If you think bone conduction, you think Aftershoxz. It’s a name synonymous with revolutionary headphone technology. The Aftershokz OpenMove headphones are a recent release from the brand and promise to refine its industry-leading formula, with a six-hour battery life, Bluetooth 5.0, an IP55 sweat-resistant rating and a weight of only 29g. What's The Best’s William Lobley puts them to the test.
The Review
Bone conduction is an interesting technology, designed to let the wearer enjoy their music while keeping in touch with the outside world via an open-ear design. This is a great idea, and one rooted in reasons of safety, convenience and sociability. You can hear traffic and bike bells when you’re out for a run, your flatmate approaching for a chat, the doorbell and text notifications, when the kettle has boiled and when the microwave has dinged. It really is a staggering process that still impresses me every day, and I rank it much higher than any hear-through feature you’ll find on over-ear cans.
There is an important caveat that all should be aware of: the benefits bone conduction afford can hurt the audio quality, with bass suffering the most damage. At this point in the technology's development, that’s an inescapable truth. However, the Aftershokz OpenMove is a prime example of how far the tech has come, boasting one of the most rounded audio experiences I’ve encountered from a set of bone conduction headphones.
Where the OpenMove performs best is with the human voice, both spoken and sung. The mid-range does a fantastic job of carrying across male and female vocals in an organic and balanced way. Podcasts, audiobooks and phone calls all sound great, and the vocals from Kim Wilde in You Keep Me Hangin’ On and Morrissey in This Charming Man are clear and articulate.
It’s a similar experience with mid and high-range instrumentation, with the synthesisers on the house track Parabola by Hammer and the distorted guitars of R U Mine? By Arctic Monkeys having a real presence to them. The quality of the panning on these two tracks was a pleasant surprise, with a welcome sense of direction to the mix that I wasn’t expecting. Bravo to Aftershokz, the stereo on the 7th generation tech has landed well.
The bass can be heard in all of these tracks, albeit minus its usual power and bounce. Low bass and sub tones are silent. The processed electronic beats on the tracks of Kim Wile and Hammer, for example, are closer to taps than kicks. The effect is less acute on recordings of live drums, but they still suffer from reduced energy. Cranking up the volume while you listen can add some more bass, but there’s a limit to this as bass-heavy songs really cause the OpenMove to vibrate aggressively against the head.
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Aftershokz has made some moves to extend the OpenMove remit by including a set of earplugs. By wearing the earplugs alongside the OpenMove, the outside world falls silent and the audible frequency range improves. For the most part, it works: listening to songs with the earplugs in-ear is a far bassier affair and more enjoyable as a music experience. While I wouldn’t recommend this method of listening to replace overhead cans or wireless headphones, I can see the benefit for those who travel or commute. The ability to quickly switch from hearing your surroundings, like a station platform, to complete silence in a loud, enclosed environment, like a train carriage, seems ideal.
Away from the audio performance, the OpenMove plays host to a range of useful and near technologies. The wireless connection uses Bluetooth 5.0, which is reliable and boasts a decent range - I was free to walk around my flat, leaving the linked smartphone on my desk without issue. The connection is quick to establish when the headphones power on, too. Inside the body, a microphone array with noise-cancellation tech allows for clear hands-free phone calls.
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The open-ear design has the headphones hook over the ears, with the speaker units resting just in front of the tragus. They are held in place by the over-ear design and the headband, which gently squeezes the headphones together. I found them extremely comfortable to wear for upwards of five hours at a time, even while wearing glasses, and stability was never an issue when running or cycling.
There are touch panels for quick and convenient controls, including accepting calls and skipping songs, and volume is controlled by two buttons that sit just behind the right ear - this is also where you'll find the USB-C charging port. Holding one of the buttons will power the headphones on or off while pressing both down will change the listening mode.
There are three listening modes: standard, vocal and earplug. I found that standard was the best, with the vocal setting giving a slight boost to the podcast performance. The earbud listening mode cuts the bass and lower-mid frequencies to prevent the range from overpowering the audio. Fine in theory, but in practice this setting decimates the sound performance totally, reducing it to a tinny rattle. I feel that this is the only strange and erroneous choice made by Aftershokz. It’s a setting best avoided.
The idea of bone conduction is uncomfortable to some, sitting right on that unusual border between obscure technology and body horror. The idea that you're hearing music via your skull is a strange one, but in practice, it’s quite amazing.
As the Aftershokz OpenMove demonstrates, bone conduction technology is the best way to access audio without sacrificing contact with the outside world. While they are not the headphones to pick up when you’re settling in to listen to the latest album from your favourite artist, the OpenMove is an excellent companion for exercise and work. Affordable, comfortable and convenient.
Pros: Light, comfortable, great battery and user-functions. The open-ear design is the best option for situational awareness.
Cons: Situational awareness sacrifices audio quality.
William Lobley is a Content Writer for WhatsTheBest, specialising in technology, gaming and outdoors. He also writes for Empire Online.