Sennheiser Conversation Clear Plus - True Wireless Bluetooth Hearing Solution for Speech Enhancement with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) - Black

Product Information

The Sennheiser Conversation Clear Plus does look like classic wireless headphones at first glance. They have short stems pointing towards the mouth, and you can clearly see the microphones’ locations. As the name suggests, the whole point of Conversation Clear Plus is to analyse ambient noise. So there’s no question of offering small, discreet microphones. Sennheiser? Ahh yes, they make the ceiling beam forming mic for our conference room audio system" - Hybrid corporate A/V-IT guy The app/earbuds can switch between modes on its own with its Automatic Scene Detection, but the execution is also a mixed bag. The feature constantly monitors noise level but that also means it’s constantly switching between various noise cancelling levels, those little chimes become more frequent if you’re in a busy setting, and after a while it distracts. Performance If Sennheiser announces up to 9 hours of battery life, I must admit that the battery life that I could measure with these parameters was much longer. The left earpiece went out after 12 hours and 46 minutes. From this point onwards, however, I could no longer use the right earpiece in streaming mode and had to switch to communication mode to use up the last seven battery points, which were lost in 2 hours and 10 minutes. The sound quality is far too strong in the midrange, which results in a dry and flat sound. The call quality could be better to convince, and the rudimentary Bluetooth connection makes them frustrating to use daily.

clear conversation with modern style - Sennheiser Effortlessly clear conversation with modern style - Sennheiser

The Conversation Clear app provides sound customization and wireless control over the earbuds. The devices can be put in a pairing mode by pressing the touch control button located on the outer face for four seconds. The app will then establish a connection and prompt you through various screens familiarizing you with the devices and proper placement in your ears. The final step of onboarding guides you through two personalization listening tasks where you set your preferences for both volume and clarity. Sennheiser? Ahh yes, they make those yellow hi-fi headphones...I still use them to this day" - OG audiophileBattery life is rated at nine hours and 27 in total with the charging case (two extra charges). Given the Conversation Clear Plus’ many use cases I don’t think it would be fair to judge its battery life on streaming audio alone but battery life, in general, was solid throughout testing. There’s no wireless charging as the case’s reserves are boosted by a USB-C connection. I found the look of Conversation Clear Plus slightly unique due to an antenna-like finger protruding off the front of the devices. This houses one of the onboard microphones as well as the touch control button. While this adds slightly to the size, it may help improve the device's noise reduction capabilities due to the increased distance between the forward and rear microphones. The visual aesthetic of Conversation Clear Plus are otherwise consistent with the expectations for a smart earbud. This is all part of the buds’“advanced speech enhancement technology,” which uses the on-board mics and ANC to isolate particular voices based on who you’re looking at. The effect is weird at first, but once your ears get used to it, the impact is amazing. After onboarding is completed you gain full access to the app and the three user modes for relaxation, communication, and audio streaming. The first mode, Relax, is designed for comfort and provides user controls over external sounds from 0 (max reduction) to 100% (normal ambience). Conversation Clear Plus uses one of the two onboard microphones for ambient awareness which provides a more 360 degree picture of your surroundings. Communication is the second setting where you can experience the full benefits of Conversation Clear Plus’s multi-mic beamforming speech enhancement capabilities. The app defaults to a specific volume based on your initial onboarding preferences and the volume can be further customized from there. A Clarity Boost switch is also available when further speech enhancement is needed. The final Streaming mode provides a slider for you to control the balance between streamed and ambient signals. Various tabs for support and your personal settings are also available. Overall the bluetooth connection was reliable and stable throughout my time using the devices. Personalizing my settings with the app was also straightforward and easy. While the app is a nice feature, adjustments can seem limited by comparison and there was no obvious way to turn the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) feature on or off. How Do They Sound?

