Clip-on (or cuff-style) examples in our best open earbuds guide once felt like a niche trend alongside the more sensible shape — the one that arcs behind your ear. But these ear cuff-esque offerings may now be the next major personal audio craze.

The first ones to hit were Huawei’s FreeClip, and they were followed soon after by the premium Bose Ultra Open Earbuds. That was in early 2024, and they’re still among the best options you can buy today.

These days, everyone from Soundcore and Shokz to Earfun and Sony offers a clip-on set of buds, made to attach to the back of your ears and direct audio with tiny speakers pointing to your ear canals. They’re good for hearing everything around you at the same time as your music, and Sennheiser has just got in on the action with its Accentum Clip, available in Black and Cream colors.

The naming of Accentum (as opposed to Momentum) means they’re part of Sennheiser’s more affordable range, but they still promise the brand’s well-known rich and natural sound. The press release for the new buds says that “the growing demand for truly open earbuds has come with sonic compromises” and that these buck that trend by offering “brilliant Sennheiser sound in every situation”.

But we’ve also been here before with the cheap and slightly disappointing Sennheiser Accentum Open. I was keen to try the Accentum Clip and hoped they improved upon the previous attempt.

The good news is that these offer great performance in most of the areas that matter.

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