The OpenRun Pro 2 take what Shokz has done well — open-ear headphones for active types of folks — and made them sound much better.
I’m a big fan of not reinventing the wheel. If a product is truly good, it’ll see iterative updates, improving on what’s there instead of admitting that something wasn’t right. (Or, worse, changing things just because it can.)
That describes the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 almost perfectly. These don’t re-invent anything, really. They’re still niche headphones, built with an intended use in mind — specifically, exercise and other active types. And they offer an alternative for those who just don’t like earbuds or over-the-ear headphones.
That’s not to say there’s nothing different about the OpenRun Pro 2. They improve on what came before in some very good — and interesting — ways.About this review
I’ve been using the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 — a review unit sent from Shokz — for about two weeks ahead of their public launch. I used them mostly with an iPhone 15 Pro but also with a Samsung Galaxy S21. (The phone used doesn’t really matter much with a product like this.)
The OpenRun Pro 2 were on firmware R_05_20240517, and we didn’t receive an update while using them.What are these things?
First, some context. If you’ve ever been to the gym or otherwise seen someone with a weird-looking set of headphones that look more like a sunglasses strap than what you’d consider to be headphones, this is what we’re talking about. The Shokz line started life as a bone-conduction endeavor, and under the AfterShokz brand. They’re direct descendants of the Aeropex, which basically became the first iteration of OpenRun. They’re also cousins of the OpenFit and OpenFit Air line, which ditch the wire connecting the two earpieces.
In that sense, the term “headphones” doesn’t quite work. They’re not headphones in the sense that they sit atop your ear or into your ear like earbuds. They sit just outside your ear, and instead of using vibrations to move air to create sound, the vibrations go through your skull. (It maybe sounds a little more metal than it is.)
Why, you ask? To leave your earhole open for other sounds, because there are tons of instances in which you need to be able to hear what’s going on around you, and exercise is one of those times. So you can listen to music or a podcast or whatever but still hear traffic around you. It’s a safety thing. So there’s no noise cancellation here. Just the entertainment of whatever it is you’re listening to, and the information of what’s going on in your environment.Fit and finish
The OpenRun Pro 2 feel more like wearing a neckband than any sort of headphones or earbuds you’ve ever used. The speaker/buds/ear things — the parts that make the sound — sit just in front of your ear, with loops keeping things in place. The two sides are connected with a sturdy and fairly stiff wire.
All in all, it’s still a pretty comfortable fit, even though it’s definitely a little different than traditional headphones and earbuds. There are two sizes available — “Standard” and a smaller “Mini” option that takes about 0.83 inches off the total length of the band. If you know you have a bigger head, stick with standard. If you don’t know, I’d wait and find a demo model in a store somewhere and try ‘em on.
Shokz said it did some work on the firmness of the wire loop, too. I can’t speak to the difference since I don’t wear the older models every day, but it’s been comfortable enough in my use, whether I was just wearing them throughout the day, or actually bouncing around and being active.
