Boat Airdopes ProClip review: An open-ear design that gets the basics right

Open-ear earbuds have created their niche, and you have plenty of options in the market. At the same time, they have a very different proposition from regular TWS earbuds. They don’t seal the ear canal. In practice, when you sport open-ear earbuds, you get ambient awareness but no form of noise cancellation. Now, for those who want this kind of earphones, Boat has launched the Airdopes ProClip. It features the clip-on design, 12mm dynamic drivers, Bluetooth 6.0, multipoint connectivity, a claimed 52-hour battery life, 55ms low latency, and AI-powered Environmental Noise Cancellation for calls. All at an asking price of only Rs 1799.

I have been wearing the Boat Airdopes ProClip for a week now, and here’s how it fared as my primary buds for music, movies, calls, and navigation instructions, while keeping me aware of my surroundings.

Boat Airdopes ProClip: Design and build

Our Boat Airdopes ProClip review unit has a chic Velvet Wine colour and a matte finish. The other two options are Silk Grey and Satin White. The buds have a flexible C-shaped bridge between their two modules. The smaller module has the driver and sits in front of the ear, and the battery and controls are present in the other module, which sits behind the ear. While it is very light and the bridge ensures the earbuds don’t fall off even during workouts, occasionally, after several hours of wearing them, I did feel mild pressure.

Thankfully, wearing them and removing them is easy. So, whether it is because of fatigue, rain, or while washing my face, I could easily take them off. By the way, because of IPX4 ingress protection, the buds can withstand some splash. Also, you can keep them and still hear your neighbours talking to you, even if music is playing. But to have a conversation, the music will need to be stopped.

Boat Airdopes ProClip: Connectivity and app controls

For pairing, the user has to open the Boat Airdopes ProClip case and press the button on the back of the case for a few seconds. Choose it in your device’s Bluetooth settings. That’s it. You can start using it, or if you want to tweak any settings, use the Boat Hearables app. The app takes a second to register the connection.

The connection stayed stable throughout my use. You get Bluetooth multipoint support, too, enabled by default. You can connect to two devices at a time, but playback on the first device needs to be paused for audio to be heard from the second device.

You can find Multipoint and other settings within the Boat Hearables app. The app needs you to log in with a mobile number and an email ID, by the way. Also, the app asks you where you purchased the earbuds from and offers you complementary Spotify and JioSaavn subscriptions.

Inside, you get to see the battery status and basic tweaking options. The two primary settings I found useful were that you can choose and change the 10-band EQ and configure the touch controls.

You have to tap the module present on the back of the ear to trigger the touch controls. It works decently but takes a sweet second to register. Sometimes, that can be annoying.

There’s also a Beast Mode that is said to reduce the latency to 55ms. This worked alright for gaming and watching dialogue-heavy content on screen.

Boat Airdopes ProClip: Sound quality

Let me tell you right away that the sound experience from the Boat open-earbuds was nice and better than my expectations. It is fairly airy with ample clarity for vocals, instruments, and respectable weight for bass.

I vividly remember the atmospheric feel I got while listening to Snehithine cover by Masala Coffee on YouTube Music. The vocals by the band’s lead singer, Sooraj Santhosh, and the violin strings reached high notes impressively. The different instruments could also be heard from different positions, showcasing the earbuds’ better-than-expected sound staging.

Since open-ear earbuds do not seal the ear canal, they cannot deliver the same low-frequency impact as in-ear earbuds. Still, the bass drops in songs such as Like This by Miss Tyka were fine for the part and price.

Again, lower volume level and more sound leakage than in-ear buds are part of the package. Even though the Boat Hearables app consists of a Private Mode in EQ settings, which is meant to reduce sound leakage, my neighbour could still hear what I was listening to. Open earbuds after all.

Also Read: Skullcandy Method 360 ANC review: Standing out is easy, but can it stand apart?

Boat Airdopes ProClip: Calls and ambient noise

Open earbuds like the Boat Airdopes ProClip are best used while walking outdoors and in any situation wherein you want to hear what’s happening around you. You don’t need to turn on transparency or ambient mode. It is on by design, and there is no artificiality to the ambient sound and voices.

As for voices over calls, the quality was adequate indoors. I could hear the other person well, and their voice sounded clear and familiar. But they mentioned that I sounded a little bassy. And, of course, surrounding noises were creeping in.

Boat Airdopes ProClip: Battery life and charging

Each earbud packs a 50mAh battery, while the charging case has a 500mAh battery. Together, they are rated to provide up to 52 hours of total playback at around 60% volume. Our test involved running it continuously, playing a FLAC music file at 80% volume, and it lasted close to 7 hours.

The earbuds are said to take 50 minutes to fully charge via the USB Type-C port, while the case takes up to 2 hours. Additionally, the fast-charging feature is quite useful. A 10-minute charge provides up to 200 minutes of playback, according to Boat. That should give the earbuds enough charge before leaving home.

For everyday use, the battery life is more than sufficient. You can wear these through a workday and several workouts without thinking much about charging.

Should you buy Boat Airdopes ProClip?

At Rs 1799, the Boat Airdopes ProClip makes sense if you specifically want the benefits of an open-ear design. It is comfortable, stays secure during workouts, has good battery life, and lets you hear your surroundings without relying on a transparency mode. I also found the sound output decent.

However, as expected from this design and price, there are some compromises. You get more sound leakage and less bass impact than a sealed TWS earbud. Call quality is adequate indoors, but background noise can creep into calls outdoors.

As long as you can live with these trade-offs, for under Rs 2000, you can absolutely consider the Boat Airdopes ProClip.

Keep reading Digit.in for similar stories.

Also Read: Realme Buds Clip review: A comfortable open-ear earphones under Rs 6,000