Clip 2 are the newest pair of wireless earbuds from EarFun. These are based on the new clip-style earbuds, which are starting to become all the rage these days.
We tested the company’s previous EarFun Clip product, which had a few key issues that prevented us from recommending it. However, the new Clip 2 promises to improve upon them, and I can’t wait to put them on and take them for a spin. Will these become a worthwhile option in this burgeoning segment? Let’s find out.
Design and comfort
The EarFun Clip 2 might look identical to the first-generation model at a glance, but the design has been overhauled in all the right ways. The flexible bridge connecting the in-ear unit and the exterior unit is now longer and squared, putting a lot more distance between the two units.
I only truly realized how much of an improvement this made after I put on the first-generation model and felt my ears getting pinched by it. Clip 2 feel so much more spacious by comparison, and should be a lot more accommodating to different ear sizes. The bridge is also a lot more flexible on this model than it previously was.
As with the Clip, the Clip 2 have a physical button on each unit that controls all playback functions. The functions can be customized or disabled individually in the companion app, and the buttons can also be disabled entirely.
One drawback of the Clip 2 design is that it’s not easy to distinguish between the left and right units. The Clip had a red ring around the bridge of the right unit, which made it extremely easy to tell it apart at a glance. Both units look identical on the Clip 2, which means you have to hunt for the L-R markings or try to figure out based on the orientation of the buttons.
Clip (left) vs Clip 2
Aside from that, there aren’t any major issues with the design of the Clip 2. However, considering what is essentially a fashion-oriented product, the Clip 2 continues to embody the minimal design philosophy of EarFun products. If that’s what you’re after, then you may be pleased with this design, but considering a lot of people opt for them over in-ears due to how they look, perhaps EarFun might want to come up with a flashier design that would be more suited for the target demographic.
As before, the earbuds are IP55 rated for dust and water resistance. The overall build quality is good, and the earbuds feel durable, even when you repeatedly stretch them out. The bridge also maintains its shape and elasticity after regular use.
In terms of comfort, the Clip 2 are good. They are light, and the clamping pressure isn’t very high. While I’m personally not fond of the feeling of having something on my ears rather than inside them, your mileage may vary.
Software
The Clip 2 use the EarFun Audio app. As I have said in previous EarFun reviews, this is a good app with plenty of features and customizability, and it’s all laid out in a way that makes it easy to use.
EarFun Audio app
Performance
Audio quality
The EarFun Clip 2 use 12mm dynamic drivers that have been upgraded from the 10.8mm dynamic drivers of the Clip. You still get the same SBC/AAC/LDAC codec support over Bluetooth 6.0 with multipoint connectivity, although multipoint cannot work if LDAC is being used.
Back when I reviewed the EarFun Clip last year, the main complaint was the audio quality. The tuning wasn’t good, and it got worse very quickly as you raised the volume. I’m happy to say that the Clip 2 addresses both issues, within reason.
The tuning on the Clip 2 has been vastly improved. Gone is the boxy, upper-bass and mid-focused sound of the Clip. The Clip 2 has a much more fleshed-out frequency response, with good upper-mid and treble extension.
Starting with the bass, the sub-bass is obviously still lacking. Being an open-ear design, the drivers cannot possibly move enough air to hit those sub-100Hz notes with any amount of gusto, and anything below 50Hz is simply inaudible. To compensate, the mid and upper bass regions have been boosted a bit. This does bring some additional warmth to the mix, with percussion instruments and male voices in particular sounding heavier. However, it’s not as severe as it was on the Clip, and still within tolerable limits.
The mid-range and treble sound quite balanced and pleasing on the Clip 2. The treble region seems to have some peaks and troughs, which can make some sounds a bit muted and the others a bit bright, but as a whole, the treble is still quite enjoyable to listen to. The Clip 2 also address one of my ongoing complaints with EarFun products, which is the unnatural timbre. The Clip 2 sounds very natural, even compared to some more expensive products from the brand, with a mellow, realistic tonality to everything and none of that metallic or nasal tinge.
Being an open-ear design that can engage with your outer ear a bit, the Clip 2 do have a more spacious soundstage and fleshed out imaging compared to in-ear devices. Sounds don’t seem boxed inside your heads, and have a more realistic depth and three-dimensionality to them. Even the best in-ears would need artificial spatial audio features to emulate what the Clip 2 can do naturally. There is also a Theater Mode option in the app that makes the soundscape even wider, but it sounds odd and isn’t worth using.
The Clip 2 do address the volume issue of the original Clip, but not completely. On the Clip, the sound would become reedy and unnatural past 50%, which made the already unpleasant sound even more unpleasant, and limited the usable volume drastically. On the Clip 2, that limit has been increased to around 70%, which greatly increases the amount of usable volume at your disposal. Very rarely did I feel like going past this limit. When you do, the Clip 2 do become thin-sounding and a bit shouty, but far from being unpleasant.
Still, it’s best if you limit yourself to below 70% volume. It also doesn’t make much sense to go higher than that, as one of the key selling features of this form-factor is that you can still be aware of your surroundings. Past 50% volume, auditory masking starts kicking in, and you already start losing touch with whatever else is going on next to you, even if you can physically hear it. By 70%, you probably won’t notice a car coming at you unless you see it with your own eyes. That’s why it’s important to visually pay attention to your surroundings when in public, and not rely on open-ear designs or transparency modes to convey necessary information to your distracted brain.
EQ settings
The Clip also had another issue, which is the inconsistency of the sound, and that’s carried over here as well. Getting these earbuds to sit identically in both ears is nearly impossible on the first attempt. This often leads to both units sounding different in each ear. Someone like me, who is bothered by this, then has to spend some time adjusting both earbuds until they match, and even then, I feel like I can never get them 100% identical. This just comes with the territory of these open-ear designs, especially these ones that sit around your ear.
All in all, the EarFun Clip 2 do sound quite nice, though. It’s a balanced, well-tuned sound that is spacious and airy, and can give some in-ears a run for their money.
Microphone
The EarFun Clip 2 have decent microphone performance. In a quiet environment, the sound is a bit soft and muted, and could use a bit more clarity. However, in the noisy environment test, the voice shockingly remained almost identical to the quiet test, and none of the background noise made it through in the recording. This is genuinely one of the most impressive background noise reduction systems I have come across so far across all products.
Battery Life
EarFun claims 11 hours of battery life with LDAC disabled and 6 hours with it on. I got 7 hours and 48 minutes with LDAC disabled, which is a decent result but a fair bit off from the claim. It’s possible that the company’s claimed figures use the low-power mode available in the app, which claims to improve battery life by 25% while reducing the max volume a bit. That would certainly explain the difference in the tested and claimed figures, as it’s roughly in that 25% ballpark.
Conclusion
The EarFun Clip 2 are priced at $79.99, but EarFun products are perpetually on sale, and they were available for $61.59 at the time of writing.
The Clip 2 are a super impressive pair of earbuds. The design isn’t as fashionable as some of the flashier options on the market, but they more than make up for it in functionality. They are comfortable, sound great, have decent quality mics with excellent background noise reduction, and offer good battery life. If this is the style of earbuds you are after, the Clip 2 are highly recommended.
