About Me
Like most people, I am an avid fan of music ranging from my all-time favorite Metallica to 2Pac to Mozart, YoYo Ma and a lot in between (sorry country but heck no). I have what doctors would call a compulsive disorder for headphones as I can never seem to stop buying and trying. I am not an audiophile, but I have a worthy quest to find the best headphone / earphone for my tastes and I like to test new gear… a lot. I rely on my ears, and my listening pleasure to determine review scores. I just hope to help other people find nice devices that will suit their taste and their budget.
As my ocd of headphones is expensive I tend to hover around the $200 or less range of headphones, sorry fancy schmancy headphone connoisseurs. Also I prefer Bluetooth as I am on the go a lot and don’t like cables (que the diss sesh of poor BT quality headphones). Enjoy!
Tech Specs for us nerds
· Drivers : Dual Dynamic (8.65, 4.8mm)
· Rated Impedance : Not stated Ω
· Frequency Range : 20 Hz ~ 20 kHz
· Sensitivity : Not stated
· Expected Battery: 4 hrs
· Bluetooth Version: 4.1
· Codecs: APT-X
· Weight: 21g
Accessories
· Micro USB charging cable
· Hard case
· Silicone ear buds and memory foam ear buds
Build Quality
Housings: The housings are small and very nicely styled with green alloy for right and red for left. They have very robust memory wires that are intended to wrap around your ear.
Cable: The cable is a flat, mid-size wire with pretty robust strain reliefs at the earbuds. The cable is nice and tangle free and should hold up over time.
Functionality/Pairing/Range
Pairing for most BT is the same so I will only call out if there are issues.
The Clari Air has a built in 3 button controller like just about all BT headsets. Volume Up, Down, Power, Sync, Track Skip.
Using my OnePlus 3 all buttons worked without issue.
The signal was strong and I was able to walk about 20-25 ft before skipping occurred. Pretty standard.
I did run into issues with connection with my OnePlus 3, there was a constant buzz at ~70-90hz that didn’t go away unless I disconnected. This didn’t happen with my Macbook, so kind of an odd nuance.
Comfort
I will be honest; I don’t like silicone tips. Once you go Comply, you don’t go back. So I always buy the correct comply tips to go with my set. Unfortunately comply doesn’t have these buds on their site. So I just tried my T-400s and they fit alright.
With the comply in place they fit snugly in my ear. The issue is the memory wire is thick and feels bulky. I have used Meelectronics M6pro and that had a very nice and thin but quality memory wire, these do not. It’s just too big and feels weird on my ear.
Like stated above the ear wire basically ruins the feel of the earphones. They become too heavy and feel odd on my ear; like a hearing aid (no offense to those who have these, just a reference). I just don’t like it….
Sound Review
I always test with the same devices and song list:
Devices: OnePlus 3 & Macbook Pro
Songs (don’t judge me):
Eagles – Hotel California [Hell Freezes Over Live Edition]
Metallica – No Leaf Clover or Fade to Black
Big Tymers – Still Fly
Jethro Tull – Locomotive Brass
Enya – Oronoco Flow
These Clari Air are supposed to be the first and from what I see only dual driver Bluetooth under $100. The sound should be amazing with dual devices pumping highs and lows separately. Well not the case…
Listening to Oronoco Flow the highs were very muffled sounding, like a blanket over the mic. The lows were nice and punchy and had a nice feel to them, but highs were awful.
Same case with Hotel California. Bongos sounded nice and thick and hit very well, but highs were muted and made the overall sound similar to a radio.
Comparisons
Avantree Clari Air vs E10BT
Same price for both of these. The Clari Air should’ve knocked the Soundmagic out of the water with dual drivers, APT-X, but very far from true. The Clari were muted at the high end, with strong bass. The E10BT were much smoother and rounded. Also the fit of the Clari Air was odd and bulky.
Avantree Clari Air vs Brainwavz BLU-Delta
Similar pricing again, but the Brainwavz sound much better with a smoother sound and similar hard hitting bass. The Brainwavz, though had some connection issues; are a better overall earbud and more comfortable (not without their own issues).
Conclusion
I always am leery when devices that are unknown brands on Amazon as I think a lot of reviews are not completely accurate and biased. But a dual driver BT earphone sounded too good to be true at $60. Well it was and I am disappointed in the sound quality, fit and only 4-hour battery.
These properly tuned and a better quality memory wire could be excellent, but it is what it is and I cannot recommend these.
