My go-to headphones are always either in-ear earbuds or over-ear headphones. When EarFun sent me their open-ear earbuds called the EarFun Clip, it was a totally new genre of wireless audio accessories for me. Feeling the wind in your ear canal while jamming to tunes or listening to a podcast was odd at first, but also felt very freeing.
Having said that, I've been using these buds for about a month, and I can finally see the merit in them now. Here's how my testing went down, and how I felt about these open-ear earbuds afterwards.
If you're touch averse, you're going to dig these
Countless individuals have told me time and time again that they don't like the intrusive nature of in-ear wireless earbuds. I'd recommend the EarFun Clip open-ear earbuds to them in a heartbeat. The design of these buds is truly unique. They're lightweight, allow your ears to breathe, and play nice if you have a million piercings like me.
I tried working out with them, and they don't budge. Furthermore, going for a run or a jog outdoors by yourself requires you to be conscious of your surroundings. The sounds of cars, people passing by, and other background noises are easily heard, yet they blend in with the audio playback very smoothly. It's almost like you have tiny Bluetooth speakers in your ears.
Physical buttons for controls and clear labelling of right and left buds are additional touches that I appreciate. They are easier to use and navigate, especially when exercising.
The battery life is fantastic, too. You get a total of 40 hours, including the carrying case and 10 hours in one go on the buds themselves. A quick 10-minute charge gets you 2.5 hours of playback. There's no wireless charging, however.
The EarFun app is helpful as ever. You can switch between modes such as the Game Mode for low latency, the Theater Mode for more immersive audio, and the Privacy Mode that controls the spillage of sound from the open-ear buds.
The buttons are also customizable, and there's a highly adjustable equalizer in the app as well. You can choose from over 20 audio presets or customize your preferred sound profile entirely at a microscopic level.
There's even an option to find your earbuds individually via the app, ringing either the left or the right bud depending on which one you've misplaced.
There are some caveats of the EarFun Clip open-ear earbuds
If you plan on using dual-device connection, you'll have to disable the high-quality LDAC codec to ensure a smooth connection. This is a bummer, but it's a bandwidth limitation that all earbuds with multi-point connection face. You can't connect two devices to the EarFun Clip open-ear earbuds while the hi-res audio option is enabled. Switching between these modes forces the earbuds to reboot every single time, which gets annoying.
Another drawback of these earbuds is the leakage. If you're blasting something, be prepared for everyone in close proximity to hear whatever it is that your earbuds are delivering into your ears. While this can be managed by enabling the Privacy Mode and turning down the volume, it takes away from the listening experience.
With an open-ear concept like this, I assume the logistics of incorporating mics into the buds must have been a taxing endeavor. There are two mics with AI noise cancellation onboard, but when you speak quietly, the audio sounds a little muffled. I had to speak up when taking calls with the EarFun Clip in noisier surroundings.
I also fully expected the EarFun Clip open-ear buds to have Bluetooth Auracast support, seeing as they come with Bluetooth 6. Perhaps the cost would have increased if they did; I'm not entirely sure why it's missing, even though the hardware is all there. EarFun did not expand on this decision much.
Should you buy them?
For a retail price of $69.99, EarFun filled these buds to the brim with premium specs. Starting with Bluetooth 6, hi-res audio, and LDAC, as well as features like Google Fast Pair for a lightning-quick setup process and IP55 water and dust resistance, this is such a great deal as is. EarFun drops frequent discounts on these, so you can easily score 20% to 30% off if you time your purchase right.
Alternatives like the Moto Buds Loop cost twice as much, whereas cheaper competitors like the SoundPeats PearlClip Pro miss out on flagship features like hi-res audio, robust ingress protection, and battery longevity.
Whether you get a discount or not, if you're looking to get an affordable pair of open-ear earbuds, the EarFun Clip are a great entry point into this segment.
Open your mind to this
The EarFun Clip open-ear earbuds are wonderfully comfortable, clipping on like earrings rather than regular in-ear earbuds that require insertion. These buds are a godsend for touch aversion and deliver plenty of premium specs to boot.
