Edifier R1 Earphones Review

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Open-ear audio and a clippy-grip fit make the Edifier R1 a solid audio solution.

Introduction

I’ve tried a couple of different Edifier products over the years, but this is the first one that’s a real departure from my usual audio solutions. I tend to prefer a more all-encompassing, preferably noise-cancelling experience. The Edifier R1 headphones are all about great audio in an open space. Letting the sound of the world around you wash into your ear as easily as the music, podcasts, or whatever else it is that you’re listening to. So how did they do, and can they sway me?

Design and Build Quality

The only place to rationally start is with the design. The Edifier R1 has an open-ear clip-on design that tries to offer all-day comfortable wearing. They’re made of a slick, frustratingly shiny plastic material but overall feel quite good. They wrap around your ear in such a way that they almost clip into place, and this is to offer stability and comfort. Putting them in the first time felt a little odd, and in truth, I never quite got past the feeling that they weren’t quite in. Like they were going to fall out at any moment. They never did though, and I’m sure given enough time to adapt, they would start feeling pretty natural. 

They come in a reasonably sized case, and there was a little bit of fumbling to get the earphones loaded in. I’d get used to that, I’m sure. It’s USB-C charging with the port fitted at the back, and an LED light indicates charging modes, etc. A little button sits to the side of the USB-C port, and that’s about it functionally. Nothing groundbreaking, but hey, it’s a case for some headphones. The branding being set to one side, iOS relatively clean and minimal, and the gold colour on the theft is a nice contrast to the otherwise gray/blue devices. I really wish it wasn’t so shiny though.

The Edifier R1 Open-Ear headphones are nicely designed. The material is solid, a little cheap feeling, and have a clear, clean look to them. Add to all this the IP56 water resistance and the ability to wear either headphone in either ear, and it starts to feel like a good little package on offer. 

Connectivity

Connectivity has been solid throughout this review period. A simple press and hold on the button on the back of the cases launches pairing mode. Edifier also has its own app for managing connectivity between two devices, which is a nice touch. Unfortunately, in 2025, I, like many, have way more than two devices to switch between, but it was useful to have during longer work sessions. It was also pretty reliable whenever I manually went into my settings to reconnect; I never had to worry about launching back into pairing mode or anything like that. There was little to no latency when I used them to watch videos or even play games on my Nintendo Switch Lite, so overall connectivity was pretty sleek, even if it lacks some of the smarter device switching functions of earbuds like the AirPods. 

Sound Quality

Audio performance has been really impressive, particularly considering the price point. Bass had some solid thump, the mids were clean, and the highs cut through without sounding too invasive or ‘screechy’. You can again use Edifier’s app to rebalance this audio with four modes as necessary. It’s limited to four options: ‘Classic’, ‘Bass Boost’, ‘Vocal’, and ‘Treble Boost’. These different profiles do make a difference but not so much that I need to visit them often. The app also has a ‘Game mode’, which I have to assume is intended to minimise latency during gameplay. I didn’t see any issues with latency so I’m not convinced this feature is all that necessary. At least it wasn’t during my time with the Edifier R1.

Battery Life

Edifier claim 7 hours of playback from one charge and 3 full charges in the case. I wasn’t often that I had to worry about battery with these earphones and so I’m inclined to give Edifier the benefit of the doubt with these numbers. That feels about right. What is nice is the fast charging. Edifier claim 15 minutes of charging = 3 hours of battery life and while I don’t have the means to measure this down to the second I did find myself needing a little burst of juice one afternoon before heading home from my day job and about 20 minutes gave me more than enough to get me home and then some. Fast charging to any extent is always a pleasant feature to find. 

Controls and Features

Before wrapping up there’s one point that really does need to be touched on. Literally. As well as the expected pairing buttons and the extra features in the app, the Edifier R1 earphones have touch controls. Not groundbreaking I know, most modern earphones offer this, but it feels like this needed a little more testing and focus. They rarely recognise the difference between double taps and triple taps which meant they never functioned for what I needed. What they did manage to do is trigger every time my hand went near them. Adjusting my glasses? Podcast paused. Scratching my ear? Oh we’ve skipped a track, great. It got to the point where I disabled all touch controls using the Edifier app. It wasn’t a dealbreaker or anything, just a frustrating version of a feature that other products seemed to nail a good few years ago.

Conclusion

 A few oddities aside the Edifier R1 Open-Ear headphones are great. They’re simply designed and fit well, though take a little getting used to, and offer almost all of the features you could ask for. It’s definitely not a product that suits my needs but if you’re looking for headphones that are a stable fit, keep you connected with the world around you and ultimately produce a good listening experience then this product could tick all your boxes. All this at half the price of many of its competitors? That sounds like a win to me. 

3 out of 5

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Click HERE to learn more about the EDIFIER R1 Earphones