I purchased a pair of the Aftershokz "Apex" bone conducting earphones.

These pair easily to the phone and even the TV. Since they don't block the ear I can keep the volume down to listen to music and still have a conversation.

Volume is good, sound reproduction is good. They are a little light on the bass, but good for midrange and highs.

These are waterproof (can be worn in the shower).

All in all a great set of headphones for outdoor activities.

I’ve got a pair and I love them. When I go for a walk or run I like that I can hear stuff going on around me. The sound isn’t as crisp as a regular set of headphones/earbuds but is pretty good.

Told Mrs. Cooker that’s what I want for a birthday gift. She’s weird about birthdays. I don’t care less, but to her it’s a big deal.

Headphones where you can hear and be aware of your surroundings.

Jesus, Joseph, and Mary. I’ll even include Mary Magdalene. This is what I have been waiting for!!!!!

Thank you for posting this!

The wife picked these for running and gives a thumbs up

I finally ordered a pair. They arrived Monday evening. I charged them up and yesterday at work turned them on.
I think I had a smile on my face all day long. I could listen to what was happening in the warehouse, employees could ask me questions, I could answer the desk phone, all the while it was like there was background music playing.

They definitely don’t have as great of sound quality as my Jaybird headphones. That said, I can’t wear my Jaybirds at work because I have to be able to hear and communicate. The bass is a little light, but jumping through the different EQ settings makes it a little better.

I do wish that these had an app so you could use a GUI (graphical user interface) to adjust the EQ.

So back to the good. I wore these for almost 9 hours straight. I cannot wear an ear loop style mask as it kills my ears and gives me a headache. (My masks are custom modified by me at home so they have an elastic band around the top of the head and one around the neck. If I have to wear one for work, it may as well be comfortable.)
So yeah, these sat on my sensitive ears all day long and I didn’t have any discomfort. I honestly forgot they were on my head.

Call quality is fantastic. I asked the first few people if everything sounded clear and they didn’t know I was using headphones, and said it sounded just fine. Hearing the people I was speaking with was not an issue. The only time there was an issue was when the other people in the office were exceptionally loud, which only happens when someone is on the phone. That was difficult, but had I been on the landline with the receiver to my head, they still would have been a distraction.

All in all, I give these a solid thumbs up. As far as quality, and situational awareness, ability to listen to music where I couldn’t before, they score a solid 10.

Sound quality (compared to other headphones of this size (in ear) I would rate them a 7.5 - 8.
They sound good, but they cannot compete with in ear, partially because you hear the noises around you.

All in all, these are a great pair of headphones for when you want to listen to music, but need to be situationally aware, and hear what is happening around you.

Got them for my kids so they can listen to music in the car and we can still communicate without yelling. I also like that they shouldn't do hearing damage like regular headphones which I worry about.

the kids like them for sure

I use them at work. I use ear plugs and Aftershokz. The plugs block out the noisy work environment and I can still listen to music or podcasts.

I run with mine. Very safe around cars as I plod through the suburbs.

Put on a pair of foam ear plug will change the sound drastically, in my opinion they have the strongest bass of all.

The Aftershokz Air headphones are on sale at Sam's club for $79 at the moment.

I had a pair but they kept losing the Bluetooth connection, so I returned them. I don't know if I just had a defective pair, but wanted to flag it as a potential issue.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
The Aftershokz Air headphones are on sale at Sam's club for $79 at the moment.

Thanks! I've been wanting to give these a shot for use when walking/jogging the dog, and 33% off MSRP is a great excuse. I just ordered a pair.

Got my Aftershokz Air headphones from Sam's yesterday, and they're pretty cool.

Audio quality isn't quite as good as some traditional headphones, but it's perfectly adequate, and worth the trade-off in situations where you want to listen to music but still want to be able to hear normally. Better quality than cheap earbuds, but a true audiophile will probably be disappointed.

(Also may be better than traditional headphones for some people with certain types of hearing loss, since it bypasses portions of the normal hearing process. So some folks may find they actually sound better than regular headphones.)

