6th December 2022 – Written by Nick Rowe @ Technuovo.com
Cleer got in touch, they’ve got a new pair of sports earbuds called the Roam Sport and after using them for a few weeks, they are now my go-to when exercising. Why? Let me run you through it.
Typical bud and charging case affair. However you’ll see the lid of the case is clear, and you can see the buds inside the case which is quirky, you don’t see that very often. The case is typical in shape, size, and weight, it’s easy to hold, carry and store in your pocket. There is a USB C port to the side for charging and a cable is provided within the box.
If you’ve seen the Roam NC earbuds from Cleer, these look identical apart from one difference, the rubber wing that’s been added. They’re small, and discrete, with some subtle branding on the front of each bud which is also the touch-sensitive sections. Rubber tip to the inner part, then this thick, flexible wing that sits in the outer part of your ear and adds support.
Within the box, you get the buds, case, USB cable, different-sized rubber tips, and wings, plus some instructions.
As for features, we’ve got active noise cancellation and ambient mode stated battery life of up to 5 hours in the buds, plus an additional 15 from the case but varies depending on how you use them. IPX4, so sweat resistant, ideal for exercising. They can also be paired with the Cleer app which opens up options for EQ. Spec-wise, they include 5.8mm, dynamic drivers, for each bud. SBC and AptX codec support and Bluetooth 5.2.
Audio performance out of the box is really quite good and I initially enjoyed the experience enough to not even consider opening the app up. Punchy, well-defined vocals, and overall a very nice sound profile. From the Cleer+ app, you can control and customise the buds to suit you. You can adjust settings, change what the touch gestures do, check for firmware updates, and turn ANC on or off but the biggest bonus from the app, the EQ options. Default EQ is called flat and there are four others, classical, jazz, pop, and rock. Plus you can customise and create your own EQ. It’s just a matter of sliding frequencies on the app and adjusting to suit.
ANC works well overall, it’s not the best but far from the worst either. The difference between ANC on and off is very subtle and as these are buds, you get a good amount of passive isolation anyway. Within the app, there is a slider that allows you to select the balance between ANC and ambient.
Comfort and support are on point, which is fantastic and the main reason why these will now be my go-to when exercising. They’re easy to put in my ears and then thanks to that additional rubber wing, they don’t move. While cycling, not once did I have to pause, adjust, or fiddle with them. I could be going hard on the bike and they never moved, it was fantastic. The default tips and wings worked for me but there are extra sizes in the box to help you get the best fit.
Taking calls while wearing earbuds is a big thing and I can confirm these worked fine. The mic quality is more than good enough and I had no complaints during testing and making calls to various people.
Controls are fairly simple and easy to use and all touch gestures are detailed in the instructions provided. Touch control and you either tap, tap and hold or tap multiple times to play. Pause, change track, and so forth.
Stated battery life of 20 hours, I agree it’s there or thereabouts. I’ve probably racked up about 50 hours and charged at least 3 times so far. Charging is only via the USB port, there is no wireless charging available.
There is no auto-pause when removing one of the buds which some people like, me too as if someone is talking to me, I’d take a bud out to talk to them and my content would pause. If you wanted to use just one earbud, that’s do’able, take both of them out of the case, start playing content and then put one back in the case. It’ll turn off.
I experienced one issue with connection or interference which was a little odd. I used them on the train into London without an issue, about an hour’s journey. I then arrived at Victoria station with the phone in my pocket and the buds kept cutting out randomly. It lasted a few minutes and then when I walked out of the station, it didn’t happen again that day or any day afterward. Why I’m not sure and It’s not happened to me before with any buds. As I say, it’s not happened again but if it does, I’ll leave an update in the comments below.
Price, they retail at £99 which I think is fair when you compare to the market and you can pick up some equally good ANC buds between £75 and over £100. However, If you can pick up the Roam NC buds from Cleer for just £60, and they appear and on paper look identical, apart from the wing, so you’re paying an extra £40 just for a bit of rubber for the wings, which seems excessive to me.
For more info, head over to the official Cleer website.
