I’ve been an Apple enthusiast for as long as I can remember. I jumped on the AirPod headphone bandwagon pretty early on, and then upgraded to the AirPod Pros shortly after they came out. At some point, one of my AirPod Pros just stopped charging. At the time it was super annoying, but since I was using them regularly, I felt like I had “gotten my money’s worth” by that time. It didn’t seem like that big of a deal to buy a new pair.
Recently, my second pair of AirPod Pros started being temperamental. The left one doesn’t always charge. Sometimes it does. And sometimes… well, it just doesn’t. I never really know if that pesky left AirPod is going to let me down until I pull them out for a run and sync up my Workout Twerkout playlist. More than half the time, I’m disappointed that I only have Saweetie telling me I’m a badass in my right ear.
My plan was just to move on and purchase my third pair of AirPods. After all, I like them. When they work. But I’d also been hearing a lot about SHOKZ bone conduction headphones, particularly amongst runners. Some people love them. Others hate them. I had never tried open ear headphones, so I had no opinion.
But then something happened last weekend.
I was running one of my regular routes that has a fairly steep hill section. (Let me clarify…. “steep hill” by Dallas standards. Not actually a steep hill.) As I was running up the hill – AirPods in, focusing on pushing through and continuing to breathe and not stopping – another runner ran past me, just inches to my left. It scared the shit out of me. I didn’t hear the guy coming at all, and by the time I saw him, he was literally right next to me. Admittedly, I’m a bit of scaredy cat. And the amount of crime TV I watch certainly doesn’t help. Even though I was running in the middle of the day in a really safe neighborhood, it still gave me pause.
Fast forward to last Friday. I woke up around 5:30, earlier than I wanted to get out of bed for my morning run. I pulled out my phone and started aimlessly surfing the web. And then I remembered that fucking left AirPod. I was about to order another pair so I could have my female rap friends cheering me on in stereo when I decided to investigate SHOKZ headphones more seriously. I popped over to the SHOKZ website to compare the different models, and then headed to Amazon to see if I could get them with fast shipping. Of course, Jeff Bezos didn’t disappoint. I decided to order the SHOKZ OpenRun Pro model (they were on sale at the time too!) and they arrived on my doorstep in less than three hours. With their Quick Charge feature, I was able to charge them for just a few minutes and head out on my first run with them, all before 10 a.m.
So, what did I think? Well, the title of this blog post says it all, but let me give you a little more detail.
The Sound
Let’s be real… I don’t truly understand how bone conduction headphones work. I’ve never really loved science, so learning the ins and outs of how I can perfectly hear music without headphones actually going in my ears doesn’t interest me. Just know, they work. ✅
Is the bass as bumpin’ as having headphones jammed down my ear canal? Nope. Is that better for my long term hearing? Probably. Can I hear Cardi B rapping and the birds chirping at the same time? Sure can!
The best way I can describe the sound from the SHOKZ headphones is background music. My running music is mixed in with the sound of the great outdoors, the cars on the street, the planes overhead. While I used to love being completely immersed in sound with my AirPod Pros, especially with the noise cancellation turned on, it’s not the safest thing when running outside. And exercising outside and actually hearing the outdoors is a nice change I didn’t even know I was missing.
The Fit
As I was laying in bed surfing the SHOKZ website on my phone, I noticed that there were two sizes for the headphones – a regular size and a smaller mini version, which looked to just have a shorter band between the two ear pieces. There was a size chart with instructions for how to measure and figure out if you needed the regular size or the mini. But I was laying in bed. So I didn’t measure. I feel like I have a normal, not mini-sized head, so I ordered the regular size. I also knew when I ordered from Amazon I could easily return them if I didn’t love them or they didn’t fit, so I wasn’t really worried about it.
While the regular size fit fine, I felt like I could have ordered the mini. And after I finished my run, I did the measuring that SHOKZ recommended, which confirmed that I actually should have ordered the smaller size. But just barely. Dang it.
Instead of returning the regular size, the hubs decided he would give them a shot. He also loved them when he took them out for a run, so he took the SHOKZ for regular noggins, and I ordered myself the minis. In typical Amazon fashion, the new mini size arrived on my doorstep in just a few hours and I was able to give the hubs my only-used-once hand me downs.
Conclusion
The SHOKZ will definitely be my go-to headphones for running. Without a doubt. I haven’t used them cycling yet, but the hubs has and he really enjoyed them. I’m excited to try them out for my next long bike ride.
I’ll still use my AirPods for phone calls. Even with the pesky left one. They’re easy to grab when the phone rings and I can connect them quickly by just opening the case without having to turn them “on” like you have to do with the SHOKZ.
The ability to hear super-fast-runner-guy coming up behind me on a run or the sound of a car when I’m running on the street instead of the uneven sidewalk makes these headphones 100% worth it in my opinion. And hearing the world in addition to my music is something I enjoy a lot more than I thought I would.
It’s been forever since I’ve blogged, but I enjoy these so much that I just had to get behind the keyboard and tell you about them. If you’ve given these a try, let me know what you think!
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