Shokz OpenRun Pro Bone Conduction Headphones Review

The Shokz OpenRun Pro have a similar look to the AfterShokz Aeropex Bone Conduction. They have a thin band that goes around the back of your ear and ear hooks to keep them stable. The transducers also sit on your cheekbones. These headphones come in two colors: 'Blue' and 'Cosmic Black'. Unlike the Shokz OpenRun Bone Conduction, they don't come in a mini version with a shorter headband.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro have a comfortable fit. They're lightweight headphones and don't enter your ear at all. That said, they put a small amount of pressure on the top of your ear, which creates a similar feeling to that of wearing glasses. It can also be uncomfortable if you're wearing these headphones and glasses at the same time.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro have fair controls. There's a multi-function button on the left side that controls most audio-related playback. The right side of the headphones has a power plus volume up ('+') button and a volume down button ('-'). There are voice prompts to let you know when you've registered a command, and the buttons give clicky feedback. That said, some controls can be difficult to remember. When not connected to a device, you can press the '+' button to hear your current battery life. You can switch EQ modes by holding the '+' and '-' button at the same time while music is playing. If you want to pair them with more than one device at a time, you turn on multi-device pairing by holding the multi-function button and the '+' when in pairing mode until you hear a voice prompt.

Multi-function button:

• Single press: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers calls.
• Double press: Skips to the next track when you're listening to audio. If you're pairing the headphones, this switches the language of the voice prompts.
• Triple press: Skips to the previous track when you're listening to audio.
• Press and hold: Activates voice assistant when the headphones are on standby mode.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro are decently portable. While they have a somewhat rigid headband that can make them difficult to fold up if you want to put them in your pocket, they come with a hard carrying case to help protect them when you're on the go.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro come with a great carrying case. It's lightweight, and unlike that of the Shokz OpenRun Bone Conduction, it has a zipper that fully closes the case. There's a space to store the headphones and a small band inside to store the charging cable.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro have a good build quality. They're mostly made of a silicone material and have a sturdy, solid design, so they should survive a couple of accidental drops without taking too much damage. That said, their IP55 rating for dust and water resistance is a bit less protective than that of the Shokz OpenRun Bone Conduction, which are rated IP67.

These headphones have good stability. Thanks to their ear hook design, they shouldn't move around much, even during intense physical exercise. However, there's room between your head and the neckband, which can get caught on clothing like a hood or collar.

• Shokz OpenRun Pro headphones
• Hard case
• Proprietary charging cable
• Elastic band
• Manuals

The Shokz OpenRun Pro are bone conduction headphones that use vibrations to produce sound. As a result, our testing rig can't measure their performance and the frequency response graph doesn't portray sound as a human ear hears it. That said, unlike the Shokz OpenRun Bone Conduction, they have 'TurboPitch Technology', which adds two bass enhancers around the transducers to help out their bass reproduction. However, while these enhancers help add a bit more punch to your mixes compared to other bone conduction headphones like the AfterShokz Aeropex Bone Conduction, they still lack bass, meaning they won't be suitable for more thumpy genres like EDM and hip-hop. Their mid-range is very well-balanced, so vocals and lead instruments sound clear, accurate, and neutral. If you prefer a different sound, they have two EQ presets built-in: 'Standard', which is the default setting, and 'Vocal Booster', which improves vocal clarity.

Note: We normally test headphones at 90dB and 100dB. However, the Shokz OpenRun Pro can't reach these volumes on our dummy head. Even when we use the headphones on our own heads and measure their volume using in-ear microphones, they can't quite reach 90dB. Their max sound is 89dB, so testing was conducted at 79dB and 89dB. That said, their max volume is still very loud, and it's uncomfortable to use them at this volume as they vibrate a lot, which can numb your cheekbones during long listening sessions.

Like the Shokz OpenRun Bone Conduction, the Shokz OpenRun Pro have sub-par frequency response consistency. They're very prone to inconsistencies in bass and treble delivery as they use vibrations to produce audio. It's important to take the time to adjust their fit and positioning on your skin when you use them. Unfortunately, unlike other Shokz headphones, they don't come in a mini size if you find their fit too big.

