Shokz - OpenFit

I love my shokz and bought them for similar safety reasons. I bought the most basic/cheapest ones and I can’t see why I’d need an upgrade (unless I’m missing something?) I’m surprised at how good the sound quality is. I can’t deal with wearing them in the winter, though, because I get headaches if my ears aren’t covered. So I have some Bluetooth earmuffs for winter which are also not terribly noise-cancelling.

Earbuds in general are a terrible idea, don't plug anything into your ear. As long as your ear canal is open to the air, you can hear your surroundings. Best is open earbuds. Bone conduction is okay if you exclusively listen to speech, but the sound quality isn't there. Top of the line in my opinion is the Shoks Openfit, pricey but very balanced sound profile, they get very close to good quality in-ear buds while letting all outside sound into your ears. For more budget options, I'd recommend the Anker Soundcore V30i, or some of Soundpeats open earbuds. I don't have personal experience with these models but I've heard good things, and they're under half the price of the Shoks.

battery lasts longer, NOT in ear so you can hear environmental noise very well. the fidelity is worse than my $20 skullcandy in-ears but my Shokz are SO much better for running for awareness alone.. the wrap around strap is great too

My TOZO OpenReals (lower cost Shokz) don’t require an app. I did download the TOZO app with my T6s, but I’m not sure I had to and I don’t notice it/havent used that app since pairing. I’ll be honest, they’re so well-priced I don’t pair them with anything other than my phone. They’re for running or the gym within walking distance to my house so they don’t need to be paired with anything else.

I have the Shocks with the band and AirPods Pro. I use both. I prefer the AirPods with noise cancellation if I’m running at the gym, and I use the shockz for outdoor runs for safety. I personally don’t notice the band on them at all when I’m running.

Aftershokz are loved by runners. I’m not surprised it ranked so high. They were a game changer for me.

Because they don’t fall out of your ears and they don’t go in or cover your ears so you can hear your surroundings (for example the car that is texting while driving and about to run you over from behind). Another advantage is you don’t hear your feet pounding the ground like you do with earbuds. They don’t have a high IPX rating but survive rain, humidity and massive amounts of sweat much better than headphones with way higher IPX ratings. They also come with a no questions asked 2 year warranty.

My only advice for the shokz that go completely around your head is to get the mini size instead of regular if you are petite or have a small head. My husband has the regulars and I tried them before I was going to purchase. I hated them. They seemed big and clunky on my head. I ended up purchasing the smaller size and they are perfect. I love them.

FYI to anyone looking to get the banded Shokz through Costco, the warehouse only has the regular size, but the mini is available online. I have the regular. I think the mini would have been a better choice for me, but I got used to it quickly enough and really dont think about it any more on runs. The only time it REALLY bugs me is when I'm sitting down and can't lean back because the band is sticking out. But my use for them is almost 100% for running, so whatever. For running i love them. The difference between a microphone that feeds you the outside noises (and the wind noise and everything else) and just plain *hearing* everything i amazing.

Shokz openfit air are great. “*only*” 100$, great battery life, great awareness, decent enough quality.  Max volume is a little low for them to be my only headphones - they get drowned out by the bus sometimes.  Had a beats pair once upon a time that died the second they got moist for the first time. 

Shokz Openfit/Air. I wear glasses and they feel like they aren't even there. The only reason I know that they are on is that I can hear music in my ears. The battery life is fantastic as well. I'm a bit of a slow runner, and my first marathon time was over 5 hours, and the Shokz lasted the whole time.

Shokz bone induction can help me enjoy the podcast and keep me alerted to traffic.

Highly reccomend the Shokz Openfit. They are just as comfortable, with more bass even as an open ear design.

I personally enjoyed both. I opted for the Openfit Air, but the openfit were great too, specifically for music. It's really up to you if you wanna spend more on the openfits for the wireless charging and such. They also feel more premium. The Airs worked well for me and I saved a few extra bucks.

I would. I'd take anything Shokz open ear wise over Bose

I personally enjoyed both. I opted for the Openfit Air, but the openfit were great too, specifically for music. It's really up to you if you wanna spend more on the openfits for the wireless charging and such. They also feel more premium. The Airs worked well for me and I saved a few extra bucks.

