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.

The S23 are £50, which is a reasonable price compared to AirPods, and expensive compared to bargain basement earbuds. So what do these have going for them?

•  The charging case shows the battery level of each bud
•  You get a few different sized tips for the earbuds.

But, on the flipside…

•  Lack of Qi / Wireless charging of the case.
•  Charging display flashes constantly.
•  Touch controls are a nightmare.

*sigh* Let's talk about controls. If your phone is in your pocket, you want an easy way to change the volume, play/pause, skip tracks, and summon your digital assistant.

On the Pixel Buds you can tap, hold, and swipe for those controls on either ear. On these, not so much. You need to remember a precise sequence of taps if you want to do anything.

Oh, you also need to remember which ear to use. Here's the list of controls.

• Tap once
  • Either ear: Play / Pause
  • Either ear: Answer / Hang-up call
• Tap twice
  • Left ear: Previous Track
  • Right ear: Next Track
• Tap three times
  • Left ear: Volume Down
  • Right ear: Volume Up
• Hold 2 seconds
  • Launch assistant.
  • Reject call.
• Hold 3 seconds
  • Left ear: Turn off left headphone
  • Right ear: Turn off right headphone

Yup! There's no way to switch both off with one gesture. And if you hold down for Siri for too long, you one of your buds switches off. And if you're too slow with your volume changes, the track either pauses or skips. It really is frustrating to use.

Volume control worked, as did play/pause. I couldn't get double-tapping to skip track to work on Android or Linux.

Charging

The buds recharge inside a case. It takes a standard USB-C cable - albeit only at 5V. It also seems to discharge into the headphones disturbingly rapidly.

You do get to see how charged each side is, which is helpful. But, when charging, the display on the case flashes constantly which is a bit annoying.

There's no wireless charging in the case, no rapid charging, or anything like that.

Audio

They claim that codec support includes LDAC - but my Android only showed AAC or SBC for audio. My other headphones will work with LDAC, so I don't think my phone is the problem.

Audio playback quality was fine. Voice quality was a little muffled.

Their Amazon advert claims "Active Noise Cancellation" but I couldn't find any evidence of that. There was certainly no way to turn it on or off. The snug fit of the rubber tips did keep our a fair bit of noise though.

Linux

They paired just fine with Linux - showing as both a headset (with microphone) and headphones.

The only codecs it advertised were:

You can read about the difference between the codecs - they're all basically fine for listening to music, but none are LDAC.

Verdict

I can't really recommend these. The sound quality is good - although not as advertised. A range of tips means they fit well enough and won't fall out while you're exercising. Voice quality is adequate.

But the interface is so frustrating.

The touch-target on the headphones is fairly small, so it is pretty easy to miss it entirely. If you miss one of your triple-taps it becomes a double-tap, which might not be what you want at all.

You have to remember a bewildering array of taps - and they differ between ears.

There's a horrible tinny voice to announce when a device is paired or the buds are powered off. It sounds cheap and nasty.

If you're prepared to memorise and put up with the interface, I'd still say they were overpriced.

Forget that noise! I have a passive-aggressive death-wish and want to hand out free headphones to people annoying me on public transport.

Time for our-lord-and-saviour USB-C⁰! With Apple finally succumbing to the inevitable¹ it should be possible to have a modern pair of headphones which works on every device. Progress!

I bought the cheapest USB-C headphones I could find from AliExpress. Total cost was about £2 after tax - I also bought some other bobbins to get free shipping.

Here they are:

No, these aren't the weird USB-C headphones which somehow require Bluetooth - they're plain USB-C.

They worked in every Android phone I tried. From the Pixel 8 Pro to whatever cheap devices I had laying around.

Now, I know what you're thinking, the Sainted iPhone would never allow itself to be sullied by such a cheap and nasty 3rd party device. Right?

Steve Jobs must be rolling in his grave! Sound played perfectly though them - thanks Apple Corps!

(And thank you Pabs for lending me your iPhone.)

Sound quality

Good enough for listening to shitty music on a bus. Look, for two quid you aren't getting audiophile aural perfection. Bass was thumpy, stereo separation was fine, no background hiss. They didn't completely block out any outside sound and were a little bit leaky. But still a hell of a lot better than playing tunes out loud from your phone.

There's even a little control box with clicky buttons for changing the volume and play/pause. And, yes, they even worked on the iPhone. I could raise and lower the volume. Spotify worked with the play/pause button. It even hung up the phone when I pressed the button.

Wait... phone?

