Soundpeats CC3 Pro Clip-On Earbuds Review

Clip-on earbuds continue to be a growing segment in the earbuds market, with my most recent review being the SoundPeats UU2 POP Clip2 Clip-On Earbuds.

Soundpeats has now launched the CC3 Pro, which appears to be the successor to the Soundpeats Pearl Clip Pro, which I reviewed back in January 2025.

Sale

SoundPEATS Open-Ear Clip-On Earbuds, Lightweight Comfort, Wireless Charging | LDAC & Hi-Res Audio, Physical Buttons, 44H Playtime, Automatic L/R Channel Adaptation, IPX6 & BT6.0 for Sports

£75.99

Buy on Amazon

Related Reviews

• Soundcore Aeroclip Review
• Soundcore c40i Review
• OpenRock S2 Open-Ear Earbuds Review
• Tozo OpenBuds Review
• QCY Crossky C50 Clip-on Earbuds Review

Specification

Soundpeats CC3 Features and Improvements

• Upgrades
  • Higher maximum output for louder, cleaner playback
  • +6.8 dB SPL vs. Clip1
  • +3.2 dB SPL vs. POP Clip
  • Improved skin-friendly coating
  • Longer battery life with up to 10 hours per charge and 42 hours total
• Sound
  • 12 mm titanium-coated dual-magnet dynamic driver for fuller, more dynamic sound
  • DynamicEQ for richer bass performance
  • Custom EQ for personalised tuning
  • LDAC & Hi-Res Wireless for high-resolution audio playback
• Comfort
  • Approximately 5g per earbud for lightweight all-day wear
  • Redesigned U-Bridge for a more secure and stable fit
  • Open-ear design for pressure-free listening and environmental awareness
  • Slim profile for comfortable use with glasses and masks
  • 0.5 mm nickel-titanium memory wire for flexibility and durability
  • UV nano-excimer coating for a smooth, skin-friendly finish
• Everyday Features
  • Automatic left/right recognition for grab-and-go convenience
  • Physical button controls for fewer accidental touches
  • Privacy Mode for more private listening
  • Multipoint connection
  • Fast charging(10 min = 2 h) for quick top-ups

Design & Comfort

The CC3 Pro arrive in a compact white box with the Hi-Res Audio Wireless and LDAC badges on the front. Inside, you get the earbuds, the charging case, a USB-C cable and a user guide. The CC3 Pro are also the first product to use Soundpeats’ new, more rounded logo, so you may see a mix of old and new branding on Soundpeats products for a while.

The case has a glossy midnight blue finish that looks smart but picks up fingerprints easily. It measures 70.6 x 47.0 x 25.0mm, so it is not tiny, but it is reasonable for a clip-on design, which always needs a wider case than conventional earbuds. The USB-C port and pairing button sit at the bottom of the case, and the earbuds can go into either slot thanks to the automatic left and right recognition.

The earbuds follow the familiar clip-on layout. A matte silicone bridge links a glossy blue-black speaker housing, which sits just outside the ear canal, to a second housing behind the ear that holds the battery and the button. At 5.5g each, they are a little heavier and larger than the UU2 POP Clip2, which weigh around 4.7g. For most people this won’t be noticeable once they are on, but those with smaller ears may need more trial and error to get a secure, comfortable position.

Positioning matters more with clip-ons than with in-ear buds. Moving the speaker housing a few millimetres closer to or further from the ear canal makes a clear difference to the volume and the amount of bass you hear, so it is worth spending a minute adjusting them before judging the sound.

The switch to physical buttons is the most welcome design change. The touch controls on the PearlClip Pro could be triggered by accident when adjusting the fit, which is a common complaint with clip-ons. The CC3 Pro buttons are wrapped in silicone, provide a definite click and can be remapped in the app. The minor trade-off is that pressing the button pushes the earbud against your ear, though the open design means nothing gets pushed into the ear canal.

The IPX6 rating covers sweat, rain and splashes, which is fine for running and the gym, but they are not designed to be submerged.

