A combination between bone conduction and a traditional speaker could make the latest Shokz earbuds its most interesting yet.
Running and exercising with sound has changed a lot in recent years, thanks in part to improvements in audio technology, but the world of open ear sound has typically never offered amazing sound. Somewhere between speakers not quite delivering the bass or earphones not lasting long enough, if you’re after an open sound that lets you hear the world while you exercise, you’ve probably had limitations.
Most earphones and earbuds close the sound in some way: an earbud enters the ear and blocks it, even partially, allowing you to focus on the sound from the earpiece rather than the outside world. But open ear sound does what the name suggests by keeping the ear open, allowing you to concentrate on both the outside world and sound.
Typically there have been compromises in the sound quality in open devices of recent years. They were convenient, but not necessarily as impressive as their closed cousins. However, athletes and runners keen to listen to their music to stay in the zone while still hearing the outside world may not need to compromise between the two in a new device on the way.
Bone conduction specialists Shokz have been working on this in a new pair, the OpenRun Pro 2, a corded pair of wireless earbuds that wraps around the neck and positions a special earbud around the ears, but not in them.
While bone conduction has been the crux of some of the Shokz gear in the past, direct speakers have also been used in some of its recent models, including the recent OpenFit models. And with the latest OpenRun Pro variant, both technologies are being featured.
Specifically, they’ll feature a technology Shokz calls “DualPitch” which includes bone conduction and air conduction speakers, which will allow the speaker to deliver more in terms of range.
Bone conduction uses vibrations in the bones to get sounds to your ears, and typically only covers mids and highs, often resulting in a shallow sound. Meanwhile, air conduction is the approach pretty much every earphone uses, delivering sound using air to the ears, and can cater for the entire spectrum of sound: mids, highs, and the lows of bass.
For Shokz, marrying the two technologies aims to deliver better sound in general, all while keeping the ear open and able to listen to the world.
At the same time, the OpenRun Pro 2 will feature an IP55 water resistant design, which means running in the rain is possible, as well as sweat, all encased in a titanium alloy design for durability. Meanwhile, the earbuds (if you can call them that) will feature up to 12 hours of battery life, with a five minute recharge through the USB-C port providing a good two hours of listening.
They won’t get all the features of other earbuds, of course: being open means noise cancellation doesn’t exist here, and there’s no support for spatial audio or head-tracking, though Shokz does at least note two microphones and a wind-resistant mic aim to help deliver solid voice support during calls, or even calls while running.
One thing that is worth talking about is the fit: the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 has an option for a standard size and a mini-size, supporting different head and neck sizes. Shokz told Pickr that you’ll essentially have to pick these at the point of purchase, as the headbands are built in and cannot be removed, so just know that going in.
Outside of that, the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 are set to be available from September 5, priced at $319 in Australia and available in black and orange.
