My opinion on Bone conduction earphones

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

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.

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.

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.

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 🙂

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Recently made a thread asking about these, lots of good info in the comments if anyone's interested:

https://lemmy.world/post/13998736

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?

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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?

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.

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 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 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.

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 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 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!

How is the microphone for phone calls?

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'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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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