My opinion on Bone conduction earphones

andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works to Technology@lemmy.world – 525 points –

(Sorry if it's a miss, this community looked the most fitting)

After mentioning them somewhere in comments, I actually bought Shokz after years of sitting curious. There are a few brands that do them, so it doesn't matter what's the brand is. I bought what I've heard of and the cheapest model I could find at that.

So, what's the trick? As I'm cycling, walking and running a lot, I needed a headphone solution to be aware of my surroundings. They don't cover ears and don't actually emmit sound - they vibrate and make your bones serve as a membrane.

The obvious minus is that in a bus or other loud setting you can't hear shit. That's by design. And, logically but somehow absurdly, by shutting your ear with a finger, you can make yourself hear it okay. I did a full circle here, returning to the old headphones isolation problem, heh.

But what impressed me more, they do feel like some kind of a cyberpunk prosthetic. You can wear them all day and even the cheapest one that promises 6hr of activity lasts days on the idle. But as you call someone or watch a vid – here they are, with a little to no latency. Honestly, I feel like if there'd be implants, that's one of the basic ones we can try first. It's hands-free device with a bonus of being more stealthy and not isolating you from the world.

As a cheapskate audiophile who stayed with cords for a long time, I can say that the sound is okay. Keeping in mind that producers can't control the skull of a wearer, they can't nail the ideal sound, but I'm impressed with how nice IDM and metal plays on them - something akin to budget Senh, AKG and Audiotechnica. And unlike cheap Sony, they don't put up low freqs, that's a plus. BUT when I shared it with others, people in body reported less effectiveness due to thickness of skin and under-dermal stuff, so it's better to test it if you aren't skinny as a skeleton.

After being so open about plus sides, I'm to talk minuses. Since the software is proprietary, it doesn't have many controls and is very weird sometimes. As I bought a model that was for internal chinese market originally, it talked to me in Chinese, and it can only be switched to another language before any pairing, so only after unpairing I could've chosen English – and the same combination of button presses when paired was reserved to calling the last called number, so I fucked up a lazy weekend morning for a friend of mine calling them 4-5 times, damn it. Ah, and it supports dual pairing with a PC and a smartphone, but as I tested it this function worked weird and I sometimes manually disconnected them. Walking&working distance from a source device is around the second or third room, that fits most office and home listening cases. I could've probably wished for it to have an option to pick lesser distance since I don't usually have even a meter between my smartphones and them.

Ah, and going back to the bus problem - the obvious downside that you want to turn them to 100% volume that you don't feel, but your ears do. After the first day when I needed to move a lot in loud contexts and thus put them on max, I had a headache, because although I didn't register the volume, my head had a first row concert experience. So if you use these, keep that in mind too.

Have you tried them, is there a topic I haven't covered? As you can tell, I'm happy with them, so I would be biased. It's just with VR stuff, even from Apple, I feel like we underlook existing tech that already serves us as expander of our life experiences and powers.

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I'm partial deaf... These let me hear music in a way I never could. I remember being in a quiet place and listened to an audio sample... Hearing an instrument on my bad side was like listening to it for the first time. Hearing in stereo is just wild when you have only heard in mono your whole life

Beethoven had the same condition. He had a special bracket mounted to his piano he could bite on, in order to make his skull resonate, hence him being able to hear the music again.

Microtia? If yes then here is a tiny fistbump.

Yeah. Hearing Piano was really new for me.

That's awesome! I wish I could've used this information with my dad, who was partially deaf, to try if it could've helped him. Unfortunately he passed away some years ago so we'll never know. I'll keep this in mind though, so I can suggest it to others.

It can work when the nerves are intact but the bone in the ear (or another external mechanical part of the ear) is damaged. Won't work for somebody with deafness due to nerve damage

Nice writeup.

I need to replace my aged pair.

A solution to one of the bus problems, is to carry a pair of those mushy ear plugs. If you put them in, you regain isolation, without having to crank the volume and hurt your ears.

One of my gripes is the behind-the-head design. You simply can't wear them comfortably if you're reclining or laying down.

Yep, you are right, also in autumn and winter both the high collar of a jacket and the hat touch it. In a place with a various weather it's harder to forget they are on.

With Shokz especially, it could've been undone if the cord was soft, like in many connected headphones. But for some reason they did it hard bending, although heaphones sit without problems by themselves, even when doing sports. For something like Miami or Krasnodar it's no problem, but for my region of Russia with crazy overnight tilts of weather and states with the same instability, it can be a problem.

The band needs to be a flexible metal so that enough pressure is applied to the ear pads. If they were floppy, you wouldn't hear them very well.

Some have ear attachments (like mono headsets have, but on both ends)

I just tilt them up, wear them like normal headphones.

Bone conduction doesn't care what position or where exactly the transducer is. The sound won't be exactly as intended but it works.

Tilt them up so the band is on the crown of your head instead across the top of your neck. That's what I do when I'm laying down or wearing a stocking cap.

My short take is the audio quality is mediocre for music or anything artistic, but using the Shokz OpenComm for work, I’ll never go back. Best work headset I’ve ever used. I can wear it all day and sometimes almost forget to take it off at the end of the day.

