[Rajeevraj]

I am pretty sure that a lot of readers will be opening this thread with the thought: 'Bone Conduction Headphones? What is that?'. I was in the same position as recent as a week back. Had never heard of a 'Bone Conduction Headphone'. Multiple realizations happened in quick succession during a trip to Bangkok recently and I ended up buying one. Most people in my circle had also never heard of this. Did not find any mention if it on the Team Bhp threads also. So I thought-Let me spread some knowledge about it.

Before getting into why I purchased it, taking a couple of steps back: What exactly are Bone Conduction headphones? While I like my music and can enjoy a good system, I am no expert on either sound or headphones, I will leverage this nice article from Philips to summarize the technology and how it works.

The Basics: How do we hear?

Humans hear when the bones of the inner ear vibrate. In total, you have three bones in your inner ear, and together they’re called the auditory ossicles. These bones transmit sound vibrations through the cochlea, which is a fluid-filled, snail-shaped internal-ear structure. As your cochlear fluid vibrates, thousands of nerve endings transform the vibrations to electrical impulses. The auditory nerve then sends this information to the brain, the brain recognises the information as sound—and you hear Beethoven’s Fifth in all its glory. Or the latest hot take from your favourite podcaster.

Normally, it’s your eardrum that causes the bones in your ear to vibrate. Soundwaves reach the eardrum first, and they make it move. Those movements start vibrations in the auditory ossicles—and then you get the whole cochlear fluid/nerve endings thing happening, as described above.

With a traditional headphone- whether it is an in ear bud or an over the ear headphone, the sound reaches the eardrum through the ear and then the eardrum does its magic as described above and you hear the music. But you don’t have to make your eardrum move to hear something. There are other ways to make the bones in your inner ear vibrate—and that’s how bone-conduction headphones work.

Image Source: Link

As the image shows, bone conduction headphones wrap around the head and sits on the cheekbone just in front of the ear. This bone is called the zygomatic arch—which is the bone you can feel if you run your finger from the edge of your eye back to your ear. So instead of your eardrum, this cheekbone causes the bones in the inner ear to vibrate and you hear the sound. So your ears remain completely open and can take in all the regular sounds around. Of course, that is both good and bad. Why is it so? We shall talk about that a little later.

Some History
This sounds like a new invention and I also thought the same. Actually the concept is very old. It’s relatively new to the headphone user but, in one form or another, bone-conducting devices have been used since at least the 19th century.

Source Link:

The first person to use bone conduction in connection with hearing was probably Hieronymus Capivacci—a 15th-century physician from Padua in Italy who used bone-conducting materials to diagnose the causes of severe hearing loss in his patients. Capivacci attached a metal rod to the strings of a zither (a type of stringed instrument), and had his patients clamp the rod in their teeth.

If a patient could hear music when the zither was played, the diagnosis was a disorder of the eardrum. If the patient heard nothing, the problem was diagnosed as a disorder of the auditory nerve.

Similarly, the famously deaf composer Beethoven was reported by his housekeeper to have clamped one end of a pencil between his teeth and touched the other end to his piano as he played, enabling the vibrations of his music to pass into his inner ear via the bones in his skull. (Other sources say he used a metal rod instead of a pencil, which attached to his head).


150-odd years later, bone-conduction headphones work with the exact same principle, namely that vibrations can pass through the bones of the skull to the inner ear.

So that was a lot of history and background. So what are the advantages and disadvantages of such a headphone and what prompted me to buy it?

Key Advantages

• They leave your ears free and hence unlike traditional in ear or over ear headphones, do not put pressure on the ear. I am the kind of person who very easily get discomforted with a headphones. I cannot wear in ear buds for even a short time. More comfortable with over the ear headphones (which is what I own currently and use). But even that I do end up with ear pain and discomfort due to the weight and pressure.
  
  
• Since they leave your ears free, it allows you to take in outside sounds and be aware of the surroundings. This is especially critical when you are walking or engaging in any kind of outdoor activity. For this reason, these are also more popularly called runners headphones. This is a general issue for me that I get uncomfortable when I lose situational awareness especially in public places like airports. Always a fear that I will miss something. So i tend to use headphones only in situations where I am sure there is no external factor(like inside a flight, or on a train journey in the night).
  
