I got down to some serious training in 2024 and committed to running my first ever half marathon event, which was the Royal Parks Half in October. I had a great day, and being a tech journalist, I also enjoyed testing out a plethora of gadgets while I was training.
It was difficult to pick one particular piece of tech for the big day though: my headphones. I decided I’d run the first half of the race with podcasts on, purposefully avoiding music so I could lock into a manageable place, before cranking up the tunes for the second half to bring it home.
While I could have gone for the Beats Fit Pro or Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, or even my trusty AirPods Pro 2, I ended up running the half marathon wearing the Shokz OpenFit Air, an open-ear design earbud aimed at fitness and awareness.
The Shokz OpenFit Air are currently discounted in the Amazon Spring Deal Days sale event, their price cut down to an amazing £74, a huge £45 discount on their £119 RRP.
At this price I highly recommend them if you are after a solid pair of headphones for exercising that will also do just as well in the office, at home or for taking calls.
The Shokz have a hook design similar to the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 for a secure fit but rather than have silicone tips that form a seal in your ear canal, the sound is instead piped into your ear from a driver that sits just at the entrance to your ear.
This ‘open’ style is becoming very popular, as you can still blast your music when exercising but the lack of seal means you can also still be aware of the world around you, especially if the volume isn’t too high.
Shokz popularised bone conduction headphones that perch on the bones next to your ear in a headband design, but the firm’s OpenFit Air do not use this tech. They simply aim good quality audio down your ear canal, and I find them among the best and most comfortable earbuds to wear when running.
Just be aware that open-ear earbuds will never be able to reach the peak volume or overall sound quality of in-ear earbuds. Their open nature means they audio is further from your eardrum, and any external noise will also be heard, by design. But I love using the OpenFit Air despite this, even if the hook design does sometimes irritate me as I also wear glasses, so having both hook and glasses arm over my ears can be a bit crowded.