That... Looks good. How is the microphone quality? How long does it last?

I answred before, but with my love for long form podcasts and rare calls, I charge it once for two days of work.

Thanks. I'm tempted as in and over ear headsets would be less preferable than something which rests outside. I still have another year and a half of teaching online so this would be a decent quality of life upgrade.

A little personal, but what moved me to actually buy them is that my mic on a webcam died that troubled my own online teaching. So far, it worked fine, even on long days if I didn't forget to charge it. Check that thread and the product page before the purchase and you'd be golden. Keep on going, fellow tutor, although we are treated like shit worldwide, we are the gears that make our society spin (:

I honestly couldn’t say firsthand how the mic sounds, but I loaned it to a colleague and she said people noted how well they could hear her. She said she was going to get one herself even though she hadn’t quite figured out how to get it to work with her hair.

Battery life is good I think. I can’t remember exactly, and mileage varies, but while I wouldn’t bet my life on it lasting through eight hours straight of constant calls, it’s probably an all-day battery for the vast majority of people’s use cases.

My only real complaints are that the buttons are kind of confusing and poorly programmed (volume up/power is the forward of the two buttons on the bottom of the right arm behind your ear), and the charging cable is a weird proprietary magnetic thing.

Can you control the volume on the computer? I have a Mac in case that's an issue.

Yeah, both computer and on-headset controls work for adjusting volume. But there’s a giant orange button on the side that could be a nice power button, but instead they use volume up. And volume up/down are positioned forward/back. It’s just a little perplexing.

Throwing in another vote for the OpenComm. Excellent work headset with multipoint.

Honestly, I feel like if there'd be implants, that's one of the basic ones we can try first.

You've essentially described cochlear implants with Bluetooth.

Do you mean BAHA (bone anchored hearing aids). In this ,you still rely on amplification by means of a piece that's anchored either magnetically or surgically to your skull.

Cochlear implants function completely differently in that there's effectively a new pathway to the cochlea (it bypasses the damaged parts and goes straight to the inner ear structure). You have to learn how to hear in this new way.

Thank you very much for this post. I'm glad someone did the effort of getting some of those and presenting them from the PoV of a first time experience. I was curious.

However, I'm not sure what you meant with:

BUT when I shared it with others, people in body reported less effectiveness due to thickness of skin and under-dermal stuff, so it's better to test it if you aren't skinny as a skeleton.

At first it sounds like you say that overweight people have trouble using them (which is logical, the device needs to touch the bones), but then you go on saying that it doesn't work for underweight people? I'm confused. Could you please elaborate a little? Thanks 🙂

I think they were saying that if you're not super skinny, you ought to test them to make sure they work for you before buying them. Super skinny people can safely assume they would have good enough conductivity and could buy without testing with more confidence.

Not my opinion, never tested these.

You are right on the money. My metabolism makes me super thin, so it's ideal in my case as they sit right on the bones, but can be less effective for people of average or plus size proportions.

Oh. Yes, that makes sense. I read it too literally I suppose ("better to test" as in "better to give it a try", while "better to try it first" was meant). 🤪 thank you! 🙏

We tested some nicer ones for use in an industrial environment where hearing protection was required. They were great and let workers hear clearly while still being able to use their preferred PPE.

Any models stand out above the rest?

The ones we tested were these: https://a.co/d/f4FADbm

Unfortunately the project they were originally for was cancelled fairly quickly so we didn't test any others

I went into my pair of bone conducting headphones (I have Shokz) understanding their purpose, namely that they are not for an audiophile level sound experience; they are for being able to be active and hear music or audiobooks while maintaining situational awareness.

Once I discovered I could use mine in the shower, I was hooked.

Can’t do that with my Bose.

A minor nuance: besides difference in battery power, different Shokz also have different standards of water resistance. My lowest tier shields it from rain, sweat, minor water exposure - and I tested it all. But standing in the shower or swimming for a long time is safer with higher tier models, and they are certified accordingly. I don't know if it's actually true, but they say so on their website.

The Trekz Titanium (maybe that is the correct spelling) won me over and I want all my headphones to be like that, forever. Sadly, not all boners (as we call them in the biz) are made the same, and my newer Open Run Pro (or whatever) are disappointing boners by comparison.

I have the titanium and love them. They are perfectly adequate for listening to audiobooks on runs. On the road bike it can get drowned out by wind noise so hard to hear spoken word but music is OK.

They really shine when doing construction. I can use earplugs and the sound is way better with them in.

I have had both and I think they're about the same except one issue I have. The Open Run sometimes just won't charge even though the charging light is on. I'll pick them up after hours and it'll say "Battery low". It's annoying. I also wish double tapping the button didn't dial the last number because it's too easy to do.

That sucks to hear. I got the Titanium too. Would simply continue using that, but the battery seems to be bulging now. The new open run pro just feels flimsy by comparison and 1.3 times the original price of the Titanium.

I'm starting to consider other brands.

I use these at work where I have to use ear plugs. I hate in-ear headphones and these work perfect for my niche. Also get 2 workdays worth of battery life from these.

