SHOKZ OpenFit for 2023 Open-Ear True Wireless Bluetooth Headphones with Microphone, Earbuds with Earhooks, Sweat Resistant, Fast Charging, 28HRS Playtime (Beige)

I don't often write product reviews, but felt that my experience with the Oladance OWS Pro and Shokz OpenFit might be helpful to others. I pre-ordered the OWS Pro on the day of release and my initial impression was great. They have excellent sound quality and are a truly beautiful design. However, after a week of usage I ended up massively disappointed, and regrettably had to return them - I purchased the Shokz OpenFit instead and am much happier. My use case is for podcasts, audiobooks and quiet music in a home office environment.Unfortunately My OWS Pro had an annoying rapid 'ticking' sound that was constantly there quietly in the background when any audio was active. I could best describe it as the sound an old film projector makes. It wasn't audible in a noisy environment or with loud 'busy' music, but in a quiet home office with podcasts, phone calls, notification sounds, quiet music or music with silent portions, and - ironically enough - their 'Focus Mode', it was constantly apparent. I'd call it a constant hissing/ticking/clicking background sound when any audio stream is active. For example a notification sound would be 'hiss-ticktick-hiss-ticktick<notificaton sound>hiss-ticktick-hiss-ticktick' as the audio circuitry activated and deactivated. I tried it with three different devices. I contacted Oladance support and they told me, and I quote: "The low-level hissing/ticking/clicking sound audible in the background you mention may be white noise, and we'd like to explain to you that white noise is a common problem with all speakers and headphones; it is generated when electronic devices operate. It is a normal phenomenon, not the quality problem of the headset itself, so there is no need to worry". Laughably, some reviewers actually excuse this white noise by describing it as a 'noise cancelling' feature.Absolute nonsense. So after a little research I purchased a pair of Shokz OpenFit instead, as several serious YouTube reviewers noted them for their very low 'residual noise' (the OWS and the Cleer Arc II were rated the worst). The OpenFit has absolutely NO hissing or background static - just a clean pure audio stream - a notification sound is just a notification sound, nothing else is audible. Shokz deserve to be applauded for this.Additionally the OpenFit's comfort and lightweight design is second to none (and I wear glasses). The battery life of the Oladance also gave me problems (left earbud sometimes only charging to 70% and running out much faster than the right). The Shokz by comparison, despite only being rated for 7 hours, have got me through the day (and the battery case is smaller anyway so can more easily be carried with you).I have no doubt the OWS Pro are a great set of headphones for many use-cases, I was initially wowed by them, but for me they proved a major disappointment - despite their excellent audio quality. In addition, the controls proved fiddly and unreliable. I realise they've gone the push-button route for those using them when exercising, but in comparison I've found the OpenFit touch-style controls more reliable and easier to use.I hope my experience proves helpful for you in making a purchasing decision for your use case. I look forward to the next evolution in this product-space as it is rapidly expanding, but I'll be putting Shokz top of my list when buying my next pair - based on this experience I feel they can be better trusted to produce a quality product.UPDATE: Just spent an afternoon sitting in the sun listening to some favourite old tracks on these and have upped my rating from four stars to five. Very happy with the purchase.UPDATE 2 (10/02/24): I just tried a pair of Soundcore Aerofit Pro as they had some attractive features the Shokz do not (longer battery life, LDAC support, detachable headband, on/off switch). Although these features were all desirable, I ultimately returned the Aerofit Pro and kept the Shokz OpenFit. The reason was simple: sound quality. The Shokz have a fuller, more expansive soundstage, and much better bass. Although the AeroFit Pro do indeed have a very clear sound with the LDAC codec, it is more focussed on mids and highs and lacks the bass punch of the OpenFit. In a side-by-side comparison I realised that I *enjoyed* listening on the Shokz more than on the Soundcore. The EQ in the Soundcore app also seemed to have very little effect compared to the changes you can make in the Shokz app. If I can put it this way: the AeroFit sounded like a pair of headphones, while on the Shokz my music sounded like how I would expect it to over a pair of speakers. Hoping Shokz bring improvements in the abovementioned features in their next iteration, but despite their lacking in some areas at the moment, they still win out over everything else for me because of the sound.

