Cleer Scene review: Simple, stylish and sounds good

(Pocket-lint) – Cleer Audio is known for delivering great quality sound at affordable prices, and we’re hoping the same is true of its latest Bluetooth speaker. The Cleer Scene is a portable speaker with a stylish design, compact form factor and the promise of big sound. At a price of around GBP99 / EUR119, it’s up against stiff competition from some of the most popular brands in the space.

We set out to see how it compares.

Our quick take

The Cleer Scene is a lovely-looking speaker that produces an excellent sound. When it comes to specifications, it’s short on features, and the battery life is far from the most impressive that we’ve tested. That said, this speaker does everything it needs to, and it lasts more than long enough for our needs.

If you’re looking for a Bluetooth speaker with a more refined sound signature, and don’t want to remortgage your house to get it, then this could well be the one for you. The competition is fierce, but the Cleer Scene stands out as a sonically impressive portable option.

Cleer Scene review: Simple, stylish and sounds good

Cleer Scene

For

  • Great sound
  • Quality look and feel
  • Excellent price point
  • IPX7 water resistance

Against

  • No smart features
  • No fast charging
  • No stereo pairing

Design and connectivity

  • Dimensions: Approx 220 x 74 x 90 mm
  • Weight: Approx 742g
  • IPX7 water resistance
  • Bluetooth 5.0, 3.5mm audio input, USB-C charging

The Cleer Scene is a great-looking speaker. It’s available in two colours, a more subtle grey finish, that we’re testing, and a bold all-red version for those looking to make a statement.

POCKET-LINT VIDEO OF THE DAY

The speaker is mostly covered with a mesh fabric, with rubberised buttons on the top and rear, and a metallic-looking strip encircling the radiators and flowing across the front of the device.

This strip is actually made from plastic, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at it.

Pocket-lint
Cleer Scene review: photo 3

There’s a central logo at the front, with a diffused LED bar underneath. On the rear, the power button and Bluetooth pairing button illuminate when in use, in green and blue colours respectively. We’re big fans of the aesthetic, it’s classy, understated and looks great around the house.

Many Bluetooth speakers tend towards a more rugged rubberised look, and maybe that’s better for durability, but we think most would agree that this is easier on the eyes.

Pocket-lint
Cleer Scene review: photo 8

Speaking of ruggedness, the Scene benefits from IPX7 water resistance and it’s shockproof, too. It feels solid in the hand, but we think that dropping it is very likely to ruin its looks, even if it still works afterwards. Each end features a passive radiator with a metallic cone that bounces along with your music.

These are hypnotizing to watch, and look great when they catch the light. It’s a similar size to a lot of other can-shaped Bluetooth speakers, but the angled sides mean that it can only be placed horizontally. It’ll still fit nicely into the bottle pocket on a backpack, and maybe even a bottle clip on a bicycle, too.

Pocket-lint
Cleer Scene review: photo 13

When it comes to connectivity, you have two options, either wirelessly via Bluetooth 5.0 or wired with a 3.5mm audio cable.

There’s a USB-C port, but it’s for charging only, and a cable is supplied in the box, but no wall adapter.

Features and battery life

  • Microphone for voice calls
  • NFC pairing
  • Rechargeable 2600 mAh battery
  • Up to 12 Hours of playback per charge

When it comes to features, the Cleer Scene is about as basic as they come. There’s no companion app or Wi-Fi connectivity, and no stereo pairing options. You aren’t able to adjust the EQ either, so you’d better hope that you like how it sounds out of the box.

Pocket-lint
Cleer Scene review: photo 11

What you do get is a noise and echo-cancelling microphone for taking calls and NFC for easy pairing.

We’re always pleased to see an NFC tag, it’s something that’s missing from a lot of Bluetooth speakers, and comes in handy for frequent device-switchers like ourselves. The battery life is quoted at up to 12 hours, but that depends on your listening volume, of course. It’s not the most impressive, compared to the competition, but it’s more than enough for our needs.

With our average use being an hour or two per day, it lasted well over a week with 50% charge still remaining.  There’s no fast-charging tech here, but when you’re not charging every day, we don’t find that to be too off-putting.

Sound quality

  • Frequency response: 20Hz – 20KHz
  • Dual 48mm neodymium dynamic drivers
  • Dual passive radiators

So, with a distinct lack of features, the Cleer Scene is banking heavily on its sound quality. And we’re happy to report that it delivers in this department.

Pocket-lint
Cleer Scene review: photo 5

Living up to the brand’s name, there’s loads of clarity, but it’s still a pleasantly warm sound overall.

It’s not a bass cannon like the Huawei Sound Joy, but the bass here is much more precise and refined. There’s plenty of punch where there should be, but it’s not exaggerated like it is on the Huawei. The preference is all down to the individual, but the definition offered by the Scene puts it ahead of most similarly-priced competitors if you crave accuracy and detail.

Staging is the area that this speaker lacks the most. It’s certainly a room-filling sound, but you won’t get much in the way of stereo separation. It’s very directional, too, so the speaker sounds best when you’re sitting right in front of it, it won’t project in all directions like some others.

Best speakers for PC gamers 2022: All the sound and RGB lighting you could ever needBest speakers for PC gamers 2022: All the sound and RGB lighting you could ever need By Adrian Willings . 1 December 2022 . Updated

If you’re not a fan of gaming headsets and want to fill your room with the sounds of gunfire, engine roars and more then we’ve got you covered.

Pocket-lint
Cleer Scene review: photo 2

We listened to a wide variety of genres and were never disappointed by the sound produced.

It’s equally adept with hip hop, electronic, jazz and rock instrumentation. It’s capable of some serious volume, too. We spent most of our time testing around the 50 per cent mark – increasing to 70 per cent or so verges on uncomfortably loud in a small room.

We never noticed any distortion at these high volumes, either, which is pretty impressive.

To recap

If you’re looking for a quality Bluetooth speaker in this price range, it’s hard to go wrong with the Cleer Scene. There are plenty of options with more bells and whistles, but few look and sound as good as this. Writing by Luke Baker.

Editing by Verity Burns.