What I find a great bonus is that the mic on them does not pick any of the 80dB+ noise around me when I'm making calls. Also comfortable to the point that I sometimes forget I even wear them.

Also a physical button for pause/play so I don't have to take off my gloves.

I find the default EQ quite bad with earplugs so I just use the parametric Wavelet EQ SW on my Android phone with quick preset for my other Sony WH1000XM3... Which sounds great on these as well especially for voices/vocals as I tend to listen to audio books.

Can others hear whatever’s playing? Like if I’m wearing it on the bus or in library, can others hear my music?

I’ve never used one, but I’ve read reviews on the cheaper ones, they said it’s just speakers in front of your ears.

They use vibrations to drive your skull as a membrane to make a sound. If you turn them on 100% their own metal pieces would do the sound, but it's still be silent as 10% volume on your smartphone.

As you can tell by my nickname, I'm from Russia and I tested it through and through, for there were sanctions against those that just scrolled anti-russian memes in a public transport. I watch oppositional figures every time I commute to and from work, so I guess it's okay.

It's safe privacy-wise. But as I said, you need to control the volume, because the max volume can exhaust your brain even if you don't really hear it. But everything lesser than 70% isn't heard by others even in silence.

Yup, that's my experience as well. I even left mine running on my desk and I didn't notice until I checked my bluetooth connections.

More or less. Bone conduction headphones still operate by vibrating, and vibration makes sound, no matter how small it is.

it does depend on the ones you have. The cheap ones are just speakers. I have one of the higher end shoks with audio boost and it feels like it has a little speaker on top of the bone conducting.

if you're in a quiet room and you put them on max and leave it on your desk you'd probably be able to pick out what it's playing. I think at that point though the desk is somewhat becoming a medium for the sound..

I love my shockz. Literally been daily driving a pair for 4 years now. Even bought the new version even though my old ones are fine. So now I have two pairs. Of the most expensive ones

They do really last forever. Also nice in an office setting, allowing me to listen to stuff while being able to communicate with the people around me and I think people feel like I'm more approachable than with something in my ear

Might not be for everyone but it's great

...my original aftershox aeropex eventually developed a stereo imbalance after about four years of daily (all day) use, but they were fantastic for a collaborative office environment where other headphones get in the way; i recently replaced them with shox openrun pro which offer improved bass response but are otherwise nearly indistinguishable (although i prefer the original UI voice)...

...of course they're not high-fidelity headphones, but especially with the improved bass i find myself enjoying music in a way nothing short of speakers can replicate in a shared workspace; i just forget that they're there more often than not...

...they make for transparently fluent remote conferences, too: it's kind of funny, since i brought mine into the studio after the pandemic, they caught on and now half our office wears them...

I've had several pairs of aftershokz, almost all of them Bluetooth. Most recently I was gifted a pair of openrun pro. Shokz has made significant improvement since the first generation. I would put their modern versions on par with fairly average earbuds, with a notable bass drop off as the most significant audio fidelity issue.

They're massively convenient. They sound rather good apart from the missing low end, and they're easy to make into an all day wear.

I've worn headsets on top of my trekz, glasses, even headphones (don't ask). They're not the most comfortable when you have stuff on top of them, pushing them into your skull, but that's expected.

Most people don't notice I'm wearing them.

Honestly, 10/10 for convenience.

I also put headphones over them a couple of times. Two devices limit is not so convinient when you have a home PC, then office PC, your phone and sometimes even a tablet\handheld console. I feel like it's the next thing they can improve to create an incentitive to buy a new pair of those.

Just a thought, but BT transmitters are a thing, you could pull in audio from several sources and pipe it to a transmitter and use it that way.... Though, that would kind of defeat the purpose, IMO.

I'm on my third and fourth pair over what, 7.o years? Doesn't work for music I don't know the bass lines for. Absolutely brilliant for podcasts. And don't cheap out, buy the top of the line ones.

I've been giving these more and more of a thought lately. I like the idea that you can just leave them on and not worry about taking them out to hear things.

Only question. Can people near you hear them at all? Like on a plane?

In a quiet setting, with the headphones raised to 70-100% volume, people within 1-2m will be able to make out what you are listening too.

(This is with Aeropex from Aftershockz/AKA Shockz)

Keep in mind, at 100% volume they buzz and tickle on your skin, so I never have them set to 100% ever.

60-70% is clear enough for enjoyable listening.

A note about the Aeropex (and possible other Aftershockz/Shockz models) is that the volume-adjust-beep and bluetooth-connect-voice is very loud and cannot be adjusted.

This is my one true complaint, I have tinnitus already and that beep including the volume beep are what feels like 2-3 times louder than I ever have the volume set.

I try to connect it before putting on my head. Also, to pull the pads off ear or put the whole thing around neck, before doing a volume change. For an absolutely amazing headphone experience, this is a regrettable annoyance.

Yeah I did send them a message about that. Please fix in next firmware version lol

So at normal listening volumes no one can hear, but it sounds like normal listening volumes aren't good enough for a plane?

