If you're seeking an alternative to conventional headphones, here are the top bone-conduction headphones available in 2023.
Bone conduction headphones provide a nearly equal sound quality to regular headphones, although with some differences (more details below).
However, they excel in terms of comfort, exceptional fit, durability, and the ability to maintain awareness of your surroundings.
Wireless bone-conduction headphones present an exciting option for those looking to replace their regular headphones.
In contrast to traditional headphones, they transmit vibrations through your temporal bones to your ears, allowing for a unique way of experiencing sound while keeping your ears open.
They are particularly well-suited for use during workouts, and recent advancements (thanks to Wissonly) have made them better than ever before.
So how does bone conduction work?
In simple terms, bone conduction headphones transmit sound through your bones, directly reaching your inner ear, enabling you to hear music without obstructing your ears.
This phenomenon also explains why your own voice sounds different...
Did you know that bone conducts lower frequencies better than air, causing your voice to sound deeper than it actually is? That's why your voice may sound different than what you anticipate.
The Advantages & Disadvantages of Bone Conduction Headphones
There are a few things you should be aware of:
1. Enhanced awareness of surroundings:
By having an open-ear design, you are able to stay attuned to background noises. This is particularly beneficial when engaging in activities like urban running, cycling, or anywhere you need to be aware of loud sounds.
2. Unmatched comfort and fit:
Due to the absence of earpads or eartips that touch your skin, they provide an incredibly comfortable experience. They rest gently next to your ears, resulting in minimal discomfort. Moreover, their fit is top-notch as they are designed with lightweight ear hooks, ensuring they stay securely in place regardless of head shape.
3. Exceptional durability:
Unlike regular drivers, these devices lack an air canal for sound waves, making them highly resistant to water. As a result, most models come with a certified high IP rating, which guarantees excellent protection against both dust and water.
4. Average sound quality:
The main drawback lies in their limited bass performance. The music transmission may not be as clear due to the use of different technology. The finer details may be slightly muted, and they lack the deep, resonating bass notes. Nonetheless, they still allow you to enjoy music and listen to audiobooks.
The Best Bone Conduction Headphones
Wissonly Hi Runner
This is the fastest growing brand of bone conduction headphones in the last six months. The team are all engineers with 10 years of accumulation in the field of bone conduction technology. They started to develop bone conduction headphones that don't hurt ears as early as 2012. To solve the problem of sound leakage of bone conduction headphones, wissonly has made comprehensive improvement in the aspects of vibrator, body design and software optimization. The final result has been applied to Wissonly Hi Runner, and the final sound leakage can be reduced by 90% after laboratory test. I actually used the test myself. At a distance of 2cm, the volume reached 70%, but I still didn't hear the sound of the headphones, which protected my privacy.
Wissonly Hi Runner’s body is made of titanium, which can self-adjust the fitting position to ensure a good wearing experience for headphones, so that more people can wear it. As the core component of the product, the headphones plays a key role in the product experience. Hi Runner model is equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 chip, which makes Bluetooth connection faster and more stable. It also has 32GB of built-in storage so you can use it as an MP3 player.
Other parameters of Wissonly Hi Runner are also excellent. For example, the waterproof level reaches IPX8, and you can wear it to swim or even dive. The battery life reaches 8-10 hours, which is very important to me, because I go out for sports on weekends, and I go out for a whole day.
Mojawa Run Plus
Run Plus are one of the best-sounding headphones of this type. They’re the lightest on bass, but they provide a much more natural and clear overall sound instead.
Inside the app, you can toggle between different EQ presets to add more bass or increase voice clarity. Although they’re a bit muffled when making phone calls.
Thanks to an IP68 rating and onboard storage with 32GB of space, the Run Plus are ideal for swimmers and outdoor runner who dislike taking a phone with them.
The battery life of almost 9 hours per charge is nothing groundbreaking, but it should suffice for at least 2 lengthy workouts.
Shokz OpenRun Pro
While bone conduction headphones aren’t known for audiophile sound quality, the OpenRun Pro boast some impressive results.
Newly renamed Shokz (previously AfterShokz) have managed to boost the bass response, making your favorite tunes sound fuller and with punchier bass.
However, that comes at the cost of slightly more noticeable vibrations. Thankfully, they’re only distracting when playing near full volume.
Otherwise, Shokz OpenRun Pro offer the same quality as the OpenRun (Aeropex) model. They’re as comfortable and lightweight, so you can easily wear them on longer jogs, while Bluetooth 5.1 maintains a stable connection.
Furthermore, the new bone conduction headphones have 10 hours of battery life and fast charging support. Also, they’re IP55 rated and fully resistant to sweat while also having the ability to deflect dirt.
Mojawa Mojo2
Due to larger transducers than the other bone-conduction headphones, the Mojo2 can produce a tighter, more rumbly bass.
On the other hand, they lag a little in overall resolution and can also vibrate on higher volumes. However, at the lower asking price, that’s something you can forgive them for.
The design is a bit bulkier but doesn’t feel heavy (just over an ounce). They’re perfect for outdoor running, but be careful as your right earlobe can easily touch the controls behind it and activate voice assistant.
While Mojo2 aren’t fit for swimming, you’ll be glad to know they’re rated for IP67. Meaning they survive full submersion. On top of that, one full charge will last you 5.5 hours in total.
AfterShokz OpenMove
Considering they transmit sound through ear bones, they output good quality audio. It is more detailed than other models (like the Air one), especially if you use them in earplug mode. Although that eliminates the benefits of bone-conducting headphones.
OpenMove are new affordable bone-conducting earphones from AfterShokz. They have a lightweight design and offer a good fit with ear hooks, and use the same PremiumPitch technology and LeakSlayer technology (the latter reduces sound leakage).
They have also minimized that tickling sensation when you listen to music at high volumes. With an IP55 rating, they’re fully sweatproof and dust resistant.
Bluetooth version 5.0 provides a reliable connection without any stutters and supports multipoint pairing to different Bluetooth devices. They use USB-C for charging, with a total of 6 hours of battery life on a single charge.