Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reporter Zhou Yumeng

Everyone's pinyin quality, battery life, and noise reduction are the basics, but more importantly, whether headphones can truly 'integrate into life';

To talk about the research and development experience of smart headphones, it's all in one word: 'difficult'! It's like being a dojo in a snail shell;

In the future, headphones will transform from 'devices worn on the ears' to' intelligent agents used in daily life ';

We don't make 'cheap substitutes', but rather' domestic products worth remembering ', and we want to truly make the open headphone track the home field of Chinese brands ........

Guanxu Electronics Chairman Wu Haiquan speaks in a soft and steady voice, but behind the light and steady tone, there is a unique firmness and persistence.

Recently, a reporter from Shenzhen Special Zone Daily walked into Guanxu Electronics, located in Shenzhen International Low Carbon City, and looked at the green office environment, as if walking into a "forest factory". This "science and technology innovation" enterprise, which has been rooted in Shenzhen for 28 years, has grown step by step from a OEM factory to the establishment of its own brand, and has become a leader in the global open headphone market. With its technological strength and ultimate innovation spirit, it is opening up a high-end counterattack path for Chinese independent brands in segmented fields.

A brand that grows from 'pain'

The 2008 financial crisis came too suddenly, like a bolt from the blue. "Wu Haiquan recalled the scene of" zero orders overnight "for OEM orders and sighed," More than 1000 employees in the factory were waiting to start work, and there were unfinished parts piled up in the warehouse, which made me so anxious that I couldn't sleep all night. "The financial crisis was like a storm, which made Guanxu Electronics deeply understand the feeling of having the initiative in the hands of others.

After learning from his mistakes, Wu Haiquan made a difficult decision: to transform into an independent brand.

In 2012, the Cleer brand was born, carrying the simple belief of "no longer wanting to make wedding dresses for others", which opened the way for Chinese brands to make a comeback in the field of acoustics.

This is the first "pain" created by Cleer, and Wu Haiquan has embarked on the path of transformation towards independent brands with the determination of "thinking of change when pain arises".

And Cleer's growth also has a second 'pain', which comes from users and is forced out by their 'pain'. As early as 2013, the Cleer team began targeting the open earphone segment. Wu Haiquan told reporters that choosing open-ended headphones is truly derived from users' "pain points" - is there a type of headphone that can not only allow people to listen to music with peace of mind, but also pay attention to the sound of the surrounding environment? How to avoid traditional in ear headphones from becoming swollen and painful after wearing them for a long time? What should athletes do if they are worried about not hearing the sound of cars while wearing them?

What should I do if I feel uncomfortable soaking sweat in my ears? Thus, the idea of open design emerged.

Build a dojo in snail shells

Although headphones may be small, they are by no means simple. They are a highly complex system engineering product, like a dojo in a snail shell, "said Wu Haiquan, expressing the hardships of developing smart headphones. He introduced that the development of headphones is a "dance on the tip of the needle", because of limited space and sensitivity to energy consumption, any slight deviation in the design of any unit may have a ripple effect on the whole body. The most difficult part is to achieve a balance and unity of high performance, low power consumption, good sound quality, and strong intelligence in such a small volume, which is no less difficult than developing a smartphone.

Taking the CleerClip Star Arc, an open type AI headset, as an example, Guanxu Electronics has spent over ten years researching and developing its technology. From having the idea in 2013 to successfully launching the world's first "open style AI headset" in 2025, over the past decade, from the first generation product to the latest product, Guanxu Electronics has reduced the weight of its headset from 240 grams to 40 grams, reducing its weight by nearly 85% and making it so light that it has forgotten to exist. Behind this is not only the replacement of materials, but also the combination of multidimensional innovations such as circuit compression, heat dissipation optimization, structural reconstruction, miniaturization of sound chambers, localization deployment of AI algorithms, and successful application development of 6-nanometer 6-core neural network processors.

In addition, Cleer is not only synonymous with good sound quality, but also a driving force for AI technology in the field of wearable devices. Wu Haiquan said, "It must be a combination of 'acoustic foundation' and 'AI brain'. Its latest CleerARC 5 Sound Arc new generation open AI earphones, together with THX, DTS, and Dolby sound effects with head tracking, are the world's top audio technologies, truly making the earphones "grow brains". With one HiCleer sentence, it can wake up the voice assistant at any time. During meetings, it can transcribe notes in real time, chat with foreign clients with simultaneous interpretation, and even record heart rate and blood oxygen data in real time when running marathons .....

Cleer has achieved three things: sound quality should be like a live concert, intelligence should be truly useful, and wearing it should not be burdensome. For decades, Guanxu Electronics has adhered to its strong determination in acoustic technology and relentless pursuit of innovative applications. Not only has it become a leader in the open headphone track, but it has also turned headphones into "super terminals" integrated into daily life, truly integrating acoustics AI、 Health monitoring and other technologies are integrated into a whole.

As of 2024, the R&D team of Guanxu Electronics has reached more than 760 people, accounting for nearly one-third of the total number of employees in Shenzhen Guanxu Electronics Company; R&D investment accounts for 9% -12% of revenue annually. We have won over 100 innovation and creativity awards worldwide, and have applied for more than 3426 intellectual property rights (including patents, trademarks, and copyrights).

A small race track can also grow big trees

Nowadays, both international brands and domestic mobile phone manufacturers are stepping up their efforts in the open headphone market, and Guanxu Electronics has already led the way in the high-end market by leveraging its first mover advantage and technological accumulation.

Wu Haiquan said that in order for Chinese brands to break through the stereotype of "low price and low quality", someone must take the high-end route, and products are the passport. Cleer has been firmly positioned in the high-end market since its inception, and currently has a business network covering multiple countries and regions worldwide. It has developed over 5000 offline experience stores in China. Entering multiple top retail channels worldwide, including international luxury department stores such as Harrods and Selfridges in the UK; Actively expanding online e-commerce platforms to ensure that products can reach a wide range of consumer groups and provide users with opportunities for firsthand experience.

The high-end market is not self proclaimed, but the recognition of users, "said Wu Haiquan. Cleer's high-end is reflected in the differentiation of technology, design, and experience. The true high-end is not about placing products on high shelves, but about making more people willing to approach, understand, and like them. This is also the value orientation that the Cleer R&D team has always adhered to.

When it comes to the future development trend of headphones, Wu Haiquan believes that AI will become a standard feature, and headphones will shift from "passive playback devices" to "active intelligent terminals". Cleer is also moving towards the goal of "understanding you". Through edge computing, multimodal interaction and other technologies, the headset will become the "entrance" connecting the real world and the digital world.

As a Shenzhen entrepreneur, Wu Haiquan is full of gratitude towards this city. He said that in Shenzhen, failure is tolerated and innovation is encouraged, which makes Guanxu Electronics dare to delve into the "small track" of open headphones. From 2022 to 2024, the CleerARC series has consistently ranked among the top open earphones on mainstream e-commerce platforms for three consecutive years, confirming the Shenzhen entrepreneurial miracle of "even small tracks can grow big trees".