Conversation Clear Plus Hearing Aid Review Sennheiser Conversation Clear Plus Hearing Aid Review

Since the FDA announced the law change that allows for OTC hearing aids to be sold last year, many companies have jumped in to provide their own solutions. Sennheiser is taking a slightly different route by providing something of a middle ground — buds that do provide similar tech, but to help you hear conversations better in noisier situations. The Sennheiser Conversation Clear Plus has no pairing button on the housing. This allows you to connect to a smartphone or computer even if you don’t have the headset. To do this, press the buttons on both earphones for a few seconds until they flash blue. The headphones then appear in the Bluetooth settings of your phone or computer. THE SENNHEISER CONVERSATION CLEAR APPLICATION Plus, the traditional side of these earbuds means you’re getting Bluetooth connectivity, a 9-hour listening time extended to 27 with case charging, and that signature Sennheiser sound. When speaking to a representative, they do mention that the Momentum True Wireless 3 are the optimal option for those who just want a great music experience, but in personal testing, the Clear Plus do come damn close to providing that same clarity and warmth. Outlook You'll also be able to use the Conversation Clear Plus to take and make phone calls, which is a pretty handy addition to the feature set because you won't need to rely on your smartphone's speaker system to hear the person on the other end.

The Conversation Clear Plus boost speech and cancel noise effectively, but a number of issues see them fail to justify their hefty price tag

In the box you will find the two earbuds, 3 sizes of eartips and ear fins (small through large), a charging case, USB-C cable, and documentation. Conversation Clear Plus arrives with the medium eartips and ear fins preinstalled. It is worth trying the different sizes to find the best fit as this can improve comfort, stability in-ear, and sound quality. Once this is sorted, it does not take long to pair with the Conversation Clear app and head out into the world. Battery Life & Rechargeability Those looking for an introduction to hearing enhancement: Conversation Clear Plus are not hearing aids. While they may offer some communication benefits to specific individuals, they work more like smart earbuds. They have some hearing features but sound customization is limited. The Sennheiser Conversation Clear Plus has 70 mAh batteries, while the housing has a 500 mAh battery. According to Sennheiser, this battery life would allow the headphones to operate for 9 hours. On top of letting you communicate more effectively, these will work nicely for consuming media when you hook them up to your devices via Bluetooth connectivity. In the dedicated Streaming mode, these have the ability to double up as a pair of regular true wireless earbuds and will adjust the sound settings accordingly. You can use them to listen to music, radio, TV shows, movies and so on without having any issues with clarity. The concept of Conversation Clear plus revolves around the three modes we discussed earlier. These modes allow you to manage active noise reduction via the relax mode, the transparent mode, thanks to the communication mode, or the balance between these two functions when listening to music via the streaming mode. RELAX MODE

Effortlessly clear conversation with modern style - Sennheiser

You'll get up to 9 hours of use from these at a time, and they come housed in a charging case which delivers up to 27 hours of battery to the buds in total before you'll need to plug it in using a USB-C cable. Utilising sophisticated Sonova chip technology, conversations and calls are enhanced thanks to the Sennheiser Automatic Scene Detection feature, which analyses the noise level of a user's environment and matches the speech enhancement level to their surroundings. Overall, this feature is interesting, but it needs to distinguish itself from what Apple already offers with the hearing aid mode of the AirPods. More importantly, with Bluetooth LE Audio eventually coming to Android, most traditional wireless headphones should offer a similar feature. STREAM MODE https://habr.com/en/post/456182/ (whole thing is very interesting, but the section titled "Bluetooth 5, Classic and Low Energy" explains this) Conversation Clear Plus were released January 20th, 2023. Like hearing aids, Conversation Clear Plus are designed to make it easier to understand speech in noisy environments. However, Conversation Clear Plus offer limited volume when compared to prescription or OTC hearing aids, and this means they won't be a suitable alternative to a hearing aid unless you're at the earliest stages of losing your hearing.One of those brands is Sennheiser. It launched several products in recent years to enhance the clarity of the interactions you have every day with people and devices in the home.