC codec and all of a sudden, stereo worked. I flicked between the different codecs on my laptop and it went back to mono - and wouldn't go back to stereo until a disconnect and reconnect.
I charged both buds overnight which seemed to resolve the problem. I updated the firmware just to be on the safe side. Then everything started working again.
The app itself is a pile of bugs. After upgrading the firmware, it appeared to give me access to extra tap shortcuts. None of them could be set and they disappeared after reconnecting the clips. The fact that it can't be used offline is a serious weakness. The FAQ page goes to a 404 error.
Worth it?
These cost between £60 - £80 depending on whether the algorithm favours you. That's certainly more than the cheapest USB-C headphones but pretty reasonable. Yes, you can get basic Bluetooth headphones for a tenner, but these are extremely comfortable and feature-packed.
It would be nice if manufacturers could agree on a single standard for recharging headphones. I've got several pairs and, while all the cases take USB-C, none of the buds work in each other's chargers. The lack of swipe is a bit annoying, but not devastating. The app is trash, but you only need to use it once.
Wearing them takes a little bit of getting used to. The clip isn't tight, but you will notice it at first. Shaking your head vigorously won't dislodge them. There's no pressure in your ear canal. It is unusual, but rather pleasant. But, without a doubt, they are comfortable to wear for extended periods.
The touch controls are a bit fiddly. Yes, you can touch at the speaker, wire, or the bit behind your ear - which makes it an easy target no matter where on the ear you wear them - but it is too easy for a triple-tap to be mistaken for a double-tap. Battery life was excellent - after about 3 hours of (non-LDAC) listening, they were still on 60% so I've no doubt they'll reach the projected 8 hours of listening time. The case is a bit lightweight and flimsy, but it contains enough power to recharge the cans multiple times. The USB-C charged at about 2W - not exactly rapid but good enough.
I don't know if clip-on earphones are the future - but they certainly solve some of the problems with in-ear phones. They're lightweight, comfortable, and less likely to fall out while you're moving.
Overall? They've got excellent sound quality, they feel great, and are unique enough to be interesting. There aren't many clip-style headphones available in the UK - so these are a great way to experiment with the form-factor.
