Shokz feels like a brand that just showed up overnight and immediately carved their niche in an otherwise extremely crowded audio market. Runners flock to these puppies. I go to a weekly run club that meets at a local bar near me and at least half of them own a pair of Shokz headphones in one shape or another. One of the highlight products the company offers is the OpenFit 2, and right now, Amazon has the pair of earbuds going for 22% off. Usually, you’d find these headphones going for $180, but the discount ends up taking the price down to just $140. That’s a savings of $40 for a limited time.
Open-Ear Listening
Shokz’ main claim to fame is its open-ear design found implements across most of its lineup. The OpenFit 2 are no exception. Open-ear listening has huge benefits, especially for fitness junkies who find themselves running outside a bunch.
A typical pair of in-ear earbuds end up blocking your ear canal and can prevent you from hearing much of your surroundings. This is certainly appealing in some situations—it’s why active noise cancellation exists as a feature in the audio space at all. The problem comes in if you very much do need to stay aware of your surroundings. For instance, you might be running on a public road where cars could be coming up from behind you at any moment. You’re going to want to hear those.
The hook design also has major benefits for athletes or anyone looking for a way to listen to music, podcasts, or audiobooks, while taking on a physical workout. The Shokz OpenFit 2 earbuds are able to stay securely in place, even during high-intensity activity. I used to run roads with a pair of earbuds from a different brand without these hooks, and one scare where one fell out and nearly rolled into a sewer grate made me swear them off entirely.
These earbuds are also perfectly sutied to be used regularly for workouts as they are IP55-rated for water resistance. You can sweat in these, take them out in the rain—whatever—they’ll be fine.
The Shokz OpenFit 2 earbuds has a pretty adequate listening time. Off just one charge, you can expect to listen with these for up to 11 hours. When you add in the extra time you get from the charging case when out and about, that comes in at a round 48 hours total. If you’re ever low on battery right before you need to head out, you can give yourself an extra two hours more of listening time with just a quick 10-minute charge.