I've combined these headphones with earplugs for a plane trip. Engine roar overpowers the sound for bone conducting headphones the same way it does for earbuds or headphones that don't isolate. You might still need to crank the volume up, though. Planes are loud. No issue of other people overhearing it at that point though.

@realitista @andrew_bidlaw they're really not good in loud places like a plane (for you) in my experience the person you're on a call with will hear you just fine, but being open-ear designs they just can't compete with jets.

They are very good for having background music going in offices and such - you can hear it, but you can have conversations over it without any trouble

From my experience it's not louder on max volume than simple earbuds put out of ear. They have metal details, so they do serve as little membranes, but I don't find them significant. I'm listening to a lot of problematic stuff on a daily basis and didn't have any weird looks. Most people didn't even recognize I'm listening to something in a calm office setting.

Loved mine for cycling, podcasts and general use until the ear piece speaker snapped off.

When cycling, did you find that they worked as good as or better than noise canceling earbuds to reduce wind?

They don't reduce wind noise at all. Your ears are completely open and the speaker rests on your cheek. This is for your safety as a cyclist or runner so you can hear traffic noise, that dog barking, pedestrians etc. I would not wear isolating or not cancelling headphones on a bicycle.

Oooooo. I might try these! I'm not a cyclist, but I have a bit of an anxiety issue where I can't have a sense completely cut off from the outside. I feel very uncomfortable when I have both ears covered and can't really sense my environment.

I really want a VR set, but I know I won't like having my vision cut off from "reality." Stupid anxiety lol

Gotcha. I almost exclusively ride on a bike path so it doesn't quite fit my needs, but I'll keep an eye out for them regardless

It's still good to hear "on your left" or whatever even if cars aren't a concern. I ride almost exclusively in a bike path and I really like my bone conduction headphones. I mostly listen to audiobooks and podcasts, so a bit of background noise is rarely an issue.

I bought the Shokz opencomm 2 recently and returned them. I wanted a loose fitting headset for home office that didn't look like I was wearing winter ear muffs.

They really look good. They sound okay. The mic is very good.

My bosses voice made them tickle. Even at the lowest volume everything he said was uncomfortable. They tickle at high volume anyway but having a call with this guy multiple times a day started to get annoying.

I have a jabra evolve2 55 now. Interior, but no tickle

Been using these for a while for cycling. I would say that the sound quality is not exactly great and that the pitch will change depending on where exactly they're sitting. Personally I mostly use them to listen to podcasts so that doesn't matter much to me. The Shokz design looping around the back of your head can also be awkward if you're trying to wear them with a winter hat. Overall I recommend them for people who need a open ear solution. They're also good just for daily life in a city where you want to listen to something while walking around, but want to maintain some level of awareness so you don't get run over or something. Another good use case could be in an office where you want some awareness if someone walks up and tries to talk to you (I often listen to white noise when I'm trying to focus).

On the other hand if you want something for music or you want something isolating, these aren't the right product IMO.

For me they only work in relatively quiet environments, or with earplugs. As soon as a car drives by it completely drowns out the sound. With music that might not be an issue, but with podcasts or calls it’s very annoying. I’ve bought earplugs especially for this, as my other earbuds have issues with wind while running, but it does feel like it’s defeating the purpose a bit. I guess turning them all the way up would also work, but that doesn’t feel healthy. Other than that I like them and the mic quality is also good according to people I’ve spoken with over the phone.

Yeah I usually bike in pretty quiet areas, but when I'm next to a road it very much drowns out the sound and I often end up pausing what I'm listening to. I'd say that's a feature though. I like these a lot for what they are...but I also own good earbuds. I've also had people say the mic quality was good (which frankly surprised me).

I bought a pair and they are ok but for them to be a reasonable volume on my head, they physically buzz too much for my liking and it gets annoying. I just use regular headphones again now. If I am in a situation where I regularly have to talk to others while wanting to listen to something, I might pull them out of the draw again.

I also have the same headphones and they are great I just have two complaints listening at loud volumes, which I don't do often would physically hurt my bones. And also phones calls also hurt my bones.

How long did it took to start happening? Right at the beginning or after some time? I haven't felt that yet, but it sounds very important for that thread. Do you have some health condition amplifying it?

I mean I just avoid having phone calls hahaha. Its always been an issue for me and I don't believe to have a medical condition that could affect it

but I’m impressed with how nice IDM and metal plays on them

Industrial Doom Metal?

Ire-inducing Depeche Mode?

Irish Derpy Music?

Instructional Defense Material?

Intelligent Dance Music. You know, the tag that got stuck with Aphex Twin, Autechre, Squarepusher and others, although they collectively hate it. I love their weird experiments.

Like this one: https://youtu.be/GlhV-OKHecI?si=LM7dA3P0cVrO-k9x But be aware, there's a lot of bright flashes and both sound and video can cause a headache.

Guess I can't go wrong with Rory in the early 20s, Igorrr, Shackleton, Moon Wiring Club, Moi, Spresso & Mika Levi and others, using bone conducting headphones...

Thanks for the heads up, i need to buy new headphones soon

Thanks for reco-s. From your list I only listened to Igorrr. Seems like I'm in for a ride (:

You're very welcome.

