I’m a man of taste. Form over function has often been a downfall of mine when purchasing goods. And goodness me, the SoundPEATS Clear earbuds look great!
Crikey, my selection of obscure Nokia mobile phones over the years, is evidence of that. Making it quite clear (no pun intended) that I can be wooed by something that looks good/quirky and operates reasonably.
Luckily for us all, SoundPEATS have delivered form AND function.
I’ve been through quite a few of the SoundPEATS catalogue at this point (although there are a lot left to go if Amazon is anything to go by!), and I have to say the Clear earbuds might just be my favourite.
Let me explain…..I’ll make it….ahem…..clear.
Sound quality
Let me get over how they look for a moment, we can come to that later.
The important, and most significant aspect of any earbuds is that of audio quality. And unlike some of the other pairs I’ve reviewed recently like the Air4 lite, the Clear was pretty solid out of the box.
I thought I wouldn’t need to use the SoundPEATS app for equalisation settings. But after a while, in different environments (loud background noise, particularly), I found that some of the quality was lost. Or rather, not quite what I initially thought.
Thankfully, I’d already downloaded the bespoke app from the manufacturer to have to manage equalisation functions. The app is fine, and handled a firmware update for me, straight out of the box, which I appreciated!
Toying around a little, I found the presets to be good enough, and I was getting that bass and trebles that were missing on the default setup. I don’t like having to fiddle around, but that being said, I got good results pretty quickly, and the default is better than I’ve experienced in recent sets.
The SoundPEATS Clear delivers clear audio
The microphones have been decent for work calls, and I’ve been able to rely on them for daily wear, regardless of what I’m doing. Clear voice, clean music and plenty of options with the app.
Build quality/functions
I can’t believe I’m saying this again after the Air4 lite review…..there’s no active noise cancellation (ANC). I can’t quite understand the omission here. Although looking at the price point, and seeing how they look and hearing how they sound. Maybe my expectations are too high?
SoundPEATS need to be consistent here, I think. It’s disappointing to be sat on a train and have to up the volume when all I want to to cancel out the background noise.
That aside, the Clear is a lovely-looking set of earbuds. The case is a different design from the usual charging cases you see. With a more front-opening style. But they’re called the “Clear” for a reason. Both the case and the actual earbuds are see-through.
You’d think that wouldn’t matter, and, I suppose it doesn’t. But damn! They look great. The case is nice, and the earbuds themselves look great, with a textured stalk design, too.
There’s some style here, which is something you don’t get a lot of in this space. Earbuds are earbuds and people don’t make much effort beyond the common designs and changes of colour. Plus, being able to see inside the earbuds makes you feel like you know how they’re made.
I will say, whilst the case design is nice, putting the buds back into it is more fiddly because there’s much more room for error and you can drop them if you’re rushing. Something that standard charging cases don’t have a problem with. It’s minor, but it is a gripe, and in the dark, it can be a pain.
In terms of battery time, I managed a couple of days travelling (approximately 15 hours total) without charging the case or feeling like they were going to run out. The box boasts 40 hours of playtime (7 hours at a time and charge from the case) and I’d believe it. All the SoundPEATS sets I’ve reviewed have had great battery life and I can’t see that the Clear would be any different.
SoundPEATS Clear final verdict
With some slight tweaks to the out-of-box default audio, you have a good-sounding, great-looking pair of earbuds!
The clear aesthetic works and helps set the set apart from others in the market. Priced at around £30 you’re getting a lot for your money.
No noise cancellation is a disappointment, and the fiddly case can be a frustration. But it’s hard to argue with battery life, build and quality.
The SoundPEATS Clear are doing a lot of good, for a little cost. Some of my favourites from the past 12 months, for sure.
If you want to grab a set of these yourself, you can find both the Clear in black and Clear in white on Amazon. You can also grab yourself up to 30% off using the coupon and code: SPCLEAR4U (available until 31/01/2024). In the meantime, if you fancy checking out more of our hardware reviews, just click here. There is plenty to read while you wait for your new wireless earbuds to arrive.
