At the risk of repeating myself, in fact, by now, it's basically a mantra, there are certain things I'm looking for in a set of wireless earbuds.

Fit. Wireless charging. Battery life. Sound quality.

I've put them in that order because that's how I prioritise those qualities.

Some people might find it curious that for me, sound quality is only the fourth most important thing. In fact, some people may forgive a lot of other shortcomings as long as their buds produce the most amazing hi-fi experience possible.

But for starters, I'm pretty deaf - well, probably about normal for a 52 year-old male - and also I mostly listen to podcasts, not music. That's why I'm more interested in earbuds that are comfy and stay in, that I can just pop on a wireless charger when I'm not using them and that will never go flat while I am.

Then along came something weird and unusual and I've had to rethink my whole list.

This month, alongside a couple of very impressive phones, HONOR launched a few other things for the first time New Zealand, including the CHOICE Earbuds Clip.

I've read about similar form-factors but have never had the chance to review something like this until now. To be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to it.

When it comes to earbuds, people tend to fall into two categories, open fit or tight seal. I've always considered myself a tight seal kind of a guy. The benefits are myriad; better passive noise cancellation which, in turn, leads to better Active Noise Cancellation. Buds with a tight seal tend to stay in - especially when exercising. And due to the laws of physics, a tight seal is also far better at delivering powerful bass response, essentially using your own ear canals as speaker chambers for the longer, lower wavelengths.

As for those open fit people, all they seem to care about is how comfortable they are and sure, if you're not wedging something down into your ears, it's probably going to feel a bit nicer.

The HONOR CHOICE Earbuds Clip is almost the epitome of open fit philosophy. Unlike some other designs that rely on a stem to sit lightly ON instead of IN your ears, or perhaps the hook-over style many athletes and cyclists seem to favour, the CHOICE Earbuds Clip is literally somewhere in-between. Each bud or "Clip" simply slides into place, almost on its own, cleverly suspending the apple-shaped speaker half of the Clip (known as "Melody Pearl") in exactly the right position, over your ear canal, barely even touching it.

The instant I had them in place - and I literally had to check in the mirror because I couldn't believe how easy they were to position - I realised these were quite simply the most comfortable earbuds I'd ever worn.

Then I shook my head around a bit. And I jumped. And I did a workout. And I walked the dog. And I spent all day digging in the garden. And the CHOICE Earbuds Clip just never moved. Not a millimetre. Making them perhaps the most secure earbuds I'd ever worn too.

With around 7 hours playback on a full charge and a total of 36 hours with the charging case, they're up there with the longest-lasting buds I've ever worn too. I've had them for nearly two weeks and I've charged them a grand total of once, when I first took them out of the box.

So by now you might be thinking, these sound like the best buds ever. And for you, they may well be.

However...

There's no noise cancellation. There's no passive noise cancellation because there's no seal and at that point, HONOR obviously decided any attempt at ANC probably wasn't worth the effort either. Well - except for phone calls. There are two mics on each Clip and if you activate it in the app, ANC will be applied to your voice so your callers won't hear any background noise.

Like I said at the top, I prefer the rest of the world to go away when I'm listening to podcasts or music, so being able to hear every truck that passes by and the confounded plovers squawking away in their annoying Aussie accents is a bit of an issue. And yet, for some users - cyclists especially - being able to hear those trucks is a safety bonus, not a hinderance.

Despite all that, the sound delivered by the 10.8mm dual-magnet driver units is incredibly focussed and remarkably accurate. As I expected, there's no real bass boom to speak of here although there's nothing tinny or thin about how my favourite tracks sound. In fact, the more acoustic, less dancey numbers come across much better than I would have thought possible.

I do have one quibble I just can't ignore though; no wireless charging. This very first-world inconvenience is somewhat annulled by the HONOR Choice Earbuds Clip's stellar battery life, but I really do hate having to plug in to charge, even infrequently.

Then I put them on again and once again the comfort and stability blows my mind and I'm almost ready to forgive the no-wireless-charging thing.

These are definitely pretty great buds. They're light but durable, with an IP54 water and dust resistance rating and the bridge part made of titanium. That's important, because that's the arch you tap for the limited on-board controls; play, pause, answer, etc. These can be customised to a degree via the HONOR AI Space app, where you can also update the firmware and fiddle with the EQ.

I thought I'd wear these earbuds a few times, not enjoy the experience and then move on as quickly as I could. But I just love wearing them too much. With no ANC and no wireless charging, they were never going to be my favourite but I tell you what; they're not all that not far off.

Click here for more information on the HONOR CHOICE Earbuds Clip.