Cleer Audio announces Arc earbuds

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by Ian Collen
Hi-Fi News

Cleer Audio announces Arc earbuds

Cleer Audio has unveiled its first open-ear true wireless earbuds, with the Arc offering a flexible hinge design that channels audio into your ears.

The novel ‘earhook’ design of the Arc means that your ear canal isn’t covered, as you might find in some other models, especially those that focus more on noise cancelling technology to minimise (or eliminate) background sounds, such as with the recently announced Sony Linkbuds S, or Cleer’s own Roam earphones. With the Arc, Cleer is targeting users who either don’t like the feel of a bud poking into their ear, and/or want to maintain a degree of spatial awareness to the world around you at all times – because if a rampaging elephant comes tearing down your high street, you’d want to know about it sooner rather than later.

Cleer Audio announces Arc earbuds
The Cleer Audio Arc wraps around the ear, with the buds themselves on a flexible hinge to tuck into place.

The Arc wraps around the ear, with the bud itself on a flexible horizontal hinge to tuck snugly into place, using a “unique no-pinch comfortable design”. With a slightly larger and subsequently heavier design than your typical model (each bud is 14.5g), the Arc might offer up memories of old Bluetooth headsets, only with much better audio quality – and the updated Bluetooth 5.0 support with SBC and aptX for good measure.

The buds come with custom-tuned 16.2mm graphene neodymium drivers that steer the audio towards your ears, with an adjustable EQ and custom playback, along with the usual touch-controls and further personalisation options via the Cleer+ App. Battery life is quoted as being seven hours, with one hour’s playback from a quick 10-minute charge courtesy of the accompanying carry case and its integrated charging pad. The Arc also comes with IPX4 certification for sweatproof and water-resistant use, so they should be able to handle some light rain or a heavy session at the gym.

Commenting on their impending launch, Patrick Huang, CEO and president of Cleer Audio, said: “The Cleer Audio team is committed to building innovative headphone and speaker products consumers need. Our engineering and design team has outdone themselves with Arc. Its solid build earhook design, exceptional sound performance, and sleek aesthetic design makes it now one of my favourite models.”

Cleer Audio announces Arc earbuds

The Cleer Audio Arc is available for pre-order now (the exact shipping date TBC) in a Midnight Blue or White finish, priced at £129 ($129). You can find out more on the Cleer Audio website.

With most earbuds flagging up noise cancelling as a key feature it will be interesting to see how this notable step in the opposite direction compares, both in terms of performance and its broader appeal. Do you want everything blocked out when you’re listening to music on the move, or is some audible contact with the outside world still important?

SOURCE: Cleer Audio (via press release)
IMAGES: Cleer Audio

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