Review on Cleer Audio Roam NC True Wireless 🎧 Headphones: 15 Hour Battery, Noise Cancelling, Bluetooth, Cleer+ App by Jermaine Logan

I know Cleer mainly because of their (good) reputation with audiophile "Cler Next" on-ear headphones. I was excited to try these Roam NC True Wireless Active Noise Canceling headphones because of that reputation. Setup was easy and I rather liked the app and the setup (particularly the EQ), but more on that later. The sound is ok. even next to cheap plug-ins (like Porta Pros) a dull sound. Some of my reference songs sounded weird on it and lacked the detail I was used to hearing. It gets quiet as it approaches 20Hz but is present. I also hear some ripple in the upper mids and highs, with a very strong and broad scream centered at 2500Hz, peaking at 5200Hz, falling off sharply at 6000Hz, then peaking again slightly at 9000Hz, before it narrows. This is audible distortion on pure tones - this results in a more musically confusing sound, although you may not notice any distortion in normal use: --- 150Hz-20Hz has high distortion that sounds like 5600Hz and gets louder when approaching 20 Hz. Gets much worse with EQ --- 250Hz-600Hz has high distortion that sounds close to 5000Hz but fluctuates slightly --- Very, very low distortion between 3000Hz and 4000Hz, honestly no problem --- 7000 Hz -> 20 kHz has a midpoint - pitch distortion that starts at around 1500 Hz and increases with the target frequency. The software has an amazing equalizer setting where you can move 5 dots up and down to change the sound as you like. I wish more headphone apps did this, but I wish there were more than just 5 settings and allowed finer corrections as the 2500hz slider can't be fixed by the slider at 3.5kHz or 630hz, without significantly affecting the area in which it is located. calm. The EQ does a good job of smoothing out the sub-bass dips (just increase the 20Hz slider a bit), but it exacerbates the decibel distortion. I didn't see any presets available, nor a way to save a profile. The active noise cancellation (ANC) is very weak. You can tell it's there when you toggle between on and off, but that's not enough. I would prefer a good noise isolating headset (which is more like earplugs). Also, the Ambient Noise Control slider does absolutely nothing. Maybe later software updates can fix that? I am using an iPhone 12 Mini. I later updated the firmware to version 1.4.5 and it didn't affect any of my earlier observations. The soundstage is decent for this type of headphone. It's mostly linear from left to right, but there was some depth that was nice to hear. The picture is also decent, but I wouldn't count on a constant directivity at all frequencies. Again, the lack of warmth with no EQ makes it feel pretty empty and lacks the impact I like in my music. It sounds strange with an equalizer unless you turn the settings down to the minimum. I think death by too many options. I find the touch controls quite annoying. They don't stay in my ears very well, so I have to use them more often than I'd like. and as a result I seem to trigger pause/play. It also happens when I style my unruly hair and comb against the direction of hair growth. A nice plus is that some settings are available in the app for touch controls. You can charge one earbud while the other works. When receiving calls, the sound quality is good on both sides, but the microphone does not suppress background noise well. I suppose for the price it might be what some are expecting, but I come from a wide range of wired headphones. and headphones, which sound fantastic in comparison (some as low as $20). Even at $60 when they say "ANC" to me I think of a much bigger impact than what these Roam NCs give. Don't compromise sound quality in favor of ineffective noise-cancelling technology — just slip a pair of rubbers over another pair to act like earbuds and preserve sound quality instead. I think the Roam NC is better than the Jabra Elite 3 and 1MORE ComfoBuds Pro (I tried them recently), but I probably won't be using them again after this review. Poor battery life, poor fit/comfort on my ear, weak ANC, and broadband distortion combined are too many issues for me.