Shokz - OpenDots ONE

Ok I’ve been using both of these buds for 2 months now because I couldn’t decide without a real world case study so I bought pairs of each on eBay for around $150 each. For the record I am NOT an affiliate marketer or anything like that. This is not a paid review or anything. I just had a hard time deciding so I figured I would try them both out. SPOILER: It has been REALLY TOUGH to decide which pair I want to keep because they are so similar and both have good and bad things about them. Background on me and my usage. I am very particular about audio and comfort. Was looking for a lightweight pair of bud style headphones for me to use while working outside, around the house, quick errands, or in the office but wanted to make sure they had good to great audio quality. I listen to a ton of audiobooks as well. Here is what I did: I rated several items on a 0-5 scale based on direct comparison of these 2 models. 0 just means it doesn’t have that feature or requires an additional purchase (wireless charging case for Bose for example). 1 means it is a yes/no answer or something that performed poorly. 5 means it is damn near perfect. Bose Battery - 3 Phone Calls - 3 Multi-Point Pairing - 1 (yes) Audio Quality (Music) - 5 Audio Quality (Podcasts/Books) - 3 Wireless Charging - 0 Smart Wear (Buds automatically detect which ear) - 0 Comfort - 3 Transparency - 3 Volume - 4 Physical Buttons - 1 (yes…I prefer physical buttons) Total Score 26 Shokz Battery - 5 Phone Calls - 2 Multi-Point Pairing - 1 Audio Quality (Music) - 3 Audio Quality (Podcasts/Books) - 4 Wireless Charging - 1 (Yes) Smart Wear (Buds automatically detect which ear) - 1 (Yes and this is a very cool feature that is pretty nice) Comfort - 4 Transparency - 3 Volume - 3 Physical Buttons - 0 Total Score 27 As you can tell, they are VERY VERY CLOSE. I’ve even pulled both pairs out while writing this post to listen to the same song and a passage from a book I am listening to in order to make sure I still feel the ratings are accurate ??. The battery life is a massive difference. I worked outside and around the house for 10 hours Friday and the Shokz didn’t need to charge. I worked outside yesterday wearing the Bose for 5 hours and at about the 4 hour mark the left bud died and the right one followed suit about 20 minutes later. Both options had the Dolby/Immersive Audio turned on which does create a difference in the battery life but it cuts the Bose battery life in half and didn’t noticeably affect the Shokz’ battery life. I hadn’t noticed a big difference in the comfort of the 2 until yesterday as well. I never needed to mess with the Shokz but had to adjust the Bose a couple times where my ears got a little uncomfortable where they were sitting. The audio of the Bose for Music is noticeably better than the Shokz but the opposite is true on Podcasts and Audiobooks. It’s on par with their other buds and headphones. This is the only part of the headphones’ comparison where the Bose stood out and made me hesitate on selling the pair I’ve been using. Bose requires a wireless charging case that costs $50-$100 if that feature is important to you (it isn’t for me but is nice to slap it on my charging pad on my desk when I’m not using them). Be warned neither are very good for phone calls. Both had people on the other end of my calls telling me they had a hard time hearing me whenever there was any significant background noise. Maybe this will be addressed with a firmware update going forward but both of these are lagging the other headphones made by both of these companies in this regard. I think I’m going to keep the Shokz and sell the Bose because of the comfort and battery factors.

I've been testing out a few different clip-style open buds this week, and my favorites have been the Soundcore Aeroclip. I just received the Shokz Opendots One, so I'm doing some A/B comparisons with the Aeroclip. For me, the Opendots One are probably a little more comfortable. They both grip confidently, but the Aeroclip are slightly tighter feeling whereas the Opendots One feel a little more gentle. In terms of sound, for my ears, I honestly prefer the Aeroclip. The Opendots One are a bit louder, but music sounds a little more boxed-in and less dynamic to me. I tried with and without Dolby mode on, with a similar "V-shaped" custom EQ on both. Dolby mode makes things sound more expansive, but I feel like I'm losing a bit of highs & lows with it on. Maybe better for movies than music. Perhaps it's just that with the shape of my ears, the drivers are more accurately directed with the Aeroclip.

