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Bose Sport Open vs. Cleer Arc vs. Oladance Wearable Stereo: open-ear earbud shootout

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Bose Sport Open Earbuds, Cleer Arc, and Oladance Wearable Stereo open-style earbuds.
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

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Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen
Contributing Editor, A/V
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
Cleer’s open-ear earbuds get new features for gamers
Cleer Arc II Gaming open-ear earbuds.

Cleer's Arc lineup of open-ear earbuds have always been impressively well-equipped with features, but now the company has added some bells and whistles designed with gamers in mind: The $190 Cleer Arc II Gaming and $235 Cleer Arc 3 Gaming earbuds are available in either black or white finishes starting February 4.

These new models are essentially the same as their non-gaming counterparts (the Cleer Arc II and Cleer Arc 3), but with one key difference: each comes with a dedicated USB-C wireless dongle for low-latency connections. On the Cleer Arc II Gaming, Cleer says that latency gets under 60 milliseconds and on the Cleer Arc 3 Gaming, it can achieve just a hair under 30 milliseconds. The lower the latency, the better when it comes to gaming (and watching videos).

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The Cleer Arc 3 might be the most advanced open-ear earbuds so far
Cleer Audio Arc 3.

Cleer Audio appears to have pulled out all the stops for its latest open-ear earbuds, the Cleer Arc 3. In addition to the features that were introduced on the Cleer Arc II Sport, like a charging case with its own battery, antibacterial UV lighting, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound, the Arc 3 add better water protection, voice control, and spatial audio with Dolby-powered head tracking. And the charging case now sports its own color touchscreen. The Cleer Arc 3 are available in black and pink color choices for $220 on amazon.com starting October 24. Cleer says additional colors are coming soon.

Design-wise, the Cleer Arc 3 use the same articulated, spring-loaded earhook as previous generations, and I've found that it offers a comfortable, yet secure fit. Cleer says the earbuds are now rated IPX7, making them effectively waterproof, even if fully submerged in water.

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Nothing’s cool Ear Open earbuds have an unexpected rival
The Nothing Ear Open earbud.

Say you want to wear headphones, but still be aware of your surroundings. That means using a transparency mode on a regular set of earbuds, or a set like the Apple AirPods 4 that don’t seal in your ear — or a pair of open earbuds like the new Nothing Ear Open. More secure than AirPods and less artificial than using a transparency mode, they’re ready for comfortable, safe, everyday use.

Or are they? I’ve often turned to another, different type of product throughout my time with the Ear Open that I like just as much. They aren't the same thing, but they do have an unexpected feature overlap.
Nothing’s cool design

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