The clip design is slowly making the rounds. After the Huawei FreeClip or the soundcore C40i, Edifier is now also venturing into open-ear headphones with a practical ear clip look. The Edifier R1 promise a high level of wearing comfort, modern features and a long battery life. And at an unbeatable price. Our test reveals whether the promises can be kept.
Technical data
| The product | R1 |
| Bluetooth version | 5.4 |
| Bluetooth codecs | SBC, AAC |
| Maximum operating range | 12m (without obstacle) |
| Battery life | Up to 7 hours, 21 hours in total with charging case; (varies depending on volume level and audio content) |
| Charging time | 1.5 hours (for charging case via USB-C) |
| Size of charging case (H x W x D) | 34 mm × 58 mm × 46 mm |
| Weight | 5.8 g per earbud; 52 g charging case & earphones |
| Most important functions | Multipoint; IP56; |
| Price | € 50.99 * |
Edifier R1 Review: Noble look meets high wearing comfort
- Elegant, gray design
- Impeccable workmanship
- outstanding wearing comfort
The design of the Edifier R1 looks all too familiar: “If you know one clip earphone, you know them all”. Both units have a round body and are connected to each other via a flexible bridge (C-Bridge). The size, shape and construction are almost identical to the competition.
The only difference is that the R1 has a glossy, dark gray exterior with golden accents, which looks absolutely classy in my eyes. The oval charging case also uses the same look. In combination with the anodized exterior, it looks outstanding.
Compared to their counterparts from Huawei and soundcore, the Edifier R1s have two almost identically sized units, which are also very similar in terms of shape. Quite pleasant. On the side with the manufacturer’s logo, on the underside, is the driver unit, which sits in front of the ear. The magnetic charging contacts are located on the other side.
As in the case of the Huawei Freeclip, the drivers are inserted into the ear cup, but the ear canal naturally remains free. This ensures, at least in theory, an even fuller, richer sound and, in practice, results in very good wearing comfort. With a weight of 5.8 grams per earbud, the R1 are also pleasantly light.
Features and operation
- Bluetooth 5.4 with Multipoint
- Wearer recognition
- Very imprecise operation
In terms of features, the Edifier R1 are quite good and modern, although there are a few minor drawbacks compared to the soundcore C40i, which are around 40 euros more expensive. The R1s also use the modern Bluetooth 5.4 standard, which scores with excellent wireless range and stability, as well as high energy efficiency.
Bluetooth multipoint for pairing with two audio sources simultaneously is also included, although this is a little more complicated than you are normally used to. If you have paired both devices one after the other, you can only switch between the sources if you pause playback on one of the devices. If both devices are playing sound, the source does not switch automatically.
It takes some getting used to, but works perfectly once you’ve got used to it. It’s just a shame that the companion app doesn’t offer the option to adjust or quickly switch Bluetooth connections. The competition offers more.
The Edifier R1’s features also include wear detection. If you remove the earphones, playback is paused and resumes automatically when you put them back in. The only Bluetooth codecs available are SBC and AAC, i.e. no high-resolution codecs.
Problems with operation
- imprecise operation
- Touch surface far too small
- rudimentary app
Unfortunately, what I don’t like at all about the Edifier R1 is the touch control. While the soundcore C40i offers a clearly recognizable and tactile surface on the outside and the Huawei Freeclip relies on a large touch surface, it is not at all clear where the R1 should be operated.
According to the accompanying app, the touch surface is located on the inside of the C-Bridge, at the transition between the driver unit and the bridge. And this is correspondingly very small. In practice, however, it is located pretty much in the middle of the bridge. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work particularly precisely either. My inputs are not recognized much more often than they would trigger the defined action.
Surprisingly, the open-ears recognize a triple tap (by default the jump to the previous or next song) more precisely than a double touch (play/pause).
This is a shame, because the controls actually offer plenty of scope for customization with adjustable options for double and triple taps. This brings us to the Edifier ConneX companion app, which you can actually save yourself the trouble of downloading.