  
• It is useful for people with partial hearing loss due to issues in the outer part of the ear or those who use hearing aids(Note: This is a generic statement and there maybe a lot of factors involved)
  
  
• This is a debatable point, but since there is nothing going inside the ear, it reduces the chance of ear infections or wax build up that can happen with prolonged usage.
  
  
• Some of them are completely water proof or have high IP ratings which makes it comfortable in wet conditions.
  
  
• They are very lightweight and since they sit outside the ear, you don't even feel you have it on.

Key Disadvantages

• The biggest one as many readers would have already deduced or would be thinking- Sound quality will not be as good as any equivalent in ear or over ear headphones. These are not for audiophiles or even serious listeners. It cannot typically also be the only headphone to use.
  
  
• Sound leakage-As they sit on your cheekbones, at higher volumes there is sound leakage and people around may hear some sound in quieter environments.
  
  
• They are expensive as it is niche and relatively new technology. Not may brands make it and especially in India, not easily available. The most popular brand- Shokz has 3 models starting from INR 7000,11000 and 15,000.

My Purchase

• With all the background, will get into how I ended up buying one. Had travelled to Bangkok for a short holiday and while we were there, a couple of times my wife was mentioning about lot of people wearing a headphone outside the ear. I did not notice and at that time did not understand.
  
  
• On the return, at the airport duty free as we are roaming around, I saw these headphones from Skokz. They actually had it set up for a demo. I tried it and was immediately floored by it.
  
  
• Like I had mentioned above, although I love to listen to music, because of my discomfort with earbuds, I don't use them. My regular headphone is a mid range Sennheiser 450BT. This also my usage is limited because of my issue with getting cut off from surroundings and the fact that this is a fairly heavy one and causes me discomfort.
  
  
• I checked the price on Amazon in India for the mid variant from Shokz and it was listed at INR 14,000. At the duty free, due to some offer, it was available at a converted price of INR 9000. Was quite an impulse buy and went ahead and bought it. Since then the price on Amazon has also dropped.
  
  
• Shokz Open Run Series

Key Features and Pics:

Proprietary charging port

Feedback after the initial usage

• Happy with the purchase. Has helped overcome the issues blocked me from listening to music using headphones. Comfortably use it at home, when walking outside, even when riding. Listening to music when hearing the surroundings is not as bad as I thought.
  
  
• Very lightweight and being outside the ear, comfortable to wear for long periods.
  
• Sound Quality: Obviously not at all close to the HD450 that I have, but having said that, for the use cases where it useful, the sound quality is acceptable. Shokz is one of the best with respect to bone conduction headphones and have done a lot of work in making the sound quality fairly good.
  
  
• In a noisy environment, sound leakage is not an issue. In a quiet environment at max volume, there is some leakage.
  
  
• With volume maxed out, for some songs, it can cause a slight tickling sensation.
  
  
• Charge is good. 9-10 hrs as advertised, charges fast.
  
  
• Call quality was also good. No one could notice any difference when speaking on the phone.

Overall, was an impulsive purchase and it is a niche product that has specific use cases which aligned with my needs. It cannot be the one headphone for all cases. It is also currently expensive and may remain so.

[phamilyman]

Very nice. Wife has a 5 year old openshokz titanium whose mic is giving up finally. I bought ng earsafe which has a boom mic. Absolutely love it.

[Axe77]

I’ve used a few of these over the years - principally because I liked the idea of a bone conduction set up for road running. Its stable and stays in place and doesn’t drop out like ear pods but most importantly it doesn’t shut you out to ambient noise of traffic etc. I used to like them but I’m not that happy with their quality anymore. Don’t think I’d buy them ever again.

1. Quality of the rubber - for two older ones, the rubber had finally given up and cracked open somewhere around the part that goes over the ear - but this was after decent amount of usage.

