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Update 12/2/24: This discount began last week for Black Friday, and the OpenRun Pro headphones are still at their lowest price.
As we’ve written before, bone-conduction headphones are the new standard in safety when it comes to listening to music while you run. Because they leave your ears open, instead projecting the sound through your skull to “pipe” the audio in, you’re better able to hear when a car is coming up or a mountain biker throws out an “on your left!” I spotted more than a couple of runners rocking them in the starting corral at our local running festival this past month, too.
And our testers’ favorite pair of bone-conduction headphones (and running headphones in general), the Shokz OpenRun Pro, is on sale for Cyber Monday. We noticed they dipped from the usual $180 to $125—the lowest price we’ve seen—last week and are holding there.
Shokz OpenRun Pro Open-Ear Headphones
Pros
- The band wraps around the head, providing a secure fit
- Open-ear design leaves room for you to hear ambient noise (ideal while running)
- Weighs only 1 oz.
Cons
- Just water-resistant
- The sound quality isn’t as good as with in-ear headphones
Sure, Shokz this year released the newer OpenRun Pro 2, which Runner-in-Chief Jeff Dengate tested and liked so much we gave it a Gear of the Year award. “They scaled back some of the vibrations of the bone conduction and now use a small speaker positioned outside your ear,” he wrote. “The result is louder, richer audio.” But that comes at the expense of some ambient noise awareness, and it means that people nearby may also be able to hear your music if you crank it. (“Colleagues in the office could hear my music and even make out the lyrics,” he said.) Hence, we still recommend the first-gen OpenRun Pro as the best overall headphones for running.
The audio quality of the OpenRun Pro isn’t as good as the Pro 2 or a typical pair of earbuds, but Dengate found that utilizing the TurboPitch feature gave the bass enough oomph to help make up for that somewhat. And, if you factor out the external speakers of the Pro 2, the Pro is better at pure bone-conduction. “During my testing, I plugged my ears to see how the bone conduction compared between the two models,” he wrote. “The sound from the [OpenRun Pro 1] was louder and clearer with my ears plugged than the sound of the OpenRun Pro 2.”
Another upside of these headphones is their comfort. They didn’t cause Dengate any irritation over his testing, but he did note that the OpenRun Pro could cause some weirdness or pain if you have piercings that may come into contact with the pads that compress against your head. So keep that in mind.
The OpenRun Pro should hold up just fine, too. The IP55 rating means they’re not impervious to dust or moisture, so just don’t dunk them in any puddles. They’ll withstand sweat nicely.
Given this price is the lowest we’ve spotted on the OpenRun Pro, today is the best chance to grab them for cheaper. They make great stocking stuffers and safety investments for your fellow runners—or just a little pre-holidays treat for yourself.
Buy the Shokz OpenRun Pro Headphones
More Cyber Monday 2024 Sales
Cyber Monday Running Shoe Deals | Cyber Monday Treadmill Deals | Cyber Monday Running Gear Deals | NordicTrack Cyber Monday Deals | Garmin Cyber Monday Deals
Will Egensteiner has been reviewing products for 10 years, testing and writing about everything from climbing gear to video game consoles to cars. He began his career as an intern at Popular Mechanics, then worked as an editor at Outside, spearheading the magazine's gear coverage and biannual Buyer's Guide. Now that he's back, he leads product reviews for PopMech, as well as Runner's World, Best Products, and Biography. His favorite stuff to review is still outdoors equipment, and he can tell you from memory what ePTFE stands for.
Jeff is Runner-in-Chief for Runner’s World and the director of product testing. He has tested and reviewed running shoes, GPS watches, headphones, apparel, and more for nearly two decades. He regularly tests more than 100 pairs of shoes each year, and once had a 257-day streak running in different models. Jeff can usually be found on the roads, racing anything from the mile to a marathon, but he also enjoys racing up mountains and on snowshoes. When he’s not running, you’ll probably find him hanging from a ladder making repairs and renovations to his house (he’s also director of product testing for Popular Mechanics).
