There are some very obvious advantages to this technology over traditional headphones.
You don't lose your situational awareness because your ears remain uncovered, you aren't sticking potentially filthy things into your ears, the design means you are less likely to lose them or have them fall out while you are exercising, they are much more compact than a set of over-the-ear headphones, they don't interfere with glasses, they are sweat and rainproof, etc. It is not hard to come up with a lot of scenarios where these are really the ideal headphone design.
But the one issue people kept complaining about in the reviews I read before buying these was sound quality. Some people said these headphones are really only good enough for audiobooks, others said they happily listen to music on them regularly without issue. Which is it?
I ran these things through my very demanding "speaker stress test" playlist and here are my results: The mids are generally ok, reasonably crisp. The highs are also reasonably well defined. Nothing that made me swoon with delight, but it was all perfectly serviceable for going on a run. Honestly, I assumed they would sound tinny and awful throughout the entire range, so I was pleasantly surprised at how well they handled vocals, guitar, strings, piano, horns etc.
But lots of music also has bass notes, and this is where the sound signature just kind of falls apart. If you are already familiar with how the bass rolls off too early on a cheap stereo, this is very much like that. Except that the bass roll off point is at an even higher frequency than you expect. I don't know how low these can go, but basically they have almost no bass response, and what little they have is muddy and generally quite poor.
Now that I understand what these can do and what they can't, it's pretty easy to understand why the sound quality reviews are all over the map. Basically, people have varying musical tastes and affinity for bass. If you are listening almost exclusively to hip-hop these are going to seem essentially unusable. If you listen to a violin concerto you will be fairly happy. Rock songs will have the vocals and guitar, but only the top half the drums rendered correctly.
Importantly, they also can't get terribly loud without vibrating against the side of your head in a weird, annoying way. I could generally find a comfortable volume where this wasn't an issue, but you will not be drowning out any ambient noise with these, particularly since your ears remain uncovered. So you really can't use these in any sort of loud environment without earplugs And if you are putting in ear plugs, you might as well use in-ear headphones instead. Walking around on a normal, urban street with these is generally fine, but anything louder than that and you may have some issues with these.
I did listen to an audiobook on these and thought they did a great job, and they were reasonably comfortable to wear for well over an hour. So probably their ideal use is listening to a podcast or audiobook while walking in a quiet park, or anywhere where you must maintain situational awareness.
I think that means these are fine for what they are, and if you need the considerable advantages they have, you live with the trade offs. Yes, it is possible to listen to music on them, and at least some music actually sounds reasonably decent on them, particularly if you are in a quiet place. But if you don't need the various advantages they have, then get yourself some regular, full-range headphones that will provide a much better bass response than these.
I am certainly not going to hang up my $300 planar magnetic headphones in favor of these when listening at home. But for listening to an audiobook while walking the dog, commuting and riding my bike, they will be fine.
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SHOKZ OpenRun (AfterShokz... has been added to your Cart
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From the brand
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Sound Starts With Shokz
SHOKZ, a rebranded name and logo of AfterShokz, was announced on December 28th of 2021. The renaming of Shokz demonstrates our commitment to future development and our role within the ecosystem of audio businesses. Though we may have a new look, rest assured we’re still the same brand as previous AfterShokz you’ve come to know, grow with, and love.
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Product Description
Open-Ear Comfort
Our open-ear design, powered by bone conduction technology, allows for total awareness of surroundings and bud-free, comfortable listening. Available in 2 sizes to maximize comfort and ensure a secure fit. OpenRun Mini has a .5 inch shorter band size.
IP67 Waterproof
An IP67 rating makes these completely sweat and waterproof to welcome intense workouts and extreme weather. A moisture detection alert ensures safe charging. Not intended for swimming.
Outstanding Sound Quality
Powered by patented 8th generation bone conduction, Bluetooth 5.1, and PremiumPitch 2.0+, OpenRun delivers clear sound, powerful volume, and a rich bass.