Highly recommend Shokz Openfit / Openfit Air Openfit have better sound, they did distort at higher volumes when first released especially with bass boost on, but this was fixed with an update. They also have wireless charging, and multipoint. They retail for $180. Openfit Air are similar, with multipoint and EQ adjustments. I use them to sleep and go for walks, and they work out perfectly. They retail for $120, usually see them on sale for $100. These do have more distortion at higher volumes, but still sound perfectly fine for casual listening, audio books, movies, etc. If someone prefers the clip style, QCY just released open ear clip style for $35(?) on Amazon and those have good reviews, and literally a 10th of the cost of these.

Shokz Openfit Air for me!

I have the Shokz OpenFit Air and cannot recommend them enough!

Very difficult to say since everyone's ear shape differs slightly and everyone's tolerance to discomfort is different too. You've done the right thing by identifying which part of the ear it hurts. The next thing is to try different style earbuds to work out what shape fits you best. When it comes to stem-based, you've generally got two types of in-ear fits: shorter, fatter nozzle with shadow insertion (Apple, Huawei, OnePlus, Soundcore, Realme, Redmi, etc) or smaller, rounded nozzle with deeper insertion (Earfun Air 2NC & Air Pro 4). The former seems to be flavour of the month because it reduces occlusion, but for some users it also causes pain because they can't find eartips suitable to fill the space around the antitragus and provide sufficient stability. The latter style is prone to more occlusion but it is an alternative option you might want to consider as you try and narrow down the reason these buds cause you problems. There aren't so many non-stem options these days and most of them tend to be quite bulky due to the need to house a battery, circuit board, chipset, mic etc but the lighter options include Samsung Galaxy Buds FE, which is medium insertion with a small nozzle. Other potential options here include the Jabra Elite range. You could also try semi in ear. The Airpods 2 or Airpods 4 shaped offerings would be better than the larger, more bulbous shape of the Airpods 3. Lots of Airpods alternatives [here](https://youtu.be/Pn8jPFtjR_4) or [here](https://www.scarbir.com/guide/cheap-apple-airpods-alternatives) if you wanted to go even cheaper. Samsung Galaxy Buds Live are old, but they are popular due to being both semi in ear and also barely going in the ear at all, again they can be picked up cheap these days so could be an option to try. Finally, if all else fails, you have either [open ear](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL85LR0G6DtA-7ilJvuB0GTCH_cayYizsF&si=s0osx_zYJQK6n2WN) or [ear clip](https://youtu.be/_V3GJkXoN5w). Both form factors have good budget options for you to try and fit out to see if you like it before moving up to something in the more premium range. I personally use Shokz OpenFit Air for running, and whilst the sound is obviously nowhere near as immersive as in ear, they are super comfortable and pretty versatile. In short - nobody can really recommend something that will guarantee to work for you because of the reasons I mentioned at the beginning, but with some trial and error you should get there - try the styles I've mentioned above systematically and I'm sure one of them will work out for you.

I got a pair of shokz openfit for Christmas and am really liking them. I wasn’t sure about the style, since it’s individual ones for each ear rather than the standard wrap around for shokz, but they do stay put and are comfortable. I like that you can still hear background noise like traffic.

My only gripe with Shokz Openfit (non air model) the drivers won't sit close enough to my ear canal to hear the quality sound these buds produce unless I constantly adjust them. Back to headphones 🎧 I heard on the grape vine the bone conduction have less bass then the Openfit model.

Personally the only earbuds I can actually use are the bone conduction ones and the open fits that after shokz sell. It’s less about sound quality and more about comfort. Like if I want something to sound nice I can just use my headphones. But when I’m working or out doing something I need something that I can use to listen to but also hear the outside world if needed. Not to mention that after a while basically all earbuds hurt my ears so much which is why I went with this type of earbud. They do still got some pretty good sound quality but ya no real noise canceling but I just turn my shit up till I can’t hear anything else lol.

My Shokz open fit has been great during training in a busy city area and race day. I can hear well and interact with other people but when it gets to the quiet part of the race, I can also hear my music pretty well for distraction.

I've had three pairs of the Openrun minis over the last ten years and used them mainly for running and cycling. I just switched to the Openfits which are over the ear earbuds so they don't have the band in the back. They are so comfortable I can have them in for hours and don't feel them at all.

