Update Oct 3rd: day 2/14 done
September was super active, ran 1200km in total, averaging 55K steps per day. And now Apple Watch is like ‘hey, do MORE’ … it’s never-ending. The so called “Peter Principle” … up up up until you can’t anymore …
This looks all kinds of awesome. Not sure though if I can afford this ;)
I shall hibernate for the rest of the month.
So, basically did 2 half marathons every day. Yes, I am feeling fine.
I searched and found some older posts here. Those seem crazy expensive … only ate one so far, yes, nice
EDIT: found the local price. Omg. ~$9 per piece … cough cough.
From Garmin’s 22km to 21.99km and Athlete ‘Intelligence’ rounds it further down to 21.9km … (and yes, Garmin’s treadmill calories are always super low.)
But I am kinda curious just how bad this is. Or could one really have 3 ppl listen to the same music same time? Or is this even real? Maybe just AI generated? 35 sold …
Brief follow up to my recent post.
Thanks everyone for the lively discussion and all those interesting, differing opinions. Keep enjoying your runs! We are all on our own journeys!
No one warned me that running was THAT addictive!
And while in the beginning my legs would feel sore next day after a half marathon, by slowly and carefully (over long time), accompanied by proper stretching & strength training, increasing running volume, I now feel fine, today was the longest day with a bit over 45km.
Following up on my earlier clip style earbuds review https://www.reddit.com/r/Earbuds/s/kD08TfwJD7
I was contacted by Soundpeats and they invited me to test the new model Clip2 UU2. Only condition was to include this disclaimer:”For transparency, please mention in your post that the UU2 was provided free through SOUNDPEATS’ official community early testing program. Your impressions and conclusions should be entirely based on your own experience."
So far my favorite clip ons have been the Bose Ultra Open and the SoundCORE Aeroclip and I will mainly compare them with those, I have a few other ‘cheaper’ models that are nice but just don’t play in the same sound league. Actually, I found later that one budget set that’s very comparable are the Baseus BC1, which use some AI shenanigans to boost the bass, also 12mm driver as well as physical buttons.
TL;DR: Those UU2 are a very easy ‘buy’ recommendation from me. For regular use they sound fantastic, they are comfortable to wear and the app gives you more options to play with than you might ever need.
That being said, there is one caveat I will address later, I actually had to do quite a rewrite of this review because of the results of some of my more extreme tests. So I apologize if at times it might feel disjointed. I will also not linger on repeating spec sheets or the obvious highlights that you can find easily in other corners of the internet.
Sound is where the UU2 really shine. I was quite disappointed by the previous Clip1, they felt a tad over priced while still sounding like most budget buds, the case was too bulky and the shape of the buds bridge was just weird. The UU2 are competitively priced, very nice sized case (and feels great to hold, very premium) and I was very positively surprised by the bass, which is just hard to do with clip on buds. In quiet surroundings these are phenomenal. (One of the photos might give an idea that I tested quite a few clip on buds).
My main use case is running, so I took them outside, and this is where things shifted a bit. I had to crank them up quite someone in addition to playing with the ample options of spatial sound, dynamic EQ and Bass Boost, I managed to get the buds crackling in a not so nice way. But I think this is an extreme test case and would not necessarily apply to every day use. I was later able to replicate the distortion / crackling and communicated my findings with Soundpeats.
It is great that there ARE so many options to tinker with in the app, but for regular users this might be a bit overwhelming. I suggested that maybe access to all options (or using all options at the same time) could be hidden away in an advanced menu for the more adventurous among us.
As to looks and fit, I love that they share the same ‘mad pirate ear-ring’ energy with the Aeroclip when worn. They sit very well (I first feared the battery compartment might be too big) and I did not have to do much adjusting (and pretty much none, while running). Can’t say the same for the Bose, which are tricky to put on just right.
You get two physical buttons which either sit below or up top, depending on how you put the buds back in the case last! The case assigns left / right, no matter how you put them in. Not a frequent use scenario for myself, but cool in general, maybe very useful for others. Interestingly the left / right assignment stays the same in the app.
Speaking of BT connection: in general they perform solid, like one would expect from a modern TWS in the price range. But I did a tough endurance test yesterday: Running 42km through Tokyo along the Yamanote line. Every time I got close to a station, the connection became very flaky (which happens to most buds as those areas have high BT pollution), even Bose, Apple, Sony are not immune to that.
This was a very long day, I wanted to see how long the buds can hold and I had them active for 7.5h before the left bud finally caved in. I was expecting 10h with no LDAC active, but ok. (And no, I did not need 7.5h for 42km, the running part was 4h, but ample time for pictures and breaks and refueling and then getting home got me to 7.5h, same time my Apple Watch showed me 5% battery!)
Now for the caveat: I did another long run 2 days later, 40 minutes everything was ok, then the left buds started crackling, first in rhythm with the beat, then just crackling, shortly after it cycled through ‘beep, beep - power on’ … And now, after having let the set dry in AC’ed conditions for 48 and recharged from scratch, the left bud only charges to 10% and still crackles. Which of course is a bummer, especially given that the official website promises "Also, the IPX5 waterproof rating protects your Bluetooth earbuds from sweat and rain while you exercise, run, or cycle outdoors.” https://soundpeats.com/products/uu2-clip-on-earbuds
Apparently sweat is a different thing compared to the water jets being used for IP ratings test and well, I wanted to use them for my next upcoming marathon, because they also sound better than my Shokz Open Run 2, and with long lasting batteries they seemed like a sure contender, but I can’t recommend them anymore as work out buds. At least not if you are sweating (how much is too much, no IP test can really tell)
Since I do not do phone calls, I can’t comment on call quality.
Feel free to ask any questions you might have.
Actual use cases: adding ambient music to audio books … or a metronome to otherwise rhythm less music (for us iOS ppl, I understand in Android you can have 2 audio sources at once) …
This just as a little teaser that my UU2 review is nearly finished, just took pictures, just needs some polish, coming in a day or two.
Not that I really use coins anymore. Was fun for a while, now it’s very meh and no way I ever use all those coins.
Always wanted to do my own Yamathon (hitting all 30 stations of the Yamanote line, taking selfies in front of station entrance) and finally the stars aligned.
Bit of earbud history: those generic S19 were produced in late 2019 and I ordered mine on 1/1/20 … good old before times ;) Those were later sold as Fugu Inovations in Japan and you can still find a used set at e-earphone (last image). They even predate the Ambie AM-TW01 which came out late 2021 (also mainly Japan) … yet somehow most of main stream credits Bose with ‘inventing’ the clip-on style with the release of the open Ultra in Feb 2024 ;)
By today’s standards, those S19 sound unsurprisingly quite crappy. But back in the day this was a very cool way of staying alert while having I.e. your favorite meditation bling bling music to keep you calm. The case also has a 2200mAH battery and a USB-A port ;) … at $15 that was a steal.
Edit: just found the old Ali Express listing where they are advertised as ‘bone conducting’, which they are absolutely not.