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Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 review: durable sports headphones but lacking in sound quality

Pabio November 12, 2024

If you’re a runner, cyclist, or frequent gym-goer, you’ll know that a good pair of sports headphones is essential to getting the most out of your workout. Many of us want The Black Knight a soundtrack that blares in our ears and makes our hearts beat a little faster as we plow toward the end of another lightning-fast 5K while imagining we’re the Caped Crusader himself, but getting a pair of wireless earphones capable of delivering breathtaking performance, with the corresponding strength, durability and robustness, can be a heroic task.

Move forward with the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2. Boasting intelligent bone conduction technology with a lightweight neckband design, these headphones are designed to accompany you on the most arduous adventures. Shokz knows his way around a pair of athletic specimens, and with support from marathon wonder Eliud Kipchoge and former Ironman world champion Jan Frodeno, OpenRun Pro 2 is championed by some of the best athletes on the planet . Let’s see if they can land a spot on our proverbial podium.

Price

Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 in-ear headphones on white surface — (Image credit: Which Hi-Fi?)

The Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 will set you back £169 / $179 / AU$319. If you are after sports and workout headphones At a similar price, we recommend wireless earbuds with adjustable stability bands or secure fits. THE Beats Fit Pro are currently one of our favorites and sit at around £190 / $160 / AU$299, while the excellent Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2024) are yours for a similar price of £180 / $179 / AU$289.

Design and comfort

Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 in-ear headphones held over garden lawn

(Image credit: Which Hi-Fi?)

Before you even wear them, you’ll be impressed by the ruggedness of Shokz’s versatile sports headphones. Bend and flex the choker in your hand and your blood probably won’t run cold realizing that your precious friends are about to break or failing to return to their original shape. Let them go and they will bounce like an iron-chinned boxer, bend them and they will flex like a master yogi; Sprinkle them with water and they’ll be dry and ready to wear in no time. That IP55 rating is certainly useful, after all.

If your sporting excursions tend to go beyond a simple jog to the end of the street to catch up with the ice cream truck, you’ll need a helmet that provides stability and comfort over long periods of wear. In this regard, the OpenRun Pro 2 performs well, with the flexible and lightweight design of their frame (only 30 g) which barely registers on key points of contact with the wearer. You might feel a small amount of weight coming from the over-ear loops, but it’s nothing like the pressure or that sinking feeling that heavier rivals can often cause.

There’s also not much concern about the OpenRun Pro 2 giving you in-ear pain. Thanks to their bone conduction technology, the Pro 2’s speakers sit next to the ear itself, avoiding fears of excessively bulbous eartips digging painfully into your ear canal and making your marathon a melancholic misery. Aside from playing music, you’ll barely notice the drivers are there, with this next-to-ear setup allowing outside sounds to pass unimpeded into your ears and giving you a much greater sense of awareness when facing busy roads and roads. The security of the fit is also superb, and while the neck strap isn’t adjustable, we never worry about the Shokz coming loose and disconnecting us from our music.

Features

Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 In-Ear Headphones

(Image credit: Which Hi-Fi?)

The OpenRun Pro 2’s main goal is to help you achieve personal bests, but that doesn’t mean these sporty headphones are as sparse as an abandoned running track. Decent battery life is essential if your workouts aren’t to be interrupted before time, and the Pro 2 does a decent job of giving you ample playtime. 12 hours is a respectable amount at this level, while a five-minute quick charge offering 2.5 hours of use is welcome when you’re desperate to get out but realize you used all your juice on last week’s park run. For comparison, the Beats Fit Pro gives you a total of 27 hours of battery life, but that includes the charging case.

Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 technical specifications

Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 in Orange Finish — (Image credit: Shokz)

Bluetooth 5.3

Codec support SBC

Noise cancelling? No

Battery life Up to 12 hours

Finishes x 3 (black, orange, silver)

Weight 30.3g

If you need to check your battery life, the OpenRun Pro 2 comes with support from the official Shokz app. While it’s not a particularly in-depth or complex deck, it accomplishes its overall mission by being clean, clear, and easy to navigate, especially if you’re halfway through a 10K and are want to make adjustments as easily and quickly as possible. The app’s five-band EQ lets you adjust the headphones’ sound profile to your liking, although four preset modes – standard, vocal, bass boost and treble boost – are available for a quick fix. In our experience, we’ll stick with the Standard setting, as we found that the Alternate modes tended to make the Pro 2’s sound unbalanced and lacking in key areas of the sound spectrum.