Noise cancelling: Bose whatever the fuck Open ear: shokz openfit

I know they're popular, but I have to say I'm kind of surprised that the Shokz love is so strong here. I tried both the Openrun and Openfit models and both felt like they were constantly jostling around or going to fall off, fit was disrupted if I was wearing a headband or hat, and had poor sound quality. I understand wanting to be aware of your surroundings but to be honest, there's also sound that I want to block out sometimes. Also, if it was windy at all the wind interference blowing across the speakers on the open-ear models is terrible and makes it so that you can hardly hear anything. I prefer physical buttons for control functions like pause/skip forward/skip back and found the touch controls annoying. I prefer a wired bluetooth model (two earbuds connected to one another) so that I can adjust if I need to have more awareness of surroundings by taking one ear out and not having a loose item to deal with. I get this is not the norm but I do the vast majority of my running in parks where I don't need to worry about traffic, so don't worry about keeping both in most of the time. I used to really like Jaybird products and went through multiple pairs before they had some kind of technical malfunction, but am using a random cheap brand ($35 or so?) at the moment. Battery life for bluetooth products has improved dramatically and for running gear that takes a beating, I'm happy to use something basic until it wears out.

I have both and like both, I find the open fit irritate my ears after awhile due to the way they sit on them. The open fit definitely sound better though.

I got the open fit. I chose based on reviews on YouTube. Music is loud enough on my runs. I wore them for a half marathon and they stayed on fine and I don't feel them at all. The battery lasted through the whole half and had plenty of battery to spare. I can still wear a hat. When I am running outside I can hear when someone is approaching or if a vehicle is near. I love them and think they are stylish and cute. I got the pink ones and they match my ear skin tone. Downside: it's not as immersive as an experience as in bud ear phones. If I go at a busy time at the gym I can barely hear my music over the machines making the treadmill even harder.

Shokz openfit as someone who experienced ruptured eardrum.

My wife uses the shokz open fit. They’re pretty tight to the ear, but no band behind the head.

If you need another option in the future the Shokz Openfit aren’t bone conduction, they are open ear earbuds. They are the most comfortable headphones or earbuds I’ve ever owned

Man I have been through so many of them, and maybe it's just that my ear is odd but I've been frustrated with how they either fall out or bother me after 30 minutes or so.... until I found one built very differently. At last, I'm happy with the Shokz Openfit, because they wrap around the back of the ear rather than trying to be seated in your ear canal. So maybe give it a try if you like.

Just adding my terrible experience with Shokz. Awful sound quality from day 1. Charging issues, one headphone will die/not connect to my phone. They stay on in the charging case and drain themselves one in every 2 or 3 times I put them away. Do not recommend. Model: Shokz Openfit Edit: comments in this thread inspired me to submit a quality claim

I have tried the Shokz Openfit and they drove me insane. I kept feeling them on and thinking they would fall off my ears at any moment, it would distract me from my run. I returned them and I got the Bose ultra open earbuds and I am so happy with them. Sound quality is good and you can also hear your surroundings, as they don’t go into your ear either. The only con I’ve found is that the mic is not as good as it could be for the price.

Shokz ooen fit are the best running headphones I’ve owned. The open runs and open se’s were too big for my head😭

Shokz OpenFits are great for the hill

They're fine with mine, sandbox classic

I didn’t like how the Shox felt while wearing a helmet and sunglasses. I switched to the Bose Open Ear Ultra and have been very happy.

shokz openfit are by far my favorite of all the headphones ive tried with my glasses.

Shokz open fit (they are not connected in the back). Love them. They are light, they won’t fall off (they hook over each ear) and you can cover your ears. The cover your ears is a big thing for me because I could not do that comfortably with my regular connected Shokz- which are also great. I just wanted to be able to cover my ears in the winter. Edit: words

Absolutely can hear everything even when I have the volume all the way up cause I’m hurting doing 1K repeats.

Same. When i have to wear a beanie, it gets a little tricky

100% the worst!

I recently got the shokz openfit. As someone who doesn't trust normal earbuds, finds them uncomfortable and just not enjoyable, these openfits are amazing. Can not shake them of my ears for the life of me, like litteraly impossible, i forget I'm wearing them, sound is really really good imo, that was the only thing i was slightly afraid off but it's really good. Doesn't sit in your ear so you can still hear everything around you. Only negative is if you're a podcastlistener, i don't but I can tell from the spoken garmin messages that you either need to listen on max volume or it wouldn't be that enjoyable.

I use shokz openfit. Love them

I tried the shokz open in a shop. Great sound , comfortable with my glasses. But I'm put off because of their poor customer service regarding warranty claims.

I just ran with mine for the first time yesterday. Listened to an audiobook during a windy 5k with no problems and could still hear my surroundings. Love them!