Soundpeats App

The CC3 Pro use the Soundpeats app rather than the older PeatsAudio app used by the PearlClip Pro. The home screen shows the battery level of each earbud and the case, followed by toggles for Spatial Audio, Dynamic EQ, LDAC, Game mode and Privacy Mode. You also get gesture control customisation, dual-device connection management, Find Earbuds, a Drainage Function that plays a tone to help clear water from the speaker grilles, prompt sound settings, and the usual device information and reset options.

The app prompted a firmware update as soon as I connected the earbuds, taking them from v0.2.1 to v0.2.9. The file was only 767.50 KB, but the whole process took just over 3 minutes, almost all of which was the transfer to the earbuds. You need to keep the earbuds in the case during the update.

There is one sign that the software isn’t quite finished. The auto power off timer option is labelled in Chinese characters on my unit rather than English. It is a minor issue on pre-release firmware, and I would expect it to be fixed by launch, but it is worth mentioning.

The equaliser section has three parts. There is a set of presets, such as Classic, an Adaptive Equaliser that plays tones and asks you to tap when you hear them to build a profile for your hearing, and a custom 8-band EQ. The custom EQ covers 62Hz to 8kHz with a range of plus or minus 6dB, which is adequate for most adjustments, though there is no control above 8kHz.

The biggest limitation is that the EQ cannot be used at the same time as Spatial Audio, Dynamic EQ or Privacy Mode, and turning one on automatically turns the others off. This means you have to choose between a custom sound profile and features like Privacy Mode, which is a little frustrating.

Sound Quality

The CC3 Pro use a two-driver design. The 12mm dual-magnet dynamic driver handles the bass and mid-range, while the 9mm piezoelectric ceramic driver handles the treble. Piezoelectric drivers respond very quickly, which helps with detail in cymbals, vocals and the upper harmonics of instruments. The quoted 20Hz to 40kHz frequency response is mostly there for the Hi-Res certification, as the upper half of that range is well beyond human hearing, but the extra driver does make an audible difference.

I found the sound quality of these to be a notable improvement over the POP Clip 2 I reviewed more recently. There is more clarity in the treble and the overall presentation feels fuller and less congested.

It is worth noting that my partner did think these sounded tinny when she first wore them. I feel this may have been user error with the positioning, as she was coming from the inferior TOZO OpenEarRing, which has a different fit. As mentioned above, a small change in where the speaker sits makes a big difference to bass on clip-ons.

I would say the sound quality is not as good as the more expensive Soundcore AeroClip. Then again, my partner seemed to prefer the Soundcore C40i, so I am not sure her judgement is trustworthy when it comes to sound quality.

Overall, the sound is good, with an impressive level of bass for earbuds of this size. Dynamic EQ boosts the low end at lower volumes, where open-ear designs usually sound thinnest and, according to Soundpeats, it works with LDAC enabled. LDAC requires an Android phone that supports it, so iPhone users will be limited to AAC.

As always, they sound better indoors due to the lack of wind and environmental noise, but I found that they worked well while walking outside. Traffic and wind will mask some of the bass, and you will naturally turn the volume up to compensate.

Turning the volume up brings the usual open-ear issue of sound leakage. At moderate to high volumes, people sitting near you will hear something, even if they can’t make out exactly what you are listening to. Privacy Mode reduces the leakage by limiting the output, which is useful in a quiet office or on public transport, but it disables the custom EQ and Dynamic EQ.

After about an hour of listening I did experience some fatigue. I get this a lot with high-pitched frequencies, and the crisp treble from the piezoelectric driver will not suit everyone over long sessions. Pulling down the 4kHz and 8kHz bands in the custom EQ is the obvious way to soften this, though doing so turns off Dynamic EQ. While the earbuds do have good bass, they are never going to be as warm as proper in-ear or over-ear headphones.

Battery Life

Battery life is one of the biggest improvements over the previous model. Soundpeats quotes up to 10 hours from the earbuds and 44 hours in total with the case. This compares with 6 hours and 24 hours for the PearlClip Pro and around 42 hours in total for the UU2 POP Clip2.

As with most earbuds, these figures will drop when LDAC is enabled and when listening at higher volumes. Open-ear designs tend to be used at higher volumes than in-ear buds, particularly outdoors, so I would expect real-world runtime to be a few hours lower than the quoted maximum. Even so, there is enough headroom that a full day of intermittent use should not be a problem.

