I was skeptical of clip-style earbuds, then I took this budget pair on a run

As a runner and a lover of music, I'm always looking for earbuds that can marry those two things in an active form factor. For the longest time, the ideal option has been bone-conducting headphones, but they're often lacking in immersive audio. 

I recently started considering open-air earbuds as my go-to for running, but the problem is their touch control can be challenging due to the buds' movement (they hang over your ear, which means they can be a bit floppy).

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Then the clip-on style of earbud came to my attention. It's a new style, and at first I was reticent to try them, assuming, by nature of their design, that they wouldn't have enough grip to stay on my ear. 

But then I tried Soundpeats' PearlClip Pro earbuds, and found that their clever design and weight distribution made them stay put in my ears -- even when on a run. Here's how they fared during my testing. 

My experience

After a quick unboxing, I unlocked my Pixel 9 Pro and assumed the pairing process would be automatic. Nope. I had to manually pair them and it took a few tries (and a phone reboot) to get it to work. As a Pixel user, I've grown accustomed to the phone auto-connecting to new devices. When that doesn't happen, I remember how frustrating Bluetooth can be.

Fortunately, I was able to get the earbuds connected soon after, so I slipped them over my ears and turned on my Spotify run list.

The sound

I was immediately taken by the quality of sound. It's not that it blew me away, but for a pair of open-air earbuds, the PearlClip Pro were pretty impressive, especially given their $59 price. That's cheap for a pair of earbuds that deliver a decent EQ curve, with plenty of lows and highs and not so much in the midrange that your ears develop fatigue after an hour or two of pounding the pavement.

As the songs progressed during my run, I was pleasantly surprised that all genres had depth and clarity (even when the music used a bit too much compression). Even better, I could hear everything when cars or trains were near. The only caveat to that is, unlike bone-conducting headphones, I had to lower the volume a bit to hear ambient sound.

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And that brings me to the one nit I have to pick with these earbuds.

Touch controls

This is where things go a bit south for the PearlClip Pros: the touch controls are a bit hard to use. First off, the touch pad is on the portion of the earbud that goes into your ear, so it can be challenging to get the touch right (especially when running). Second, the controls can be confusing: 

Double tap on either bud pausesSingle tap on the left bud lowers the volumeSingle tap on the right bud raises the volume1.5 second tap on the left bud jumps back to the beginning of the current track1.5 second tap on the right bud jumps to the next track

It's those 1.5 second taps that are really problematic. Don't hold it long enough and you'll either raise or lower the volume. Hold it too long, and nothing happens (unless you hold it for 10 seconds, which turns the buds off).

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

I've grown accustomed to a double-tap skipping to the next track and having to try and count for 1.5 seconds can be a real problem when you're more interested in keeping your heart rate at a certain level. It took me a while to finally get it down, but it should be far easier than it is.

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However, that confusing bit of tapping and touching doesn't discount the quality of sound these earbuds produce. I'm more than happy to overlook that, thanks to the sound, knowing that the touch controls will eventually become second nature.

Finally, I didn't have to install an app for these earbuds and that is a much-needed relief. If the PearlClip Pro earbuds didn't produce decent sound, I would have hoped for an app to adjust the EQ. 

ZDNET's buying advice

These types of earbuds are best used for two types of people:

Those who are active and don't like bone-conducting earbuds.Those who can never get a good seal with traditional earbuds.

If you fall into either of those categories, you'll appreciate the comfort and sound quality produced by the PearlClip Pro earbuds. If you don't fall into either of those categories, you could still enjoy the PearlClip Pro earbuds, but you might find the controls a bit too cumbersome for everyday use.

I'll happily switch out my aging bone-conducting headphones for the PearlClip Pro earbuds, hoping that my fingers get used to working the controls.

Soundpeats PearlClip Pro Earbuds specs

12mm Dual-Magnet DriverOpen soundstage with enhanced bassAutomatic Left/Right Channel Adaptation with Charging CaseBattery life - 6h + 18h, 10-min quick charge for 2h playtimeBluetooth: V5.4Profiles:HFP/A2DP/AVRCPChipset:BT8932DSupported Bluetooth Codec: AAC/ SBCSingle Earbud Weight: 5.85gCharging Case with Earbuds: 46.8gControl Type: TouchWaterproof Rating: IPX5