As an elderly millennial, I’ll go to great lengths to avoid being alone with my thoughts. As a result I am a podcast junkie, music lover, and someone who personally makes a lot of noise. Spending long hours on the bike can mean that, at times, music can provide a little mental boost – but using traditional in-ear headphones can present a safety issue both on the trail and on the road.
Having used the Shokz OpenRun sports headphones extensively over the past few years, I am no stranger to the bone-conduction technology Shokz uses to transmit soundwaves to your ears without compromising hearing. Using technology called DirectPitch, Shokz has managed to create immersive sound quality and an audio experience, all while retaining the ability to remain aware of your surroundings. You can read our original Shokz Openfit Review here.
The launch of the OpenDots ONE and OpenFit 2+ brings this technology to a super-lightweight earbud, while retaining Bluetooth functionality and app-driven personalisation.
Initial Impressions on Shokz OpenFit 2+
I first tested out the OpenFit 2+ earbuds. Drawing inspiration from the OpenRun one-piece model, the OpenFit 2+ features a silicone-encased titanium-alloy arm that hugs behind the upper ear, while the body of the unit sits upon the tragus. Audio is transmitted through speakers on both sides of the body, allowing you to hear while also retaining the ability to transmit audio – ideal for work calls on the go.
A small round button activates play/pause commands as well as answering or ending calls. Similar to the OpenRun, a double tap skips a song or – when not listening to music – redials the last number you called.
In addition to these commands, a triple click sends you to the previous track, and a long press on the left decreases volume while the right increases it.
While this is all a little confusing at first, it’s quick and easy to get used to once you have been wearing the earbuds for a while. You can also use the Shokz app to customise controls if you prefer a different setup.
Speaking of the app, pairing is quick and easy. It opens up a range of customisable features, including EQ modes (standard, vocal, bass boost, treble boost and custom mode), turning Dolby Audio on and off, microphone noise cancellation during calls, and enabling multipoint pairing – a must if you want to connect to multiple devices.
The app also features user guides for a range of products and the capacity to store profiles for several products at once – nice.
Like many earbuds, the OpenFit 2+ comes with a handy carry-and-charge case, with a claimed 48 hours battery life with a full charge on the case, up to 11 hours with a single charge, and a solid 2 hours of listening time with just 10 minutes of charging.
Using the Shokz OpenFit 2+
With my experience using Shokz products before, using the OpenFit 2+ felt like an evolution – I found them incredibly easy to navigate, and the new app and customisation options were a real win.
In particular, the ability to enable multipoint pairing in the app was huge, and it’s easy to visualise battery life here as well.
For the first week of testing, I mainly used the Standard EQ setting, before becoming more adventurous with the Bass Boost and Vocal settings for Google Meets and interviews – each setting, when used at the right time, definitely improved audio quality for that task.
The small buttons work seamlessly – I think a tactile button is key (more on this later) and I never found myself fumbling to skip a track or answer a call.
Another thing to note – which won’t affect many people – is that for those with a tragus piercing, the OpenFit 2+ can sit slightly higher on that ear. While it didn’t cause discomfort, it meant that on that side I wasn’t getting as much contact with the body of the unit, so audio wasn’t as good as on the other side. A minor quirk for my friends with piercings.
Initial Impressions on Shokz OpenDots ONE
The OpenDots ONE marks a bit of a departure for Shokz, with the over-the-ear design of many of their products replaced with a clip-like construction. The asymmetrical design sees a more cylindrical body that slips onto the outer helix (edge of the ear), while a smaller spherical speaker lies in the antihelix (the shallow inner portion of the ear).
I tested the grey colourway for the OpenDots, and one of their selling points is their ability to form part of your aesthetic – and it’s true, you do kind of look like you’re wearing some new-wave earrings.
Once again, setup is easy using the Shokz app, which prompts you to test out the command process for the OpenDots when you first connect. Unlike the OpenFit 2+, OpenDots don’t feature any physical buttons, instead using tappable ‘regions’ for play/pause commands.
They feature a tap and double tap across the span between the two main parts of the earbud, as well as a double pinch of both ends of the cylindrical part.
Once again, all the audio features are available in the Shokz app – with one huge bonus the OpenFit 2+ doesn’t offer – Find My Earbud. Hitting this button makes the earbuds emit an audible ping, meaning if they do dislodge on the trail you can find your way to them in the scrub.
Using the Shokz OpenDots ONE
When it comes to fit, the OpenDots actually won the comfort battle for me, mainly due to that tragus piercing. I had some reservations about these dislodging on rough singletrack and me having to make a very embarrassing call to the distributor afterwards, but they stayed firm throughout the testing period.
While the fit was superior for me, one thing I noted with the OpenDots was that the commands were trickier to engage. While the double pinch command worked almost all the time, the tap and double tap commands were difficult to get right. This may be totally fine if you are someone who doesn’t turn your earbuds on and off frequently, but for me – who will warm up on a ride listening to a political podcast, turn off all audio in singletrack, and then pop on some showtunes for fireroad efforts – it was a little annoying.
Overall, they worked well, were super comfortable, and once again customising audio using the app was a treat.
Our Take on Shokz Wireless Earbuds
Overall, I really enjoyed using both the OpenFit 2+ and OpenDots ONE earbuds. As someone who saw the Apple earbuds craze and thought, ‘that looks like something I could lose really fast’, I was impressed with how they managed to stay in place on fast, windy road descents and chunky, janky singletrack.
I love Shokz products for their ease of use in everyday life. Cooking dinner with wine? Yep, I’m catching up with a news podcast. Doing a hard session on the indoor trainer? You better believe that 90’s EDM playlist is getting a spin. Fielding my weekly family call while chasing a toddler around? You can talk – hands-free.
The only drawback I found was unavoidable – being a bone-conduction earbud, they don’t occlude your ear, so in high-wind areas you can’t hear much. This is just an inevitable part of keeping your ears free to hear cars and falling trees on the trail – and a small price to pay for the luxury of staying safe while you belt out Journey on the fireroad.
Overall, I love having Bluetooth headphones to follow me through my days, and with the exceptional ability to customise audio and commands with both the OpenDots and OpenFit 2+, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better product to use both on and off the bike.