Microphone

Oh! And there's also a microphone in the control box. Here's the voice quality:

Basically fine for a phone call.

Linux Compatibility

I plugged them in to a Linux laptop and they were instantly detected as: 001f:0b21 Generic AB13X USB Audio

Playback worked. Microphone worked. Volume and play buttons worked. Nice²!

Verdict

For £2? Perfect. I'd love it if these came in little branded envelopes with a suitably snarky message on them. Sell them as "Shush your noise" brand, charge a fiver, watch them fly off the shelves to enraged commuters.

Unboxing

Bone Conducting??!

Yup! Rather than sticking speakers in your ears, these literally rattle the bones in your head to produce sound. It takes a little getting used to, but is rather pleasant. I also find it more comfortable than traditional in-ear products.

It also means you can easily hear your surroundings. Perfect if you're jogging or cycling. The one down side is that they do leak a fair bit of noise. So don't wear them on the bus, please!

Waterproof?

Yup! With a claimed IP68 rating, these can handle more than just a splash of water - you can go swimming with them.

Well, OK, I don't have a swimming pool at home (😢) but I do have a shower! So I stuck them on, tuned in to "Singin' in the Rain" and had a good scrub. No, you can't see a video of that. Trust me, you don't want to! Anyway, the audio quality drowned out the sound of the shower.

I know what you're thinking - if you're swimming won't that put you outside the range of Bluetooth? Yes. But these headphones hold a little secret. A built-in 32GB MP3 player!

Formats

The headset came preloaded with a few FLAC and MP3 files. I also copied across some M4A (AAC) files and they also worked. Sadly, it didn't play OGG or Opus. If there are any more exotic file formats you'd like me to try, stick a request in the comments box.

The 'phones played my music without skips, blips, or artefacts. Generally good sonic reproduction all round.

Charging and file transfer

In order to keep the unit as hermetically sealed as possible, there's no USB port. Instead there's a pogo-ping layout which uses magnets to ensure you connect it in the right orientation.

It's an elegant solution to the problem of stopping water getting inside your gadget. But I'm not a huge fan of proprietary cables. Both transfer and charging speeds are fine. And the layout isn't hideously complicated if you want to wire up your own. But I don't want to carry another cable around with me.

Tech Specs and Linux Info

The Bluetooth connection from the headphones was HD AAC - so no ultrahigh quality APT-X or LDAC etc. But that's not what these cans are for. You are not going to experience sonic perfection while swimming The English Channel. Instead you get decent quality audio bouncing straight into your skull.

The NFC chip was detected by my phone - after waving the headset around for a bit. Personally, I think it's easier to just use traditional Bluetooth pairing.

The headphones worked perfectly with Linux. When plugged into USB these show up as 4c4a:4155 Jieli Technology USB Composite Device. It's a bog-standard USB drive so you can just copy your banging choons onto there. No weird software needed.

They paired over Bluetooth and music streamed just fine. On video calls, people were able to hear my voice and I heard theirs. So, job done!

Verdict

Hmmm... There's no doubt these are impressive headphones - for £140 they ought to be! Let's take a look at the good, and the bad:

Good

• Excellent sound. Considering these are using bone conduction, the sound is phenomenal. Everything is crisp and clear.
• Waterproof! I used them in the shower and they didn't electrocute my head!
• MP3 player. 32GB of space is pretty generous, and there's also support for FLAC if you're feeling fancy.
• Good range of earplug accessories if you want to drown out the world.
• Battery life as expected. Lasted all the way through my exercise routines.
• Works with Linux without a faff. Not always a given, so nice to see.

Bad

I don't think the lack of OGG / Opus is a show stopper. And I can't complain about the lack of HD Bluetooth. There's no equaliser - so you might find it a bit heavy on the bass - but you can tune that on your phone.

However, I'm really not a fan of the magnetic USB cable.

All of my gadgets are USB-C. My phone, eReader, thermal printer, VR Headset. I don't want a proprietary cable to lose. The supplied cable has alignment magnets which are pretty nifty. Data speeds are basically fine for drag-and-drop. And the pogo-pin connector is pretty rugged, slim, and ingress proof.

I can't be too hard on this. While Qi charging might have made sense, it doesn't do data transfer. And USB-C is relatively chunky and needs a rubber cap to prevent water getting in.

Replacement cables are a couple of quid from AliExpress or about a tenner direct

If you can live with a separate cable, it's an absolutely great gadget. I'm looking forward to swimming with it on holiday.

Discount!

You can get a 15% discount with promo code Terence.