Shokz OpenFit Air 2 Review

Design

The Shokz OpenFit Air 2 are super lightweight, and the rubber exterior feels comfortable when wrapped around my ear. These do not go fully into your ear canal but instead aim a tiny speaker just outside your ear so you can still hear what is going on around you.

The earbuds have a matte black and gray exterior with a small button on top that provides a haptic sound when pressed. They fit snugly in the charging case, which also has a matte black exterior and a standard USB-C charging port.

Performance

This style of earbud is my favorite for running outside. You can still hear traffic and be aware of your surroundings. Also, they wrap around behind your ear to help keep them secure, so I worry less about them falling out. This is also nice for race day: I pair the earbuds directly to my Apple Watch and leave the charging case and my phone in my car. I can simply leave the earbuds on my ear with the music paused and easily hear and talk with others before and after the race.

The sound quality is very good. A common issue with open ear earbuds like these is that bass and low frequencies can be lost. While the bass is weaker on the OpenFit Air 2 than what you would get with AirPods, for example, it is still very present and helps balance the music. The earbuds do slightly favor higher frequencies, but I believe most people will find that their music sounds great on the OpenFit Air 2.

The Shokz OpenFit Air 2 are IP55 dust and water resistant, so they’re fine for sweat and light rain, but not OK for submersion in water.

The microphone does a very good job focusing on my voice and filtering out most background noises, so you can take a phone call with these on without an issue.

Each earbud has a physical button; however, I think it is stationary as it doesn’t actually move when you press it. Regardless, the earbuds provide some audio haptic feedback when you apply pressure to the button, so you know when it is “pressed.” The touch controls are as follows:

• One press: play and pause, or answer an incoming call
• Double press: skip track
• Triple press: rewind track
• Long press: adjust volume up (right earbud) or down (left earbud)