Shokz are Great

A few months ago I got a free pair of refurbished bone conducting Shokz headphones at the US Trail Running Conference. And as free gifts go oneshouldn’t “look a gift horse in the mouth”, right? I began using them, because I definitely wasn’t in love with my Beats Flex earbuds I had previously used. They worked alright, but not great.

Here are some observation on the Shokz:

• Connectivity via “just” Bluetooth compared to Airplay is inferior and it bums me out that Apple doesn’t open up this protocol and let other makers utilize it too.
• The audio isn’t amazing, but I don’t it to be great when out running. Where it really falls flat is when I’m running next to a busy road and the car noise completely trumps the audio pushed into my ears. There’s no cranking of the volume that overcomes that.
• The controls take a bit getting used to, but they work.
• The battery, even on these refurb ones is good enough.
• I can take phone calls and the mic works just fine.
• Here’s the most important point: They are comfortable. I barely notice them, even on long runs. They don’t tire my ears, the don’t bounce on my head, the aren’t in the way.

That last points basically wins overall other issues. This style of headphones has become my favorite way of listening to music or podcasts on walks, short runs and long runs. I never have issues with them getting pulled out of my ear, the sweat doesn’t make them unusable, they don’t tire my ears. That right there is such a huge plus, especially on long monotonous training runs. Can highly recommend them to anyone looking for a pair of headphones for running.