The open dots shokz are earbud style but still open. I have a pair! They sound awesome. They don’t block ANY outside noise so I found them challenging to use while biking because the wind was so loud o couldn’t hear my podcasts or music. They’re great for running especially in a more quiet neighborhood or wooded area where you really do want to hear everything to be safe. Battery life is good. They connect easily, they feel like nothing on your ears.

I like my Shokz open dots. The clip around the ear feature rather than over the ear is a game changer, no more fidgeting with sunglasses arms. It only has touch controls though but it does pause/skip tracks/ volume just fine

I tried both the bose open ultra and shokz opendots one, kept the latter. The curve just fits my ears better and the silicone's so soft. Feels like I'm not wearing anything.

I just bought a pair of Shokz OpenDots and love them.

I'm on my third pair of Shokz (I started when they were called Aftershokz) and couldn't be happier with them.

I vehemently disagree with your call quality rating. Open dots sound like a reverb far away hall way with no lower tones and thr aero line both clip and fit2 sound way more professional and office acceptable.

Best Buy sells Shockz open earbuds. They work really well. You can go test a pair out before purchase. Long life too. :)

I'm on my 3rd set of shokz, 1st set were actually Aftershokz. love that I can hear what is going on around me. Audio quality taking a back seat is fine with me but they are honestly not terrible.

I have both the Opendots and Openfit (1 not 2), and I like the sound signature of the Opendots a little better, although I think Openfit is a slight bit more full. Since I don’t have the Openfit2, I can’t say for sure, but I would guess it sounds pretty darn close to the Opendots. In my opinion, the choice between those two doesn’t come down to sound quality (they’re both great), but rather fit and style. Opendots don’t interfere with my glasses at all, so that gives them an edge. I’ve found the Opendots easier to wear for longer periods of time. Either way, you win!

Lol yeah I've been rocking my Shockz OpenDots for a few months. I always reach for them first in the morning, then when the battery is drained (about 5-6 hours later), I switch to my Aeroclips. Question for you - at max volume, do you notice a 'warble' sound to the bass notes on the OpenDots when it hits a low bass note? I only notice this issue at max volume. But at 50% or lower volumes, no warble - the sound quality is sufficient for my daily use around the office. I'm still trying to figure out if this warbling of the bass note is due to the bass driver clipping as the driver is bottoming out (doubtful based on the sound I'm hearing), or is it some sort of signal processing - maybe the software is trying to compensate somehow for higher volumes with limited travel on the drivers? My new Baesus XC1 (tuned by Bose, with LDAC protocols) are scheduled for delivery Wednesday (literally brand new earbuds, I preordered a month ago lol). I'm anxious to see how they will stack up against the Shockz OpenDots.

I have finally settled on the Shokz open dots ONE open earbuds. I have literally spent my whole life searching for these bad boys. Open buds so they don't cut me off from my surroundings. Still have great sound quality. Great mic for phone calls. Battery that lasts all day. I am seriously in love with these little powerhouses! I keep putting my Bose aside for these guys!

I have found that in-ear headphones with good transparency mode are superior to open ear headphones like the Shokz for cycling (but it depends on your speed). I think the Shokz are great for walking and running but the wind noise on a bike tends to be much louder which necessitates turning the volume up. My airpods don't need the voume turned up near as much and the transparency mode works astonishingly well. Pair that with hearing aid and I can hear some sounds better with the headphones than with nothing when it's windy and I'm biking.

I just got the Opendots and I agree. Definitely the better sound however not nearly as loud as the OpenFit 2. Eventually I’ll buy the open run pro 2s. My only concern was that you probably can lay down with them so they couldn’t be my main headphone.

