Test | Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 and OpenSwim Pro bone conduction headphones bring music to the jogging path and swimming training

We tested two Shokzi bone conduction headphones, the OpenRun Pro 2 and the OpenSwim Pro. As the names suggest, the first of the headphones are intended especially for running and the others are also suitable for swimming.

By utilizing bone conduction technology OpenRun Pro 2– and OpenSwim Pro -headphones produce sound without covering the ear canals, and the models are designed to fit especially for sports use. Both headphones cost 199 euros.

The open-ear design of the headphones characteristic of Shokzi allows the listener to follow the sounds of the surrounding world, such as other runners or traffic, while listening to music.

The feature is also a lot of fun on the jogging trail. In the test, I put on the other headphones myself and gave the other to my jogging friend. Both of them could listen to the music they wanted while jogging, but they also managed to chat effortlessly.

Externally, both headphones are very similar to each other. Both are red pantos that wrap around the head and sit slightly above the ears. The headphones are also available in gray color options.

For a small-headed user, the fit of normal-sized headphones is not very good.

The comfort of use of both headphones is excellent. The headphones are so light that sometimes you can completely forget they exist. Of course, fully wireless earbuds are also quite inconspicuous, but Shokzi’s bone conduction headphones are even significantly lighter and do not weigh down the ear canals.

Shokzi’s OpenRun Pro 2 headphones have a standard and a smaller mini size version, but the OpenSwim Pro is unfortunately only available in one size version. Regular size, i.e. larger size versions of both models arrived for the test.

For a man with a big head, both headphones fit well, but for a woman with a small head, the fit is clearly worse, as you can see from the pictures in the article. The headphones rise “vertically” in the small head and are about to fall off the ears. Even a person with a small head can use headphones, but they are not quite as comfortable, and they may not stay on the head as well. That’s why the mini version is the recommended choice for OpenRun Pro 2 headphones for small heads.

If you use the headphones in normal everyday life in bed or while lounging on the sofa, the pant-like structure can make it difficult to find a suitable head position, so that the headphones do not fall off your head.

For a big head, the regular size fits much better.

Test’s Shokz headphones therefore use bone conduction technology. These bone conduction headphones work by transmitting sound vibrations directly to the bones of the wearer’s skull, bypassing the eardrum. Instead of traditional headphones, bone conduction headphones are placed outside the ears, so the sound is transmitted through the bones to the inner ear. This enables listening in such a way that the ears remain open to the sounds of the environment.

OpenRun Pro 2 uses the manufacturer’s DualPitch technology, which, according to the manufacturer, utilizes the headphone element and bone conduction technology in a balanced way. The headphone element using a dome-shaped membrane produces bass sounds, while the ultra-thin bone conduction element reproduces midrange and treble tones.

The OpenSwim Pro headphones, on the other hand, use Shokzi’s PremiumPitch 2.0+ technology. Of the headphones, the OpenRuns offer clearly better sound quality in normal use or even on a jogging path. With OpenRun, the sound quality compares competitively with in-ear headphones sold in the same price range.

The sound quality of the OpenSwims is not bad either, but if you are not on your way to the water, the music from the OpenRuns is much more pleasant. They are also protected against splashes according to the IP55 classification. In OpenSwims, the sound is more treble, denser and the bass reproduction is weaker. OpenSwim’s sound quality roughly compares to in-ear headphones sold in the price range of around 50–100 euros.

On the other hand, OpenSwims do something that OpenRuns or earbuds can’t. The headphones have an IP68 rating, which allows them to be used underwater for up to two hours and at a depth of up to two meters. The headphones also come with silicone earplugs, which both prevent water from getting into the ear and improve the sound quality.

OpenSwim’s sound quality underwater is amazingly good. It’s not an excellent hi-fi experience, but music playing from MP3 files or even an audio book can be heard clearly and makes swimming training, at least in my case, significantly more comfortable. The headphones have a separate sound mode intended for swimming, which is definitely worth using while swimming. At least for me, the OpenSwims have made swimming training, which I avoided before, clearly more fun, when you no longer have to be in the water with just your own thoughts.

You can’t use Bluetooth in water, because the connection breaks practically every time your head sinks even a little under water, even if you leave your phone on the edge of the pool. Playing music from a smart watch using Bluetooth also does not work, because the Bluetooth signal does not travel in water.

For OpenSwim, the practical challenge will be finding suitable MP3 files. At least in my case, I listen to all my music on Spotify, and I haven’t played MP3 files on my computer for at least the last decade. Finding music, at least from legal sources, is a bit challenging these days, or at least expensive and laborious, and you can’t even grab music from CDs easily, because very few computers have a disk drive.

In the end, I ended up downloading music made with a free license to the headphones. Transferring music is easy, as the headphones are simply connected to the computer with a charging cable, and the audio files are transferred to the 32 gigabyte memory of the headphones.

In general, bone conduction technology feels like having its own personal mini speakers installed at the base of the ears. The sounds of the rest of the environment can be heard clearly through the music, and the sound produced by the headphones, at least at low volumes, is so quiet that the people around usually cannot hear it.

Naturally, Shokzi headphones do not in any way dampen ambient sounds in, for example, public transport. Many noise canceling headphones today also have a translucency mode, which also allows you to stay awake from the sounds of the environment. On the other hand, with anti-noise headphones, you can also close yourself into your own bubble when the need arises.

According to the manufacturer, the OpenRun Pro 2 battery promises 12 hours of music listening and the OpenSwim Pro nine hours of music listening, and based on a practical test, the promise is credible for the models.

When OpenRunie’s battery is empty, 2.5 hours of listening time can be obtained with just 5 minutes of quick charging. The headphones can be charged via a waterproof USB-C connection. OpenSwim Pro headphones can be charged in ten minutes for three hours of listening time, but the manufacturer’s own special cable is required for charging.

Thanks to the MultiPoint Pairing feature, both headphones can be connected to two different devices with a Bluetooth 5.3 band. The headphones can be controlled from Shokzi’s own application, which is quite handy, but not mandatory. Sometimes the application doesn’t seem to find the headphones, even though they are indeed connected to the phone and you can already listen to music from them, but with a few companies the situation is resolved. Especially with OpenSwim Pro, the app allows you to switch between Bluetooth and MP3 playback, and between normal and swimming mode. Of course, jumps can also be made directly from the buttons on the headphones.

The headphones have two buttons for adjusting the volume, and at the same time the buttons also work as a power button and a way to control music playback. All functions are controlled by holding down or double-tapping the buttons, although OpenSwims have one additional multi-purpose button on the right “headset”. The feel of the buttons could be better, and sometimes it’s difficult to remember different key combinations, but luckily the headphones can also be controlled from the phone application.

Overall, Shokzi’s bone conduction headphones are excellent training companions. Their sound quality is excellent in the case of the OpenRun Pro 2 and acceptable in the case of the OpenSwim Pro, they feel imperceptibly comfortable on the head and they allow you to hear the sounds of the environment and, for example, to talk to a jogging friend while listening to music.

If you do a lot of swimming and want to listen to music underwater, the Shokz OpenSwim Pro are probably the best headphones on the market that can do that. If there is no need for swimming features, you should prefer OpenRun Pro 2 headphones with better sound quality, which can also be recommended for general use – at least if the idea of ​​completely open headphones sounds good.