The earbuds take around 53 minutes to charge fully, while the case takes around 100 minutes over USB-C. Fast charging provides up to 3 hours of playback from a 10-minute charge, which is an improvement on the 2 hours quoted for the PearlClip Pro.

Wireless charging is a welcome addition at this price. It is slower than wired charging, as is normal, but it is convenient to drop the case on a charging pad overnight rather than finding a cable.

Price and Alternative Options

Sale

SoundPEATS Open-Ear Clip-On Earbuds, Lightweight Comfort, Wireless Charging | LDAC & Hi-Res Audio, Physical Buttons, 44H Playtime, Automatic L/R Channel Adaptation, IPX6 & BT6.0 for Sports

£75.99

Buy on Amazon

The Soundpeats CC3 Pro have an RRP of $70, and the UK RRP has now been confirmed at £75.99, with availability from 28 October 2026.

The Soundpeats UU2 (POP Clip 2) I reviewed a few weeks back had an RRP of $50 and is listed on Amazon UK for £60 RRP, discounted to £51. Before the UK price was confirmed, I expected the CC3 Pro to be around £70, which I felt was a good reflection of the performance difference. At £75.99 the RRP is a touch higher than I hoped, but Soundpeats products are usually discounted on Amazon soon after launch, and I would expect the CC3 Pro to drop to around £60 to £65 at times.

Alternative options include:

Anker Soundcore

• Soundcore C50i: £45
• Soundcore C40i: £40
• Soundcore AeroClip: £94

Other brands

• TOZO OpenEarRing: £30
• Baseus Bowie MC2: £64
• EarFun Clip Open: £33

The Soundcore C40i, C50i, TOZO OpenEarRing and EarFun Clip Open are all much cheaper and are a sensible way to find out whether the clip-on style suits you, but the CC3 Pro offer a more complete package, with LDAC, physical buttons, wireless charging and a dual-driver setup. The Soundcore AeroClip offers better sound quality, but it costs around £20 more. The UU2 POP Clip2 are also worth considering if you can find them discounted to around £50, as they offer LDAC and physical buttons, but they don’t sound as good and lack the extra driver.

Overall

The Soundpeats CC3 Pro are a decent pair of clip-on earbuds, with pricing sitting at the top end of the budget options.

I’d say the overall price-to-performance ratio is about right. They are better than the UU2 (POP Clip 2) and many other cheaper options from other brands, but not as good as the AeroClip.

The strengths are clear. The dual-driver setup delivers more detail than most clip-ons at this price, the bass is good for the form factor, the physical buttons are a real improvement over touch controls, and the battery life and wireless charging put them ahead of most of the competition. The app is also well featured, with an adaptive EQ, an 8-band custom EQ and useful extras such as Find Earbuds and multipoint.

There are some weaknesses. The bright treble caused some listening fatigue for me, the EQ cannot be combined with Privacy Mode or Dynamic EQ, the earbuds are a little larger than the UU2, and the app still has a few rough edges ahead of launch. Sound leakage at higher volumes is also unavoidable with this type of design.

I will note that both the Soundcore C40i and AeroClip broke after around a year of use, with them failing to charge due to either the pogo pins getting damaged or the contact area for the pogo pins wearing away. Durability is therefore something I will keep an eye on with the CC3 Pro, and I would suggest buying from a retailer with a straightforward returns process.

If you want open-ear earbuds that let you hear traffic and conversations while still offering decent bass and detail, the CC3 Pro are one of the better options under £80, especially once they are discounted. If you are sensitive to treble or want the best sound quality in this category, the AeroClip is still the better choice, provided you are happy to pay more.

James Smythe( Owner / Editor )

I am James, a UK-based tech enthusiast and the Editor and Owner of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Passionate about all things technology, my expertise spans from computers and networking to mobile, wearables, and smart home devices.

As a fitness fanatic who loves running and cycling, I also have a keen interest in fitness-related technology, and I take every opportunity to cover this niche on my blog. My diverse interests allow me to bring a unique perspective to tech blogging, merging lifestyle, fitness, and the latest tech trends.

In my academic pursuits, I earned a BSc in Information Systems Design from UCLAN, before advancing my learning with a Master’s Degree in Computing.

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