REVIEW – Wow, I get to review perhaps the silliest-named earbuds yet—the Edifier LolliClip Open-ear True Wireless Earbuds. I can hear one of my friends ask: “Hey, what earphones are those?” Me: “They’re called LolliClips.” Friend: “Ooooohkaaaay (snickering)”. The laugh may be on them, because the LolliClips don’t sound as silly as their name. This is going to be fun.
⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $129.99
Where to buy: Amazon
What is it?
The Edifier LolliClips Open-ear True Wireless Earbuds are similar yet different from the Edifier Comfo Open-ear earbuds (another weird name) I recently reviewed. The main differences are features and price.
The LolliClip earbuds feature a symmetrical design that wraps around the outer ear. They look more like an earring than earphones. The silicone covering is flexible, comfortable to wear for hours, and non-slip. Two colors are offered: Black or white. A hard, glossy pebble-shaped case magnetically holds the LolliClips in place. A short USB-C to USB-A charging cable is included.
What’s included?
- Edifier LolliClip Earbuds
- Charging Cable
- Case
- Manual
Tech specs
- Bluetooth 5.4
- Hi-Res LDAC
- Adaptive ANC
- Health Monitoring
- Spatial Audio
- Interchangeable Design
- Multipoint
Design and features
As I said, the LolliClips are similar to the Comfo earbuds. However, they are about twice the price—and worth it.
As with most open-ear earbuds, comfort is darn good. The weight is so light, you may forget you’re wearing them. There’s no pull as with heavier earphones or ear sweat as can happen with traditional headphones. The Edifier LolliClip simply “hook” around the outer ear. The U-shaped clip design holds them in place, no matter the ear shape. The shape is bulbous at each end, connected by a narrow, but flexible center that will spring back into place when placed on/in the ear.
The LolliClips are covered in a glossy, but grippy silicone, which helps keep them from slipping. Maybe it’s me, but open-ear clip-style earphones never feel secure in my ears. Yet, they have never fallen out, so it’s me.
One end of the LolliClip earbud hooks behind the ear and holds the battery. This division of weight provides a balance missing from most earphones. Battery life is an impressive 9 hours on a single charge, with a total of 37 hours with the case. This end also holds two health monitors. More on that later.
Both ends have built-in mics for talk/calls.
The other end contains the audio section. It sports a large 13mm titanium-coated dynamic driver. Granted, open-ear earbuds cannot produce a level of bass that in-ear earphones produce—but it’s much better than I expected. The outward shape of the audio half is geared so that the speaker site is closer to the ear opening—closer than some other open-ear earbuds, such as Edifier’s own Comfo. This alone accounts for better bass.
Higher frequencies are easier to achieve with open-ear earbuds. However, the LolliClips manage to seamlessly reproduce highs without veering into harshness—not an easy task. But it’s the middle frequencies and vocals where the LolliClips shine.
Because of their design, open-ear earbuds excel in the vocal range, such as folk music or talk. A fan of podcasts or audiobooks may discover that the LolliClip has become their favorite earphones. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and the LolliClips are currently my go-to earphones for such listening. They are that good.
But Edifier didn’t stop there!
The LolliClips have what is known as Symmetrical design. Since both earbuds are identical, it means that it doesn’t matter which earbud is in which ear. If it’s in the left ear, it becomes a left-ear bud—if it’s in the right ear, it’s a right-ear bud. Genius!
As with most new Edifier headphones/earphones, many controls are handled in Edifier’s ConneX app (iOS/Android). What’s new is health monitoring. Edifier has added both oxygen and heart rate sensors that the app will record and store. This allows tracking over months. I’ve only done two tests so far, but it’s a start. These health-related additions make me optimistic about the future of earphones. Tech like this was unthinkable just 5 years ago.
The ConneX app also contains many non-health, but useful functions.
Let’s start with the weirdest: Imagine you’re caught in a rainstorm or just finished working out and the LolliClips are wet. What to do? Go to the “Drainage Feature”, press the button, and the earbuds vibrate until water or sweat is expelled.
There’s the usual “Control Settings” where double and triple pressing (tapping) can perform customizable features, such as Play/pause/Skip tracks/Volume, etc. For instance, I use triple pressing to switch between sound modes (Music, Gaming, or Spatial Audio). Double pressing turns on/off noise canceling. Yes, these are open ear, so canceling out noise may seem like a joke. And yes, it won’t work as well as closed earbuds, but it works surprisingly well. Pressing—or tapping—must be done forcefully for the tapping to work properly. Edifier included a tap sensitivity setting, but it didn’t help much.
There’s “Wearing Sensitivity”—music stops when an earbud is removed, Multipoint allows the LolliClips to automatically switch between two devices—like moving from smartphone to tablet. This is a feature that can become addictive. There are also a few, less important features included that I won’t get into.
Spatial audio is an interesting feature, but there are a couple of issues. While spatial audio audio does expands the soundstage (moving instruments away from the listener), it removes any intimacy some favorite songs may have. It’s a tradeoff. Then there’s “Head-tracking”. With Spatial Audio on, the LolliClips can be set to track head movement. Once calibrated, audio remains in place as you turn your head, providing a true 3D sound effect. It’s kinda freaky. This works great with movies or other videos because the head moves a little while watching the video. With music, however, the head is constantly moving and turning, causing Head-tracking to constantly recalibrate itself, destroying the effect. This is true of any head-tracking, so this is not Edifier’s fault.
Edifier includes hi-res LDAC. I fail to see LDAC’s advantage with the LolliClips because of their open-air design. Plus, regular Bluetooth has improved so much in the last few versions that I can barely tell the difference. And Apple—being Apple—doesn’t even support LDAC or any other non-Apple hi-res codec!
I’m sure Spatial Audio and Head-tracking are great for gaming. However, I don’t game, so my opinions are music-based.
Since I use ear clip design earbuds for audiobooks and YouTube, the LollClips are almost perfect. I have other earphones/headphones for serious music listening. I love these little audio marvels.
Final thoughts
Whether Edifier’s LolliClips are for you comes down to what you want from an earbud. If you are a serious music fan, I recommend a standard in-ear earphone. However, if you like to always be aware of your surroundings and/or love audiobooks or podcasts, you can’t beat the LilliClips—even with that silly name.
What I like about Edifier LolliClip earbuds
-
- Perfect for audiobooks or other spoken audio
- Extremely comfortable
- Symmetrical design
- Well made
- Well-priced
- Loads of customization
- Health tracking
- LDAC (for those who care)
What needs to be improved?
- Bass could be better
- Spatial audio makes music less engaging
- Glossy finish prone to fingerprints
Price: $129.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Edifier. Edifier did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
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You need a B in “what could be improved” 😉
A