When I was at PAX East in May, I randomly stumbled across the Cleer Audio booth while waiting for an appointment to test out a game. I had a few minutes to spare, so I was able to demo their Arc 3 Gaming Open Ear buds while playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. At first, I wasn’t impressed, but that was only because I was surrounded by thousands of people.

The buds promote quality audio while still being able to hear the world around you. I didn’t doubt that, but at the time, I could barely hear the game. A huge convention where there’s loudspeaker announcements, yelling, and a hundred people within twenty feet wasn’t the best place to test them. Fortunately, I was able to grab a pair for myself to try out on my own terms at home and I love them. 

The Cleer Arc 3 Gaming headphones are over the ear buds that utilize Dolby audio and they fit great. I’ve been using Raycons and Galaxy buds for the past few years and they never fit well because they would always pop out or get loose every minute or so and while I was eating. I was worried that the same thing would happen with these, but I was wrong.

I snapped them around my ears, and I never had to take them off or adjust them. I would feel a little pressure on my ears after a while, but after hours of wearing them, they were never at risk of falling off. Sometimes I would forget that I was even wearing them. Because they don’t block out sounds like earbuds and other headphones, you can keep them on while living your life normally. 

A couple weeks ago I went to see The Phoenician Scheme in theaters, and I never bothered to take them off. I heard the movie like normal and then on my way home, I simply turned the music back on. It was a seamless transition between listening to music, and just listening.

The quality of the audio is another strong selling point, but I don’t think it’s as good if you’re in loud areas. Even though you can still hear the music and the world around you at the same time, that doesn’t mean that it’s perfect. When I was at home or walking down the street and listening to music, the audio was clearer and louder than my galaxy buds. When connected to my Switch in handheld mode, the quality was amazing.

When I was watching Youtube videos or streaming shows, things sounded a bit quieter. But that wasn’t really a problem when I was at home. If I was on the train, I had to use my galaxy buds because the Arc’s benefit of hearing everything around you hurt the audio in these moments. In general, these have a great fit and great quality, but are they worth paying nearly $250?

I personally don’t think that the boost to quality and fit over my previous buds warranted the extra $100, but the case itself is also a huge part of the value. The charging case itself includes a mirror and a touchscreen that does so much. UV sterilization, a pedometer, and both EQ and sound control are just some of the functions. It’s a very high-tech case for a little pair of headphones. 

The only downside was that the buds didn’t always work the way I wanted them to. The first console I tried was the Switch and it worked perfectly. But then when I tried it with the Switch 2, the audio was a little quiet. The same thing happened with my phone when I was playing videos or TV shows. It didn’t always, but they were sometimes hard to use.

There was also an issue when using my phone where the audio would stop for a second whenever I was in the mobile browser or doing something in an app. I still haven’t figured out what causes it, but it’s only a minor distraction. 

Overall, these headphones are amazing but can be well out of reach for some people based on the price.

9/10