You can watch the YouTube version of this review here

When I’m at my desk, typically, I use over the ear Bower and Wilkins Px7 headphones.

When I’m out walking I have been using Air Pods. However, I find them very frustrating. If I knock them scratching my ear, they drop out. If I pull a hood up or down, they drop out, half the time if I think too hard about something, they drop out. And sometimes just getting them in and out of the case feels like I’ve bought iSoap instead.

So, I wanted a pair of headphones for when I’m out walking, or exercising that stays put. I was also interested in something that would allow me to listen to something when cooking, and still be able to hear when one of my children is pummelling the other – at least then I have the choice of ignoring them or not.

This need led me to consider the two headphones I want to tell you about today; the Bose Ultra Open, and the Huawei FreeClip.

The Bose are roughly twice the price of the FreeClip, and they are certainly not twice as good. If you want best value, you can stop reading now. It’s the FreeClip. But they aren’t the ones I ended up keeping, so let me tell you why.

Design

Both of these are pretty comfy for me. They each have a mechanism where part of the earphone wraps around to the back of the ear, and sort of lightly clamps in place. Both stay in place very well; there was no way I could accidentally knock them out. So on that front, both are great. The Bose are noticeably heavier but despite that I still found the flatter back a little comfier than the FreeClip. The only worry with this extra weight is, as I’m knocking on a bit, if I wear them too much I might end up with ears like a Dayak woman.

There is no visible button on the FreeClip, while the Bose has a little clicky button on each barrel. Despite that, both share the same gestures for playback – you just tap on the im-between-y bit on the FreeClip. Once is a pause, twice to skip forward, three for back, and then tap and hold to adjust volume. In terms of how they look, the FreeClip are more discrete, with less material visible from the front. There will be a degree of subjectivity here, but for me the Bose are just a little more comfortable.

The case of each is pretty comparable, the Bose one being a little bigger. They both have the magnetic thing going on so they clip into place when the headphone gets close. Major bonus for the FreeClip is that they can be used in either ear, there is no left/right hardware wise, and you can reset the left/right once you have them in via the app.

I think that’s really smart and genuinely useful, as especially for those over 40, seeing the R or L on the Ultras is a game of eye rubber-banding.

The Ultras and the FreeClips have a choice of colours but obviously as a straight white male of my age, it’s black every time.

Sound

Sound wise, the Bose are better. It’s just that simple. I’m no audiophile but for me the Bose just delivers a richer and fuller sound. Worth nearly twice the price? No. Maybe. Probably, just depends how much you value the difference. Both are fine. Not noise cancelling over the ear fine, but perfectly adequate for the use case. But you should know the Bose has a simple configurable EQ in the app so you can tailor it to your preference, while the FreeClip just has a few presets. I listen to hip hop for the most part, plus audiobooks and podcasts, and for me, the Bose just delivered more enjoyable sound.

Charging and pairing

Certain Android phones can do proximity pairing, akin to AirPods on iOS, with the FreeClip but I don’t have one of those phones to check that with. Other than that, it’s business as usual. With the headphones in the case, you press and hold the button on the case to put them in pairing mode.

Both support multipoint. When you put the Bose in your ear they announce what you are connected to, the Huawei do not. With the FreeClip, I’m also not aware of a way on the device to switch inputs, it just automatically prioritises calls over music and video. But if you have music going from your phone, and want to start listening to say a YouTube video from your computer, there is no simple way to make the switch. With the Bose however, you can set one of the barrel buttons to switch connections. You press and hold until you hear the name of the device you want to be connected to and that’s it. Admittedly, this is not something I find myself needing to do often but if you do, it’s a much better considered solution on the Bose.

Call quality

Call quality is fine, if you are thinking they will work for Teams calls and the like, comparable to a wired headset, no, they are never going to beat those kind of solutions. But in terms of someone calling while you are out and about, absolutely fine. I was running firmware version 4.0.22 and app version 10.5.7 on the Bose, and HarmonyOS 4.2.0.200 on the FreeClip and AI Life version 14.1.1.325.

I didn’t find one particularly better than the other when it came to calls, I know a lot of people complained about call quality of the Bose Ultra opens in the past, but I can’t be sure if an update has fixed it along the way, or I just have low expectations, but they performed pretty much as I expected in this regard.

Swings and roundabouts

I prefer either of these than in the ear headphones. There are some major practical benefits; this is a bit minging but when you want get an itchy ear its lovely being able to still get your finger in and give it a solid probe and leave the headphone in place. Obviously depends on the size of your finger, and the size of your lughole. Presume they match for everyone? Otherwise there will be people who can’t even scratch their ear, Jesus, what a scary thought!

Either of these are much better than say AirPods for exercise when it comes to staying in place. Like night and day better. There is a permanent anxiety I have wearing AirPods that I am only ever one gesture from them falling to the floor; so much so I have bought some of those silicon hooks to go on the outside, but then they don’t go in the case, so that ends up a complete pain. Either of these stay are going to stay on your ears no matter what, even if you do the ‘Timewarp’ on a wobble board, whilst crossing the North Sea in a dinghy.

Summary

When it comes to open bud style ear phones, there are cheaper options than either of these. But I venture that either of these are far better quality and more capable than any of them. If budget is a major factor, or you want the lightest pair, get the FreeClip, they are 80-90% of the Bose for about 60% of the price and noticeably lighter when word than the Bose. If you can afford more, then the Bose have the edge for me. Better music playback, multipoint is handled better, and the app with flexible EQ is a better experience than the Huawei.

They may not be as ubiquitous as the de facto choice of AirPods but I find this style of earbuds a far better solution to that typical set of use cases.