SHOKZ OpenFit for 2023 Open-Ear True Wireless Bluetooth Headphones with Microphone, Earbuds with Earhooks, Sweat Resistant, Fast Charging, 28HRS Playtime (Black)

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There are noise-canceling mics on the exterior of the buds, which is to make call quality as clear as possible, and I found this worked well in more environments apart from it being rather windy. Handling calls is pretty solid on the whole, but much like bone conduction headphones, the quieter the environment the better the performance. The AI smarts Shokz includes will benefit those on the other end of the call, but if you’re using them in louder environments they’re still going to suffer for volume. Sound Quality Yes, history repeats itself here in our review: recordings with natural instruments, especially stringed instruments, sounded downright magical over the open-ears, with fabulous fine dynamics and a very generous, authentic sense of space. As for the voice reproduction, sometimes a tiny shift decides a slightly throaty discoloration, which mainly affects female voices, but also some male vocalists. The extra situational awareness means that if you’re cycling to work, you can listen to music while still being able to hear the sound of cars, pedestrians, sirens and other cyclists around you. For runners, the benefits are much the same. They’re also handy in the office, where you may want to listen to music while still being able to hear your colleagues.

By leveraging the open-ear design, bone conduction, and DirectPitch™ technology, Shokz has created a listening experience that blends effortlessly with your surroundings. The headphones are also water resistant, allowing you to enjoy your music during sweaty workouts or even in the rain, worry-free. OpenFit comes with an IP54 rating, which is much lower than most other Shokz products. It means that even a bit too much sweat can damage the earphones, so it’s best not to use them for any exercise that’s too strenuous. Jogging should be safe for the most part, but when you notice that you’re starting to sweat too much, it’s best to take the earphones off. Sound Quality Shokz is one of the most reliably interesting companies I cover, which is saying a lot. In its first iteration, it made bone conduction headphones, which conducted soundwaves through your skull, that were so profoundly uncomfortable, we said we’d rather not wear headphones at all. Then 2022’s OpenRun Pro ( 8/10, WIRED Recommends) somehow became one of my favorite pairs of workout headphones. They were light, secure, and surprisingly great-sounding, and allowed me to keep an ear out for traffic or children while still listening to podcasts while biking or working in the garden.The Shokz OpenFit are engineered to get sound from the buds to your ear canals in the most effective way possible. Unfortunately, this also means that sound leakage can be an issue. However, OpenFit utilizes Shokz’s patented DirectPitch, a directional sound field technology that considerably limits sound leakage. Even at 50% volume, I found that people close to me could barely hear any sound coming from my earphones. The Shokz OpenFit come with a handy charging case that has a matte finish and USB-C charging. The case is almost double the size of most other cases for true wireless earbuds, weighing 75g with the buds inside. I put the Shokz OpenFits over my ears and let the music rip. Already connected to my phone, the earbuds fired up immediately without me having to push play. That can be a little alarming the first time, but not a big deal. To use these the first time, open the storage pod, and a small light flashes orange and green, indicating the earbuds are in pairing mode. Hop on your device, find the Bluetooth settings, find the buds, and connect. Bing, bang, boom.

The Shokz OpenFit sees Shokz ditch its bone conduction approach for an air conduction setup to deliver bigger open-ear sound by planting speakers in close proximity to your ears to deliver that sound. The OpenFit’s other strengths relate to their open-ear design, one which successfully achieves the goal of increasing awareness of your surroundings while the headphones are in use. This is invaluable if you’re running or cycling and can be useful when crossing the road or listening out for deliveries at home, too. That being said, the charging case offers a combined battery life of approximately 28 hours, and the OpenFit’s fast-charging capabilities mean that just 5 minutes of charging will give you one extra hour of listening time. This is quite good and on par with most of the competition. Controls Overall I am enjoying the Openfits so far and it is a good step into a different market for you. I was impressed from the second I opened the box and set them up. But their use cases remain rather niche and traditional in-ear options are a far better choice for general purpose listening. For the same money, you could buy the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2, which provide effective sound isolation to help deliver a more satisfying audio experience and benefit from useful features including active noise cancellation and wear detection.Without the wall reflections we know from concerts or loudspeakers and slightly angling the head with respect to the sound direction, the brain can hardly distinguish between 0 and 180 degrees. It follows that even the smart Shokz can’t avoid listening to an inner voice, so to speak, while listening to music. But what they succeed in doing excellently is to create on both sides the feeling of a wide, believably comprehensible space in front of the mind’s eye. Chapeau, that is a remarkable performance in the range at the price with the small dimensions. Total work of art for the ears But the OpenFit is not a panacea. Its radical open-ear design, which may also have inspired JBL’s Soundgear Sense, also requires certain compromises. These mainly affect the bass range, but also the midrange and treble reproduction. Although the oval diaphragm provides a surface area that exceeds that of conventional in-ears many times over, the pressure loss cannot be completely compensated for by the open design. After all, the main motivator was obviously to create a pair of sports headphones that were as compact and comfortable to wear as possible, without completely isolating you from your surroundings. The airy sound reproduction seems to be more of a collateral benefit here. The Shokz OpenFit require a little consideration Let’s talk comfort for a minute because it’s a big selling point to me. These feel great, especially if, like me, you can’t tolerate the pressure of something in your ears for long spans.