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SoundPEATS PearlClip Pro: Affordable Open-Ear Comfort, Solid Sound
by Rob Webb on March 17, 2025
Whether you prefer traditional earbuds or not, many of us agree on one thing: sticking buds directly into your ear canals can feel intrusive – and even isolating. Enter open-ear earbuds, which sit comfortably outside the ear canal, allowing you to enjoy your music while remaining aware of your surroundings. This approach is especially appealing for runners, commuters, or anyone who needs to stay tuned into the environment around them.
The category of open-ear headphones has recently exploded in popularity, leading to a flood of new products in a variety of styles – ear hook, clip-on, and neckband – and price points. Sporting a clip-on design, the SoundPEATS PearlClip Pro ($69.99) boast a well-balanced sound profile, lightweight comfort, and a budget-friendly price tag that puts them well within most people’s reach.
As an avid music listener, I have reviewed various types of headphones and earbuds in the past and was slightly dubious about the open-ear PearlClip Pro before testing the product. However, I was pleasantly surprised by their overall performance, and despite one or two reservations, I would recommend them as a budget pick for anybody on the lookout for open-ear buds.
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Out-of-box experience
Designed for listeners with an active lifestyle who need to keep their ears trained on the world around them, the PearlClip Pro are (on paper) ideal for workouts, runs, or for working in a busy office environment. They have an IPX5 waterproof rating to protect against sweat and splash damage, a sturdy clip-on design, and run on Bluetooth 5.4, providing a stable and reliable connection.
They come packaged in a rather neat, compact box. Inside, you’ll find the PearlClip Pro earbuds, a charging case, a USB-C charging cable, some SoundPEATS panda stickers (which my daughter was very happy with), an app guide, and a largely indecipherable user manual in impossibly small print.
Luckily, the SoundPEATS website has a downloadable, infinitely more legible user manual that will have you up and running in no time.
Design and build quality
The first thing you notice about the PearlClip Pro is their design. Each earbud resembles a small dumbbell (similar to the much more expensive Huawei FreeClip), with the “handle” acting as a bridge. It sits on the outside of your ear in a clip-on fashion.
Initially, they feel a bit weird – it has to be said. There's a very mild bit of pinching with them, but I only found this to be an issue after wearing them for a longer stretch. For short-haul sessions, they’re reasonably comfortable, once you get over the initial quirkiness of the design.
The fit is nice and secure too, and I had no concerns about the earbuds slipping free or jostling around as I moved. Another plus is that thanks to their design, they don’t get in the way of your glasses. I wear glasses when I’m working and found I could happily type away, bespectacled, without obstruction.
I found the speaker and battery ‘bulbs’ on each clip to look somewhat similar to one another, which can cause a bit of confusion to begin with. To make things simple and to save you some time, the end with the magnet goes on the outside of your ear, and the other end goes inside. You’re welcome.
At a mere 5.85g each, the PearlClip Pro earbuds are super lightweight and benefit from the lack of an ear hook, which many other open-ear earbuds have and I am personally not a fan of. They’re constructed from 70% liquid silicone and nickel-titanium wire – a composite that SoundPEATS claims is hypoallergenic and suitable for people with active lifestyles.
They also have an IPX5 waterproof rating, so they’re resistant to sweat and rain. They're perfect for both indoor and outdoor use – so long as you keep them well away from larger bodies of water. These are not earbuds that can be worn in the shower or while swimming, as they’re likely to drown faster than a rat in concrete boots.
The PearlClip Pro charging case looks pretty slick. It closes with a satisfying snap, and the earbuds slot neatly into place thanks to the built-in magnets. There’s a charger indicator light on the outside, and the simple color code tells you at a glance how much juice is in the tank.
For added convenience, the PearlClip Pro has automatic left and right channel adaptation, which comes in very handy. This means that you can place either bud into either side of the charging case, and within seconds, they will adapt to the respective left or right channel. Therefore, you never need to worry about finding the right bud for the right ear.
