Outdoor Enthusiast’s Guide: How Bone-Conduction Headphones Revolutionized My DIY Adventures

Key Takeaways

• Open-ear headphones offer a snug fit that stays put during outdoor activities.
• They don’t block out ambient noise, making them suitable for situations where hearing your surroundings is essential.
• Open-ear headphones are comfortable, easy to carry, and allow for seamless transitions between listening and not.

Sometimes, technology can still feel like magic. AR glasses are like that. So are open-ear headphones. This newer way of listening to audio has many benefits, but it’s taking them outside where you notice those perks the most. I love mine.

​They Don’t Fall Off

I live on a couple acres of land and spend quite a bit of time outdoors, making regular use of Android’s plant identifier apps . I love gardening. We recently built a new home, so I had to establish the garden from scratch. This meant spending quite a bit of time bending over, pulling weeds and supplementing the clay in my backyard with garden soil.

I get nervous whenever I take regular headphones outside with me. Sometimes they slip. Sometimes I bump them into things. Wired earbuds get in the way, and it’s not uncommon for me to accidentally yank them out. Wireless earbuds sometimes fall out on their own, which sucks when working near water or mud (and my yard gets both very wet and very muddy).

This year, I got a pair of Shokz OpenRun Pro open-ear headphones . Open-ear headphones hook over the ear and wrap behind the neck, offering a very snug fit.

Bertel King / How-To Geek

This grip is the most dependable of any headphones I’ve ever worn. I can run in these. I cut grass in these. I could bike in these just fine. I have complete confidence that they’re not going anywhere.

They Don’t Get In the Way

This point is worth reiterating. When doing yardwork, getting your arms tangled in wires or having your ear buds slip out is a safety issue. Even if this doesn’t physically hinder what you’re doing, it can distract you at a moment when you really need focus.

With bone-conducting headphones, I know I can swing an ax or work a shovel without concern about them slipping off or nudging my arms. As long as I keep the volume at reasonable levels, I don’t feel like I’m taking on added risk by listening to something while I work.

There’s one exception where these headphones are completely obtrusive, and that’s sleeping. In my opinion, these are even worse than regular headphones for wearing in bed. At least with the latter, I can lie flat on my back while wearing them. With these, the band around the back of the neck puts a stop to that. Side sleeping is possible but not comfortable. I can feel the phones digging in around the back of my ear, and every slight movement makes it worse. I’ve logged many hours sleeping with wireless earbuds. I don’t even bother with these.

Still, aside from camping, the sleeping experience doesn’t have much to do with what makes these headphones great to use outside.

​I Can Hear My Surroundings

Pretty much at any given time of day, I need to be able to hear my surroundings, indoors or out. I have two young kids, and I’m the parent that’s most often at home with them. I need to hear when they’re calling my name. I definitely need to hear when they aren’t. Active noise-canceling is nice, but I rarely get to use it with peace of mind.

Bertel King / How-To Geek

Open-ear headphones keep my ears unplugged, so I can hear whatever’s going on. This is a double-edged sword, for sure. These headphones aren’t the best in noisy environments. Fortunately for me, my outdoor environment is rarely that noisy. These are plenty loud enough to hear over the steady hum of ongoing traffic. I can keep them on low and still pick up if an animal is moving nearby.

There’s one big exception, and that’s cutting grass. That’s a lot of background noise to try to overcome without plugging up your ears. I use an electric lawn mower, so if I crank my headphones all the way up, they’re still audible. On the positive side, I’m less nervous about turning the volume up on these than I am with regular earbuds. “All the way up” also isn’t as loud, since there’s quite a bit of physical shaking inherent in bone-conducting technology .

Open-Ear Is Better Than Pass-Through

Many headphones these days come with audio pass-through, meaning they have mics that listen to the sound around you and try to intelligently decide which sounds to block and which to let you hear. This feature is also known as transparency mode , particularly on Apple devices. There are two strikes against this technology. One, your ears are still plugged or covered, so there is something muffling sound. Two, the software doesn’t always get it right. The end result may not sound all that natural.

For open-ear headphones, this is a non-issue. Your ears are unobstructed. There’s no need for additional software. There’s no added hit to battery life.

​They’re Easy to Carry When Not in Use

If I’m wearing loose pants, my open-ear headphones can fit in my pocket just fine without too much concern about damaging them. I’m less comfortable putting them in the pockets of my more fitted pants. Instead, I most often wear them around my neck like headphones.

Bertel King / How-To Geek

I can also hang them from my pocket like a hook. The latter is a bit riskier, so I’m less inclined to do that outside.

Whether around my neck or on my head, the headphones aren’t going anywhere. I wouldn’t recommend it, but I’m fairly confident I could make it through a karate class without them shaking loose. The headphones are advertised directly to people looking for something to wear while they’re being active, and these have not disappointed me whether on my head or around my neck.

​It’s Easy to Forget I’m Wearing Them

These headphones are even easier than wireless earphones to forget I’m wearing. I can listen to a podcast, turn them off, and realize they’re still on an hour and a half later. This means I don’t feel compelled to listen to audio just because I have them on. If I’m going on a walk in the woods, I can turn them off to listen to the birds without needing to take them off. I flow from listening to something to not listening to something with less friction.

This is another way of saying that the headphones are comfortable, and that can have much to do with the particular model I bought and my head shape. Your first pair might dig into your head. I won’t deny that your experience with open-ear headphones might involve more trial and error than mine has.

Still, it’s no small thing to be able to tap the pause button and proceed as though you have stopped to take the headphones off. It’s one less thing to fidget with on a bike ride or while standing on a ladder. A comfortable pair of headphones that don’t block your ears can be quite the delightful piece of tech to have around. Though, it’s worth pointing out that there are also very comfortable wireless earbuds available , if you ultimately prefer to go that route.

Open-ear headphones are not going to outperform the other options on sound quality, and their advantages don’t transfer well to a spec sheet. Yet for me, this is my favorite pair of headphones yet.