You do lose some of the sound when moving your head around, as the pads have to be in full contact with the skin next to your cheekbone, so turning your head far to the sides or far up/down partially breaks this contact.

They did a good job of designing the ear loops and sound pads so that they can be worn alongside glasses or sunglasses. The ears of the glasses just slide between your head and the ear loops.

I haven't worn them while running yet, but they seem to be just as secure as any other in-ear headphone with loops that go over the top of your ear. (And assuredly better than any basic inserted earbuds.)

I had read some reviews that complained about them not being loud enough, but that's not my experience. In fact, I can listen to them at lower volume levels than music played on some of my other headphones, with ~65% being the sweet spot for me on the Aftershokz. So they're more than loud enough. I suspect these people didn't have them positions correctly and the pads weren't making full contact, or something similar.

They're also not as comfortable as around-ear headphones, but about in line with in-ear headphones. With most in-ear headphones, I can't wear them for more than about an hour or two before needing a short break, and these seem to be about the same. My cheekbones/temples started to ache a bit after a couple hours straight.

Unlike the OP's fancier Apex model, the Air model isn't waterproof, so no swimming/showering with them. The Airs are just water-resistant, to hold up to sweat and rain.

Wearing them may take a little bit for you to get used to, since bass makes the sound pads vibrate against your skin, especially with the volume cranked up. This is especially noticeable on audiobooks with a deep-voiced narrator, where the constant staccato bass of every syllable drums on your skin and tickles your ear hair. It's a little less noticeable on most music, but still plenty noticeable.

I have a big head... Like, "have to special-order size 8 and 3/8 ball caps" kind of big. So I was worried that they might not be big enough, since there's no width adjustment. Luckily, they're just big enough to fit me properly. Unfortunately, if you have an even bigger head than me and wear a size 8.5+ hat (in which case, you have my sympathy and understanding), these may not work for you. But for all of your "normal-headed" folks, they'll fit with plenty of slack in the rear retention band. Y'know, anyone that a "one size fits all" hat actually does fit.

Altogether, a pretty cool step in headphone technology, and a great sub-$100 investment if you spend a lot of time biking/hiking/running/walking/etc. and need to have situational awareness, or even just for use when you want to privately listen to music while still being able to hear your coworkers/friends or hold a conversation.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RogueJSK,

Ha^^^ couldn't help myself

I had the original Aftershokx headphones for a couple of years. I really liked them but ditched them when the Apple Airpods came out.

Somebody here cost me about $160.
I bought a set a few days ago the Aeropex moodel). They are great. They give you hands free phone capability and all day listening with pretty good sound quality. For me, I can hardly tell I'm wearing them and they don't feel like they want to fall out all the time, like earbuds.

Anyone with experience with these and a motorcycle helmet? Better to stick to helmet mounted comms and earplugs?

I doubt you could wear them inside a helmet.

I have the Aeropex model. They don't beat my Bose QC35-II, but they fill different roles - I typically don't wear my Bose headphones for 10+ hours at a time.

My somewhat rambling thoughts on the matter:

I really like the IP67 rating. I also like that I can wear them with earplugs. In this covidiocracy, the transducers also help keep earloop mask straps off of my ears (and thus bearable). The magnetic charge cable is icing on the cake.

I have mine paired to both my work and personal phones. They make rides in the service van a little more tolerable because I can listen to my music (as opposed to local radio, which has little in the way of stuff I actually like listening to).

They're good for music, but they really shine for phone calls. I'm constantly on the phone with coworkers either helping or getting help, and they're great for that. Bonus is that it typically doesn't look like I'm wearing headphones.

My biggest complaint is that in certain situations most of the sound can get drowned out by environmental noise (at least for me; I'm definitely at least a little deaf - for reference a 9mm can go off indoors and it doesn't bother me). My second biggest complaint is the lack of bass.

Thanks 220-9er, that’s what I kind of thought but, had to ask.