The Shokz OpenRun are my favourite mountaineering headphones

Loads of earbuds are geared towards operating, weightlifting, and even swimming. Regardless of mountaineering’s meteoric rise and celeb standing, few earbuds and headphones are appropriate for the game. I’ve reviewed a whole lot of audio merchandise, and the Shokz OpenRun are one of the best headphones for mountaineering for my part.

Anybody accustomed to mountaineering is aware of that you simply use a number of chalk. The chalk absorbs extra moisture out of your arms, making it simpler to grip holds. As you possibly can think about, chalk doesn’t simply keep in your arms. It will get all over the place.

The Shokz OpenRun are a rebranded model of the AfterShokz Aeropex ($99 at Amazon), and each headphones have a dust-tight development backed up by their IP67 ranking. This reassures me that I can reposition the headphones with out worrying about chalk damaging the internals. The identical applies to utilizing the onboard button controls. There aren’t any cracks or crevices for particles to slide between the buttons and into the headset. I can swap tracks till I exhaust a whole playlist, portray the buttons in chalk with out care.

The OpenRun are additionally water resistant. Admittedly, that is much less related to climbing, however it’s good to know they’re protected from my sweat. Plus, I may theoretically put the OpenRun underwater to wash the chalk off with out damaging them. I don’t suggest doing that, however it’s an possibility in a pinch.

One other helpful characteristic is the titanium headband that may flex in any path. This design makes it simple to contort the headphones into their pouch and toss them right into a gymnasium bag. Plus, the sturdy construct means they need to be protected from minor falls and fumbles.

I additionally respect how bone conduction headphones at giant depart my ears open to the world. With the OpenRun, I can hear all the things round me on the gymnasium. That is notably essential when climbing as a result of I want to listen to if somebody is beneath me earlier than making a dangerous transfer that would end in a fall. Likewise, I like having the ability to hearken to music and stay alert if somebody falls close by.

Stepping past climbing for a second, these open ear headphones are additionally the most secure possibility for biking. I normally bike to my native gymnasium, and full consciousness whereas biking is critical. Coincidentally, the match additionally makes these headphones suitable with sure listening to aids.

That stated, the design that permits me to stay situationally conscious can be answerable for sub-par audio high quality. Don’t get me fallacious, the OpenRun sound good for bone conduction headphones, however they don’t truly sound that good. As an alternative of sitting in your ear canals, bone conduction headphones relaxation in your cheekbones. They bypass your center ear, sending vibrations via your cranium to your cochlea. Because of this, the sound high quality lacks bass and readability.

One other minor irritation is how the sound adjustments as I chew or drink. The jaw motion from these actions displaces the headphones. I’ve additionally nudged the headscarf misplaced with my shoulder (think about twisting your neck 90 levels to the left and searching up), dislodging the OpenRun mid-climb. As you possibly can think about, all of that is fairly distracting.

For many who like the thought of bone conduction headphones however are scared off by the sound high quality adjustments, get the OpenRun Professional ($179 at Amazon). These use newer know-how, so jaw motion doesn’t have an effect on their sound as intensely. Nevertheless, whereas the OpenRun Professional sound nice, the OpenRun are a a lot better worth for most individuals and, funnily sufficient, are extra sturdy than the pricier Execs.

Any of Shokz’ headphones will likely be good for mountaineering as all of them resist mud and water to various levels. Nevertheless, if you happen to particularly need climbing earbuds, two come to thoughts.

When reviewing the Jabra Elite 4 and OnePlus Buds Professional 2, these earbuds jumped out at me for his or her IP55 dust- and water resistant builds. Each units of controls work with chalky arms however they function in a different way. With the Elite 4, you must press the button on both earbud to skip songs or reply calls. To do the identical on the Buds Professional 2, it’s essential to squeeze both earbud stem.

The extra conventional earbud expertise from Jabra and OnePlus’ buds presents higher sound high quality than bone conduction headsets too. Moreover, with OnePlus and Jabra’s earbuds, I don’t have to fret about tilting my head a sure means and pushing the buds misplaced. As an alternative, I can transfer freely and chew to my coronary heart’s content material with out compromising the sound high quality. Sweat doesn’t pose a difficulty with match both: I’ve gone on hour-long runs with each units of buds, they usually’ve by no means slipped out.

Though these buds seal your ears, they assist mono-listening and transparency modes for environmental consciousness. These are nice accessibility and security options, however I get pleasure from stereo playback from Shokz’ headphones. Plus, neither transparency mode can compete with naturally listening to the world via each ears.

Finally, any of those three audio merchandise can endure chalked-up arms, however solely the OpenRun have a assured dust-tight construct.