Four predefined equalizer presets allow you to influence the sound. You can also adjust the pressure sensitivity of the touch surfaces, but I hardly noticed any difference here. If you like, you can also switch off or adjust the wear detection. That’s it.
Battery life of the Edifier R1
- 7 hours battery life for the earphones
- 28 hours in combination with the charging case
The battery life of the Edifier R1 is identical to that of the soundcore model: Up to 7 hours of use are possible for the earphones alone, with the charging case adding a further 21 hours. This gives you a total of 28 hours – a good value, but the Freeclip from Huawei last considerably longer (8 hours and a maximum of 36 hours with the case).
Charging takes place exclusively via USB-C, with a full charge taking an hour and a half. Dan Fat Charge, the earphones only need 15 minutes in the case to be ready for 3 hours of listening. Very good.
Audio and microphone quality
Edifier provides the R1 with 12 mm dynamic drivers that cover a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. The audio quality is at a good level, but in my opinion cannot keep up with the two mentioned (and more expensive) competitors.
It only takes a few bars of your favorite songs to realize that the highs are very sharp and exaggerated. This makes for a rather cool, sometimes unpleasantly shrill sound.
How serious this is depends on your preferred music genres. In the rock, metal and pop segment, Edifier R1 sound very strained. Unfortunately, this is not really fun in the long run. In more bass-heavy genres such as electro or hip-hop, things look better.
Unfortunately, the earphones also lose out to the competition in the bass and mid-range. Bass is almost non-existent, even in the “Bass Boost” equalizer, while the mids lose some detail. The upper mids in particular, which are home to electric guitars and similar instruments, for example, are noticeably behind and hardly come into their own.
The overall sound is rather flat and cool. That’s a shame, because I really like the maximum volume here – where many open-ear headphones are weak. Nevertheless, the sound is very clear and separates the individual frequencies very well. This is absolutely fine for everyday listening, but in terms of sound, you’re better off with the competition (in my opinion).
Microphone quality of the Edifier R1
Edifier equips the R1’s microphones with an AI-supported noise reduction algorithm, which, according to the manufacturer, should deliver “crystal-clear sound”. Although this is a little over the top, I still like the microphone quality quite a lot. Compared to all the open-ear headphones with a clip design that we tested, the Edifier model delivers the best and most detailed voice reproduction.
Edifier R1 microphone test recording:
Microphone test recording soundcore C40i:
Microphone test recording Huawei Freeclip:
Microphone test recording Sennheiser Momentum 4 TWS:
Although your own voice sounds a little watery and rather lacking in detail, the intelligibility is absolutely fine. The ambient noise suppression works quite well, but distorts the sound noticeably with increasing volume, such as passing cars or construction site noise.
Edifier R1 Review: Conclusion
With the Edifier R1, the manufacturer has launched stylish open-ear headphones in a trendy clip design, which score points with their elegant design, long battery life and high wearing comfort. The microphone quality is also surprisingly good.
However, the low price also has its pitfalls: In terms of audio quality, the R1s fall behind the competition in the open-ear segment. In particular, the sharp treble frequencies and the recessed upper mids make for a narrow, less detailed sound. This is particularly disappointing with rock, pop and metal songs, whereas the earphones cope noticeably better with dance and hip-hop.
The R1s are also weak when it comes to operation, as this is far too imprecise and delayed. So if you’re looking for affordable open-ear headphones, the Edifier R1 is definitely worth a try. However, if you’re prepared to spend a little more money, there are much better alternatives.
- Elegant design
- Excellent wearing comfort
- Good microphones
- Treble too sharp
- Sound somewhat lacking in detail
- Imprecise operation
Edifier R1
Workmanship
Wearing comfort
Sound quality
Recording quality
Features
Value For Money
81/100
Stylish and very comfortable open-ear headphones with good battery life, but with noticeable weaknesses in terms of sound and operation.