Shokz open fit series. They don’t go in your ear canal at all. They just rest on your ear. I think it might be less pressure.

I got the open fit by Shokz since I kinda wanted something louder than the open fit they are great but they still leave my ear bud a bit sore but they definitely are louder which is great!

It took me a minute to get used to them but they are great, and they connect with the Garmin Watch if you want to leave your phone at home.

You need 2 different solutions, not 1. Running outside with noise cancelling headphones is a huge no-no and is very risky for your health. You need to be able to hear what’s going on around you to avoid accidents. I use Shokz OpenFit and have had no issues with them for 2 years.

Yes they do. I have the furry strap to reduce wind noise, and I use Shokz open ear headphones so that I can make calls or listen to podcasts while still hearing cars etc. They work fine together.

I love Shockz Openfit and have been using them for over a year now. I prefer the openfit (singles) to the attacked OpenRun

I am very happy with the Shokz Open Fit. They sound good and let outside noise in. These could be described as traditional ear buds but they have a gap between the speaker and the ear. I was not happy with the Shokz bone conducting headphones. My uncovered ears heard the usual wind noise while riding. To compensate, I had to turn the bone conducting headphones all the way up and that drowned out any important sounds anyway (cars approaching, etc…). So, I went back to Apple AirPods until I got the Shokz Open Fit. Honourable mention: The Meta Ray Ban smart glasses with integrated speakers sound great if you want to get smart sunglasses. My only problem with these is the thick frames mean craning my neck higher in an aero position. They would be excellent if you ride in an upright position.

Shokz OpenFit. Ear canal size doesn't matter with an on ear type.

How is the battery life on Open Fit? I need max volume with audiobooks on trail runs and my Open Run Pros are drained after 4 hours

Second that as long as you don’t need ANC. They are great sounding and comfortable enough to wear all day, but the design prevents ANC from being possible.

I have Shokz openrun, openfit, and the swim one. All great product to run with and each have their place.

Shokz Open Fit. It's not infrequent that I find myself wearing them for hours (with glasses) and not realizing it. Bonus that because they are Open they don't slide out or get weird when I'm running and sweaty.

I use open fit shokz but same idea!!! I like open fit because I can use them in just one ear at a time but they made a HUGE difference for me

I really love my Shockz Open Fit. They sit over the ear but use regular speaker tech vs bone conducting so the sound quality is better than the Open Run. They stay put. You can still hear the world around you for safety. And they are so comfortable -- sometimes I forget to take them off and i forget they're there when I turn the music off.

I really love my Shockz Open Fit. They sit over the ear but use regular speaker tech vs bone conducting so the sound quality is better than the Open Run. They stay put. You can still hear the world around you for safety. And they are so comfortable -- sometimes I forget to take them off and i forget they're there when I turn the music off.

I really love my Shockz Open Fit. They sit over the ear but use regular speaker tech vs bone conducting so the sound quality is better than the Open Run. They stay put. You can still hear the world around you for safety. And they are so comfortable -- sometimes I forget to take them off and i forget they're there when I turn the music off.

I really love my Shockz Open Fit. They sit over the ear but use regular speaker tech vs bone conducting so the sound quality is better than the Open Run. They stay put. You can still hear the world around you for safety. And they are so comfortable -- sometimes I forget to take them off and i forget they're there when I turn the music off.

I recently purchased shockz open fit and they are a game changer for my road running!

I found the band of mine annoying until I realized that I needed the small size (there are two band sizes). It doesn't bother me anymore. In winter the band stay put inside my Buff.

I recommend open-ear style headphones that are hooked to your ears but don't go in the ear canal. They are not bone conducting headphones so the sound quality is actually pretty good. They are very stable on technical terrain, even aggressive downhill running, and they don't block outside noise, which helps to be more aware of surroundings. One good choice Shokz OpenFit, but there are other choices, for example Bose or Oladance.

I have the earbuds (not the wraparound ones) and I love them! My one complaint is that they don’t really love my ears so I only use them for outdoor runs or when I’m running with other people because they tend to not sit in my ears right sometimes. But I wore them for my first marathon last October and had no problems at all really.

I have the open runs for that reason... I have sweated to death my old lower tier pair. In the company's defense, they sent me a free replacement pair that were an updated version. I also have a pair of open fits that I got for a present for myself a while back because they fit better under hats. I run in the country where we have no sidewalks but a lot of free range dogs, people on tractors and the occasional lost cyclist from the neighboring county with more money. I'm not from that county but also wear them cycling because drivers seem to hate cyclists even more than they do runners... they fit great with my helmet and sunglasses both.

