I like to have options, especially when it comes to the way I listen to music. Sometimes that means that I want to shut myself off from the rest of the world to live in my own personal soundscape—in other situations, I want (or even need) to let the outside in.
I spend an alarming amount of time tuned in to the media on my phone. As a commuter, runner, and gym rat, I always like to have a soundtrack to keep me company. Thankfully for me, I’m a fitness and tech writer, which means I have access to just about every headphone available to test. On ear, over ear, true wireless—they’re all great.
But the most transformative listening experience I’ve had since my first set of wireless earphones came when I tried out the open-ear, bone conduction features of AfterShokz. The company just released its latest model, the Aeropex, and testing the new tech has changed the way I think about headphones.
AfterShokz’s latest open-ear headphones won’t become your everyday wear, but if you love working out in the open air or in a highly active gym, these are your new best friend.
The big sell here is the bone conduction audio delivery system, which allows the listener to keep their ears uncovered, even while the music is pumping. The tech depends on “transducers [that] guide mini vibrations through the cheekbones to the inner ears,” according to the company, whose products also feature built-in systems that adjust for pitch and limit “sound leakage,” the two biggest limitations you might expect from this type of setup. Technically, the Aeropex match up to other fitness-focused audio devices on the market. The company claims you’ll get up to 8 hours of battery life per charge, along with an IP67 waterproof rating.
Does the Bone Conduction Hearing Tech Work?
Usually, my biggest concern for my earphones is audio quality. I’ll make some sacrifices for the way buds fit or battery life if that means I have access to booming bass and crystal clear sound, but if I have a hard time focusing on what I’m listening to, it’s game over. The first time I used bone conduction headphones (AfterShokz’s older Trekz Air model) I was in a gym setting, with an obnoxious Top 40 playlist blaring over the overhead speakers. I wanted desperately to drown out the cursed Pitbull songs poisoning the air around me, but the open-ear design left me exposed. I wrote the concept off, and put my more traditional in-ear buds in to finish the workout.
Then, I received the new Aeropex test unit. My first order of business was to take the headphones on a run. As soon as I hit the road, I could tell this was an entirely different experience than I had in the weight room. With some headphones, you can feel the impact of your footfalls in your sealed ears, creating a jarring thump thump thump effect that results in a headache after a few miles. The opposite was the case here. My strides were constant in the periphery of my hearing, but in a minor and reassuring way. I was able to zone in on my pace and the music, and then the audiobook when I shifted media to see if the bone conduction tech was only good for music. Everything actually sounded good.
These headphones allow you to listen in without totally dropping out of the world around you.
I was never totally in my own world wearing the Aeropex, which was crucially important as a city runner. While I love cancelling out all noise at times—shoutout again to that terrible gym playlist and the NYC MTA—the realities of sharing the roads and sidewalks make it safer to retain at least some awareness of what’s happening outside of my aural bubble. That open sensation was also welcome when I took my run to the trail, where I still had some awareness of the wind in the trees and the crunch of dead leaves underfoot while the music played. It was more like the added audio was a companion, rather than the all-consuming force demanding my attention.
More Than Just a Runner
The time spent running won me over—but I thought that the usefulness of the AfterShokz tech ended outside. Then, I decided to bring them into my martial arts gym on a whim. I love to spend my Sunday afternoons working on my Muay Thai bag skills, performing drills and perfecting combos. I always share the mat with a group of people practicing jiu jitsu, who roll on the floor behind me.
I’ve tried to listen to music on headphones on the mat before, but the noise-cancelling properties of devices like the Powerbeats Pro left me dangerously unaware of my surroundings.
AfterShokz
With the Aeoropex, I was able to both listen to a high-octane playlist and retain most of my peripheral senses, so there was little danger of being caught unawares by an errant pair of grapplers. These headphones allow you to listen in without totally dropping out of the world around you, a rare accomplishment in world filled with devices that demand attention.
The Final Word
That’s not to say that the Aeropex is a flawless set of headphones. The audio quality of the bone conduction system is good, but can’t quite compete in terms of full-bodied sound with more traditional rigs. Listening on a crowded train or gym might leave you feeling overstimulated, and while the tech limiting sound leakage is fairly effective, the headphones were audible being played at high volume in a quiet room (to be fair, this is a problem for many traditional headphones, too). The $160 price tag might scare off some more casual listeners, too, since you probably won’t wear these outside of your workouts.
I won’t be using the Aeropex as my do-everything earbud—I have other options for that. But for dedicated runners and gym-goers who want to open up their ears, the bone conduction tech will be a revelation. My runs, for one, will never be the same now that I’ve broken through the sound seal I was stuck behind.
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