In the six weeks since I purchased the Shokz Openfit earbuds on 18 November 2023 from Amazon UK (for £152), I have been able to quite thoroughly test them. I am an audiophile, a lover of classical music, with a background in professional recording, and I have been enjoying using Sony’s over-ear noise-cancelling headphones for the last four years, but I wanted a pair of discreet headphones to wear in social environments.Generally, the Shokz Openfit earbuds have impressed me. They are quite simple, they are a bit slow to respond to touch commands, but their speakers are almost as good as those in the Sony over-ear noise-cancelling XMRs, which are almost twice as expensive. Using the "Poweramp" app I have created a setting which increases the Shokz’s bass performance considerably and the Openfit speakers can handle it.The things which I have had to learn in using the Shokz Openfit earbuds are as follows.You switch the Shokz on and off by taking them out of or putting them back in their case. For this reason one ought to pop their little carrying case into a pocket. If you don’t want to switch them off but you want to keep them on your ears but not listen to them for a while, then double-tapping on the top of the left ear-bud will pause performance.When you take the Openfit buds out of the case and pop them in your ears, you only need to enable bluetooth on your phone for the buds to become connected and then start playing by way of your music-playing app. However, if after popping the buds in your ears you open the Shokz app on your phone and allow it, instead, to switch on your phone’s bluetooth then the Shokz app will tell you how much charge is in the earbuds and how much charge is left in the case, and that is helpful information to know at the start of a listening session. Note that the charge information shown in the app does not alter during a session: it only changes when you start a new listening session via the Shokz app.The Shokz Openfit buds reliably respond to touch commands but the responses are a little slower than what I have become used to while using my Sony XMRs. For example, when I double-tap the left earbud to re-start a track, performance does not begin for about a second. However, when I double-tap the right earbud the next track fades in immediately.It took me a while to learn that decreasing and increasing volume depends not upon tapping the left or right earbud, but on holding the finger on the left or right earbud until such time as the volume I want is achieved (each incremental decrease or increase being indicated by a beep in the buds, over the music). So keep your finger on the bud and wait. Remove your finger when the Shokz has reached the volume you want.The Openfit earbuds are delicate little things to handle but on the ears they are perhaps the most visually discreet of all currently available earbuds - and I don't have to worry about them falling off my ears. I think that if they are handled with care they will not break.I always wear glasses, so I was pleased to find that indeed the very thin loops of the Openfit earbuds do not raise the arms of spectacles much or cause any other problem.I think it would have been better for the case to be made of shiny plastic rather than having a satin finish, as the satin finish wears away in places due to friction with the fabric of pockets, and the satin finish is also marred by slight grease or oil marks from one’s fingers, although these can be rubbed away with a damp cloth.I interacted a number of times with Shokz’s customer service via email in order to ensure that I was covered under the warranty, and Shokz’s customer service provided me with satisfactory answers generally within 48 hours.Lastly, my journey to the Shokz Openfit earbuds was quite gruelling. I started off by buying Samsung’s "Galaxy Buds Live", at £69 on Amazon. These interacted brilliantly with my Samsung phone but unfortunately the buds would not stay securely in my ears. Samsung’s Customer Service offered to send me thin silicone sleeves to envelope the lower part of each bud, to stop them slipping out of the oily channels of my ears, but I chose not to try this make-shift remedy. The "Galaxy Buds Live" are most probably wonderful provided you have ears which have cartiledge ridges which will hold the "beans" securely. They were also a third of the price of the Shokz Openfit earbuds. So I next moved to buds with a loop going over the ear, to ensure they would never fall out, and chose the "Nagfak Open Ear Headphones" at £69.99. I thought their four-position arms would ensure that the speakers married with the geography of my particular ears, but in fact I found that everyone has to open them to the fourth position in order for them to sit well on the ear. So the four positions of the arms is just a way of making the buds more compact when in their case. But quite soon I found that the "Nagfak Open Ear Headphones" cannot provide a reasonable bass although they are no doubt fine for listening to spoken programmes. From the "Nagfak Open Ear Headphones" I moved up to the Shokz Openfit buds.I will edit this review if the Shokz buds take a turn for the worse, but so far they have performed well.I hope this review is helpful for others considering the bewildering array of open-ear buds now available.Update: 21 January 2024. I am still very impressed with the sound quality of the speakers in these ear buds. I have also discovered that their receptivity is sensitive enough for them to be able to continue playing a track from my phone when I have moved four rooms along in my house, from where I have left the phone (the walls are all stud-partitions). One downbeat is that after leaving the charging case and ear-buds untouched for seven days I was surprised to return to them and find that the case and the buds had completely lost their charges. I wrote to Shokz about this and they replied saying that this is normal. Well, it is obviously normal for the OpenFit case and ear-bud batteries but it is not normal for some other headphones, such as my Sony XMRs, which lose no charge whatsoever after having been left alone for a month. However, this short battery-life of the OpenFits is not a severe problem, as one just needs to remember that if intending to use the OpenFits again after 7 days or more of non-use they will have to be charged up beforehand.

The headphones are comfortable for extended periods. They work fine with glasses/sunglasses. The bass is OK when you consider the open-ear design. They pair with 2 devices simultaneously and seamlessly switch. I like that I can hear my surrounds or have a conversation without taking them out.I do think they are over priced. The charge case feels particularly cheap when compared to other manufacturers. When on an airplane or walking near a road, it can be hard to hear what's being played.

My life quest seems to be finding the perfect earphones and I have to say I do believe I found them. The shape of my ear does not allow me to wear in ear earphones so I have been trying any other suitable earphone. These are by far the most comfortable earphone I have ever worn so much so that I'm not sure whether I have them on sometimes and I have to touch my ear. The app allows you to change the functions of the Touch control which I didn't find too easy at first but I've opted for double tap to answer calls which seems to work for me and I use my phone to change the volume. I've absolutely no negative comments to make about this product. I do use it for calls quite a lot and nobody has complained about the ability to hear me and I hear them very clearly. I wear glasses and was worried about the fit but I find that I put on the earphones first and then my glasses and the fit is very comfortable. Battery life is really good and it's an added bonus to be able to charge the product and then the case so you can charge on the go. Basically I'm a big fan.