Over the last few weeks, I’ve exclusively been using the Clam Ace 2 headphones from Fresh n Rebel and with a price tag of less than £100, there is a lot on offer for the money.
Unboxing the headphones, we’ve got a big, bold, blue satin colour set which I do like, but if you want something more subtle, there are 5 other colours you can choose from, including a silver and grey. Big, soft ear cushions that sit over your ear, with a padded, flexible headband too. There is a good amount of flex and adjustment to get a comfy fit, and I should add both left and right cans fold in on themselves, compacting the headphones for easy storage when moving around. A small fabric carry bag is provided in the box to offer some protection.
To the right ear, a USB C port is used for charging, as well as a scroll wheel for volume control. For further control, the black rubber logo section on either side is a push button, so you can use both of these to turn the headphones on, change tracks and so on. All the commands are included in the instructions. These do come with auto pause, which I use a lot, so if someone is talking to you, remove these from your head, and your content will automatically pause, so you wont miss the rest of your song. If you don’t want to take the headphones off, you can actually hold down the button on the left earcup and for the duration you’re holding it down, the volume decreases a fair amount so you can hear through the music. I don’t see that very often and it’s a nice touch.
In terms of specification and features, they come with adaptive hybrid active noise cancellation, and as these are over-the-ear with the chunky cushions, a lot of passive cancellation too. There is also something called wind noise cancellation, which is an additional level of noise cancellation for when it’s windy outside. There is also an ambient sound mode, so you can hear the outside world to a degree and be aware of your surroundings. There is app support, offering various settings and adjustments, as well as Audiodo personal sound and I’ll touch on that a bit more later. Bluetooth 6.0 with multipoint connection, dual ENC microphones, voice assistant, auto pause and upto 100 hours of playtime. 100 hours sounds impressive but it is noted that the battery reduces down to 60 hours with ANC on and 45hours with ANC and wind noise cancellation on too. Still a long time though.
Performance is fantastic at this price point, and I’ve got no complaints. Punchy bass, vibrant with lots of flexibility of EQ options to suit what you’re listening to, and they’re obvious EQ changes too. Sometimes you scroll through, and you wonder if much has changed but that isn’t the case here. I listened to a lot of music, usually with the rock EQ setting and personal sound on and I enjoyed every second. Compared to other headphones I’ve tried, I feel these perform better than their price tag of £90. I watched some YouTube videos, some Rick & Morty too and video content sounds great as well.
As mentioned earlier, these headphones, via the app, include Audiodo. For those unaware, Audiodo have created a technology that provides a personal audio experience, specifically tailored to you and how you hear things. Audiodo offer their personal sound to many brands and Fresh n Rebel are one of them. Through the app, you will need to run through a hearing test. It takes a couple of minutes and you’ll hear a number of beeps or tones, in different frequencies. As you hear one, you say yes, you’ve heard it or if you don’t hear anything, say no, you don’t hear it. Don’t worry about not hearing some, I had a bunch that I couldn’t hear. You’ll go through both left and right ears and after the test, you will have your own personal sound profile based on your hearing. Save it and use it. Within the app you can turn your profile on and off while listening to music and the difference will be night and day. It’s great, you have to try it and experience it yourself.
ANC is very good and again, outperforms it’s price tag of £90 in my opinion. Working, typing, I cant hear a thing and if someone wants me, you’ve got to come and tap me on the shoulder. I’ve got two kids and yeah, I cant hear either of them. On the train, you can easily zone out and get away from it. I haven’t been able to try these on a plane but I imagine they’d hold up pretty well.
As for comfort, they are very comfortable. The cushions on either side and to the headband are nice and squishy. Plenty of adjustment in the headband, so you should be able to achieve a snug fit, whatever shape or size your head is. They’re pretty secure, too but not tight in any way. I reckon you could use these on a jog or in the gym if you wanted to. The cushions are covered in this leatherette material, which can sometimes get a bit sweaty depending on what you’re doing.
Controls work well; they’re very easy for us. The scroll wheel is great for volume, I prefer a scroll rather than buttons for volume, I find it’s easier. The other buttons either side are large and responsive, you shouldn’t have many misses and you can feel the feedback when you do click, which again I prefer. The touch-sensitive buttons you find on some headphones now, you never really know if you’re touching the right place, nor do you get any physical feedback.
Additional controls are available through the app, such as selecting through ANC, Wind noise, Ambient and so on, as well as selecting EQ options and personal sound. This is where you can turn the personal sound on and off while listening to something and check the difference. You can also adjust the button controls through the app, so as default, a single press on the left scrolls through ANC on, off or ambient mode but if you didn’t want that, you can change it to something else. There are voice prompts or tones, when changing settings.
Overall, for £90, you really can’t go wrong. Yes, you can get better, you can pick up a pair of Sonos Ace for £400, which is 5 times more expensive but I wouldn’t say they’re 5 times better. These are very comfy, supportive, audio performance is great, love the personal sound from Audiodo. The ANC is great and the battery life is decent too, more than enough for me. I’m going to keep using these, see how durable they are and if I have any updates, ill drop them in the comments below. Likewise, if you have any questions, let me know.
To purchased, head over to the official Fresh n Rebel website.
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