I've never liked having things in my ears, so on a whim I took advantage of Prime Days to buy a wireless "headphone" that fits around the back of your neck, curls over your ears, and produces sound via bone conduction.
They're great! The sound is good,¹ the stereo separation is excellent, and they fit snugly. If you too have never been comfortable with stuffing earbuds into your ears, I highly recommend them.
¹By ordinary standards, that is. I won't pretend to know how they stack up if you're an audiophile who demands only the best.
I've had the Shokz OpenRun Pro headphones for a year, and wear them every day, basically everywhere. They're great. Soon thereafter, I got the Shokz OpenSwim waterproof mp3 player / headphones, and I use those daily when I swim. Again, excellent.
the OpenSwim comes with a neoprene sack (the OpenRun comes with a hardshell case) and I busted the OpenSwim when I carried them in my messenger bag, b/c the neoprene sack didn't protect them from being banged around and smushed. I contacted Shokz, and they treated it as a warranty repair! I was surprised. They sent me a replacement toute suite!
Gotta say, I really love these headphones, and like I said I use 'em religiously.
I don't know about audiophiles, but the fact is, wired sound is always better than the wireless version.
I'm an audiophile and you are correct. All other things being equal, wired sound is always better than wireless sound. (For example, though a good wireless headphone like the $700 Focal Bathys is certainly better than many cheaper and crappier wired ones, a good wired headphone in the same general price range is almost certainly better.) That said, newer Bluetooth codecs like aptX HD, apt X Adaptive, LHDC, and Sony's LDAC have far higher bit rates than standard Bluetooth and can support sound quality that approaches, but does not quite equal, wired sound and is audiophile acceptable, at least in situations that prioritize convenience. However, Kevin and most non-audiophiles are almost certainly not using these codecs, even if available on their devices, and these Shokz "headphones" support only vanilla Bluetooth. I scanned a couple of mainstream (non-audiophile) reviews of these; while they praised the design and convenience, especially for calls, sound quality is deemed inferior even to cheap ear buds. I wouldn't touch 'em for music, but fully admit to being a headphone snob.
I should note that I am an audiophile only by the standards of Kevin and the vast majority of people. Unfortunately, I can't demand only the best, only the pretty good, since I am a poor audiophile who is retired on a fixed income. Therefore, I don't have the Hifiman Susvara or Abyss AB 1266 Phi, full size open back headphones that both go for $6K, or the 64 Audio Tia Fourte, an IEM (in-ear monitors that Kevin hates), for $3,600. I have managed to save up for several four figure headphones and IEMs, but the first digit in all cases is a "1." Given the famous (in the headphone community) law of diminishing returns, a good $1K headphone is probably around 90-95% as good as a $6K one and a good $500 headphone is likely 90-95% as good as a $1K can. (I should also note that most of these headphones and IEMs require the use of expensive DACs and amps to sound their best, so the cost of the headphones is only the beginning of the expensive rabbit hole that is the headphone hobby.)
I'm exactly the same way and I've been thinking of getting something like this for ages.
Some friends of mine had a deaf dog and I tried to talk them into getting a bone phone and just sort of placing it around his body, but they never did and then the dog died. Of deafness, I assume. He'd probably still be alive he'd had a bone phone.
There really good in certain environments and they handle wind very well.
When I was running a lot, however, especially when there was traffic around, I had to turn the volume too high to a level that wasn't healthy. Apple's Air Pods Pro were much better in that environment because of the noise cancellation.
Still, right now, they're my favorite headphone to use.
Heh, funny you mention that. Sometimes when the ambient noise level is really high, I put in earplugs; that makes it possible to turn down the volume *quite a bit*.
This. I wear them in concert with earplugs for machinery.
Is ‘too loud’ an issue with the bone conduction mechanism.
I have a slightly older pair of these, they are amazing for normal use.
Owned quite a few pairs (they tend to get left in jacket pockets and then sat upon). Love them, especially for cycling and situations where you need your ears open.
Also they tickle when turned up loud, which is a more pleasant way to learn you should turn it down than the usual means.
The Bone Fone lives! 🙂
https://youtu.be/0i3gRFekbt0
Dig down into that tech box:
https://forcesofgeek.com/2014/08/the-technological-breakthough-of-1979.html
I've been using these for years. They now wear out before their battery does. I love them.