Shokz has announced the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2, a new contender for the best bone conduction headphones designed for runners, and the best running headphones. With audio upgrades promising deeper bass, and a longer battery life than the original OpenRun Pro, they look set to be Shokz’ best headphones yet.
The Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 retain the same look and feel of their predecessors, the original Shokz OpenRun Pro (and this goes right back to older models, when the brand was called Aftershokz), comprising a high-strength band with a silicone covering and transducer pads designed to fit around the temples.
This standard bone conduction design leaves your ears free to hear the world around you – great for staying aware of potential hazards during runs – while transmitting audio through your temples towards your eardrum.
The OpenRun Pro 2 are sporting several small changes here, featuring both bone conduction drivers and air conduction speakers. The bone conduction driver is said to offer a “new dual reed and coil innovative design stabilizes the vibration system, producing a purer vocal sound”, while the air conduction speaker is pitched lower for “booming, deep bass”. It sounds like our test runs for these will be well soundtracked.
The OpenRun Pro 2 also offer a longer battery life (12 hours, compared to the original’s 10), multipoint pairing to two devices, and a 2.5 hour listening time on just five minutes of charge time. They’re available now, priced at $179.95 / £169 / AU$299.
Analysis: If it ain’t broke…
Bone conduction headphones haven’t changed much in design since the days of the Aftershokz Aeropex (although we do also have the best open-ear headphones now), and with the OpenRun Pro 2 Shokz isn’t messing with this tried-and-tested formula.
It’s just improving what’s already there, with better audio quality and longer life. To be honest, that’s all it had to do, and I’m certainly in the camp of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
I’m a keen user of the original Shokz OpenRun, so the prospect of having amazing sound quality and 2.5 hours of playback on a five-minute charge is an exciting prospect. Watch this space for a full review soon.
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matt.evans@futurenet.com (Matt Evans)
