Shokz OpenRun Pro review: the best bone conduction headphones for running

I didn’t believe in bone conduction headphones until I replaced my AirPods Pro with AfterShokz Aeropex for running. The secure fit and outdoor listening experience completed my training needs, although the audio quality was paltry compared to the best sports headphones worn indoors or over your ears.

Enter the $ 179 Shokz OpenRun Pro, a step up from AfterShokz Aeropex (which has been renamed OpenRun) and the first launch since the company’s rebranding. The Pro version promises more powerful bass, improved microphone quality, bigger buttons and longer battery life.

So, should you get these bone conduction headphones instead of one of the best wireless headphones or the best wireless headphones out there? Read this Shokz OpenRun Pro review to find out.

Shokz OpenRun Pro test: Price and availability

The Shokz OpenRun Pro costs $ 179, which is $ 20 more than the Shokz OpenRun, but is still competitive with the best headphones. The OpenRun Pro costs the same as the Apple AirPods 3, for example.

You can pre-order Shokz OpenRun Pro now, although the release schedule has not been confirmed. The OpenRun Pro headphones are only available in black at launch, with more colors coming later this year.

Shokz OpenRun Pro test: Design and comfort

The design of Shokz OpenRun Pro is very similar to that of standard OpenRuns. If my OpenRun helmet wasn’t blue, I would have a hard time distinguishing the two at a glance. Although the OpenRun Pro sports the new “Shokz” logo, dropping the “After”.

A pair of vibration drivers are built into the ends of the on-ear hooks which connect to each other via a slim yoke. The band is designed to meander behind your head, almost reaching your neck. For me that means wearing Shokz OpenRun Pro under my hair or under a ponytail. The yoke doesn’t offer any flexibility so I couldn’t adjust the size to fit my head the way I would like, but would trade it in for a feeling that I barely felt every day. The OpenRun Pro weighs roughly an ounce. Sometimes I forgot that I was wearing them for a long time after I finished a workout.

No matter how much I moved, I couldn’t shake the OpenRun Pro. The reason I ditched the AirPods Pro to run was because the noise canceling heads kept falling out of my ears on the track. As was my experience with regular OpenRun headphones, the OpenRun Pro didn’t budge during my runs.

Since Shokz OpenRun Pro is rated IP55 sweat-proof, the headphones are safe for most types of training, even if you get caught in a light rain. The rating doesn’t cover swimming, but Shokz OpenSwim (formerly AfterShokz Xtrainerz) offers a fully waterproof alternative.

Shokz OpenRun Pro review: Controls and voice assistants

The Shokz OpenRun Pro uses the same physical buttons for controls as the standard OpenRun. A single multi-function button sits on the left driver’s housing facing outward, while the volume rocker (which incorporates the power button) sits below the rectangular section behind the right ear hook. The OpenRun Pro’s rocker is almost twice the size of the Open Run’s, which resolves my biggest complaint about the OpenRun’s usability.

For the MF button controls, a single press means pause or play while a double press skips to the next track. Holding the MF button invokes a voice assistant – Google Assistant or Siri, depending on your paired smartphone – for additional queries or controls. I had no trouble waking Siri to respond to a text message during my workout. Some more complete headphones may alert you to notifications through your voice assistant, but I don’t care, especially while I’m listening to the power cuts to my current playlist.

Shokz OpenRun Pro review: Sound quality

Bone conduction wireless headphones don’t sound as loud as most wireless headphones. Compared to the best inexpensive headphones, there is a certain degree of definition lost when the music is not directly introduced into your ears. But the Shokz OpenRun Pro is the closest of any bone conduction headphones I’ve tested (including Bose Frames) to deliver overall sound.

Shokz OpenRun Pro excelled with electronic synth riffs, maintaining precision and sophistication throughout Van Halen’s “Jump”. Rihanna’s “We Found Love” sounded sexy, but still punchy. The vocals aren’t as pronounced as I usually like them to be, although the witty verses of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s “Can’t Hold Us” held up against the rising line of the piano.

Now let’s talk about the bass. Shokz says the OpenRun Pro gained two bass boosters over the regular OpenRun headphones, so I expected a better thump. The improvement is actually quite subtle. I only noticed deeper levels in real bass-heavy tracks like Frank Ocean’s “Pyramids,” although the OpenRun Pro couldn’t match the intricacies of the song worn by the on-ear headphones.

Still, I’m hesitant to really compare bone conduction headphones to on-ear or in-ear headphones. The use cases are different, with bone conduction aimed specifically at those who want to be able to hear what’s going on around them. While the best noise canceling headphones block out noise, bone conduction lets it all in. I don’t want that in the gym, but when I run outside being able to hear people and vehicles is crucial for safety. Even on a dog walk, being a woman in a busy city requires me to be careful of my surroundings at all times.

Shokz OpenRun Pro test: Call quality

The basic OpenRun Pro headphones struggled with call quality, creating noticeable echo and picking up too much ambient noise. Shokz responded by adding a noise-canceling dual microphone to OpenRun Pro.

I performed several call tests (some unintentionally, forgetting that I had the OpenRun Pro turned on) and each time the receiver could tell that I was not speaking through my smartphone’s microphone. While some have detected a faint echo or the voice of a loud passer-by during a walk, the general consensus gave the OpenRun Pro a favorable opinion on call quality.

Shokz OpenRun Pro review: Battery life

Another notable upgrade of the OpenRun Pro over the OpenRun is battery life. The OpenRun Pro is designed for 10 hours instead of 8 hours, providing more listening time between charges. Best of all, the battery can last up to 10 days when the headphones are turned off. With a few workouts lasting around an hour, the OpenRun Pro I tested needed some juice after a week, with the built-in assistant reminding me of the battery level every time I turned on the headphones.

I wish the headphones would turn off automatically when I am not listening to music for an extended period of time because, again, I forgot that I often wear the OpenRun Pro. Luckily, a 5 minute quick charge gave me around 1.5 hours of listening time in case I realized OpenRun Pro was dead when I was getting ready to workout. The case is protective, but it doesn’t have a built-in charge like AirPods, Powerbeats, or Galaxy Buds cases.

Shokz OpenRun Pro test: Verdict

Different styles of headphones serve different purposes, and the purpose of the Shokz OpenRun Pro is important enough that headphones have a place in my audio gear rotation. While I like the standard OpenRun model for outdoor racing, the OpenRun Pro’s improvements in call quality and battery life make it a more powerful champion in bone conduction technology.

Whether for ear health or spatial awareness, bone conduction is becoming an effective alternative to headphones that stream sound directly into your ears. In situations where it’s important to hear what’s going on around me, it’s bone conduction or the bust. Or no headphones at all I guess, but what’s fun?