Honest review. What are bone conduction headphones?

“Do you want to test sports headphones that you don’t have to put in your ears?” – the editor asked me and immediately got an affirmative answer. Progress is always cool. The future is better than the past, and progress is the best example of that. 100 years ago, a self-propelled carriage would be pointed at and shouted at with delight. What? A carriage without a horse? Give me two! Now the automobile is commonplace. That’s why the headphones, which are not really headphones, because you don’t need to put them in your ears, have already made me excited, and I haven’t even held them in my hands.

Technical specifications of the headphones:

Model: AfterShokz Trekz Titanium.

How do I hear the music inside me?

Let me explain how it works without going into terms. Bone transmission simply excludes your ears from the process of transmitting sound to your inner ear. It uses bone to do this. The same thing happens when you speak out loud: even if you cover your ears with your hands, you can still hear your voice.

In reality, the first time I put my headphones on, music just started playing in my head. Right in the center of my head. Like the inner voice we’re shown in movies. If you want to imagine communicating by telekinesis, you should definitely try headphones that work on a similar principle sometime. It’s very unusual and will keep you and your friends entertained for at least a couple weeks. At most, it’s very practical and will bring a lot of nice bonuses.

Safety first

These headphones keep your ears free, which means that all external sounds will be heard. If you’re running along the road, you can hear a car approaching. When you’re riding bikes together, you can listen to music and talk at the same time. Playing basketball in the yard, and in your ears your favorite song, which is so uplifting, and the cues of partners do not fly past your ears. It’s really very practical.

In addition, I would like to focus on a very important point: most races (marathons, half-marathons, triathlon starts, cycling races) you simply will not be allowed to wear ordinary headphones. This is stipulated in the start agreement that every athlete signs when buying a slot or filling out a questionnaire when a number is issued. So, in order not to lose touch with the city and not to deprive yourself of the opportunity to listen to your favorite playlist or podcasts, turn your attention to bone conduction headphones.

What’s inside?

We missed the important part – opening the box. It’s always a treat to open a new item and see what the manufacturer has put inside besides the product itself.

Inside you’ll find a nice to the touch case to store the headphones, a charging cable and a plastic box with earplugs. They will come in handy if you want to distract yourself from the rest of the world at all or just if it’s too noisy around you. In addition, there is a manual in Russian. The headphones are wireless and work via Bluetooth.

小贴士 even after carefully reading the instructions, it is better to immediately find a review on the Internet, how to connect them. The device has only four buttons and the first connection can take about 15-20 minutes. Don’t waste your nerves and just watch others do it.

Headphones “in action”

At the first training session, I was almost jumping up and down with excitement. The headphones are something. The music plays loud enough that you can hear everything around you, but all the sounds of your favorite tune are not lost. I run outdoors in my township, which has only one car lane with no curbs or pedestrian zones. With regular headphones, sometimes at the last moment you realize that a car is coming behind you and you have to dodge. Or a particularly polite driver can follow you for half a kilometer until he starts honking. Safety and convenience are a plus.

Vibration is a separate topic worth discussing. When you want to listen to music louder – headphones vibrate, and this is transmitted to your head. We all have our own preferences, and I liked it. I like to listen to music loud enough to make my eardrums tingle. But if you are a fan of symphony orchestras and you are over 60 – you probably won’t like it very much. Younger people will definitely appreciate it. That’s our style.

Bonus: they’re very comfortable to work in! And that was a super pleasant discovery. I don’t know why the manufacturer doesn’t mention this fact at all. BUT! It’s just awesome to work in them in the office, especially when you need to transcribe an interview and at the same time answer your boss’s questions or participate in a discussion with your colleagues.

If you’re worried that your music or your phone conversation might be overheard by people nearby, we can reassure you that this won’t happen thanks to the unique LeakSlaye technology. How LeakSlaye technology works is a company secret, but it minimizes sound “leakage” so that sound is delivered straight to where it needs to go.

I’ve even put on a regular earpiece at the same time as these and can easily focus on the two sounds in my head and what’s going on around me. So even if you don’t need sports headphones, consider this option as headphones for the office.

What’s worth paying attention to?

Battery power: it takes forever to charge. In two weeks of active use, I recharged only four times. The headphones themselves will warn you that it’s time to recharge them. This voice warns you about a lot of things and accompanies pressing different buttons. Charging will take no more than a couple of hours. The manufacturer points out that you can listen to music for 6 hours in a row, and pleasantly deceives you, because the figure is underestimated. Eight hours is the minimum.

The headphones weigh very little, about 40 grams. They are made of titanium, so you don’t have to worry about them bending or changing shape. I twisted them as much as I could, and they can’t do anything – the manufacturer doesn’t lie. There is serious protection from sweat and rain. On forums people write that you can even go in the shower, but I did not risk it. From the negative – there are some nuances when you wear them for longer than an hour. Ears get tired, and with unaccustomed it can cause discomfort. In the second week, however, I got so used to it that I went to lunch from the office, forgetting that the headphones are on me at all.

The editorial staff recommends: if you’re bored with regular headphones or need to hear what’s going on around you during a workout, they’re indispensable. The price tag is 7990 rubles. Therefore, “we’ll take it.” The new gadget with interesting technology turned out to be a very high-quality product.

You can buy them here.