We have been repeating this all along: Running with music is wonderful! There is always one caveat, however, that we never forget to give you: when running in the street, we need to pay special attention to our own safety, especially with headphones and earbuds, which-because of their characteristics-isolate us from the outside world, including street noise.
Yes, because we must never forget that when we run or ride on the road, we must pay attention to traffic and the dangers that come with it.
For this reason, I will not hide from you that I have been watching with great interest the solutions offered by
SHOKZ
(it used to be called AFTERSHOKZ). Probably, if you are a geek like me, you already know what I am talking about, otherwise I am referring to headphones with bone conduction technology. What is it? As Wikipedia says, “bone conduction is the conduction of sound to the inner ear through the bones of the skull.” Translated, it means that sound does not go through the eardrum but comes to us through the vibration of the cranial bones. It is a very simple concept that is almost 100 years old, and in practicality, it means that you do not have to put anything in or over your ear to hear sounds. But I will explain it better by telling you my experience.
Wingardium leviosa…
Turn on the
SHOKZ OPENRUN PRO
, pair them with your smartphone, put them on, play the first song, and here comes the magic. I couldn’t describe it any other way.
You hear the music but your ears are totally free. The sensation is as if the music is playing directly in the brain, while you continue to hear all the noises around you because your ears are free.
And they are much more comfortable than traditional headphones or earbuds because, in the long run, they are somewhat uncomfortable to have inside the ear.
SHOKZ headphones fit between the temple and the ear, don’t press down, weigh very few grams (29, to be precise), and the soft material doesn’t bother you even after many hours of wearing them. But above all – I repeat! – seem to come straight from Hogwarts.
How do you feel?
For someone who listens to music through Genelec speakers, I consider myself an audio quality freak, so I may run the risk of being a bit of a snob in this respect.
But.
Beyond the inevitable cut-off of some frequencies due to bone-conduction technology, the OPENRUN PRO can be safely compared with traditional mid- to high-end headphones. In short, they sound great!
And let us remember that they are not in the ear!
To be honest, many years ago I had tried a Sony bone-conduction mp3 player for use in long pool workouts, but in addition to being heavy, it felt bad. Whereas with OPENRUN PROs the sound quality is really light years ahead.
The special technology, while maintaining stereo channel separation, gives you the feeling of being enveloped in sound, almost embraced.
Can you tell that I like them? I hope so, because they have replaced the Bose in my daily workouts.
The user experience
The use of OPENRUN PRO is really simple: there are two physical buttons for volume and a third one that allows you to handle any calls (they have a very good microphone with ambient noise reduction) and control music playback with traditional button combinations: one click to play/pause; two clicks to go to the next track; three to go back.
In running, as I told you a moment ago, it’s practically like not having them, and the particular shape of the headband gives no problems for wearing glasses or even when wearing a cap (or helmet on a bicycle).
The only problem associated with this technology is wind. In fact, when it is very windy, having your ears free, the air noise enters the ear cup and covers the music. But it is better that way because what matters most is to always maintain contact with the external environment. Even if it is windy. ;)
Last mention of the battery. I’ve tried putting it under stress, using it on long bike rides, in a bike+run combo, and I’ve never even come close to being in reserve. Even using headphones at high volumes. The official duration is 10 hours of use, and it achieves them without any problem.
A special mention goes to the charging time. If you have fully discharged OPENRUN PROs and want to go out, just put them on charge 5 minutes (time to put on your shorts and t-shirt) and you have an hour and a half of battery life.
The list price is $189.95. Absolutely in line with high-end products, and if you want to know my opinion, they are worth every last euro.
But, if they are out of your budget, there is a great alternative!
SHOKZ OPENRUN: a cheaper and equally good choice
The OPENRUNs are the little sisters of the OPENRUN PRO and-in this case-I start describing them to you right from the list price: € 139.95. They cost 50 euros less and are therefore more affordable.
I had a chance to try them out, and the difference – to my ear – is not huge, but it can be heard. Not surprisingly, they use bone-conduction technology from a generation before OPENRUN PROs, but they are equally fine.
They have slightly shorter battery life but similar ergonomics and, most importantly, equal safety.
