Shokz OpenRun Headphones

While traveling recently, I found myself with a little time to kill between flights at Harry Reid International Airport^[1] in Las Vegas so I popped into Brookstone to check out the electronics gadgets—as one does.

It was there that I noticed the Shokz Roadwave sunglasses.^[2] The sales associate encouraged me to try them out and I was really surprised by how good they sounded. I wear prescription sunglasses, making them a nonstarter, but it inspired me to take a look at the company’s other offerings.

I was really only interested in solving a specific problem, which is that I often wear sunglasses, a hat, and headphones all at the same time. Earbuds solve this up to a point, but they always fall out for me at the first sign of perspiration.

I landed on the OpenRun headphones, which use bone conduction technology to transmit sound to your ears while keeping your ears open to your surroundings.^[2:1] They also have an IP67 rating so that’s nice too.

They looked great on paper, so I ordered a pair.

I unboxed and charged them, then took them for a spin. On first listen, I was a little disappointed because the bass response is poor when compared to the full size bluetooth headphones I’m used to. But after using them for a few weeks I find that they generally do very good job. Yes, the bass response is a little weak, but not so much that listening to music is not enjoyable.^[3] The mids and highs are very clear, so it turns out that they’re also well suited to podcast listening.

I tried once to use them as my headset on a Teams meeting, but my colleagues said I sounded quiet and muffled. I suppose I should do more testing, but I don’t care that much because I didn’t buy them for that purpose.

They’re not the best for all situations and I probably won’t be traveling with them, but for walking around the neighborhood or even going on a bike ride I think I’ll get some good use from them.