The 8 Best Bone Conduction and Open-Ear Headphones

The OpenRun Pro 2 is the latest release in the Shokz dry-land line-up. As the name suggests, these are specifically designed for running, but with a secure fit, comfortable feel and long battery life, they're suitable for pretty much any workout.

Utilising both bone conduction and air conduction technology, the OpenRun Pro 2 delivers the best audio quality we've experienced with open-ear headphones, particularly in terms of bass. The former handles the mids and highs, while the latter releases controlled, subterranean bass. The result is a full and rounded sound that's now arguably comparable to a standard pair of earbuds and far better than alternative we've tried to date.

In terms of fit, they're lightweight and sit nicely around your ears, remaining securely in place over hour-plus workouts, without becoming uncomfortable. The control button on each side of the device are also easy to find and use on-the-go. The addition of a USB-C port is also a nice addition.

As we've come to expect from Shokz, the price is high, retailing at £169.99, which is a lot for what will essentially be a second pair of headphones if you're someone who prefers noise cancellation for day-to-day wear. However, if you're after a pair of open-ear workout headphones that deliver decent audio with a respectable amount of bass, the OpenRun Pro 2 are a worthwhile buy.

The biggest drawback of open-ear and bone conduction headphones has always been sound quality. Bose's new Ultra Open Earbuds buck that trend emphatically and represent a significant shake-up of the open-ear headphone scene.

The Ultra Open Earbuds utilise Bose's OpenAudio technology, emitting audio directly into your ear via a small speaker that hovers just over (but not inside) your ear canal, keeping it open to accept other sounds.

In terms of fit, the earbuds hooks onto the outside of your ears using a contractible hinge that moulds to different ear shapes and sizes.

With a waterproof rating of IPX4, they're able to withstand sweaty workouts and light rain, but you shouldn't swim in them, nor submerge them in water.

Our tester has long favoured open-ear headphones for running and the sound quality and bass these deliver outshines any they've worn before. Putting them on took a little trial and error but once secure they didn't budge at all throughout a 15km run and were plenty comfortable to wear all day.

The new Suunto Wing is the first real alternative to the Shokz OpenRun Pro when it comes to premium bone conduction headphones for land-based workouts.

Retailing at around the same price point (albeit a little higher than the OpenRun Pro), the Wing delivers a clear audio experience and secure fit that matches, if not betters, Shokz' flagship headphone.

In terms of the hardware, the Wing also has a better waterproof rating (IP67 vs IP55) meaning it is fully waterproof and sweat-proof. It also comes fitted with LED lights which you can set to a blinking mode for additional visibility in dark conditions. Plus, it comes with a portable docking station for on-the-go charging.

Featuring Shokz' air conduction technology, the OpenFit Earbuds sit over your ear and emit sound waves directly into your eardrum instead of vibrations through your cheekbones.

Weighing just 8.3g, they're among the lightest and compact thanks to the lack of a neckband connecting the two separate earbuds.

Unlike the bone conduction headphones in this guide, the OpenFit come with a charging case, which means you can charge them on the go, delivering up to 28-hour hours of battery life, according to Shokz. They also have a 5-minute charging function, which gives you one hour of battery life if you need them urgently.

In terms of comfort, the OpenFit are the best feeling ear hook-style headphones we tested. They're lightweight, sit snuggly and securely around your ears, and we had no issues in terms of sound quality – at least when there wasn't too much background noise to contend with.

Full review: Are These Open Ear Headphones the Solution to Sweaty Earbuds?

With a waterproof rating of IPX8, the H20 Audio Tri Pro Multi-Sport headphones are designed to be worn both in and out of the pool, and can be submerged to depths up to 3m.

Unlike other waterproof bone conduction headphones, the Tri Pro Multi-Sport have both bluetooth and audio storage, enabling you to stream music from your phone or use them without a device thanks to the 8GB of memory – a must if you plan on using them both in and out of the water. They're also able to store offline playlists from streaming services, which is a nice touch.

The best thing about the Tri Pro Multi-Sport is that you can stream music from your phone, download tracks from your computer, and even upload offline playlists from streaming services. In terms of negatives, the buttons on the side of the headphones are a bit too flush and can be difficult to use when you're moving.

The OpenSwim are Shokz' flagship swimming headphones. With a waterproof rating of IP68, they can be used in depths of 2m, which, unless you're a free diver in need of some musical entertainment, is plenty for swimmers.

Unlike the Shokz OpenRun Pro, which you can't store music on, the OpenSwim have up to 4GB of storage, allowing you to load your own music onto the device. This means you don't need to keep your phone placed by the side of the pool – although, nor would you necessarily want to, as Bluetooth doesn't work well in water. They also have a second audio mode specifically designed to improve the sound quality in the water.

On the surface, this sounds great, but unfortunately the OpenSwim isn't compatible with Spotify or other streaming services – meaning you can't listen to your offline playlists – nor are they Bluetooth compatible. Instead, you have to download MP3 (or other audio format) files onto the device from a computer to listen to music, which in this day and age feels a little dated.

In terms of audio quality, they're excellent, but the inability to listen to music over Bluetooth means they're not great for the gym or for running – or for anyone who exclusively uses streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music.

Available for just £70, the Creative Outlier Free Pro are the affordable route into bone conduction headphones. Despite the modest price tag, a lot of their specs match those you'd find with more expensive alternatives. For example, they have a waterproof rating of IPX8, meaning you can use them in the pool, a battery life of up to 10 hours and 8GB of memory storage.

The Creative Outlier Free Pro headphones felt great to wear and remained comfortable and secure both on runs and in the pool. The main negative is that the sound quality was noticeably worse than other bone conduction headphones we tested. However, for the modest price the ability to store and stream music over Bluetooth makes up for it.

Like the Creative Outlier Free Pro, Haylou's PurFree are another pair of bone conduction headphones that come in just under the £100 mark. And, just like the former, they're well-equipped to challenge the more expensive alternatives both for sound quality and design.

With a water-resistance rating of IP67, the PurFree are built to withstand sweat and light rain during runs and workouts. They also have a battery life of up to eight hours and come with a quick charge feature which gives up to 2 hours of battery life from 10 minutes of charging.

In terms of audio, they have Bluetooth for streaming music from a smartphone or smartwatch, however they don't allow you to store music offline.

The thing you notice first about the PurFree is that they feel premium, lightweight and compact, and that experience doesn't change when you put them on. They remained comfortable during workouts and the audio quality wasn't noticeably different to more expensive bone conduction headphones we tested.