Shokz open-ear sports headphones have garnered a lot of popularity in the last couple years. You can’t show up to a road race without seeing at least a couple runners with that orange coil wrapped around the back of their heads. Heck, one of them might even be me. While the Shokz OpenRun Pro headphones are a staple for athletes that only run or bike, they’re not idea for those who do triathlons. However, Shokz has a model designed specifically for these athletes—the Shokz OpenSwim Pro.
These bone conductions swimming headphones even happen to be on sale at the moment. Normally sold for $180, Amazon currently has the Shokz OpenSwim Pro discounted by 22%. That ends up shaving off $40, bringing the price you pay down to just $140 for a limited time.
These waterproof, wrap-around earbuds are triple-sealed with an IP68 rating. They are fully sweatproof and can withstand being submerged under water for up to two hours long at as deep as two meters down.
Bluetooth does not work while underwater, though you won’t need it. The Shokz OpenSwim Pro headphones are their own MP3 player. You can upload songs to the headphones themselves so you can listen to music in MP3 mode without even having your phone on you. The headphones have a storage capacity of 32GB, which should work out to roughly up to 8,000 songs. You can use either the Shokz app or the physical buttons along the headphones to toggle which mode you’re in or customize your audio further.
Safety and Stability
The main benefit of these open-ear headphones is their safety and stability. When you’re running or cycling or swimming in open water, it’s crucial that your remain aware of your surroundings at all times. If you were to block out all sound around you, that would include oncoming vehicles speeding up behind you on the road. That’s no good. The open-ear design allows you to still be engaged with your environment while also enjoying some music, podcast episodes, or an audiobook.
The wraparound design keeps the Shokz OpenSwim Pro firmly secured in place so as not to lose them when you take a bad step or have them be knocked off when swimming into a big wave.
Battery life comes in at an impressive nine hours, and if you ever forget to charge them back to full, there’s no need to worry. A quick 10-minute charge will prep them up with up to an additional three hours of listening time.
