SHOKZ OpenRun for cycling: gadget, indulgence or sensible compromise?

SHOKZ OpenRun are not headphones designed to dazzle you with flawless sound quality. They are meant to do something far more practical: let you listen to music, a podcast or an audiobook while cycling without cutting you off from the world.

After my first ride, I feel that this is precisely the point. It is not about bass that blows your helmet off or treble that sounds as though you are in a listening room. It is about making the ride pass more quickly while I can still hear my surroundings. And that is a very honest starting point.

Why did I buy bone-conduction headphones for cycling in the first place?

It started simply: I was getting bored on the bike. Not so bored that cycling had lost all meaning and I needed to search online for a new personality. I just found myself thinking on solo rides that it would be nice to listen to something. Music, a podcast, perhaps an audiobook.

There was just one problem: how could I do that reasonably safely? Conventional in-ear headphones did not really convince me because I did not want to ride inside a bubble with my playlist and pretend the outside world had temporarily ceased to exist. The bike, cars, people, pedestrians, wind and my own drivetrain: these are all sounds worth keeping track of.

That is where bone conduction came in. It sounds a little like technology from a brochure somebody wrote after their third coffee, but the idea is simple: the headphones do not sit in your ears, yet they still play sound. Your ears remain open, so in theory you can listen to music and stay aware of your surroundings.

Are SHOKZ OpenRun a gadget, an indulgence or a sensible compromise?

After my first ride, I would say they are a sensible compromise. Not a miracle. Not revolutionary sound quality. Not a piece of kit that suddenly turns a loop of tarmac into a private concert. But neither are they an indulgence bought solely so you can spend a week saying, ‘look at my innovative headphones’.

SHOKZ OpenRun do something very specific. They let you listen to something in the background without shutting out your surroundings. To me, that matters more than chasing the audiophile ideal. On a bike, headphones should first stay out of the way, then be comfortable; only after that is it worth discussing whether the sound has suitably elegant tones.

This is equipment for moving, not sitting in an armchair and analysing every cymbal strike. Anyone expecting unrestricted sound may be disappointed. If you want a solo ride to pass more quickly while still hearing what is happening around you, they begin to make sense.

Why not SHOKZ OpenRun Pro or SHOKZ OpenRun Pro 2?

The answer was simple. I did not want to buy the cheapest bone-conduction headphones because I was worried that my first encounter with the technology would become a battle with the budget lottery. It would then have been easy to conclude that bone conduction itself was pointless, even though the real problem might have been the cheapest implementation.

On the other hand, SHOKZ OpenRun Pro and SHOKZ OpenRun Pro 2 were too expensive for me as an experiment. OpenRun Pro 2 looked interesting, especially in black, but I did not want to pay extra straight away for a model whose capabilities I could not yet assess fairly anyway.

So I chose the standard black SHOKZ OpenRun. It was the middle ground between ‘I am not buying the cheapest option’ and ‘I am not spending that much on equipment I am still unsure about’. After the first ride, I feel the choice stands up.

What are the Shokz OpenRun like at first?

Out of the box, the Shokz OpenRun look solid. They do not have that cheap, made-in-China feel that makes you instinctively check whether the box is going to fall apart along with the warranty. But they do not create a grand premium impression either. They are simply decent sports equipment designed to work rather than pose as jewellery.

Besides the paperwork and the headphones themselves, the box contained a charging cable and a storage pouch. The pouch is a nice extra, but I would not throw the headphones loose into a rucksack in it. I would worry that the headband or ear hooks might be damaged somewhere along the way. I would prefer something rigid for a bike bag.

Bluetooth pairing was completely trouble-free. I switched them on, paired them with my phone and they worked. The Shokz app? With the standard OpenRun, it is effectively irrelevant because this model is not on the current list of compatible headphones. To be honest, I did not miss it at all during my first use.

Do the fit, headband and helmet get in the way while riding?

Comfort was the biggest positive surprise. I put the headphones on and, after a moment, completely stopped noticing them. It was as if I was not wearing them. That is a huge compliment for cycling equipment, because if something bothers you after ten minutes, it then accompanies you like a stone in your shoe.