I forgot to add the stuff from the subsist label at bandcamp. All bands really, but Heretic, Morion , Dead Memories, .3hdsafxri and Erias stood out to me. Electronics in all shapes and forms.

A bit late to the game, but for what it's worth, my experience with the Shockz. I run about 6-7 hours per week, and listen exclusively to audiobooks. As a result, I can't comment on the sound quality, but I do have some other observations.

Pros:

  • Waterproof. I've been running for more than a decade before I got the Shockz, and no earphones lasted more than 6 months in the local rain. No such issue with these headphones.
  • Not falling off. By their design, they would not fall off, unlike any and all earbuds I ever tried. I may have weird ears in this regard, but I had to learn to run with a hat or headband to keep earbuds in place.
  • Spatial awareness. Excellent at keeping me aware of my surroundings.
  • Good battery life. A single charge lasts me through the week, and a quick partial emergency charge can carry me over the next 2-hour run. In addition, the "battery low" status actually works well. With any other brand of earbuds, from Mpow to Anker, once I got the "battery low" warning, I had about 20 minutes of charge left. So, going for a long run at "battery medium" was always a gamble. With the Shockz, I never ran out of charge when I started at "battery medium", even on my long runs.

Cons:

  • Not too comfortable. I have a big head, and even so the band behind my head is standing off enough that I can't wear my hat over it. So, in winter it's earbuds, held in place and waterproofed by my hat.
  • A bit too quiet. Everything, including the persistent wind here, is interfering with the sound. So, for audiobooks, I have to process them in mp3gain to around 95 dB, and then play them at max. This, however, may be more related to my mp3 player; I didn't do an analysis of it yet.
  • The controls are weird. My sense of touch is not too good, so pressing the controls while the Shockz are on my head is a futile exercise. I just can't feel the buttons properly, so I have to take off the headphones and see which button I'm pushing.

I didn't test them with music or calls yet (for the latter, I'd have to pair them to my phone), so can't comment on those features.

I wear them at work because normally you are only allowed to wear one ear bud to keep awareness but I am deaf in one ear. The clean room suits actually help improve the sound (I think they vibrate a little). I also use them at my desk so people can't sneak up on me.

At home I use them for phone calls because I don't sound weird to me unlike regular headphones.

I've been using my Shokz OpenRun headset almost everyday for the past 6 months and I love them for lots of things but they dont replace earbuds/headphones completely.

I work in a machine shop and it's important to be able to hear machines and things happening around you. Most shops don't allow earbuds or headphones for that reason. Our machines aren't too loud so it doesn't drown out the sound but these definitely won't work in a loud environment unless you wear earplugs but then that defeats the purpose.

Great for audiobooks, podcasts, and music that doesn't have a lot of bass. I mostly listen to punk and metal and it's fine for that. I can even listen to hip-hop and not expect some kicking bass.

I tried to use them for PC gaming and they just crackled during explosions and could not handle that. So I don't use it for gaming.

Having hands free conversations with people is definitely a plus. I did some testing with my wife and she could not tell a difference in volume or on quality between using the headset and talking regularly on the phone.

Battery life and comfort are great. Sometimes I forget I'm wearing them if they are just idling on my head. With mixed use on and off all day, the charge lasts several days for me. If I was to listen to something constantly, I think I'd get more life out of a charge than I have waking hours in the day.

One thing that bothered me at first is at the highest volume, I can feel a tickle on the skin where it rests. I usually only have them up when that much when ambient noise is a bit high and then I dont notice it as much. But I'm also used to it now so it's not as bad.

Be careful with cheap sets. My wife got a cheap pair on Amazon with "good ratings" and it was awful. It was basically earbud style speaker/drivers that were up against your skin and it was terrible.

I got them so I could listen to audio books without actually ignoring my kid, who was 3 at the time. Couldn't not hear her world if she decided to get up to something. 10/10 for that.

I also loved them being hidden under my hair. Its rude to have headphones in a conversation, but this isn't rude, with them silent I can hear as well as without headphones.

Aa for dual-pairing, I had your same issue with shokz, but I found out it was Windows with the issue. Shokz switches based on who it hears playing audio and Windows likes to keep "playing" audio at 0 volume instead of properly not sending audio. It's an issue that's pretty irrelevant for most things, but it means Shokz never feels that there's only one audio source at a time, after its connected to a windows computer once. They worked fine when I paired them to my android phone and an iPad to test things.

I've been using various Aftershokz/Shokz models for many years and well over a thousand hours. They are a great option for speech-focused contents like podcasts, audiobooks and that's what I use them for. I almost never use them for music, the lack of bass (even with earplugs) just doesn't do it for me. But I don't find any earbuds satisfactory for music either so maybe I am more picky than most.

I agree with OP about the controls. They are workable but could be much better even considering the limited inputs. I particularly hate the choice of triple-click for backwards-seek and I mess up the timing half the time. Another pet-peeve is the loud beep on play/pause that cannot be turned off. Using the phone/computer controls instead of the on-device ones avoid these issues.