The only functions supported right now are play/pause, and raising/lowering the volume. It's not currently possible to skip to the previous/next track. Pinching the battery compartment with two fingers is the same as touching the clip with one finger. Two pinches or taps plays/pauses. A long touch or pinch raises or lowers the volume. The app indicates that you can customize the controls, but it currently only supports turning touch on or off. I'm hoping they'll add more options later--I can't see why they couldn't do that.

imo if you really need strong ANC, open earbuds aren’t the best pick. In loud places the sound gets a bit quiet and idk if future tech will fix that. But if you wear your earbuds for long hours and your environment isn’t that noisy, I think Opendots work really well. For sound, I feel the dots sound pretty good. Compared to my Airpods pro, I honestly don’t hear a big difference. The overall tone feels soft and the bass is decent too.

Shokz Open Dot Runs or OpenFit 2’s are my new favorites. I don’t care for ANC and I really like the comfort. Otherwise I use AirPod Pro 2s or the Skullcandy Method 360’s for in ear.

I listen to a LOT of music (10+ hours daily). I also have a side gig recently where I get to audition a bunch of earbuds in exchange for honest reviews. Here's my take: There is a big difference between extreme budget grade (I'd call that the $10 to $50 range), and mid-range (the $150-ish price range). When you step up to the $300+ range of earbuds, you're getting diminishing returns in terms of performance, quality, and features. For someone on a budget, I'd say the $100 price range can get you something decent. For someone who wants something "good" in terms of performance and sound quality, I say the $150 to $250 range is the butter zone for price to performance. Stepping over $300 to the premium level only makes sense if you have a large budget, and trained ears looking for higher fidelity and acoustical nirvana. Personally I splurge on bigger name brands and find the build quality great for my needs - I can wear them for hours at a time, biking through rainstorms and such without concern or issues. Maybe it's because I keep my ears clean and keep my earbuds clean, but I really never have an issue with charging or earbuds dying. I have only ONCE had a charging case fail and that's my recent Shockz OpenDrops where one side of the case isn't charging. But I'm waiting to hear back from Shockz if it's covered under warranty. Fortunately I can charge both earbuds from the one side of the case so I simply keep swapping them around as needed lol.

I've had mine for a bit now. I've noticed that the call quality has gone down since I got them. Now people always tell me I sound far away. Overall listening is great though. I also get the ear fatigue after a couple hours. But I think I just have a weird ear. Right now these are the go to, but still on the hunt for something that doesn't hurt my ear after an hour or two. Tried Aero Clips but they hurt even worse so they went back in for the the dots lol

I have the Shokz open dots one and they are great for calls! They are open earbuds so you can still hear your surroundings, but I just took a call when I was out and about yesterday for the first time and they worked great! I've made several calls at home and they are stellar! My favorite buds I've ever had. I originally got a pair of Bose that sound great but have terrible call quality and battery life so those ones only get used at home now.

I owned 5 of them and most comfortable is shokz opem dots and then huawei freeclip. U dont really feel it very flexible arc and soft. I mean it. I also owned soundcore c40i very stiff and feeling there and a bit pain

Sorry but I just have to say, just cause something is loud and makes other noises hard to hear does not remotely make it ANC. ANC is a technology, not a phenomenon that happens. I have to agree though, while the Dots sound amazing they also hurt my ears after a few hours. Currently deciding b/w this and OpenFit 2. Did you end up keeping yours?

Aftershokz give me a headache pretty quickly and I can't hear much anyway.

Shockz are on sale for 74.99 right now at Costco. I bought a pair last weekend at Costco and have worn them every day since on my runs and I love them. Obviously, they are not as good as having an earbud directly in your ear, but there’s some guy running around my city grabbing women on the butt while they run so I’d rather be safe and be able to hear someone run up on me.

Just got my opendots, my gf had the white ones, I tried hers and liked them, so she got me the black one as a gift. Never thought open ear buds could sound this good. Really like the Dolby and bass on these.