Unlike the Shokz OpenRun Bone Conduction, these headphones have 'TurboPitch Technology', which adds two bass enhancers around the transducers to help out their bass reproduction. However, they still lack a lot of bass. More bass-heavy songs like Blinding Lights from the Weeknd lack thump, rumble, and punch. While these headphones won't be bassy enough for genres like EDM and hip-hop, they're still suitable for more vocal-centric content like podcasts.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro have outstanding mid accuracy. Mitski's voice in The Only Heartbreaker is clear, present, and accurate, while the crooning acoustic guitar in Orville Peck's C'mon Baby Cry sounds natural.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro's treble accuracy is poor. However, the range isn't as recessed as the graph shows. Vocals and lead instruments are a little veiled, but they're still fairly present in mixes. For example, sibilants like Brian Eno's synthesizer in The Big Ship have rounded edges, so they sound gentle, not dull.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro produce sound via vibrations on your bones, and our testing rig can't properly measure their frequency response. That said, as these headphones struggle to reproduce bass, it doesn't appear to be many peaks and dips in this range. However, there's a peak in the treble range, making sibilants like hi-hats sharp and piercing.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro are bone-conducting headphones, and our testing rig isn't designed to test them. Since they use vibrations to reproduce sound, fit has a major impact on how to perceive their imaging performance. Overall, the L/R drivers seem to be well-matched in frequency. However, like the Shokz OpenRun Bone Conduction, the left driver outputs a slightly higher volume than the right. However, this can be hard to hear in real-life content. Imaging can vary between units and can indicate a manufacturer's quality control and ergonomics.

Our testing rig can't accurately measure the Shokz OpenRun Pro's passive soundstage. They produce sound via vibrations that travel along your cheekbones to your inner ear. Their transducers also sit outside and away from your ear. As a result, their soundstage seems open. Although the measurements suggest an out-of-head soundstage, subjectively, audio is perceived as coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro have a poor weighted harmonic distortion performance. If you like to crank up the volume to your favorite tunes, the transducers vibrate a lot, which becomes uncomfortable as it numbs your cheekbones. However, they aren't meant to be used at very high volumes as they add background audio to your normal sound environment. It's unlikely that you'll use these headphones at a high volume like this.

These are the settings used to test the Shokz OpenRun Pro. Our results are only valid when using these settings.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro have a bad noise isolation performance. Since they don't cover your ear, they won't block out any sound. You may even prefer this design if you're exercising outside and want to stay aware of your surroundings. However, they won't block out any of the low rumble of bus engines, ambient chatter, or more high-pitched noise like the hum of an AC unit.

The leakage performance of these headphones is sub-par. They leak a lot of audio at high volumes, so if you're using them in a quiet space, people around you can hear it.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro's integrated mic has a decent recording quality. Your voice sounds clear and natural. However, your voice lacks depth and body. When you're connected via your phone, the mic's recording quality is also similar.

The integrated mic has mediocre noise handling. When connected via PC, your voice can be drowned out by moderate noise like traffic from an open window. If you're using your phone, the mic does a similarly passable job of separating your voice from pink noise and a marginally better job when it comes to subway noise.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro have a decent battery performance. They're advertised to last 10 hours continuously, and we measured over 14 hours, which is common in other Shokz headphones we've tested. That said, battery life can vary depending on how you use the headphones and what volume you listen to audio. They have a standby mode to help conserve battery life when you're not using them. On the downside, they use a proprietary charging cable, so if you lose or misplace it, you'll need to buy a new one.

The Shokz app is decent. It has two EQ presets that you can use to adjust their sound: 'Standard', which is the default setting, and 'Vocal EQ', which improves vocal clarity. Using the app, you can see the battery life, control media playback alongside volume, switch the voice prompt language, and turn on and off multi-point pairing. You can also update the firmware and switch the app language.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro have excellent Bluetooth connectivity. You can pair them with your smartphone and PC at the same time. They also have low latency on iOS and Android devices, which is great if you're streaming video. However, they have much higher latency on iOS devices, so your audio and visuals are not completely in sync. Some apps and devices compensate for latency, though.

These headphones are Bluetooth-only. You can't use them wired, and they come with a proprietary cable to charge the headphones.

The Shokz Open Run Pro have full audio and visual compatibility when wirelessly connected to Bluetooth-enabled PCs. However, they can't connect to PCs in any other way.