The bass is pretty good for open-ear fitness buds, but alas, my glasses foiled the ear hook design.
Photography by Amelia Holowaty Krales
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Two years ago, I thought my quest for the best running earbuds was over. The Beats Fit Pro were simply perfect in every way. Then I moved to the suburbs. The Beats’ ambient mode was no match for North Jersey drivers’ blatant disregard for speed limits. Open-ear headphones seemed like the obvious answer. But which ones? For a few weeks, I dabbled with some bone conduction headphones, but I missed my bass drops too much. That, in turn, led me to try the $119.95 Shokz OpenFit Air.
While Shokz is best known for its bone conduction tech, the OpenFit Air uses traditional air conduction like any other wireless buds. The speaker sits above your ear canal, while ear hooks hold them securely in place. I normally don’t prefer ear hooks — comfort tends to be hit or miss. But I’ll give anything a go if it means I get to have situational awareness without giving up my bass.
The good news: the bass is better. The bad news is, it’s not by much. Truthfully, no open-ear headphones are great at bass, but these are at least less muddy than bone conduction. If I’m running next to a busy street, I actually can hear the rumbly “five-star Michelin” verse in “God’s Menu” by Stray Kids. It’s not crystal clear — but I can hear it instead of sighing and wishing I had my Beats Fit Pro. (All bets are off if you’re near a highway, though.)
Aside from bass, the speaker position means you can hear your content pretty well, but open-ear buds always have limitations. I wore these on several commutes to the office. A quiet NJ Transit bus or train? No problem. A noisy New York City subway drowned out my audiobooks to the point where I gave up listening to anything at all. I never got any complaints about sound leakage, but I imagine that’s because the NYC subway is too loud for anyone to hear anything.
As exercise buds, these are a great option.They have about six hours on a single charge, and a 10-minute charge gets you two hours of use, which isn’t too shabby unless you’re an ultramarathoner. With IP55, you can work up a nice sweat or handle a bit of rain, though I’d be wary of a full-on downpour. They’re comfy and pretty secure — that is, until you put some glasses on.
While the hooks are pliable and relatively thin, they took up a lot of space behind my ears. On days when I didn’t wear contacts, the top of my ears felt crowded and weighed down. That heavy sensation made me paranoid that the Air would fall off, and I’d go to readjust them. Often, that ended up with me accidentally triggering the touch controls. Even when I didn’t wear glasses, I unintentionally dislodged the Air whenever I brushed my bangs behind my ears. I don’t love that, as someone who’s been traumatized one too many times by chasing after a bud that fell out of my ear mid-run. To be fair, you may not have these issues. Some of this is likely down to the shape of my ears and the fact my glasses have chunkier arms. But if you really want a secure fit, a wraparound design is a better choice.
The Shokz OpenFit Air are a pair of lightweight open-ear buds that use air conduction and feature six hours of battery life.
To my surprise, I ended up preferring the Air for everyday wear. Maybe it’s just me, but bone conduction headphones scream fitness in a way that feels a little weird when I’m running errands. These remind me more of the sleeker, more discreet Bose Ultra Open Earbuds. My favorite way to wear these was when I was cooking or cleaning. I could easily listen to my audiobooks or podcasts, keep an ear out for beeping appliances, and keep the naughty cat from trying to eat my dinner straight from the pan.
If I had better vision, these might’ve ended my quest for a Beats Fit Pro alternative. They’re pretty affordable at $120, bass is decent for a pair of open-ear buds, and they’re comfy. I want something just a smidge more secure for days when I don’t feel like popping lenses in. Alas, the hunt continues.
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