AfterShokz OpenComm
Ear friendly Headphones for long period use.
Most of us have used conventional headphones that either encompasses the ear with a foam pad or fit inside the ear canal and can recognise the limitations of both solutions.
The pads are initially the comfortable option, but they’re not nice when the weather is warm, and those that go inside the ears can become uncomfortable with prolonged use since the ear canal was never meant to have things jammed into it.
And both approaches have a limitation in that they tend to block out local sounds making them potentially dangerous when situation awareness is vital, like when you might be cycling across a busy city.
There is an alternative available that was discovered long ago, bone conduction, which solves both the comfort and the awareness issue.
Design
Before we dive into the design of the AfterShokz OpenComm headphones, let’s talk about bone conduction, how it started and how it works.
According to several scholars, the documented use of bone conduction dates back to 2AD or even further, but the concept came into broader popularity in the 1500s to address deafness in the elderly.
It is believed that to continue composing after the loss of his hearing, Ludwig von Beethoven would rest a rod on the lid of his piano and grip it in his mouth allowing the sound to propagate through the bones of his skull.
Thankfully the OpenComm doesn’t go in the mouth but instead contacts the skull in an area just in front of the ears. This is where the skin and muscle coverings are relatively thin, allowing vibrations to propagate to the bone more easily.
Therefore, while you wear them over the ears, they don’t cover the auditory openings, allowing sound entering them to be heard alongside anything being transmitted through the headphones.
Removing the headphones from the protective case that AfterShokz packages them inside, our initial reaction was that they appear remarkably flimsy.
A flexible band that’s only 3.2 mm in diameter separates the two thicker sections where the electronics and batteries reside and then end in two bone-contacting elements, with one having a short and equally thin microphone boom. Most of the controls are on the left side pad, and this is also the section where they are charged.
According to the makers, titanium is extensively used in construction, which should make them more durable than their elegant design might infer.
Other than some paper instructions covering the basic controls and pairing the device, the
only other item in the case is a charging cable that links
USB to a proprietary connector on the headphones.
Normally, we’re not huge fans of proprietary connectors. If you misplace the cable, then replacing it might be a big issue, but the way this one worked we unreservedly loved.
It’s magnetic, making it not only easy to connect and disconnect but also highly unlikely to damage the OpenComm, however clumsy you are.
The number of USB connect devices we’ve seen where a perfectly useable piece of equipment is trashed because the charging port became worn is numerous, so we’re all for innovative connection technology that won’t break so easily.
There is one critical item missing from the OpenComm box to our mind is a Bluetooth adapter. Yes, anyone using this with a phone, tablet or most laptops will have this technology already embedded in their machine, but that’s not a given for desktop computer users.
Features and battery life
The features of this design are basic yet sufficient for most users.
Two easily accessible buttons adjust volume, and the increase volume button also instigates Bluetooth pairing if held down when the OpenComm are turned off.
Pairing is very straightforward in Bluetooth 5.0, and it can be even easier as the OpenComm has a small NFC chip in them to facilitate this if you bring them close to a phone with this capability.
All the buttons are on the right side, along with a multifunction button that can be used to answer calls, navigate through audio tracks depending on how it is pressed. Their placement is very convenient if you are righthanded and less helpful if you are not.
Sound performance
Sound quality is the Achilles heel for bone-conducting headphones. Because as much as we liked these, they’re not ever going to replace any conventional headphones for frequency range.
That said, the range they do offer is much better than we anticipated, and unless you are an obsessive audiophile, they’re more than adequate for listening to music or TV audio.
The only output caveat is that if you take them off and they remain connected, it is possible to hear the music from them when you put them on any hard surface. Placing them on something soft, you’ll hear very little, but any table will amplify the sound and make the OpenComm move with the vibrations.
But where they truly shine is when used for phone or streamed conversations, where the voice of others is very crisply represented. The boom microphone has dual sensors on it and uses these to create external noise reduction, making your voice distinct from surrounding background noise to those at the other end.
AfterShokz OpenComm headphones use bone conduction to offer decent audio without covering your ears, making them better for situations that require the hearing of local sounds. They’re also comfortable to wear for long periods.
Mark Pickavance