{Photograph}: Michael Sawh
Fairly ambitiously, Shokz guarantees these sports activities headphones can ship clear highs and pure mids and that the brand new twin air conduction unit design manages to produces pure vocal sound. The air conduction actually delivers the bass, whereas the bone conduction handles the remainder. Within the battle to compete with visitors, wind and the fitness center stereo, there’s some winners and losers right here. The bass is a giant enchancment, with a noticeable uptick in heat and punch.
Annoyingly, nevertheless, whereas extra energy means greater bass to your buck, the readability isn’t on a par with the older OpenRun. Equally, in a sound-off with the uniquely designed Bose Extremely Open, the dearth of readability is uncovered too. Once I eased off the excessive tempo drum-and bass-heavy playlists to take heed to a podcast, the backward step in readability remained noticeable. This doesn’t make the OpenRun Professional 2 a foul headphone, they merely supply a shift to a sound that many runners will vastly take pleasure in, and one which’s a little bit nearer to typical bass-heavy exercise headphones.
Winner by a Nostril
{Photograph}: Michael Sawh
You at all times should make compromises with open-ear headphones, however with the OpenRun Professional 2, the compromises are literally comparatively insignificant. Should you’re searching for operating headphones with extra bass and energy, however you continue to need to concentrate on your environment, these are the perfect accessible.
Different choices price contemplating embody the Suunto Sonic ($149), which supply a really balanced sound profile from a properly weighted and cozy neckband design. The premium-priced Bose Extremely Open give higher, extra detailed sound, however a doubtful match in the event you’re operating quick. The Sivga SO2 ($70) produce a very likable, open-ear sound and safe match.
It is not the massive leap in high quality I might hoped for, however Shokz has accomplished simply sufficient for me to suggest the OpenRun Professional 2. That being stated, you shouldn’t rule out the OpenRun Professional, which supplies you just about the identical design with stable audio high quality and battery efficiency. You simply have to recollect the place you set that fiddly, archaic, proprietary charging cable.