2. On my most recent purchase which was unfortunately from some international airport - can’t recall which, maybe Germany, the headphone simply stopped charging within as little as two months. This was really really annoying given how expensive they are. Decided not to buy them again and this time I’ve gone with a Sony headphone that’s compatible with swimming as well. The reason was not to use them during swimming but just to get the most heavy duty water resistant ones so they can deal with sweat and pouring rain also without any concerns.

Overall, but for my last experience I’ve been fairly happy with them (specially the concept of bone conduction) but I just wish the quality had been better. Perhaps I just got really unlucky on the last one but either way, left a bad taste for me.

[WhiteKnight]

I learned something new today. Thank you very much.

Looking at the underlying technology, wouldn't it be useful as a hearing aid for people who has ear drum issues?

[Uthappa]

These are great for running, when sound quality is not the primary concern, and yet leaves your ears open to pick up ambient sound. The Shokz open move headset that I use, has a regular USB C port, not a proprietary port like the one you purchased. So one less cable to carry. Enjoy your purchase!

[Aiel]

I used a pair of bone conduction headphones a souple of years back. While, it had its advantages (hearing external sounds etc), I would get splitting headaches after using it for around 30 minutes at a time.

With that, I stopped using them & went back to my trusty earphones.

[McLaren_P1]

I have a pair of Shocks Open Run Pro. It’s very good for running and gym. The issue I face is pain on the upper part of my ear that rubs against the rubber.

Otherwise, good for purpose so far.

[Jaguar]

The technology is really wonderful. I was surprised I could listen to my podcasts on a plane even, with all the ambient noise around.

I have used a Trek Titanium by AfterShokz since 2019. Picked it up from the US primarily for gym use but it was a savior during the pandemic-induced WFH. It was really convenient to wear it all day long and still be able to hear outside noises like the doorbell while not worrying about sweaty hot ears.

The headphone is in the final stages of its life now and held together by duct tape. Still works and holds the charge for 8+ hours, but can't use it outside anymore. So I am looking for a replacement.

I sometimes get Ads for some new brand on Insta with prices under 5k. Will share it here if I come across it again.

EDIT: Ng EarSafe it is: https://www.amazon.in/NG-EarSafe-Wir.../dp/B08C8W178M

Originally Posted by phamilyman

I bought ng earsafe which has a boom mic. Absolutely love it.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Proprietary charging port

This is strange. Mine charges using micro USB, so one less cable to worry about. Will have to see if Shokz has moved to proprietary charging for all their models. That would be a bummer.

[ostrish]

Been using Aftershokz Aeropex for 4 years, on road + trails. Really good, highly recommended and quite hardy.

[FalconRed]

Wow. Never knew such a technology ever existed.

Kudos for sharing.

[Gaur]

Never knew this technology existed for civilian purpose as well thought its only military applicaiton.

Have heard about it from my cousin brother in Army, special units do have access to this since quite some time back, additional to this its combined with a throat microphone which will pick up sound from your windpipe instead of mouth, helps in picking up even very faint whispers/commands (i guess we all understand when are these supposed to be used).

[Fillmore]

I have always wanted to pick one up, the only fear I have is it should not trigger Vertigo.
Since in my family there were couple of relatives who had Vertigo.

The technology behind these headphones have a tendency to trigger the same.
No matter how cool and useful they may be, I have seen how bad a Vertigo attack can be and nothing is worth risking that.

[IAmGroot]

There should be a dual use headphones to get best of both worlds. Bone conduction plus regular ear/headphones as a single unit with option to switch as per the situation.

[Blooming Flower]

Originally Posted by IAmGroot

There should be a dual use headphones to get best of both worlds. Bone conduction plus regular ear/headphones as a single unit with option to switch as per the situation.

Shokz pro series model is basically a hybrid earphone to provide a better listening experience and sound quality. It combines both bone conduction as well as ear conduction technologies.

Unfortunately, I am yet to find their native app for earphone control and customisation in Indian app store although the product is on sale in India. Don't know if it changed recently.

[FueledbyFury]

I have used it recently and it's not actually worth the hype.Being an audiophile, the sound leakage is on the higher side and a pressure is felt on the cheekbones.
All these will vary from person to person, with further advancement in comfort, it will be much more better.