As far as models I originally got the Aeropex and later on "downgraded" to the OpenMove. The audio quality is comparable between the two, the only thing you are missing with the lower end model is comfort - but that is highly subjective! I actually prefer the way the OpenMove feels.

I really wish that there was more competition in this space. The Shokz products are a bit overpriced and slow to evolve and the rest of the options I've seen seems lower quality and worse form factor. Would love to hear if anybody has found a different brand that they prefer over the Shokz models.

I wish I had something positive to report but honestly every brand I've tried has died much, much faster than Shokz. I generally will sweat enough during a season to really put the product through the ringer and nothing lasts like shokz. The magsafe plug is essential.

Suunto Wingz

Suunto Wingz

I haven't tried these yet! I just grabbed a pair.

I would subscribe to every paragraph of yours. Especially the loud notifications. For some reason they don't adjust to the chosen volume.

I don't know, how are they popular, but I guess if they'd be a daily driver for many, there would be an interest for others to participate in a competition. But from what I see in Russia where I live, the topmost models are cheap airpods and beats replicas, and I'm probably in the dozen of those who use that tech at all, and I don't see anyone also using them. It'd take decades and kilometers of my and others' fanboying to change that.

I wear these things constantly. I love them for running, and for work from home.

For meetings I feel my voice feels more natural with my ears open. I can pair my phone and laptop, and go from my desk, with music and or meetings, to my couch and watch a video on my phone, or go for a walk with an audiobook without even thinking about it. I regularly get 8+ hours out of them.

I do use my MacBook pros microphone, I've had comment from a coworker that the headphone mic sounds tinny to them, but they do offer one with a more dedicated mic.

On airplanes I put in earplugs, throw these on with some ambient sounds and sleep like a baby. Very easy. Same with mowing the lawn

Big fan.

I regularly get 8+ hours out of them.

That's better than a lot of earbuds but if battery life for your bluetooth headset is important I don't think you can do better than these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B3JG7T4D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

I bought a set Aug 2022 and I use them 8 hours a night at work for 5-6 days a week (lots of O/T shifts) and I still go over a month between charges. They sound pretty good, too.

I use these for cycling abs gifted my father in law a pair as he suffers from tinnitus and a few issues hearing

Heard a colleague be very positive about his Shokz so I thought I’d get some bone conducting headphones too, got the Phillips ones and I just can’t imagine they are the same quality because I’m not impressed. UX is super bad; buttons are hard to press and cause the contact points to move (which need to be pretty precise for me to be able to hear decently) so ok I just use the Bluetooth volume change. Also the volume of the voice announcer that says “low battery” every 15 seconds when you go below 20% battery is not relative to the devices current volume, so it just absolutely SCREAMS at you while you’re just chilling…. Would not recommend anyone with heart problems.

About the announcements' volume - Shokz do that too, and it's frustrating. It's weird that it's a thing that needs a small patch, but it's still a problem for years and even with other brands.

Buttons on Shokz feel nice tho. Weirdly placed on the bottom of the headphone instead of the side of it, but I had no troubles using them.

I have those exact ones and I love them; I use them for running and when I'm doing stuff around the house but still want to hear people getting my attention. I had a previous version that I also accidentally turned to Chinese but I just learned to recognize the different messages.

I use cheap-ass ones I bought on AliExpress when I need to wear earplugs like mowing the lawn or using the snowblower.

They're doing the job at least.

I had a pair I bought at big lots like 20ish years ago. They were pretty cool, but uncomfortable fitting around my big ass head. Positioning them was annoying and the sound quality wasn't the best. The novelty wore off and I wasn't using headphones nearly enough back then.

Lately though, I've been thinking about getting a pair again, as every time I put my sennheisers on, someone inevitably comes in to talk to me. Would be good at work for overnights too, where I have to be able to hear people out of their room/walking around. I'm sure the technology and fit has gotten better and I can afford ones that weren't on sale a big lots!

As I said, you can use the cheapest on-brand pair, so you don't lose much if they won't be your thing. At least for Shokz, as I googled, they don't differ much - mostly by their standard of being water-proof and the battery. I'm looking forward to your experience with them, especially if you take the other brand or model. Good luck!

Yeah, I was looking at the Shokz, also some YouthWhispers that are rated pretty good and also on sale for 30% off. I think I'll bite the bullet and give them a try.

How is the microphone for phone calls?

I guess it varies widely. The one in mine is a complete piece of shit, so I have it set to use only as headphones.

Yeah, probably makes sense to have s standard check for each model. I had a nice pair, but something else can be a completely different story.

I've done many hours of phonecalls on mine. Mic quality is acceptable, slightly mushy. Wind is an issue for example when riding a bike at higher speeds. Wearing a hoodie over them can block the mic too.

I asked my friends a couple of times when we had calls and some Discord conversations. No problems reported even when I was on a windy street at that time. I'm yet to see the spectrogram of their input, but I listened to my voice messages and they were fine. Obviously, not an all-purpose mic that can record music, but with a range of freqs that covers our speech it works no worse than industry standard, with airpods, dots and others. I even used it, stealthly, to record some IRL talks, just in case, and the result was clear. Their not-very-noticeable nature helps it.

