Do you love the convenience of wireless earbuds but hate the intrusive feeling of having silicone tips shoved deep into your ear canals? Or perhaps you avoid wearing them because you can’t hear your surroundings. Either way, open-ear earbuds could finally be the solution you’ve been looking for.
Traditional in-ear earbuds were never actually comfortable for everyone
Comfort can’t be compromised
Ever since wireless earbuds started becoming mainstream, it seems like we’ve all collectively accepted the idea that true wireless earbuds must have a sleek in-ear design with snug-fitting silicone ear tips that allow them to stay in your ears.
However, many people just can’t stand the constant feeling of having something deep in their ears, and earbuds in particular make it feel like pressure is building up after 30 minutes of listening.
I haven’t even touched on the extra earwax they cause. They are foreign objects, after all, so the ear tries to get rid of them. Plus, they trap heat and moisture, which makes them even more unbearable to wear when it’s hot outside or when working out — which is, unfortunately, exactly when I like to wear my earbuds. I can tolerate in-ear earbuds, but I have to take them out every 10 minutes and wipe them off before putting them back in my ears.
Another common problem is achieving a snug and comfortable fit. I know I’m not the only one who’s gone through dozens upon dozens of different ear tips and never found the perfect size and shape.
I’ve tried silicone, memory foam, and even silicone tips with a velvet texture, and even with multiple sizes to choose from, they always feel slightly too small or too large. And even if you find the perfect tips, there’s no guarantee that your earbuds will still fit into their charging case with them on.
All of this combined results in an audio solution that becomes a challenge to wear over long sessions. I’m not saying that it’s a problem for everyone — I know several people who wear in-ear earbuds for hours at a time without complaints. The reality, though, is that many others avoid in-ear earbuds altogether because they’re uncomfortable.
Open-ear earbuds solve the core comfort problem while allowing you to hear your surroundings
A different way to achieve the same goal
If you just can’t get used to the feeling of in-ear earbuds, and the non-occluding, AirPods-style fit doesn’t work for you (it doesn’t for me and many others), it can feel like there’s simply no earbud worth using. Fortunately, that’s not the case.
If you’re old enough, you probably remember those open-fit earbuds that often came with phones for free. Instead of having to shove them in your ear canal, these earbuds sat in the outer ear, which made them a lot more comfortable. Now, it might seem like this design wouldn’t work in a true wireless form, since they’d constantly fall out.
Fortunately, somebody has thought of that, and that’s why modern open-ear designs use silicone wings that loop around your ears, helping the earbuds stay locked in front of your ear canal. Others, like the Shokz OpenDots One, use a clip-style fit that feels almost like wearing earrings. Open-ear earbuds are not to be confused with bone-conducting headphones, which look similar but work in a completely different way.
- IP Rating
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IP54
- Battery Life
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10 hours
The Shokz OpenDots One leave your inner ear open to your surroundings while immersing you in your audio.
Whatever the individual design quirks might be, these open-ear earbuds all feel and work in a similar way. They’re essentially like tiny speakers that sit just outside your ears. They don’t have silicone tips that you have to put inside your ear canal, so you don’t get that feeling of pressure when using them either.
The skin of your ears can finally breathe, making them especially comfortable for sports. In fact, they’re probably among the most comfortable styles of any earbuds or headphones for long listening sessions because, unlike on-ear and over-ear headphones, they don’t press against or cover your ears.
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Open-ear designs often fit better into everyday life than isolation-focused earbuds
Made for all-day listening
Open-ear earbuds don’t just solve the comfort problem — they also don’t provide any sound isolation. While that might sound like a deal-breaker if the main reason you wear earbuds is to block out your environment, there are many scenarios where this is actually a benefit. If you already own a pair of headphones with ANC (Active Noise Cancelation) and tend to use transparency mode more than full noise-cancelling, then open-ear earbuds are a natural fit.
Since they don’t fully block ambient sound, you can still hear your surroundings. The exact amount depends on your listening volume and the specific design of the earbuds, but most open-ear models still let a fair amount of outside noise through.
This turns out to be useful in a wide range of situations. Because they sit just outside your ears, you can hear your audio clearly while still staying aware of what’s happening around you. There are fewer “huh?” and “what?” moments when your partner or co-worker asks you a question while you’re listening to a podcast. If you work in a warehouse, you can still hear the beep of a forklift backing up. And for outdoor runners and cyclists, you stay aware of traffic while avoiding awkward interruptions or sudden surprises.
Hybrid earbuds that combine open and in-ear designs may be the future
Two modes in one device
Although open-ear earbuds solve the comfort and awareness problem, they still come with some trade-offs. Namely, sound quality suffers somewhat because ambient noise mixes with your audio, and they can’t produce the same level of bass as in-ear earbuds since they don’t create a seal.
However, there’s now a new kid on the block—open-ear earbuds that can switch into a semi-open, AirPods-style ANC mode. This is ideal if you want to try open-ear earbuds but are worried about losing ANC. The Soundcore AeroFit 2 Pro by Anker is among the first to introduce this hybrid style, and we’ll hopefully see more like it in the future.
- Noise Cancellation
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Adaptive ANC 3.0
- IP Rating
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IP55
The Soundcore AeroFit 2 Pro earbuds let you physically switch between two modes. You can adjust the ear hooks to wear them open for awareness or tighten the fit to enable noise cancellation. They have built-in sensors automatically detect the position and optimize the audio for that specific style.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
