- Cleer Arc 5 has been presented
- Premium open-back headphones with sports loop
- Offers Dolby Atmos and THX Spatial Audio
I was under the impression that the best open-back headphones were designed for sports users, but I must have missed a note. The Cleer Arc 5 have just been introduced and are aimed at a very different market.
These new headphones, introduced just four months after the Arc 4, are undoubtedly premium headphones; They cost $219.99 (around £170, AU$340) and in my opinion only the $299 / £299 / AU$449.95 Bose Ultra Open headphones cost more, although the Shokz OpenFit Pro due to launch in 2026 are around the same price as these new Cleer headphones (and also offer spatial audio support, although not the certified kind THX).
From a glance at the spec list, there’s a lot to like about Cleer here. The headphones have 16.2mm drivers, up to 12 hours of earbud endurance (up to 60 with the case), support for a wide range of wireless codecs (LDAC, aptX Adaptive, and aptX Lossless), and a case with a built-in touchscreen. But it doesn’t seem like that’s all.
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The name of the game Cleer Arc 5 is, according to the company, that special kind of spatial audio. The headphones are not only optimized for Dolby Atmos, but they are also certified for THX Spatial Audio, using head tracking. As far as I can remember, that’s completely new for open-back headphones (the aforementioned Shokz set can produce immersive audio with head tracking, but they don’t come with the THX approval badge).
Spatial audio traces.
Spatial audio tools like Dolby Atmos and THX aren’t just useful for movies or games; They help develop the soundstage of your music. It’s a popular feature among some (though not all) audiophiles as it can bridge the gap between affordable and high-end equipment.
But you know what’s not so popular among audiophiles? Open the headphones. This form factor is useful for safety when you’re in busy public areas, but the nature of the beast is often that audio quality suffers.
In this type of headset, the driver is kept a little further away from the ear; No seal is created between the ear canal and the tip of the ear to maximize the travel of the sound wave from the driver to the eardrum. Surround sound comes in and as a result, detail, definition and impact (particularly through the bass) are lost. Even the best open-back headphones often struggle with audio quality compared to budget in-ear headphones.
So it seems like an odd choice for Cleer to offer codec support and fancy features on open-back headphones, as you might not be able to appreciate them due to their physical design.
Despite features like Dynamic Bass Enhancement, which could go some way to fixing this issue, I’d still be surprised if you could really appreciate spatial audio when loud traffic zooms and honks around you.
I bet they’ll sound fantastic when you’re somewhere quiet, though – the spec list puts them above and beyond most alternatives I’ve tried recently.
I’ve been proven wrong about open-back headphones in the past and I hope to be wrong again. Otherwise, it will be difficult to justify the high price of open headphones that you will not be able to appreciate…
The best open-back headphones for every budget
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