**First**, I do believe that there are a lot of benefits of staying connected and present when playing (more thoughts below). If you **MUST**, anything open form, and my overall recommendation is the Shokz OpenDots One based on (a) relative sound quality over other open form earbuds, (b) comfortable and stable fit, (c) mic quality, and (d) ability to use while still hearing enough of outside world and wearable with sunglasses. Further details below. As noted, while not ideal IMO, if you are looking for outdoor earbuds that still allow environmental awareness, my go-to recommendation is the relatively new Shokz OpenDots One. They clip on the outside of your earlobe (looks like an earring). It holds on quite well (I’ve done the shake head test, and also use them extensively on my e-board, and have never lost one, have only ever come off when I am changing a shirt). They can be worn without getting in the way of hats or headbands and importantly when wearing eyeglasses or sunglasses, have decent-ish sound quality (of course, in-ear buds are better), and allow you to hear your surroundings. I prefer them to the Bose Open Ultras, which are more expensive and have maybe the WORST mic quality of any earbuds I have owned. Other pluses of OpenDots One over Bose Open Ultra: wireless charging, better case (secures shut better), less fussy charging (often the Bose Ultras will not fully connect, and you will unknowingly not charge one earbud), iffy connections sometimes with IOS devices (will randomly disconnect and reconnect where the Shokz OpenDots very rarely disconnects), and better total play time on a single charge (Bose has a horrible 7 hours). Another good option is the Oladance OWS 2, which is a good value for the price. However, these go OVER your earlobe, and if you wear glasses (in particular, thicker frames), the fit can be tricky, and I’ve had instances where I’ve worn them on my bike, and my helmet strap has jostled them and sent one earbud flying off. I’d recommend the OWS 2 over the more expensive OWS Pro, as the OWS 2 arguably has better sound and definitely fit better if you wear glasses (or need to wear sunglasses). Still, the earlobe clip versions are the best for when you want to wear eyewear. Also, the OWS 2’s standard case does not charge on its own (needs to be plugged in), and you need to purchase separately a case that can charge on the go…and this case is enormous (won’t fit in normal pant pockets, will need to go old school JNCO jeans to fit). Another option is going the bone conduction route, but honestly, these tend to tickle my inner ear at louder volumes, and the sound isn’t the best. As for pros, nothing beats the IP ratings of bone conduction, and they stay on quite easily as they go around the back of your head and kind of press onto the side of your head to stay on, while also clipping over your year. The Shokz Openrun line is pretty much at the top of most runners lists. I still have mine for when I was still running marathons, and I still keep them for office calls, as the Shokz mics are very good. The sound, however, of *any* bone conduction headphone is going to be materially inferior to just about *any other type of earbud*, although the relatively newer Shokz Openrun Pros are a vast improvement over the earlier iterations, and from what I understand over their competitors. Another plus, is that bone conduction has pretty minimal (read: no) bleed through leakage in terms of sound. With that said, as a glasses wearer and someone who needs sunglasses to properly see during any sunny day, the vibrations caused by the bone conduction tech can shake my glasses and create a funky sensation if not positioned 100% correctly. Also, I did notice that when I used the bone conduction headphones too much, I would get very itchy ears. Once I moved to open earbuds, these itchiness issues subsided. Finally, I do think there are a lot of benefits to staying connected to tennis. As you progress, you want to do everything you can to improve your reaction time to shots and the connection to the ball. Andy Roddick talks extensively about the minute cues that elite players will react to, which is why he dislikes auditory disruptions (but candidly, I feel sometimes both pro players and rec players are sometimes too sensitive to any minor external distraction). Still, you can pick up a lot based on auditory cues, e.g., on the serve (spin v. flat), topspin groundstrokes, or a mishit that can unexpectedly land short for an unintentional drop shot. For this reason, some players will use dampeners to take mitigate these auditory cues. For me, I like the softer thump with the RTP dampeners, but it is a nice plus that it disguises my spin serve (where I’ve tried my best over time to make my spin v. flat serve less obvious, or where I may do a low velocity spin serve but want to disguise the extent I am spinning the ball). I know that some players also like this auditory feedback to feel more connected to their shot. Thus, I typically only listen to anything or music when I am practicing my serves or running conditioning drills. Generally, I won’t even listen to music when I am running drills with a ball machine or against the wall. If anything, and you are playing outdoors, just bring a long a small portable speaker (JBL and UA makes those inexpensive clip on speakers). You are much more likely to still stay connected to the ball and to your opponent. Also, while a remote risk, I can only imagine if you didn’t hear your opponent call out and you proceed to blast a winner or OH in their direction. Even if it was inadvertent and you might have not heard it in time regardless of the earbuds, I am pretty sure that most players would be pretty pissed that you blasted a ball at full speed in their direction and would perceive it as being caused by the earbuds. I don’t like it much when a player who is notorious for not paying attention blasts a shot to my body after an “out” call, and I can only imagine how I would react if they were wearing earbuds, open or not.

