The Sennheiser Accentum Clip earbuds are best for those who don’t like in-ears

Clip-style earbuds like the new Sennheiser Accentum Clip are growing in popularity. You might appreciate that they are stylish and don’t plug your ears. They’re a great option for those who don’t like in-ears nor traditional bone conduction style buds. The Sennheiser Accentum Clips are a solid entry in this space. I have reviewed many pairs of similar earbuds, and I enjoyed taking these for a ride, too.

I spent several months wearing the Sennheiser Accentum Clip while at home, on walks, on a train ride to the city, and in local coffee shops. When choosing the right wireless earbuds for you, they’re ones to consider. Here’s my take.

Sennheiser Accentum Clip design and fit

These earbuds fit comfortably, just as any pair of huggie style earrings and earbuds do. They’re ultra-lightweight at just 6.8 grams each with a flexible silicone bridge to keep them properly positioned. While the hook is flexible, it doesn’t expand. I recommend wearing them angled up from towards the bottom of your earlobes for the best and most secure fit. This is where you’ll find the smallest width between your inner ear and the lobe. Even then, it might squish your ear slightly.

If you wear multiple earrings that go up the side of your ear, that can interfere with this positioning. But most important is that the buds are pointed towards your ear canals. I can’t stress this enough as the first few times I wore them. I had them higher up on my ear, so the buds weren’t sitting nicely by my ear canals. When repositioning, sound (and volume) was much improved.

No matter where I wore them, including while working out, they always remained securely in place, even during rigorous movement. They’re relatively comfortable, but they can also start to feel slightly odd after a while. They aren’t uncomfortable and they aren’t heavy at all. But, they sort of feel like a bigger pair of earrings you can’t wait to take off at the end of the night.

Touch controls

Use the textured touch controls to manage volume, calls, and audio playback. They’re easy to use, with single, double, triple, and press and hold gestures. Since you’re tapping on a textured surface, it’s relatively easy to find without seeing. Plus, you hear an audible beep to confirm when you have successfully tapped. You can customize what each tap does as well, like tapping once to play/pause, twice to go to the previous track from the left bud and the next one from the right, and tapping and holding to adjust volume.

Sound quality

The Sennheiser Accentum Clip boasts LDAC streaming capabilities and are Hi-Res certified. I struggle to figure out how you can truly immerse yourself in tunes when they don’t plug your ears. The 12mm dynamic driver is tuned for clarity and “punchy bass with smooth treble.”

In my listening tests, I tried some high-res audio sources from a compatible Android phone in a quiet room. They sounded decent, though it won’t rival a good pair of in-ears. The Pixies’ Planet of Sound rocked through the earbuds, while Pink Floyd’s Money sounded slightly hollow, lacking the same punch I have heard with other buds. Money for Nothing by Dire Straits was strong and detailed, but the sound is flat versus immersive.

It’s not unpleasant by any means and will be more than good enough for most listeners. But I wouldn’t consider high-res listening as a selling point of these buds: anyone who truly cares about high-res likely won’t be opting for clip-style buds in the first place. For regular everyday listening, however, whether it’s for background music while you commute or for Zoom calls in the office, audio quality is above average for a pair like these.

While some earbuds only work when you place both in your ears, you can wear just one bud if desired for multitasking, or while you’re on hold on a call, for example.

Additionally, each earbud has a dual-microphone system with AI noise reduction to isolate your voice from ambient sounds. I tried a few phone calls and I could hear the person just fine and they could hear me. But as expected, it’s challenging in noisier environments.

Dynamic EQ and situational awareness

The Dynamic EQ supposedly compensates for tonal shifts if you lower the volume. When you raise the volume, it should also maintain balance without distortion. When listening outdoors, I found none of this mattered as it was tough to hear if I was on a busy street with cars zooming by anyway, even with the volume cranked to the max. This is expected since these buds naturally don’t offer noise cancellation. Instead, they give you situational awareness, so you always remain aware of your surroundings. So, note that if you’re listening to a podcast and cars zoom by, you’ll likely miss some dialogue.

It’s a trade-off for those who prefer the design. If you’re wearing these for quiet listening at home or while walking or running on quiet trails, they work well. But I wouldn’t wear them for travel, like on a plane, or in a busy coffee shop. I was able to listen comfortably on a quiet train into the city. But they did not cancel out surrounding noise, nor do they promise to be able to do so.

You can learn more about noise cancelling in our true wireless headphones buying guide.

Connectivity

These buds boast Bluetooth 6.0 so you should get a stable connection. With support for multipoint connectivity, you can pair them with more than one device at a time. Though I often had trouble connecting from a second device: the connection would either not happen or drop immediately and I could not figure out why.

I noticed while on walks that it would sometimes take a few seconds for both buds to kick in with audio. I would only hear out of one bud for the first 10-15 seconds before the second one kicked in. It usually happened when I opened the app, but I can’t tell if this triggered the issue or it was just a timing thing.

I also observed that the audio would sometimes cut out for a split second if I turned my head too rapidly, sometimes just randomly. It’s sort of like if you’re on a call and it’s cutting out. Given this, you might not want to wear these while doing rigorous workouts. They won’t fall off, but the audio may be interrupted. It didn’t happen so often that I’d say it was irritating. But it happened often enough to be a minor annoyance.

The app experience

These earbuds work with the Sennheiser Smart Control Plus app where you can personalize sound and connectivity. There’s a five-band EQ with shareable presets for genres like rock, pop, dance, classical, movie, and speech clarity, the latter great for podcasts, the news, or dialogue-heavy TV shows. You can also run a Sound Check, walk through guided prompts, see battery life of the buds and the charging case, and learn how to use the on-bud controls.

Battery life

The Sennheiser Accentum Clip can run for up to nine hours per charge, and with the included charging case, you get a total of 36 hours. I found this to be accurate, able to use them for weeks for my weekend morning one-hour walks and occasional use through the week without having to plug them in.

When you do need to recharge, you can do so for just 10 minutes to get two hours of playback, great if you’re in a rush and need to head out the door. Recharge them while having your protein shake and they’re ready with enough juice for your morning run. Or if you’re off to work, even charge in the car on your commute or using a portable charger while taking public transit without draining its battery. I have plugged them in while I do a 20-minute workout in the basement and they’re ready to go for my hour walk after.

Looking for the right headphones? Check out our the Blog’s headphones buying guide for the different headphones types and what features to look for.

Who should get these earbuds?

The Sennheiser Accentum Clip earbuds are best for those who don’t like the in-ear type. They fit comfortably and sound quality is impressive for what they are. The touch controls are easy to use, the battery life great for frequent users, and call quality is decent.

While you won’t get maximum noise cancellation when wearing them outdoors, they offer a level of transparency that people like runners will appreciate. They’re among the better-sounding earbuds of this style I have reviewed to date.

If you prefer over-ears, I’d suggest taking a look at my Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review. If you want something that isn’t in-ear but does offer noise cancellation, I would recommend the Shokz OpenFit Pros that I also reviewed, though they employ a larger wraparound ear style. As far as huggie-style clip earbuds go, however, the Sennheiser Accentum Clip is a good option to consider.

Get the Sennheiser Accentum Clip earbuds at Best Buy Canada.