ARC 4 PLUS Open Ear Earbuds with THX-Certified Sound

After years of using in-ear canal earbuds, I’ll never go back after experiencing the Cleer Audio brand of Open Ear earbuds!

I just purchased a pair of their fourth-genreation ARC earbuds, the ARC 4 Plus. These are very comfortable to wear, as the part behind the ear has been reduced in diameter over their previous versions. So comfortable, I regularly forget I’m wearing them when not streaming music or taking a phone call! The case design is considerably much smaller than previous versions, so much so I forgot I had them in my pants pocket when out and about!

The head-tracking Spatial Audio feature offers great sound reproduction. Turning your head the sound moves is as if you are actually at a live concert! The Deep Bass sound reproduction with DBE 4.0 (Dynamic Bass Enhancement) makes listening to smooth jazz very cool! They are THX-certified as well!

My friends have no idea I’m speaking ot them on these over-the-ear earbuds, and with Adaptive Volume Control Technology, I can hear the caller clearly even if I’m walking near a loud sound, like a gas generator, as the volume adjusts based on the surrounding sounds.

The ARC 4 Plus support Multi-point connectivity, so I can keep them paired to my phone and laptop at the same time and will switch between devices automatically, depending on what’s streaming. The ARC 4 Plus also supports Auracast, a recent feature of premium Google and Samsung phones (plus others I understand) that lets you do fun things like stream to two earbuds from one device and more.

The ARC 4 Plus earbuds offer great functionality, with both nod and head turning controls plus tapping on either earbud activates a touch pad to skip tracks or even access “Hey Google” or “Hey Siri” commands with just a long press of the touch pad.

The earbuds are complimented by using the Cleer+ app for iOS and Android, giving you more control of settings, touchpad control, firmware updating , user manual and more. Battery life is great, and can be charged in the case when away from a power source.

I definately would recommend these ARC 4 Plus open-ear earbuds to friends, co-workers and family. Priced at half of what you might expect to pay for so many features!

These over ear headphones are impressive. They offer clear heavy thumping bass without distortion at higher volumes while also having dynamic mid range and high end audio reproduction creating a rich, full, all encompassing experience. They fit easily on my head hooking over my ears and are comfortable for long sessions while walking or riding my bike. I like how I can still hear most outside noise around me and even have conversations when the volume is mid range or lower. The battery life is great with about 8 hours of play time on a single charge at around 75% volume. These headphones would likely impress many audiophiles. I have sweat into them and they were not affected by the sweat at all. The case included with this model is light and basic but will charge the headphones quickly when they run low on battery. I personally think these headphones are a great selection if you’re looking for over the ear design that performs well.

So its a new year (2026 woot woot!), and with this comes some New Year’s resolutions, the first of which for me is to get in better shape. I ordered these Cleer ARC 4 Plus Open Earbuds to wear on walks/jogs around my neighborhood. So far I’ve been really impressed with the quality and sound of this product.

BRAND RESEARCH:
I actually already own an older pair of Cleer open-ear headphones that I gifted to a family member a year or so ago, as well as a Cleer bluetooth speaker, so I am somewhat familiar with the brand and the level of craftsmanship and quality I’d be receiving.

SOUND QUALITY:
In my opinion, this pair of Cleer ARC 4+ earbuds are solid performers. I enjoy listening to talented instrumentals (think Nickel Creek) with vocal harmonies (like The Arcadian Wild, my favorite new band), as well as a mix of bluegrassy artists. Over the low to medium-high volume settings, the earphones are able to deliver very crisp sounding instrumentals, catches all of the subtle harmonies with clarity. I never have to go above the 50% level on the volume to hear my music clearly.

The one area where these open earphones seem to be lacking is with the bass. The lower frequencies come through clearly, but definitely lack the punchiness of higher quality in-ear earbuds (I’m comparing with Google’s Pixel Buds Pro). It’s not really an even comparison though, the way in-ear earbuds close off your ear canal just lend itself to a much punchier sound that you probably can’t get from open-ear style unless the volume is turned up quite high.

The Cleer app has some additional settings you can access to adjust the sound profile to your preferences. I typically left mine unchanged, but there are categories such as flat, rock, jazz, classical, and pop.

These Cleer earphones also offer a few features that were brand new to me, such as spatial audio and head tracking. I will vouch for Cleer when I say that the spatial audio works very well, there were plenty of times that I’ve swore I heard sounds coming from the other room that were actually percussion in some of the songs I was listening to. In regards to head tracking, this feature works very well, as I pan my head left and then right, the balance changes. Note that these earphones do not provide any noise-cancelling features.

I’m very impressed with the sound, and truly enjoy using these earphones.

SOUND VOLUME:
These earphones provide ample volume range, so whether you are jogging on a trail adjacent to a busy interstate, or walking a quiet nature trail, you’ll have no issue having the sound come through crisp at any volume level.

These earphones also include a microphone for use during phone/video calls. I’ve used these earphones at my desk during a handful of virtual meetings and the meeting participants indicated they could hear me clearly, and even did a better job of blocking out the ambient noise around me than my desk microphone. I also had a family member wear these earbuds while I called them so I could hear first-person how they sound from the other end, and the call audio was really clear and crisp.

DESIGN/FIT/COMFORT:
I really like how the ARC 4+ earphones are designed. They are aesthetically pleasing, and appears to be constructed of high quality components, while boasting a fantastic IPX7 waterproof rating. I also wear prescription glasses, and I had ZERO issues wearing these earphones with my glasses without sacrificing any comfort. They fit snugly around the top of my ears and I’m comfortable wearing them for hours. The earphones are able to respond to a few gestures, however the responsiveness to these gestures is not as fast as other brands I’ve used. When I tap the earphone, there is usually a 1s delay before the song I’m listening to pauses; this isn’t much, but I’ve found myself re-tapping out of habit only to have to tap a 3rd time. It’s really easy to use the speaker without having to consult the manual. In actuality, you will find yourself controlling almost every aspect of the speaker from your mobile device. When you remove the earphones from the case, it plays a “power on” voice tone. Battery level is visible on your mobile device.

The carrying case is only as large as it needed to be to fit the earphones, and though larger than most cases for in-ear buds, is not burdensome to tote around in a pocket.

BATTERY LIFE:
I’ve been using these earbuds for about a month now, for a couple of hours at a time. I’ve charged it a few times, and though I haven’t done a rundown test, the battery lift appears to easily support 9hr runtime per charge at mid-level volumes. If you’re going out for an all day trip, just make sure you are fully charged before you go, but unless you are blasting it on high volume, it will comfortably last all day.

CONNECTIVITY/RANGE:
In the month I’ve used these earphones, the bluetooth connectivity has always been very stable. I have lately connected them to my PC at work, and can walk from my desk to the printer 20-30ft range away without losing signal. I’ve had no issues with music skipping/stopping as long as I’ve stayed within 30ft range of the paired device.

IMPORTANT TIP:
When attempting to connect the Arc 4+ earphones to my Windows PC, I initially struggled getting them to connect. After doing a little research, I discovered that I had to change my PC’s bluetooth settings to connect successfully, specifically the “bluetooth devices discovery” setting must be set to “advanced”.
I had no trouble connecting them with my Android device.

In summary, I think these are high quality earphones for the price, and comes from a very reputable brand. I’m very satisfied with the Cleer Arc 4 Plus earphones, and I think you probably will be too.