I had the the OpenDots first and really liked them. I went with them because Bose was $100 more. For some reason the Opendots hurt my left ear over time and they seemed a little bulky. So I took them back when the Bose Ultra Open went on sale for $70 off. After wearing the Bose for a week. I felt like I was going to loose them. They crackle when wearing them watching TV when I turn my head. Felt as if something is hanging on my ear. They also caused my left ear to hurt. So that maybe my body anatomy. Both had great sound other than the crackling from the Bose. Staying place feel the OpenDots are far more secure. I had them on while cutting grass on riding mower. Tree branch smacked side of my head. Thought it was a goner for sure. It stayed in place. I have made up my mind the Bose are going back and I am going back to the OpenDots. I never made any calls with either. So can't say as far as that goes. Hope this helps.

I got my Aeroclips cheap (paid $75 for new unopened earbuds on ebay), and I scored a set of OpenDots One for free (company wanted some honest feedback for reviews online and I was happy to oblige). So that may affect my judgements a bit lol. From a style standpoint, I love my Soundcore Aeroclips - the white with silver bands is beautiful. Looks like a quality item. From a comfort standpoint I can wear them all day until the battery wears out. Call quality is great - I have had quite a few phone calls wearing these earbuds and never had a complaint. Sound quality is good overall, bass is obviously VERY lacking due to the design (I'm still on the quest for great bass at high volumes on any earclip earbuds). The Shockz OpenDots One have a few benefits over the Aeroclips - the band is more "flexible" - so if you find the Aeroclips uncomfortable, the OpenDots might be more comfortable. Both are comfortable to me, but I have seen one person remark that their aeroclips were not comfortable if worn for 3+ hours at a time. I don't have that issue with my ears. In my experience, the Shocks OpenDots seemed to have slightly better bass and slightly higher max volume - if you place the earclips in the proper spot. Unlike the aeroclips where the volume is always the same - it seems like you can "direct" the sound more into the ears with the OpenDots if desired by adjusting the "fit" of the earclips (rotating the earclip upwards away from your lobes seem to adjust the frequency response and max volume you hear with the earclips - I do not notice this change with my Aeroclips). In practice I find myself lately reaching for the OpenDots One first in the morning, and then switch over to the Aeroclips later in the day after the battery is drained on the OpenDots. I would say the sound quality is maybe marginally better on the OpenDots - HOWEVER there is one fatal flaw with the Shockz Opendots at max volume: Warbling. That's the best way I can describe the issue. I don't really know because I've never experienced this on another earbud. I suspect it's due to the dual-driver design. Basically, at 50% volume, the earclips sound GREAT. But if you crank the OpenDots One up to max volume, I hear a distinct "warbling" of the bass notes - it's almost as if the bass-driver is bottoming out due to excessive power output, or maybe it's the software failing to crossover properly between the two speakers in the earbud (lows and highs). I'm not certain but it's freaking annoying! So while I tend to grab the OpenDots first in the morning, that warble at max volume annoys me. So for playing music at max volume, I tend to prefer the Aeroclips currently. However I'm anxious to see how the Baesus new XC1 earclips stack up against these other two earclips because I've been a Bose guy for decades (literally been using Bose earbuds for my gym workouts for over 25 years - only recently started branching out into other brands for my fitness needs haha)

I previously used Bose Quietcomfort Ultra for working out, but I've recently switched to open-ear earclip style earbuds because they are extremely comfortable for all-day wear (literally sometimes forget I'm wearing them). I have the Shockz opendots one, the Soundcore Aeroclips, a few cheaper no-name models, and I've got the Baesus XC1 on preorder (really excited about them). They aren't the highest sound quality, but I'll trade off that for comfort and full open-ear design so I can actually hear the world around me (kinda important when cycling outdoors on the roads, and when working out in my gym)

The touch controls on the Opendots One are not that impressive. All you can do is play/pause and change volume. I don’t use the touch controls, but prefer to “pinch” the battery compartment behind the ear. It’s more reliable. Hoping they’ll allow more customization in a future update. Update: see below--this has already been updated!