I found them very comfortable to wear. I felt no pressure, did not have to adjust them, nothing bounced about and nothing tried to take on a life of its own. The headphones are light, and in my case the fit worked straight away. While riding, I never felt that I had to remain conscious of the equipment on my head.

I rode with a helmet and glasses. It was fine for me, but I have one caveat: I use a retaining cord on my glasses. I do not know what it would be like without one, or with a different helmet, frames or head shape. With my setup, the helmet, glasses, headband and hooks did not make things crowded behind my ears.

What are the sound quality, bass and volume like while cycling?

The sound quality is all right. Nothing spectacular, but better than I expected. And perhaps the most important word is: different. It is not like listening through good in-ear headphones. You do not get the same isolation or bass, or the feeling that the sound is sitting directly inside your head.

At first, I expected it to feel much stranger. I thought there might be obvious vibration, tickling or the sensation of having an electric toothbrush on my head that had decided to perform a concert. I felt nothing of the sort. The bone-conduction technology simply worked, and that was the biggest surprise.

For music, I found a volume of about 70 per cent ideal. For podcasts and audiobooks, it was nearer 80 per cent because speech has to cut through the ride and there is more background noise. You can listen to music and spoken content, but you have to remember that this is still a bike, tarmac and moving air, not a quiet room.

Does the open-ear design help you stay aware of your surroundings?

Yes. And that is the main point of these headphones. While riding, I could hear my surroundings, cars, people, the bike and the wind. The open-ear design does exactly what I expected: it does not cut you off from the world.

I did not feel that the headphones made what I was doing less safe. Quite the opposite: compared with conventional in-ear headphones, this seems a far more sensible solution. The audio is an addition, not a wall between me and the rest of the road.

That obviously does not mean you can switch off your brain. Bluetooth headphones do not absolve you of the need to look, listen and use common sense. But if we are talking about a compromise between sound quality and safety, SHOKZ OpenRun strike the balance rather well.

What does the wind do to music, podcasts and audiobooks?

And then the wind arrives. As the Kabaret Moralnego Niepokoju sketch put it: ‘because the wind is always the worst’. At an average speed of around 25 km/h, the wind in my ears was obvious. You hear it constantly, and it can cut through the music or mask some frequencies.

It is not that you cannot hear anything. Listening is still possible. The music plays, a podcast is manageable and so is an audiobook. But you need to know that the wind becomes part of the audio setup whether you want it to or not. It is a bit like an uninvited compère who walks onto the stage and decides it is his show now.

It would probably be better in calmer conditions, but on a normal ride the cycling wind does what it does. That does not rule the equipment out; it simply sets expectations. SHOKZ OpenRun do not cheat physics. They merely let you listen in spite of it.

Are the microphone and phone calls any use while riding?

This was the first more serious downside. During a normal ride at around 25 km/h, I tried making phone calls. I could hear the other person, but they could barely hear me. The microphone picked up so much wind that the call was largely pointless.

This is a good example of the difference between a product description and real life. On paper, wireless headphones with a microphone sound like equipment for everything: music, podcasts, calls, perhaps even coffee included. In practice, the wind can turn the microphone into a pancake.

It might be better while stopped or riding more slowly. At my normal pace, however, phone calls are probably out. I am not making a drama out of it because I bought these headphones mainly for listening. But if somebody is counting on clear calls while cycling, I would be cautious.

How do the battery, charging, price and everyday use stack up?

The first ride lasted about an hour. I noticed no battery problems, so for now I have no reason to complain. The manufacturer claims 8 hours of use and quick charging, but I am not going to pretend that one ride was a laboratory test. I have not yet needed to charge them properly, so I will leave the subject of charging until I have used them for longer.

SHOKZ OpenRun have an IP67 rating, so sweat, light rain and ordinary weather conditions should not be a problem, although these are not swimming headphones. I am not putting IP55 here because that applies to other models or comparisons and would be misleading for the OpenRun. In practice, I treat them as resistant to sweat, light rain and normal sporting use, but not as pool equipment.

The price? I paid roughly PLN 599, if I remember correctly. After the first ride, I think the equipment makes sense, although I would be happier if it cost PLN 499. At PLN 599, you do start to furrow your brow because these are still headphones for a specific use. But I will take them on every solo bike ride. And that is probably the best recommendation I can give after my first outing.