Cleer Audio Enduro ANC Noise Cancelling Headphones
Featuring ANC (Active Noise Cancelation) and class-leading battery life, the Cleer Audio Enduro ANC Noise Cancelling Headphones make the perfect choice for long-haul travel.
Cleer Audio Enduro ANC Noise Cancelling Headphones Review
Right from the get-go, these feel like a class act. The unboxing “experience” is pretty simple, with a cardboard sleeve removed, you are presented with a nice black box with classy gold lettering. Open a flap to see the phones themselves, and then peel back a layer of foam to get to a box with some accessories in it. There is a nice clear [yes] instruction manual, a soft carrying bag, an airline adapter, and a couple of cables.
The USB-C for charging feels quality enough, but The other cable freaked me out a little. USB-C to 3.5mm for use in wired mode. This makes absolute sense as a solution, meaning only one port required in the body of the headphones, but somehow a cable being digital at one end and analogue at the other feels just strange! The carrying bag feels strong enough and is lined with a softer material. There is no carrying case, but the bag feels like it would protect from scratches and minor dings. Not sure I’d throw it loose in a rucksack, even in the carrying bag, but it would certainly give some degree of protection, and others might be braver than me with their gear…
The headphones themselves are absolutely stunning. Mine is the navy, with dark bronze accents, and chocolate/coffee coloured pads. The other two variations are much lighter in colour, and not to my taste, but still great looking. The top of the headband is nicely padded with memory foam, as are the ear cups, which feel soft and squishy, and are comfortably large enough to go around my ears with no added pressure.
On the other hand, they feel weighty enough to be solid, but not over-heavy. On the head, they are pretty easy to forget about. Obviously, as a closed-back design, they are going to be some warmth over longer listening sessions, but nothing out of the ordinary. And longer listening sessions won’t be a problem for these, as there is a ridiculous 60 hours of battery life. This is enough that I find it unlikely that I will often worry about battery life. There is also a microphone in here, so you can use them as a headset when making calls. Not a make-or-break feature for me, but useful nonetheless.
Once paired with my phone (entirely painlessly, and 100% reliably) these work straight away, but there is also the cleer+ app, In which you can access a copy of the user manual (a clever touch) and also gives a few options to play with. The first is it gives you the option to re-name them, however, this doesn’t seem to affect how they are picked up by the phone’s Bluetooth pairing, just in the app. A little pointless, in my opinion, unless I am missing a setting. The next is rather more useful. There’s the ability to set EQ to your taste, with a 5-band settings slider, and also the ANC settings.
Cleer Audio Enduro ANC Noise Cancelling Headphones Review
The ANC is a really well-implemented feature on these headphones. As well as having the ability to switch it off entirely, there is a slider, so you can choose the level of outside noise you want to pass through. When listening with the ANC switched on it also appears to tweak the sound signature of the headphones a little, presumably to compensate for those frequencies which are often most masked by outside noise. Wearing these in a shared space, where I needed to maintain some degree of awareness of what may be being said to me, being able to add in some of the ambient sounds was a useful way of not being too isolated, and then being able to switch that ambient noise off with a touch of the button on the earcup was great. This feels like a very good implementation of the technology.
Cleer has used their 40mm ironless driver in these headphones, which as far as I can tell uses a clever rare earth magnet array. Also, these supposedly result in greater control over the movement of the voice coil and as such the diaphragm. It certainly appeared to sound very good to my ears.
With the ANC turned off, I really enjoyed the sound signature. The bass is very solid, with a good enough heft to make bass-driven music pulse. This is both for recorded ‘natural’ sounds, as well as for electronically generated music. “House Rules” by Hyde Park Brass is one of my favourite test tracks for bass. The thundering and rumbling of the driving low horns was really forget-yourself good.
Cleer Audio Enduro ANC Noise Cancelling Headphones Review
The mid-tones are also very nicely clear, with vocal timbre being clear and well presented. The high frequencies are well managed. They give detail to sounds such as fingers on fretboards and the plucked edges of notes. The fastest way to turn me off a headphone I had previously been enjoying is sibilance. I am happy to say I detected none on the Enduro ANC at any point in my testing. The soundstage is wide enough, and it feels easy enough to pick instruments out in space.
With the ANC activated, there is the immediate advantage of being in a quieter headspace. Also having less for the music to compete with. The bass feels a little bit punchier too, as well as the treble having a touch more bite. I still didn’t ever get any peaks of sibilance, but just a little more edge. The soundstage is rendered slightly smaller and more intimate, but instrument positioning was still very possible. I would assume that most will use the ANC while on the go with these headphones.
Overall, I could find very little if anything to fault with Cleer Audio Enduro ANC Noise Cancelling Headphones. Also, I would 100% recommend them to anybody looking for a wireless full-size solution. The sound is great; detailed enough when you want it to be. But not in-your-face enough to be too distracting if you want to have background noise to work. They look and feel great, and the battery lasts for ages. Buy a pair!
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