Shokz OpenFit Air

Headphones have been an integral part of many people’s everyday lives for a long while now. In addition to music playback, they are also used for mobile, private and professional communication. However, when taking part in sports and exercise, in front of your computer or when travelling, it is not always desirable to isolate yourself from your surroundings in the way that traditional headphones do. With open-ear products, the listening channel remains conceptually “open”, as the driver is positioned in front of the ear, in this case using a bracket construction. The sound reproduction of music, phone calls or video conferences is thus always deliberately combined with perception of your surroundings.

Technical data – what’s inside the Shokz OpenFit Air?

In order to achieve appealing sound results, Shokz uses a driver with 18 x 11mm dimensions and their own sound enhancement systems, “OpenBass Air” and “DirectPitch”, which optimise the sound of the drivers with the support of a signal processor, pointing them in the right direction.

In general, manufacturers walk a fine line with such designs because the music you’re listening to and the outside world have to harmonise with each other. Background sound, quick enquiries in the office or clear digital communication need not become a strain, especially if the devices are worn for hours on end. This, of course, presupposes that wearing comfort and battery performance should also be appropriate.

Shokz describes the OpenFit Air as an all-rounder for everyday use, which is intended to handle all situations, from music playback to use in the office and during sporting activities.

The package consists of the IP54-certified headphones and a charging case with a hinged lid, USB-C port and status LED. The headphones utilise Bluetooth 5.2, the SBC and AAC audio codecs and AI technology-based noise cancellation for use during phone calls.

The battery performance is stated by Shokz as four to six hours of average usage time, and this can be increased almost fivefold thanks to the capacity of the case. The charging time is 60 to 120 minutes, but there is a function for quick “intermediate charging”. A 10-minute charge provides up to two hours of additional capacity.

Shokz OpenFit Air Vs. Shokz OpenFit – the differences

Shokz has already created a convincing product with the OpenFit. The new OpenFit Air, available in matt black, white and pink, is now available at a recommended retail price of 139 euros, so it can certainly be considered the OpenFit’s little brother. The price difference is mainly due to the use of a different driver and a different earband design, which does not rely on double-layered liquid silicone and the fact there is no option for inductive charging. As well as an almost identical runtime, they also retain DirectPitch directional sound technology and the possibility of making multipoint connections.

There are differences in the design of the earhook. On the OpenFit Air, the drivers are slightly angled to bring the centre of gravity closer to the ear. Depending on the shape of your ear, this model may be subjectively better due to the different support and, therefore, better suited to your own taste. Conversely, the OpenFit have a particularly soft silicone coating. Which model you choose is therefore also down to your own preferences in regards to wearing comfort.

How well do Shokz OpenFit Air perform in practice?

The OpenFit Air’s drop-shaped, ergonomically revised headband design offers a high level of comfort even when worn for several hours. In fact, I hardly felt the extremely light (less than 9 grams) earpieces while wearing them and sometimes even forgot about them. The headband design means that with a little practice, it can be positioned securely in front of the ear. This positioning was easily maintained during mobile and sports use. The headphones can also be used individually if required.

The touch-sensitive side areas could be triggered reliably, but sometimes they were too quick to react during phone calls. The functions can be configured via the straightforward, free iOS/Android app but are limited to double-clicks and hold gestures. Nevertheless, this offers a good way to start and pause music, make phone calls, skip tracks or control the volume.

Other functions in the app include firmware updates, a multipoint pairing option and an equaliser which, unlike the one on the larger model, unfortunately only offers a range of fixed settings.

I would describe the runtime and the stability of the wireless link with a range over several rooms as good across the board. Everyday office life, walks, going to the gym and longer journeys were all possible. In principle, the external insulation was poor, which was why you should not turn the headphones up all the way in environments where you have people sitting next to you.

How good do Shokz OpenFit Air sound?

The OpenFit Air should prove their worth for everyday mobile use, during sports and communication. The sound quality aspect was not the top priority in the design, but was subordinate to the intended functionality and wearing comfort. Conceptually, you can’t expect outstanding sound performance from a floating driver design. For this reason alone, the OpenFit Air are a matter of taste. However, the new Shokz model
sounded surprisingly appealing, provided they are placed correctly on the ears.

In other words: If your music enjoyment plays a subordinate role in daily use or acts as background sound, you may be pleased with these headphones. Ultimately, however, they use a directional open driver that cannot perform miracles and, accordingly, cannot compete with a good in-ear system. The sound lacked warmth, detail, dynamic resolution and “proximity”. In quiet environments, the sound image was nevertheless appealing under such conditions, as details and the stereo panorama could definitely be followed. Fortunately, it did not sound too biting in the upper frequencies, either.

A certain amount of pressure can also be felt at higher levels. Nevertheless, it was noticeable that they use a cheaper driver than the more expensive OpenFit. The reproduction was quite balanced in the central frequency range but tended to be slightly tinny in the mid-range spectrum. As expected, the OpenFit Air did not sound very full-bodied in the bass range and you have to do without low bass. Nevertheless, “loaded” mixes did not lead to annoying distortion. The OpenFit Air should, therefore, be evaluated in the context of their objective, namely the possibility of constant exchange with the environment without sacrificing listening to music.

Advantages and disadvantages of Shokz OpenFit Air for phone calls

The core competency of this design is communication. The OpenFit Air deserve compliments for convincing call quality in both directions, and this can also be done quietly. The sound was predominantly perceived by the person on the other end of the line as loud, powerful and easy to understand. Added to this, the AI-supported noise cancelling (Qualcomm cVc 8.0) deals with a good proportion of background noise during conversations and thus focuses on the voice even in noisy environments. However, this was only one side of the coin. During long phone calls, I occasionally had phases in which the person I was talking to mentioned a sudden distance in the sound, even though we were not even touching the headphones. I was unable to find out the reason for this during our test.

Finally, we have to mention a conceptual shortcoming of the open-ear design. When there was loud ambient noise, telephone communication turned out to be exhausting, as speech content and ambient noise do not go well together. If, for example, you are walking along a noisy street, a closed system would be a superior solution. For such situations, this kind of product does not really fulfil the task in the same way as a typical pair of headphones.

Conclusion

The Shokz OpenFit Air are open-ear headphones with a headband design that focus on daily communication in mobile use, at work and during sporting activities. Music playback, on the other hand, is a secondary priority or at least takes a back seat. The device we tested absolutely fulfilled the task, even if we had to make a few compromises when making lengthy calls.

Above all, we would still give these headphones a recommendation due to their high wearing comfort. I would certainly like to use these open-ear headphones for everyday office communication.