The Best Bone Conduction Headphones (2023 Reviews)
Nothing beats bone conduction headphones when it comes to natural ambient awareness. Here are the best bone conduction headphones on the market right now. When it comes to using headphones while doing physical activities, few things are as important as spatial awareness. Regardless of whether you’re cycling, running, or even hitting the gym with other people, being able to hear what’s going on around you is paramount.
And when it comes to allowing for that sense of natural ambient awareness, nothing beats bone-conduction headphones!
These headphones work by sending vibrations through your skull directly into the inner ear. This means that your ears are entirely free to take in the sounds of your surroundings.
Although it lowers sound quality, bones were not originally intended for hearing, so this has some advantages.
So without any further ado, here are the four best bone-conduction headphones currently on the market!
1.Wissonly Hi Runner
The design team of Wissonly bone conduction headphones started to research bone conduction acoustics as early as 2012. Their technical accumulation in the field of bone conduction is very good, and they are a team that is good at technology. Wissonly Hi Runner adopted Wissonly 3.0 technology to reduce sound leakage in bone conduction headphones. They reduced the sound transmission from the bone vibration unit directly to the air through the completely closed design of the headphones’ body. They also used high-quality cushioning materials to minimize the vibration of the body, thus reducing the sound leakage by more than 90%. I did a test, turned on Hi Runner, adjusted the volume to 70%, and within a distance of 1m, I couldn't hear any sound at all. This kind of sound leakage reduction performance has been well received by users since wissonly released the sound leakage reduction technology. This technical scheme is the best leak-proof among bone conduction headphones at present. The headphones’ body of Wissonly Hi Runner is made of memory titanium, which can self-adjust the contact area, ensuring a good wearing experience of headphones at any time, taking into account more users with different head circumference. Hi Runner can be said to be very sincere in configuration. It is equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 chip, which makes the connection more stable, and can realize fast connection and switching of multiple devices. Built-in 32G memory can store 5000 songs. When you go out for a run, you can enjoy music without your mobile phone. The battery life is also very good, and it can be played continuously for more than 10 hours at normal volume, which is good for me, because I go out for outdoor sports on weekends, and I often go out for a whole day.
2.Tayogo S2
If you were to go out and buy a random pair of cheap bone conduction headphones, you’d likely be disappointed. But the Tayogo S2 isn’t just any pair of cheap bone conduction headphones – it’s the best budget option this technology has to offer.
For starters, it’s fairly comfortable. Weighing in at approximately 30 grams and featuring rubberized pads to prevent vibrations from getting uncomfortable, the S2 can be worn fairly long without any discomfort. The maximum battery life of 6 hours can be a bit disappointing if you want it to see you through a full day of work. But given that most people opt for bone conduction to remain aware of their surroundings while working out, this shouldn’t be a problem.
3.Pyle PSWBT550
Design-wise, it’s the same story you’re seen already – lightweight and comfortable with a physical button on the side panel for playback control. Of course, some subtle differences set the Pyle apart, namely its ruggedness.
Granted, none of the devices showcased in this guide are likely to fall off while you’re using them, but the Pyle has the added benefit of being most likely to survive said fall. It’s also fit for use in less-than-ideal situations thanks to its IPX6 rating.
It’s not like we recommend running or cycling in the rain, but if rain just so happens to start falling while you’re engaged in these activities, you won’t have to worry about it damaging your headphones.
4.Aftershokz Titanium
The device is rather chunky, but it’s still light enough not to cause any discomfort. It features two physical buttons that are used for everything except skipping back tracks. You can skip forward, but not back for some reason. The device sports an IP55 rating, making it resistant to sweat, dust, and moisture.
What’s unique about the Titanium is that it comes in two variants – regular and Mini. Titanium Mini is identical to the regular version, except that it has a shorter headband. This makes it an ideal choice for kids, teens, or just folks with smaller heads.
If this were a regular pair of air-conduction headphones, they would certainly show their age more, but as things stand, if you can live with the older version of Bluetooth, the Titanium still has the edge over much of its more recent competition.
5.Aftershokz Aeropex
Thanks to their proprietary PremiumPitch 2.0+ technology, Aeropex has managed to noticeably bump up audio quality while reducing vibrations and sound leakage. We have to note that this still doesn’t make for hi-fi audio. At best, the Aeropex is on par with some budget in-ear or over-ear options. Nevertheless, it is the best option bone conduction has when it comes to audio quality.
Other notable features include an IP67 rating, Bluetooth 5.0, multipoint connectivity, and microphones for taking calls.
It can hold a charge for 8 hours before needing to recharge via a proprietary magnetic cradle. We aren’t fans of proprietary charging cables, but at the very least, we have to commend the folks at Aftershokz for including two such cables with every device.
The Pros And Cons Of Bone Conduction
How Does It Work?
If bone conduction sounds weird, you may be surprised to hear that you actually use it every day.
Do you know how your voice sounds different when you speak and when you listen to yourself through recordings? Part of the reason for that is bone conduction.
When we speak, we don’t only hear out voices via air conduction (the voice traveling through our ears). Our vocal cords also send vibrations through our skulls directly into the inner ear. The famous deaf composed Beethoven used a primitive form of bone conduction by biting a rod attached to a piano. Sure, the audio quality can’t have been great, but the end result was sound.
Bone conduction headphones function using this same principle. The only difference is that they send vibrations through our cheekbones.
This has its benefits, for sure, but it also carries some downsides.
Sound Quality
The ossicles in the middle ear are the only bones that, biologically speaking, function for listening. Bone conduction relies on other, more inefficient bones.
Even though we’ve seen many things stripped directly out of sci-fi come to fruition in the past couple of decades, it’s still hard to imagine this biological limitation going away.
Consequently, high-fidelity audio is simply unreachable through these means, making bone conduction a better fit for podcast listening.
So if audio quality plays a huge role in your decision of which headphones to get, you’ll have a much better time with air conduction options.
If this is the case, you should check out our guide on the best headphones for running. Many of the headphones listed there feature Ambient Modes that can let your surroundings in. Speaking of which…
Ambient Awareness
The advertisements for bone conduction headphones focus on presenting them as athletes’ best friends. They do so by doubling down on ambient awareness, as being able to hear your surroundings is key while cycling and jogging; it certainly doesn’t hurt while doing other physical activities, either.
Even in-ear headphones with phenomenal Ambient Modes, like the AirPods Pro, just can’t beat having your ear canals completely unobstructed. And other devices with worse Ambient Modes can make your surroundings sound much less natural.
Furthermore, some countries prohibit the use of traditional headphones as they clog up your ears. Bone-conduction headphones circumvent these restrictions.