Lightweight & Secure Fit
Meet your new favorite training partner. Designed for athletes, our wireless headphones stay put for all-day listening while keeping you motivated and aware of your surroundings.
8-Hour Battery Life & Quick Charge
With 8 hours of battery life and easy commands such as play, skip, pause, and back-a-track, you can enjoy music, calls, audiobooks, and podcasts all day long. OpenRun also features a 10-minute Quick Charge for up to 1.5 hours of battery life.
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| SHOKZ OpenRun Pro | SHOKZ OpenRun | SHOKZ OpenMove | SHOKZ OpenComm | SHOKZ OpenSwim | |
| Bone Conduction Technology | 9th generation | 8th generation | 7th generation | 7th generation | 7th generation |
| Sound | SHOKZ TurboPitch | PremiumPitch2.0+ | PremiumPitch2.0 | Superior dynamic stereo | PremiumPitch2.0 Stereo Sound |
| Sweat Resistancy | IP55 | IP67 | IP55 | IP55 | IP68 |
| Battery Life | 10h | 8h | 6h | 16h | 8h |
| Fast Charging | ✓ | ✓ | N/A | ✓ | N/A |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth v5.1 | Bluetooth v5.1 | Bluetooth v5.1 | Bluetooth v5.1 | Bluetooth not compatible |
Videos
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Really comfortable with fantastic sound quality
Kristen's Korner
How to drastically improve VOLUME and BASE
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2023
These bone induction headphones are a compromise, they offer the ability to listen to audio without having something jammed in or covering your ear, this provides significantly better comfort, durability, and of course situational awareness. However, the cons are somewhat limited volume and the rich bass tones are severely limited. As others have also mentioned the volume is less than even typical earbuds, even with the volume cranked all the way it is only mildly loud, and they start to vibrate a lot which tickles your ears.SHOKZ does recommend using ear plugs (when appropriate) to lower background noise. When I tried this it took away some of the high frequencies as well. I just figured I would need to use a second standard headphone set for those times when I really wanted to immerse myself with loud and rich music sound and use the SHOKZ for times when I need and want the added durability, comfort, and situational awareness these provide.However, I had this pair of swimmer ear plugs (Hearprotek model HP13) that are designed to block water but let most sound in for hearing (they work well for that). When I put these in with the SHOKZ it was a bit of a shock, bass and overall volume increased A LOT. I usually have the volume at 80-100% (to the point that I get a lot of vibration), however with these ear plugs in that high of a volume would blow your ears out. I had to turn it down to 40-50%, and the bass is now like a typical ear bud. So, if that is important to you, here is a solution.These earplugs do work as advertised, I can hear almost as well with them in as out. However, with the SHOKZ playing it does make it hard to hear anything else. So, using these vastly improves the sound, but now once again you have something jammed in your ear, and your situational awareness is significantly reduced so...It also does not transform it into a high end set of earphones (I don’t want to oversell it), it just gives back a lot of the bass and volume lost due to open ear bone acoustics. It might be a decent alternative to having to have two different types of earphones. Also, there are several different earplugs that are tuned for listening to loud music, perhaps one of those might work even better? If I try any others I will update.
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2023
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Chris R.
Schönes Ding, nicht perfekt, aber funktionell und gut umgesetzt
Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on January 2, 2022Size: StandardColor: BlackVerified Purchase
Ted-C
I love/hate these headphones!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 1, 2022Size: StandardColor: BlackVerified Purchase
Chris
Worth every penny
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 27, 2022Size: StandardColor: BlueVerified Purchase
Chris
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 27, 2022
The size is 9cm when not in use so should fit most head sizes.
You can check the battery level whilst wearing, by pressing the on/off button once.
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Clemens
Super für Sport
Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on October 22, 2022Size: StandardColor: RedVerified Purchase
BJ
Excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 15, 2022Size: StandardColor: BlueVerified Purchase
