Most headphones are designed to create a space of your own and block the world around you. The Shokz OpenRun Pro 2, however, takes a different approach. These headphones let you listen to music without putting anything inside your ears. If you are a runner, cyclist, or someone who prefers to stay aware of their surroundings, you might want to check these out.
Shokz OpenRun Pro 2
Rs 14,399
What Is Good?
- Lightweight design that is comfortable for extended listening
- Surprisingly good audio quality, with clear vocals, impressive mids and detailed highs
- Excellent battery life
- Quick charging provides up to 2.5 hours
What Is Bad?
- Fit can feel insecure during intense activities
- Bass lacks the depth and impact of conventional in-ear earbuds.
- The price is difficult to justify for general-purpose use.
What makes them even more interesting is their audio technology. The OpenRun Pro 2 combines bone conduction as well as air conduction to improve sound quality, particularly bass, which has been a problematic spot for bone conduction headphones.
The Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 offers a comfortable open-ear design, surprisingly good audio quality and excellent battery life. But at Rs 14,399, is it worth buying over a pair of conventional wireless earbuds? I have been using the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2, and here’s what I think.
Design and Comfort
The first thing that you will notice about the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 is that they don’t look like regular TWS. Instead of earbuds that sit inside your ears, these have a lightweight frame that wraps around the back of your head, with the audio modules resting around your ears.
The frame is built with a flexible titanium alloy band, and the headphones weigh approximately 30 grams. They are lightweight enough to wear for hours without feeling like you have something heavy strapped to your head.
The comfort is one of my favourite things about these headphones. Since there’s nothing inside your ears, you don’t experience the discomfort that comes with headphones or earbuds when used for a long time. I could wear these while working without feeling the need to take them off every once in a while. Plus, I could still communicate with my office friends whenever needed.
And one more thing, you can safely even use them while driving if you get too many calls. Sometimes we have people in our car, and we need to talk privately on calls, so these headphones are great in those situations. You won’t have to worry about the traffic, and your calls stay private. Yes, while they have the open-ear design, there is sound leakage, but reduce the volume and you’re sorted.
The fit, however… I have mixed opinions about that. The neckband does not rest against your head or neck, there’s a gap between the band and your head. The only thing holding these headphones in place is their shape. They get really narrow towards the driver end, and that narrowness, along with the ear hooks, is what keeps them secure.
While the headphones stayed comfortable during regular use, I noticed some movement when sprinting. The gap between the neckband and my neck also meant that the fit didn’t feel as secure as I would have liked during intense movement. For walking, jogging, and regular workouts, though, they work well.
The OpenRun Pro 2 is IP55-rated for dust and water resistance, making it suitable for sweaty workouts and light rain. However, don’t take them swimming.
Audio Performance
As I mentioned earlier, the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 uses DualPitch technology that combines bone conduction drivers for mids and highs with an air conduction driver for bass. In simple terms, it uses two different technologies to deliver audio while keeping your ears completely open. The results are pretty good too.
Mids, Highs, and Vocals
Vocals sound clear, instruments have good separation, and the overall audio experience is also enjoyable. The mids are pretty impressive, while the highs offer enough detail to make music sound engaging.
For me, I liked how immersive the audio could feel. With certain tracks, it genuinely felt like the music was playing in the air around me rather than coming directly from the headphones. I would recommend using it at around 75% indoors and full volume outdoors for best results.
Well, of course, that doesn’t mean that you are getting the same soundstage as a pair of premium over-ear headphones. But for an open-ear design, the experience is surprisingly good.
The audio quality improves even more if you have premium music app subscriptions. I mostly switched between Apple Music and YouTube Premium, and the experience was solid.
What About the Bass?
Shokz has made a genuine effort to improve bass response with the dedicated air conduction driver. You get some punch, and it doesn’t feel like the bass is completely missing. However, it lacks the strong, chest-thumping effect you get from conventional in-ear earbuds. If you listen to a lot of bass-heavy music, you might find this a little underwhelming.
So, the OpenRun Pro 2 does do a good job of addressing a weakness of bone conduction headphones, but it doesn’t eliminate it.
Listening Outdoors
The biggest advantage of these headphones is that your ears remain unobstructed, which also turns out to be a slight disadvantage at times. You can listen to music while staying aware of what’s happening around you, which makes them particularly useful for running and cycling. But if the traffic is too loud or there’s construction noise, then you sometimes do miss the noise cancellation on traditional headphones.
If these noises are not at extreme levels, the music can mask these sounds, especially at higher volumes. I usually use it at 100% volume while running outdoors.
Features and Everyday Use
The OpenRun Pro 2 is a pretty easy-to-use device. It connects over Bluetooth 5.3 and supports multipoint pairing, which lets you connect two devices simultaneously. This is useful if you switch between your phone and laptop throughout the day.
The Shokz app offers EQ presets, custom equaliser settings, playback controls, and firmware updates. You can also manage multipoint pairing through the app. However, once you’ve configured your preferred settings, you don’t really need the app for everyday use.
Battery Life
This is one strong point about these headphones. Shokz claims up to 12 hours of playback time, and my experience was broadly in line with that. There were multiple occasions when I genuinely couldn’t remember the last time I had charged the headphones.
The headphones also support quick charging, with Shokz claiming up to 2.5 hours of playback from a five-minute charge.
The battery life is working well largely because these are very simple headphones that focus on delivering high-quality audio despite being an open-ear device. You don’t get ANC, there are not many software features, but pure sound. That is exactly why the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 last long.
Should You Buy The Shokz OpenRun Pro 2?
The Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 is an interesting product. It’s lightweight and comfortable, offers surprisingly good audio quality for its category, and offers excellent battery life.
But here’s the thing: I will not recommend these to everyone.
At Rs 14,399, not everyone can afford the OpenRun Pro 2, especially when you consider how many conventional wireless earbuds offer a more versatile experience at this price. You could get a high-end pair for this price.
The OpenRun Pro 2, on the other hand, is built around a very specific need: listening to audio without blocking your ears.
For runners, cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts, that’s an important advantage. But for someone who primarily listens to music at home, travels frequently, or wants an all-round pair of headphones, the price is harder to justify.
The product itself is good, but it has a niche audience. So, if you’re a runner or cyclist looking specifically for open-ear headphones, the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 is worth considering. But if you simply want a great pair of everyday wireless headphones, there are other conventional options on the market too.