I love my shokz. I first got them back when the brand was still called aftershokz. I live in the NE US and they can handle me running in the coldest, hottest, and wettest weather no problem.

To fix the main 'con' of sometimes wanting to close out the sound of the world I carry Loops Quiet ear plugs. Basically reusable silicon ear plugs.

I have the H2O Audio and they work pretty much the same. I got this pair for listening to music while I swim and they are fantastic for that. They last a long time on one charge and loading songs is easy as plugging it in to a computer. Another reason I got these is because occlusion sounds really bother me. I also carry some of those cheap foam earplugs for really noisy environments like plane flights. The foam earplugs don't have nearly the same occlusion sounds and they block enough noise that you can hear the induction.

Haven't heard of this brand. Sounds fitting for your usecase.

Loading songs – you mean they act as a player themselves?

Yes it has some storage built in, enough for about 10 songs. Water blocks em signals quite well so you couldn't use Bluetooth with any reliability in the water. The mic on these is garbage however, probably because of the waterproofing.

I've tried everything and in the end i always go back to the trucker Bluetooth headset. on one ear, the other ear is open. battery lasts forever. sound is good and the other side hears you good too. doesn't fall out of your ear. looks weird i guess but i think everyone wearing buds and stuff looks weird too.

I played around with them, borrowing one from a friend.

They definitely have their use case, the most obviously being when you need to keep your ears open for traffic or whatever.

However, I felt that the sound definition was not great, especially for sharp sounds like cymbals. Everything felt a little muffled, and it couldn't hit highs or lows very well.

It's one of those "better than nothing" pieces of tech but not what I'd choose for pure listening enjoyment.

They work better for podcasts than music. For music, they're better than a phone speaker but worse than cheapo earbuds in terms of sound quality.

Mileage may vary, but they tickle my ears when playing on high volumes. The sound quality also isn't great compared to similarly priced in-ears, let alone over-ears.

That said, they're great to use as a headset for work and videoconferencing and for other situations when you need to be able to hear.

Yeah, they suck compared to mid-range headphones from Senchs and alike, especially if you listen to quality recordings and rips. But for lower quality speach, streaming and youtube they are decent. And, excluding moments of me being at home and enjoying the new recording, they cover most of my daytime.

Yeah, they are a good thing to have around as a secondary for a bunch of situations where you're multitasking and need awareness but still want to hear an audio feed.

Which if you're an audiophile with a budget for audio stuff is fine, I like mine, no regrets. But if you're budget-conscious and just need one set of headphones that will do the job all around this tech is probably not your first choice.

This thread is wild to me as a shokz devotee. I use them for everything, no secondary set of headphones, music sounds good. I don't care about bass at all, though.

Like I said, I like them, but "I don't care about bass" is like saying "I like this monitor, I don't care about the color red, though".

Yeah, it's fine and if that's you I get it... but it's not a universally accepted take.

But hey, I used them as my main set for calls and podcasts and stuff for a while. They're fine. I just would get a good all-rounder first.

Plus there's the literal bone-tickling at high volumes. It's hard to get lost in the music with no bass AND the constant feeling that somebody is lightly dusting inside your cochlea.

I'm sure DankPods made a video about bone conduction headphones on YouTube. He tested 3 different models from different manufacturers and... well, he had quite a lot to say about them, especially when comparing them to sunglasses that are also headphones.

Can you post a link? There's a lot of bad and good stories about them in this thread. It'd be great if persons considering these devices would read them first.

Here.

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

Here.

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

Thanks for delivering it. I liked that vid, but surprisingly not only for comparison of different pairs, but for introducing me to headphoneXsunglasses device. This concept left me in LOLWUT state for minutes (:

I listened to them in the store. The sound is far from okay, bad bass, bad treble. It's like one of those airplane earbuds they give out for free.

I had a Chinese knockoff that I tried as well, it made my ears hurt because when you turn up the sound to where you can hear it, it's actually too loud and you will be hurting your inner ear

I just got a nice in-ear noise cancelling TWS with noise cancellation and I go to the gym. I listen to nothing when I need to be aware of the surroundings because hearing the outside noise actually reduces how well you can hear your music

That's not for everyone, and I'm happy you've found your way. Thanks for writing that, so people can consider your POV too.

I would never use it for music except with no other option, but I find my OpenComm headset seems to be tuned incredibly well for voice. That’s my only use case: online meetings. It’s excellent for that, but I use other sets for anything I intend to enjoy.

I love mine for listening to audiobooks at home. I can pause them and have a conversation with my family without having to take them off.

The sound is a bit weak compared to full headphones, and the lack of bass is accurate. In a quiet settting they are a nice way to hear sound similar to a boom box aince tou can atill hear the stuff around you.

The one thing I don't like, which also affects the sound, is that without an adjustable back it sits kind of weird and lays down on my neck. If I hold it up slightly in the back it sounds far better than resting after movement.

I wouldn't call it a lack, more like lack of boosting these freqs for easy sells. I dislike the lack of mids and highs in budget headphones.

