Listen to music while always being conscious of your environment with the Shokz OpenFit Cream. These Shokz earbuds have an open-ear shape. This keeps your ear canal free while you listen to music. This is useful for when you're running and want to hear the traffic, for example. The ear hooks also ensure your earbuds stay in well. Thanks to the IP54 certification, you can work out with these earbuds. That's because the Shokz OpenFit are dustproof and water-resistant. This means they can handle sweat and rain. You can also enjoy balanced sound thanks to DirectPitch technology. This technology ensures that the bass and treble are well-balanced. AI Call Noise Canceling reduces ambient noise during video calls. This way, you hear less of your environment when you make a phone call.
Listen to music while always being conscious of your environment with the Shokz OpenFit Cream. These Shokz earbuds have an open-ear shape. This keeps your ear canal free while you listen to music. This is useful for when you're running and want to hear the traffic, for example. The ear hooks also ensure your earbuds stay in well. Thanks to the IP54 certification, you can work out with these earbuds. That's because the Shokz OpenFit are dustproof and water-resistant. This means they can handle sweat and rain. You can also enjoy balanced sound thanks to DirectPitch technology. This technology ensures that the bass and treble are well-balanced. AI Call Noise Canceling reduces ambient noise during video calls. This way, you hear less of your environment when you make a phone call.
The Shokz OpenFit are the first in-ear earplugs with an ear hook that leave the ear canal free. As a result, I can hear the traffic well and they sit firmly during exercise. Unfortunately, this design comes at the expense of the music quality.
New design
Shokz's design is new. The earplugs keep the ear canal free and sit in the auricle. I also attach the Shokz with an earhook. The advantage of the free ear canal is that I can hear the traffic well when I walk on the street. In addition, the earbuds sit firmly in my ears, so I don't get the feeling that they can fall out during exercise. The earplugs are also water resistant thanks to the IP54 certification. Because of this I use them in the rain without any problems.
Difficulty with the fit
I find it difficult to get the earplugs in properly because the part in my ear is just too big. It also takes me a lot of effort to put that part in the right place. Due to the size, it is always a matter of finding out how the earplugs are comfortable. Unfortunately, this is at the expense of wearing comfort.
Good quality podcasts
What I also notice is that the sound with podcasts is excellent. I hear the voices clearly and follow everything well. In this section, the Shokz OpenFit excel.
Flat sound
Where the podcasts stand out positively, this is unfortunately not the case for music. The midtones, including the voices in music, sound clear. The bass also sounds detailed, but I notice that the music sounds flatter than with in-ear earplugs or earbuds. As a result, I don't hear all the details I like to hear in music. As a result, I wouldn't buy these earbuds if you're an audiophile. Do you want to listen to music while exercising? Then I definitely recommend these earplugs.
Maurits. audio specialist
10 July 2023
Automatically translated from Dutch
9,6/10
Great for running
Wearing comfort: you do not feel that you are wearing them
Sound quality is top notch
Long battery life
Bluetooth pairing good, but not always useful
Purchased this OpenFit because I want to be able to enjoy my music while running, and at the same time also want to enjoy the sounds of nature around me. Yes Tech House and sounds of forest and heath go together beautifully. For that reason, over-ear headphones also fell off. I also have in-ear earphones, but I have those ears where when the ear canal is closed, my footsteps / cadence resonate extra loudly in my ear.
The sound quality is top notch. However, don't expect the deep fat bass of closed earcups. That is simply not possible with this design. You are not cut off from your ambient noise. There are a few equalizer presets with bass boost, among other things, and you can create your own profiles. The sound is also fine for conversations. My interlocutors did not realize that I was conducting the conversation through the earphones.
It is all beautifully designed, the earphones themselves and also the small storage box that also serves as a charger. It is so small that you can easily take it with you everywhere. Pairing via Bluetooth (the first time) is also only possible if the earphones are in that box. I use them together with my smartphone and my Garmin running watch. In both cases I listen via my Spotify account.
Switching between listening via the smartphone and my sports watch is not always smooth. The earphones must then be returned to the box for Bluetooth pairing. That's because this OpenFit doesn't support multi-point pairing. That is also a small downside, which I hope can be solved with a firmware upgrade.
Another thing to pay attention to is that you place the earphones properly in the box. Via an LED you will receive confirmation of the correct placement of your left and right earpiece every time. It can hardly go wrong, but I have already had a time where that went wrong and my left earpiece only had 20% juice and the right earpiece was fully charged. During the long run, the left earpiece finally stopped working after a number of warning tones. Fortunately, the judge proceeded happily.
I find them ideal for running. When cycling you will get more wind noise anyway, but that is inherent to the design and the higher speed. The simple solution is to turn the volume up a bit. I never get above 60% myself and can still hear everything well.
You operate the earbuds by tapping the speakers. You can choose between a number of presets. Stop/Start, next, previous, volume up, volume down. The limitation is that you can only choose a maximum of 4 out of 5. My settings are Stop/Start, Next, Previous. I then do volume control via the smartphone or my sports watch. For example, in practice, a long hold to select the previous one doesn't work well. By the time the earpiece responds, it will have jumped back to the beginning of the song, start playing, and the next long-hold will not result in the previous-previous, but in the replay of the current song. It is therefore important to choose the presets that work for you.
Apart from the two minors (not always handy Bluetooth connection and limited useful choice in presets) this is an absolute must in my opinion. Don't run a single run without my earphones.
Bryan
15 August 2023
Automatically translated from Dutch
10/10
Recommended!
You don't feel them
You can also use it to make calls outside
Great sound
Because you hear ambient noise, it is not recommended in a gym
I recommend them to everyone. They are wonderful; you don't feel them. And work very simply. The sound is fine.
You can also make calls outside and listen to an audio book. When there is a lot of traffic I put it on pause because I can't hear my audiobook properly and I don't want the volume high.
Sweat resistant and stays in place.
A safer listening experience ; Because the open-fit is further away from the eardrum than "regular" caps, the risk of hearing damage is reduced.
People next to you can't hear what you're listening to.
I don't like them in a gym because you keep hearing the music of the gym.
Outside and inside it is nice that you can hear your surroundings. This way you stay in touch when necessary and you can get further into what you're listening to.