Two years ago, I thought my quest for the best running earbuds was over. The Beats Fit Pro<\/a> were simply perfect in every way. Then I moved to the suburbs. The Beats\u2019 ambient mode was no match for North Jersey drivers\u2019 blatant disregard for speed limits. Open-ear headphones seemed like the obvious answer. But which ones? For a few weeks, I dabbled with some bone conduction headphones<\/a>, but I missed my bass drops too much. That, in turn, led me to try the $119.95 Shokz OpenFit Air.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While Shokz is best known for its bone conduction tech, the OpenFit Air uses traditional air conduction like any other wireless buds. The speaker sits above your ear canal, while ear hooks hold them securely in place. I normally don\u2019t prefer ear hooks \u2014 comfort tends to be hit or miss. But I\u2019ll give anything a go if it means I get to have situational awareness without giving up my bass.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The good news: the bass is<\/em> better. The bad news is, it\u2019s not by much. Truthfully, no open-ear headphones are great<\/em> at bass, but these are at least less muddy than bone conduction. If I\u2019m running next to a busy street, I actually can hear the rumbly \u201cfive-star Michelin<\/a>\u201d verse in \u201cGod\u2019s Menu\u201d by Stray Kids. It\u2019s not crystal clear \u2014 but I can hear it instead of sighing and wishing I had my Beats Fit Pro. (All bets are off if you\u2019re near a highway, though.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Aside from bass, the speaker position means you can hear your content pretty well, but open-ear buds always have limitations. I wore these on several commutes to the office. A quiet NJ Transit bus or train? No problem. A noisy New York City subway drowned out my audiobooks to the point where I gave up listening to anything at all. I never got any complaints about sound leakage, but I imagine that\u2019s because the NYC subway is too loud for anyone<\/em> to hear anything.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As exercise buds, these are a great option. <\/strong>They have about six hours on a single charge, and a 10-minute charge gets you two hours of use, which isn\u2019t too shabby unless you\u2019re an ultramarathoner. With IP55, you can work up a nice sweat or handle a bit of rain, though I\u2019d be wary of a full-on downpour. They\u2019re comfy and pretty secure \u2014 that is, until you put some glasses on. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n While the hooks are pliable and relatively thin, they took up a lot of space behind my ears. On days when I didn\u2019t wear contacts, the top of my ears felt crowded and weighed down. That heavy sensation made me paranoid that the Air would fall off, and I\u2019d go to readjust them. Often, that ended up with me accidentally triggering the touch controls. Even when I didn\u2019t wear glasses, I unintentionally dislodged the Air whenever I brushed my bangs behind my ears. I don\u2019t love that, as someone who\u2019s been traumatized one too many times by chasing after a bud that fell out of my ear mid-run. To be fair, you may not have these issues. Some of this is likely down to the shape of my ears and the fact my glasses have chunkier arms. But if you really want a secure fit, a wraparound design is a better choice. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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