Shokz open fit - they're not bone conduction like other shokz. But airpods and normal buds dont stay in for me. Wearing big headphones doesnt work for certain machines I use frequently (hack squat, standing calf). This works great for me. Ear hooks, they dont fall out. Great for running or biking outside since they arent blocking my actual ears. But any of the open ear style will likely do well if you need them for a broad range of uses - only downside for me is they are obviously designed to let in some outside noise, so if you are near where they are doing group fitness classes with the PA cranked up, it's not going to be great.

I have shokz open fit, those are not bone conduction. They have some that are, and some that aren't

That answers my question perfectly. Other buds had the same issue with no active noise canceling. My callers were not pleased to hear the jam at the gym.

Tried them. But it is bone conduction. For some reason my bone doesn't like it sitting there for long.

I absolutely love my shokz openfit earbuds. I have severe sensory issues, so I wear one 24/7 while I'm awake with an audio book playing to give me something to focus on. They are so comfortable most of the time I don't even feel them, and I can run them for about 6 hours before switching. 100% agree with the others about the customer service as well. I can honestly say this is one of the very few products I would give a perfect review.

It's not true at all. I use a single bud most of the time unless I'm in louder places needing the extra volume.

Shokz Openfit are better then the Bose Ultra open earbuds IMO. I just got the the diamond 60th edition and will be sending them back. The sound on the Shokz is better hands down. And yes, you cannot makes calls with the Bose, complete joke, useless, really dissapointed. I bought into all the reviews about how much better the sound was compared to Shokz. That is not my experiece, i went thru all kinds of genres of music and Bose just did not cut it. I messed with settings and equalizer and nothing. The bass was weak, switching to Max bass i noticed little change. Other settings like mids and highs responded to chages as expected but the bass was just not punching. On the Shokz when adjusting bass on equalizer you really notice the differece. I had been waiting for sale of $250. I don't see how these justify a price higher then $150. You can get Shokz openfit for $150 or less with discounts or coupons if you're patient which i am. I got my Shokz for like $130 from Shokz directly. So what the heck Bose! $300? Really?

Shokz open fit might fit the bill. Not bone conducting, but small, separate ear clips which work well for running and are "open ear" too.

I used aftershokz. That became shokz. Def work, worn for hundreds of hours sweating in all conditions. No drama or issues

Shokz, never ran with music till couple months ago. Impressed with well everything about them. One item I can say is def worth the investment

I'm on my third pair of Shokz (I started when they were called Aftershokz) and couldn't be happier with them.

I got them when we had a baby. I could listen to a podcast but also hear if the baby started crying.

I totally agree with you. I love my open ear Shokz. I can hear my music and everything around me!

I love them for cycling for this reason too. Also, they are great for mowing the lawn as I can use ear plugs.

They do not go on or in your ears so no, but if you can't hear the wind you likely also cannot hear the cars around you. I have not had difficulty listening to podcasts or music over the wind while cycling, but sometimes I'll put a headband over my ears when it's getting a bit chilly and that cuts out the wind.

Thirded, I will never go back to in ear buds. Love aftershokz and feel a bit safer being able to hear traffic and bikes coming up behind me.

This is the first real Shokz contender for high quality induction headphones, in my opinion. I mean, it's clear that the product is design to actually be better than Shokz, instead of just being cheaper.

I had the bone conducting shokz and loved them until I slept on them and broke the band like 7 or 8 years into ownership, still working great with a toque on. Now I have the shokz open ear and absolutely love them. The wind noise is manageable but once I get over about 20KM/HR the other person cannot hear me.

Shokz are awesome. Don’t slip out like the white things. Looonnnggg battery life! Can also hear the world around you. If you don’t want to hear other sounds, soft ear plugs with Shokz improves the music sound and mostly blocks out other noise. I’m on a plane right now with both. Just me and my music. Got em on sale at Sam’s for $80 during holidays.

I love my Aftershokz; they're not tremendously loud, but having my ears open for traffic and other runners/riders is really nice.

I've been using Shokz (formerly known as Aftershockz) for years, and am very happy with them. Sound quality is really decent. I wouldn't use them for music if I had other options but for podcasts and videos they are fine. Wind noise is the main issue for me when riding with headphones, but I don't think other kinds of headphones are much better (unless they are patently unsafe, like closed over the ear headphones).