Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

So Shokz (formerly AfterShokz) has released their latest gen Bone Conduction earbuds, the Openrun Pro's. I have been waiting to invest in a set of bone conduction buds until I felt the price could be justified. The early reviews were glowing for these so I pulled the trigger. As both a runner and someone that owns a ton of earbuds, I felt like I was the right audience for these. At $179, these have moved up into the more premium stratosphere price wise. Are they worth it? Here is my take: I usually bullet point the good and bad when I review more traditional buds and cans but these are so nuanced, I just think I need to lay out my thoughts. First, I can spare some of you a somewhat lengthy read. If you aren't running or, at the very least, working out outside where you need to hear things going on around you, these aren't for you. The compromises you have to make in sound quality versus a more traditional bud or set of headphones just aren't worth it. Try as they might, Shokz still hasn't put bone conduction tech on the same level. That said, from an audio perspective, the Openrun Pro's surprised me. There is crisp audio and some actual low end. Music sounds good and on multiple genres. I fired up Beastie Boys, Jay Z, Flaw, Interpol, Slipknot, AC/DC, and a number of others and all of it sounded decent. Decent. All while leaving your ears open to the environment around you. Again, even most entry level no name ear buds are going to be more fulfilling for music but this will work for me. Podcasts sound even better. There is an EQ toggle in the Shokz app (ignore the bad reviews there is an update that fixes Android 12 issues) that allows you to enhance vocals and it works. Pods and video are great here. When I run outside, I can completely accept "decent" sound in exchange for the safety of be able to hear my surroundings. In terms of hardware, these are extremely comfortable on and most importantly, when running, they stay put. I mean don't move at all. Controls are easy with a volume rocker on the right and a single multi-action button on the left. You get a waterproof rating of IP55 which is just barely enough for me but it will work with the way I sweat and should be enough for occasional rain. Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity is here so you get great stable range and easy pairing. You get 10 plus hours of battery life on a single charge. Charging is done via a proprietary magnetic charger which I don't normally like but this one is good. Oh, and call quality, while not game changing, is more than adequate. It is all really well done. Cheers to the Shokz design team here. In terms of competition or other considerations, the Tarah Pro's for Jaybird immediately came to mind. The Jaybirds are another one that I pretty much only recommend for runners. Those sound much better as they are in ear buds, offer an IPX7 rating so they are much more water tight, and have a similar form factor and intangibles. However, while the Tarah Pro's aren't noise cancelling, they do significantly reduce your ability to hear what is going on around you. I always tell myself, I will keep the volume down, then some killer workout jam hits and I am back to full volume and deaf to the world around me. If you do that with the Openrun Pro's, the only thing that happens is you end up with a little bass tickle in your ears. You can still hear the cars, bikes, and buses all around you. Call it forced self preservation. For me, what Shokz has done here deserves a lot of credit. If you run outdoors around things that can hurt you, these absolutely 100% warrant your consideration. I would actually go further and say that you should buy them. They aren't cheap but Shokz includes a 2 year warranty here which most of us runners will surely test. Those that don't need something for outside, don't bother here. You will be disappointed. Runners rejoice, a product that was clearly designed for us is here. Embrace it! Recommend!