I did experience the latter as I wrote in another comment with high collars and caps. I wonder if they can make the wire softer. But I didn't encounter the problem with positioning, at least with my model.

There's a curve called the Harman curve which is the most common listener preference. It is based originally on measuring how headphones can reproduce flat frequency response speakers.

The bass boost in Samsung or JBL studio products is not "for easy sells", it's based on actual research on listeners.

There are three different bass preferences, one is a bass shelf at like 200Hz with a small boost, which is the most common, where two thirds of people like it. Another is flat bass which is preferred by older or female listeners, and even more bass is preferred by young males.

Not very many products have a huge bass for young male listeners since that's the smallest group. I think Sony over ears are the most popular product with a big bass

https://kuulokenurkka.squig.link/?share=Harman_2018_Target,WH-1000XM3_(ANC_ON)

Sometimes my office can get loud especially when people have "spirited" conversations. It doesn't help when I need to be in meetings while others are loud. But, at times, I would need to listen into their chats in case it involves me. This is when I use the Loop earplugs along with the Shokz and it works quite well. I can concentrate on my call or my work but still be able to pay attention to other's conversations if I need to.

Also how I'm using them on my motorbike under the helmet. Works a treat, can still hear my bike but a lot of the wind noise is goooone.

I like the Bose open ear buds, which is similar insofar as you can still hear everything around you, but it's not bone conduction. They basically cling to your ear and are just a small driver near your ear canal.

I like the sound and fit better than any bone conduction headphones I've tried, but I don't use these styles for swimming, which is the main advantage of bone conduction. For running, cycling, and just generally walking around in the world the Bose work great. For sitting and sound isolation, I use corded cans.

I also fall asleep with one or both on periodically because they're so innocuous. I roll like a log in water when I sleep, so they unclip at some point in the night, but they've never caused me and discomfort. I forget I'm wearing them most of the time.

Excuse me, I see a fellow IDM enjoyer. Any recommendations for me?

I'm not one for labeling music in genres, so I'll write my answer in two parts: the "canonical" information, with artists documented as "IDM" artists on Wikipedia, and the "personal" information, which I think fits the so called "IDM" genre, but don't quote me on that, I wouldn't really know. This is "best effort".

Canonical answer:

Orbital, aphex twin, and boards of Canada come to mind, but that's more for the curious casual reader of this thread, as I'm sure you already know them. Also John Tejada, Carbon Based Lifeforms, Moderat, which are less known.

Personal answer:

I dunno if I would say that they fit in "IDM", but I really enjoy the music of the artist Siriusmo. Also (in no particular order, all this could be hit or miss for you, so don't dismiss it all because you don't like one) Sasha, Kaito, Ernest Saint Laurent, Vessels, Barker & Baumecker, and pretty much everything under the labels monkeytown and Kompakt (respectively based in Berlin and Koln). I'm not sure where the genre lines stop tho, so you might add Nick Warren, Phil k, Dave seaman, John Digweed, etc. to that. Labels renaissance (the British one) and Global Underground.

I'm a simple man, I put Shobaleader One Boiler Room live session on repeat and bathe in pure joy. It's Squarepusher's old hits but played with a band of his fellow musical maniacs who can make previously programmed polyrhitms look as easy as breathing. There's a lot of bright flashes, so be aware. Also, he himself plays a bass guitar, the usually overlooked instrument he himself uses a lot, and do it passionately.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=d-j_D-O1vwM

I tried a cheap pair and my takeaway is that this technology needs a specific amount of contact pressure, and with no mechanism to assure this (do the "name brand" ones have something?) a poor fit means it doesn't work at all and then if you fiddle with the position you can get something that basically turns your ear canal into a speaker (at least it doesn't seem like it's actually going direct, at least for most of the sound).

Also using a headphone amplifier, loudness normalization is an issue especially as certain content clips while some doesn't. This one probably directly relates to cost.

I like the idea but they just don't work on me. I seem to have super dense and thick bone around my inner ear. The sound just doesn't conduct.

Could you potentially be wearing them wrong? They should sit just in front of the ear hole (below and behind the cheekbone). If you get a chance to try them again, try moving them around a bit, it could be that your face bones are just unique enough to get in the way of the default orientation.

I have a fairly hefty ridge of bone there. Not a lot of sound conduction possible.

Have these Chinese devices been tested / approved by any reasonable governmental health organism?.

They're headphones not nukes. Calm down grandpa

Well since it’s apparently something using your bones to conduct sound, I’d say it’s legitimate to ask if it’s safe or if it can lead to long term harm.

Same with all the waves emitted by phones, earbuds, WiFi, etc..

Don’t give Americans ideas dude, they will nuke away everyone’s head. Ah sorry they dead it already :D

I doubt you could buy headphones today that are not "Chinese devices"

In this very post I pointed out that you don't register the volume if there's a loud noise around you, that can cause headaches. As people buy them from official stores, I guess they are as safe as usual headphones. And this problem is usually dealt with on source device's end – my chinese phone shows a notification if I exceed the recomended volume and if I use headphones for too long.

If it's Bluetooth then the sound is bad. But that's okay because these are what they are and serve a purpose.