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Cleer Audio's newest pair of wireless earbuds have a similar open design to Bose's Sport Open Earbuds, but they're way cheaper.

Cleer Audio's newest pair of wireless earbuds, known simply as Arc, is part of a new breed of wireless earbuds that have an "open" design. The earbuds rest on the outside of your ears rather inside the ear canal — a design that allows you to not just hear music, but also be more aware of noise in the world around you. The idea is that these open wireless earbuds are safer for people who run, bike or do some other form of exercise out on busy streets.

Now, Cleer Audio isn't the first audio company to adopt this open design for a set of wireless earbuds — far from it. Bose released the Sport Open Earbuds ($199) in early 2021; more recently, Sony had an extreme take on this open design with the LinkBuds ($178) by having a hole in the middle of the earbuds to let ambient sounds through. But Cleer Audio's Arc separates itself in two key ways: price and fit.

At $130, Arc is considerably more affordable than both options by Bose and Sony. In addition, even though the Arc have a similar earhook-style fit as Bose's Sport Open Earbuds, Cleer Audio gave its newest wireless earbuds a flexible hinge that allows you to better adjust each earbud while you're wearing it. Hopefully, this makes them more comfortable to wear.

The Arc wireless earbuds have an IPX4 water-and-sweat resistance rating, which is the minimum rating we recommend for workout earbuds. Each earbud has a seven-hour battery life. They are on-earbud touch controls for play/pause and skipping tracks. And they also work with a companion app that allows to tweak the EQ settings.

Before making the jump to a pair of "open" wireless earbuds, there is a pretty big drawback to them: other people will likely be able to hear what you're listening to. Just like open-back headphones, the design of these open earbuds lends itself to music leakage, which is why you don't want to be wearing these wireless earbuds in quiet, crowded situations, like in an office or commuting to work on the subway or bus.

The Clear Audio Arc is available now in two different finishes: midnight blue or light gray.