Shokz OpenFit Air Review: Budget Brilliance

The Shokz OpenFit Air headphones are comfortable and affordable if you’re after a simpler set of open-ear headphones for exercise or at-work awareness.

Score: 4/5

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In this review

Shokz OpenFit Air Specifications
Shokz OpenFit Air Design
Shokz OpenFit Air Performance
Shokz OpenFit Air Battery
Shokz OpenFit Air Conclusion

About 11 months ago, I reviewed the Shokz OpenFit headphones, a slightly different take from Shokz that didn’t use bone conduction but instead a more open design that omitted a band at the rear in favour of a pair of ear loops and more simple air broadcast.

I had my doubts about them, it’s true, but they did manage to impress me for the core task they’re good for; listening to audio when you also absolutely need situational awareness.

The Shokz OpenFit Air might as well be called the Shokz OpenFit 2, because they take the essentials of the OpenFit headphones, drop the price pleasingly… and that’s about it.

Also read:
Shokz OpenFit Headphones Review: An open approach can work!

Design

The Shokz OpenFit Air headphones sell in Australia in a range of colours, with white, black or pink headphones with both case and earpieces matching in tone. I don't have two sets to test if you can mix and match and still charge and pair from either, so choose your colour choices wisely.

Having previously reviewed the OpenFit Air headphones, but being aware that these headphones are markedly cheaper, I was interested to see where they might differ from the older, more expensive pair.

There are design differences to be sure, but they’re fairly subtle. The microphone array has moved from the armature into the main speaker “bud” of each earpiece, which means that they’re longer than on the original OpenFit headphones, though they’re actually marginally lighter than the originals, too.

Each earpiece has a soft rubberised loop that hangs over your ears – or in my case, my glasses – and is extremely comfortable. The original OpenFits weren’t painful at all, but it’s clear to see that Shokz has taken some efforts to improve matters here. Even after long runs or if I’ve been wearing them for some time, I’ve not had comfort issues with them at all.

The included charging case is a bulky affair, slightly wider than the original OpenFit case. It’s not going to be impossible to stow into your pockets (if you have them) while running, but you’re certainly going to notice it.

Performance

Like their predecessors, the Shokz OpenFit Air headphones are Bluetooth connected, with fresh pairing initiated via holding down the touch-sensitive areas on each earpiece while still in the charging case.

While they do work for pairing, I’m still not a fan of that approach – you nearly always end up holding them down for far too long if you don’t get it exactly right -- and I would greatly prefer an actual pairing button in the case. Maybe for the next generation, Shokz?

Touch controls have long been my pain point with any set of wireless buds, and while the Shokz OpenFit Air do have a larger than usual strike area for touch controls… they’re still abysmal in real-world use, and especially when I’m out running.

They do have the very slight advantage that, because they rely on open air audio conduction – which is a fancy way of saying they’re small speakers sitting outside your ears, unlike the bone conduction approach of sets like the Shokz OpenSwim Pro or Shokz OpenRun Pro – that you’re at least not thumping buds into your ear canals every time you jab at them to get them to play or pause audio tracks.

The Shokz OpenFit Air work with the Shokz app for iOS or Android, but like every other Shokz pair I’ve tested, this is a fairly light app with simple firmware update functionality, the ability to enable or disable multipoint pairing and a small set of equalisation modes.

Your choices there sit between Standard, Vocal, Treble Boost and Bass Boost.

Just like the original OpenFits, I quickly defaulted to Bass Boost, not because I desperately need all of the DOOF DOOF UNF UNF DOOF DOOF in my life, but because the open nature of the Shokz OpenFit Air means that they’re naturally more treble-inclined. Putting them into their bass mode leads to a better balanced audio style overall.

Of course, the key question here is whether or not actually open headphones like this can match the sound of closed or noise-isolation capable headphones. The answer – as it is across the Shokz range – is no. If you want the best out of your high-fidelity music or other audio tracks, then these can’t possibly satisfy you, because that’s not the point of these headphones.

Instead the idea here is being able to enjoy your music, podcasts, gaming – essentially whatever Bluetooth source you choose to connect to – while still retaining a clear awareness of your environment, whether that’s listening for the boss lurking behind your deck or avoiding being run over by a truck when out running.

This it does really rather well, sailing nicely through my tests using them both as an at-desk set of headphones over multiple hours to test comfort, as well as for many 5km runs and walks over the past month or so. For this task – and it’s very much the point – they pass with flying colours.

I was also pleasingly surprised with the quality of the microphone pickup too. I don’t often talk about call quality when talking about headphones or indeed phones because so much of what the other side hears on a call has to do with the quality of the network more than the microphones in play.

Isolating out the Shokz OpenFit Air microphones for simple video recording however showed how well they do work for isolating just voice, even in noisier environments, which gives them plenty of scope for making and taking calls. You’ll still rather obviously be on a Bluetooth headset – but it’s at least a good one.

Battery

The Shokz OpenFit Air headphones are cheaper than the original Shokz OpenFit headphones, and one of the key ways that this shows up is in claimed battery life.

The original models claimed 7 hours per charge, but for the Shokz OpenFit Air that figure drops to a claimed 6 hours. As with most headphones, that figure is going to vary depending on volume, but I’ve managed close enough to that 6 hour figure in my own tests.

One hour less is still one hour less, but given the near $100 price drop, it’s not a huge imposition unless you’re a real ultramarathon runner or similar. The case can give you around 3.6 more charges on the go, though you’d have to exercise in silence while it did so.

Shokz OpenFit Air: Alex’s Verdict

The Shokz OpenFit Air can’t quite match up to Shokz’ true bone conduction headphones in terms of audio quality, but what they can do is deliver a more situationally aware set of headphones at a more compelling price than the original OpenFit headphones did.

They’re comfortable for long-term wearing whether you’re running on a track or stuck behind a desk for hours at a time, too.

Your other low-cost Shokz option here remains the OpenMove headphones. While they're even cheaper than the OpenFit Air headphones, the improved comfort in play here makes that extra $70 a price well worth paying.

Shokz OpenFit Air: Pricing and availability

The Shokz OpenFit Air retail in Australia for $199 outright.

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