First Time Trying Open-Ear Headphones: Edifier XClip Unboxing

Preface

TWS earbuds really are consumables. I have no fewer than 10 of this kind, including several from phone brands like Huawei and vivo that cost close to a thousand yuan, plus some 2.4G dual-mode earbuds.

A look back:

• Baseus G10 In-Ear 2.4G TWS Earbuds Unboxing
• Angry Miao CyberBlade 2.4G In-Ear TWS Unboxing
• Siberia W20 Semi-In-Ear 2.4G TWS Earbuds Unboxing
• Edifier 2.4G True Wireless Earbuds GT2S Unboxing

The 2.4G ones are generally used with a computer. The single-mode Bluetooth earbuds aren't very usable anymore—their battery life is done.

So recently I've been planning to restock my earbuds. I used to always chase concepts like "brand" and "ecosystem," but later I realized these products are just consumables: once the battery dies they're useless, and they're extremely hard to repair. So this time I decided to buy cheaper earbuds, with a budget around 200 yuan.

Clip-on earbuds happen to be very popular right now, so I bought a pair to try them out.

That's how I ordered this Edifier X Clip.

Packaging

Simple white packaging.

The back.

This model comes in four colors; I went with black this time.

Unboxing

The inside is very simple: just the earbuds + charging cable + manual.

Accessories

Looking at them separately, the charging case has a decent feel—not as plasticky as the previous Edifier 2.4G True Wireless Earbuds GT2S. This one looks a bit more refined.

Earbuds

The clip-on form factor is still fairly distinctive.

The battery area on these earbuds is quite large, and the claimed battery life is pretty long too.

App

Edifier's official app is pretty large, close to 200MB, and it also has the usual old problem of bloat in traditional Chinese apps. But to use it with the earbuds, you still have to install it.

PS: There's also an international version of the app that's much cleaner; unfortunately it doesn't support this model.

After installing the App, a popup appears to connect the earbuds. The experience is pretty decent.

The earbuds app's main interface.

There seems to be a translation feature, but I haven't used it—no need for it 😂

Usage Experience

The sound quality of these earbuds was unexpectedly good—I'd even say it felt a bit stunning!

I figured open-ear headphones like these would just be something that makes noise, but I didn't expect that the moment I put them on and played music, it was like hearing celestial music and my ears suddenly cleared! Hahaha a bit exaggerated; in short, it far exceeded my expectations for earbuds at this price.

I've bought earbuds at this price before, but they really were just something that makes noise.

I'm not a professional audiophile, so talking about sound quality is fairly subjective. Of course there are downsides too: I feel the bass on these is too ample, and on some songs it even has a head-booming sensation. After I switched the sound effect in the App to "Clear Vocals," it got a bit better.

I still prefer a cleaner sound, so these earbuds can only be said to be stunning at first.

Then there's the most critical aspect of clip-on earbuds: wearing experience. It really is quite different from traditional in-ear and semi-in-ear.

For short-term wear, they really feel almost unnoticeable and very comfortable, and they don't block the ear canal, so they don't affect hearing outside sounds.

But after wearing them a bit longer, say 2 hours, there is still some discomfort. Also, as a first-time user of this kind of clip-on earbuds, I found putting them on pretty troublesome—unlike the previous semi-in-ear ones, where you just grab them and shove them into your ears and you're done in 1 second 😄

They feel more suited for use during exercise, though I haven't actually used them while working out. Comparatively I still prefer semi-in-ear, which strikes a nice balance between comfort and portability, though they might fall out more easily sometimes 🤣