I owned 5 diff model-brand earclip design i know its not cheap (200 usd) but really best , shokz opendots one i highly recommend solid , loud, clean, premium built.. sound so thick spaciois like in-ear sounding seriously

Shokz Opendots are the best thing to ever get invented. Worth EVERY penny

I have both. For the office, I would recommend the Shokz open dots. The Shokz are much better for calls and sound very good for open and have better battery life. Bose Open Ultra has better bass so if your main use case is music alone, I would recommend them. They are awesome for low volume background music and are a bit more comfortable on my ears. I hope that helps.

So I have mixed feelings about the XC1. I find the fit is a bit more 'loose' than other earclips I've handled. Not that it's going to fall off on their own, but I have them slide off my ears when trying to hit the physical button. That said performance wise they're pretty good. Bass is good enough at lower volumes, LDAC is a nice feature (if not a bit confusing to enable, took me a few tries to actually figure out that I had to enable LDAC in the bluetooth settings for the earbuds in addition to enabling in the Basesus app). My issue that I've experienced is that at max volume, the total power output seems to go quiet when the bass is hitting hard. When it's higher frequency notes, the sound is nice and loud, but as soon as the bass drops, it seems like the software turns down the volume slightly to compensate and protect the drivers or something. Either way that is VERY annoying and I haven't found a way to fix that. In my experience, I enjoy my Shockz OpenDots sound quality and volume, except those earclips do not have LDAC, and at max volume instead of turning down the volume the DSP adds some sort of "warble" to the bass and I can't figure out if it is intentional or simply a byproduct of the design for the low driver fluttering as it's bottoming out? I dunno So basically I love both my XC1 and Shockz OpenDots One at medium volumes. For bicycling outdoors when I need louder volumes, I think I'm going to stick with the OpenDots and deal with that annoying warble. But yeah, at max volume - I'm not "wowed" by these XC1 earclips. However given that I paid $109, I think it was a fair price for what you're getting

Dude same boat - from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed, I almost always have a pair of earclip earbuds in my ears hahaha. I rock the Shockz OpenDots One when I want loud music (or for making calls). And I have a set of Baesus XC1 that I wear because they have LDAC, but max volume is not as loud as I'd want, and call quality is not as good as the Shockz OpenDots One. So in the mornings I start with the Baesus XC1 at low volume to enjoy the LDAC protocols. Then when their batteries die, I switch over the the Shockz, then back again when their batteries die haha. I am still looking for something "better", SOOOO tempted to buy the Bose Ultra Open since I hear they have better sound quality, but since they don't have LDAC I'm a bit leery since I have a feeling something better will come out soon enough.

Shokz OpenFit 2 would be my recommendation. They don’t fit in the ear but sit on the ear. Get pretty loud and very secure when running. They are very comfortable and even no issues laying on them. I would also say look into the opendots but they will be above your $200 after tax, but go for $199 If you have a Best Buy near you, they should have them on display to try as they don’t go in your ear.

I have that down 3 ...i couldnt agree more.. my journey is over for openbud style since i tried 6 total and shokz opendots one is really so different than all others sound is like in ear TWS almost.. so spacious loud and puncy and clear vocals. amazing soundstage.. everything is just perfect bttery life damn never gert drain after hours of use lol and mic quality is great.. its definitely best on this catagory and 200 usd worth of it

You can check out shokz opendots too. It is the same ear clip style as the bose ultra open. I personally think it is more comfortable since it is not as tight, and the sound is good.

They used to be known asAfterShockz and I can give a third review: they worked for me as I ran in thick snow (almost blizzard)- they're a wonderful product I will replace in a heartbeat!