These are all neat little touches that, although far from premium in feel, could easily fool anyone into thinking the PearlClip Pro are considerably more expensive than they are.
Read more: The Best Open Ear Headphones You Can Buy Today
Audio performance
The PearlClip Pro is armed with 12mm dual magnetic drivers and a dynamic EQ (enabled by default) that delivers a surprisingly meaty bass response with crisp highs and lows. Not bad at all – especially if you like bass.
On the PeatsAudio app (which you will need to register to use), you’ll find a bunch of preset modes for different genres, including Rock, Pop, Classical, Folk, and Electronic. There’s also Treble Boost, Bass Boost (my personal favorite), and Bass Reduce Modes for you to play around with, too
Unfortunately, to my jaded ears, there was little to distinguish between many of these modes, although you’ll certainly notice the difference if you engage the bass boost mode. Otherwise, you may feel slightly disappointed with the lack of depth in the audio across the board. In general terms, the overall sound quality is pretty good, albeit a little flat-sounding at times.
My musical tastes are varied, but they tend to lean towards the more bass-heavy end of the spectrum: rock and metal, electronic/dance music, and a good dollop of ’90s Hip Hop. While the sound quality here was decent enough for these genres, it was missing some meat on its bones without the extra spoonful of bass.
However, when I switched things up with Hans Zimmer’s excellent “Dune: Part Two” soundtrack, the mids and highs were crisp and clear, with a good level of separation between the two. I listened to this soundtrack with the Bass Reduce mode engaged. Everything soared as it should, with impressive clarity throughout.
After experimenting with the PearlClip Pro, I found that more orchestral stuff feels slightly distorted or overloaded with Bass Boost, while most other genres sound noticeably better with that extra bass switch flipped.
Call Quality
There are a couple of points worth mentioning regarding call quality. Chief among them is the fact that these are open-ear buds, and therefore the call quality is limited by the lack of active noise canceling. They do, however, feature environmental noise cancellation (ENC), which suppresses background noise during calls and helps ensure clear communication.
The mic quality was nice and clear, and for the most part, I was able to make and take calls without any issues. That said, the louder your environment, the more you’re likely to struggle with interference, so these may not be your go-to for taking calls in outdoor spaces.
Read more: This Is My New Favorite Headset for Work
The app and on-bud controls
The SoundPEATS app offers extra customization, such as EQ presets, sound modes (including dedicated Gaming and Movie modes), and adjustable touch controls. You can customize the number of taps for different commands – though I found the touch controls frustratingly sensitive. More than once, tracks would pause or skip accidentally if a stray finger happened to brush over the top of an earbud. Occasionally, a sharp, robotic voice will scold you with a “disconnected” announcement in your ear, if the lightest of touches is held for a half-second too long.
Thankfully, disabling the touch controls in the app quickly resolved the issue. However, if you're committed to using touch controls, you might find these earbuds mildly frustrating.
The app is generally OK. Though, in all honesty, it’s unlikely to blow anyone away. It can be a little clunky to navigate, and it feels a bit bare, despite one or two neat touches. However, given that these are budget buds, it would be unfair to expect a comprehensive suite of features to play around with, and minor reservations aside, what’s here is fine.
Battery life and connectivity
These budget earbuds run on Bluetooth 5.4 and provide up to 24 hours of playtime when combined with the wireless charging case, or six hours without. Plus, if you’re strapped for time, you can eke out two hours of battery life from just a 10-minute charge.
Connectivity is excellent. I experienced no dropouts, and pairing was quick and effortless. Additionally, the PearlClip Pro supports simultaneous connection to two devices – a useful feature for multitasking between your phone and computer.
Should you buy the PearlClip Pro?
I enjoyed using the SoundPEATS PearlClip Pro ($69.99, check price on Amazon) despite some minor annoyances, like the overly sensitive touch controls. The fit is secure, and the clip design is comfortable. You won't mistake them for premium earbuds, but considering they're under $70, they sound surprisingly good, delivering deliver solid, balanced sound.
[Image credit: Rob Webb/Techlicious]
