The original Cleer Arc buds were the first open headphones of their type I’d tested. They hook over the top of the ear for a speaker to rest near the ear canal without blocking it. These open “air conduction” buds rival bone conduction headphones in still allowing you to have an awareness of your surroundings (ie not noise canceling) while sounding better. The approach must work, since even bone conduction titan Shokz has now launched its set of open headphones, the OpenFit.
Cleer has upgraded the Cleer Arc buds for this second version. The case now acts as a charger for the headphones, and the sound and fit have been improved. They are among the best workout headphones you can get based on the sound quality in an open design, though I didn’t find the fit as comfortable as on other buds.
