{Photograph}: Michael Sawh
Slightly 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 definitely delivers the bass, whereas the bone conduction handles the remainder. Within the battle to compete with site visitors, wind and the health club stereo, there’s some winners and losers right here. The bass is an enormous enchancment, with a noticeable uptick in heat and punch.
Annoyingly, nonetheless, whereas extra energy means greater bass in your buck, the readability isn’t on a par with the older OpenRun. Equally, in a sound-off with the uniquely designed Bose Ultra Open, the dearth of readability is uncovered too. Once I eased off the excessive tempo drum-and bass-heavy playlists to hearken to a podcast, the backward step in readability remained noticeable. This doesn’t make the OpenRun Professional 2 a nasty headphone, they merely provide a shift to a sound that many runners will vastly get pleasure from, and one which’s a bit of nearer to typical bass-heavy exercise headphones.
Winner by a Nostril
{Photograph}: Michael Sawh
You all the time must make compromises with open-ear headphones, however with the OpenRun Professional 2, the compromises are literally comparatively insignificant. If you happen to’re in search of operating headphones with extra bass and energy, however you continue to need to pay attention to your environment, these are the very best obtainable.
Different choices value contemplating embrace the Suunto Sonic ($149), which supply a really balanced sound profile from a properly weighted and cozy neckband design. The premium-priced Bose Ultra Open give higher, extra detailed sound, however a doubtful match should you’re operating quick. The Sivga SO2 ($70) produce a extremely likable, open-ear sound and safe match.
It is not the massive leap in high quality I would hoped for, however Shokz has achieved simply sufficient for me to suggest the OpenRun Professional 2. That being stated, you shouldn’t rule out the OpenRun Pro, 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.