If someone calls you while you’re out and about, Shokz has planned for just such an eventuality. The brand placed the Pro 2’s microphone in what it calls the “optimal low wind zone” to avoid wind interference and promote greater call clarity. The effect is truly impressive and we certainly found that we were able to carry on clear conversations using the Pro 2 while venturing out into the great outdoors.

For additional on-the-fly adjustments, the Pro 2s feature volume up and down buttons housed on the right side of the headset which, while they may seem a little difficult to access at first glance, are in made easily accessible. when you use your thumb to reach under the lightweight frame of the Shokz. To turn them off completely, the volume up button doubles as a power control: just hold it down for a few seconds and your running headphones will take a well-deserved nap.

Her

Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 in-ear headphones on a wooden garden table in front of a running shoe

(Image credit: Which Hi-Fi?)

It’s only fair that we adjust our expectations given the provenance and purpose of these rather idiosyncratic sports stars, even if such concessions cannot go so far as to alleviate the OpenRun Pro 2’s sonic shortcomings. Bone conduction technology is a new way of transmitting sound from the source to the ear. racing helmet are often judged as much for their design and durability as their audio capabilities, good sound is still important if your trusty companions want to keep you motivated over the miles.

What you really want from a decent sports headset is enough spark and energy to make your workouts go with a bang rather than a whimper, but those adjectives don’t exactly come to mind. mind during our tests. Their lack of punch and overall body are perhaps our biggest issues with the Shokz, and it doesn’t take long to realize that they’re far from the most powerful or thrilling headphones we’ve ever heard. Seeming distant and distant, these really are headphones that put your music, with most of its flavors and idiosyncrasies, firmly in the background. In-ear rivals, like the new Compatible with Sony LinkBuds (review to come) or the Beats Fit Proprovide real sonic muscle, sounding powerful and propulsive in direct comparison to the Run Pro 2’s rather fragile sonic character.

Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 in-ear headphones displaying the app on four smartphone screens

(Image credit: Shokz)

There’s also not much clarity or musical engagement. Again, these are running headphones designed to accompany your workout rather than serving as the main event, but that’s an excuse that only goes so far. Beats are poorly communicated, while the rise and fall of dynamics between tracks and genres are heavily compressed, leaving even the most adrenaline-inducing tracks feeling listless and lacking any trace of drama. If you have already played Mortal Combatthink of a fighter after Shang Tsung just used his signature “soul steal” finisher; emptied of all life and hollow to the core.

This is not to say that the Shokz are completely devoid of charm. Although the Pro 2 can sound hollow and withdrawn, it’s not a totally disorganized listen, and there are some textural details amid the general blandness. The Shokz seem more at home in the midrange, and we’re happy to discover that Audioslave’s heavy guitar Show me how to live and the erratic violin of Christopher Lennertz I can do everything it sounds like a guitar and a violin respectively. It’s nothing like the meaty, substantial sound you’d get from a sonically competent rival, but it’s something.

Verdict

Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 in-ear headphones on green/yellow felt surface

(Image credit: Which Hi-Fi?)

The Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 have certain qualities that could make them recommendable to the right user. In terms of design and usability, they are a decent attempt, likely to bring endless comfort and convenience to seasoned athletes who are looking for a pair of headphones that simply blend into the background – sonically and physically – even during the longest workouts. If you can’t handle conventional in-ear designs, these might be of interest to you.

If you need headphones that offer adequate levels of sound performance, we recommend looking elsewhere. Yes, concessions must be made for their design and type, but when there are solid alternatives that can offer similar levels of comfort as well as superior sound, it’s difficult to find a way to wholeheartedly recommend the efforts of Shokz. Driving you mile after mile, the Pro 2 doesn’t offer enough sonic performance to make your marathon feel like a walk in the park.

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