Disclosure: WhatAllSay is reader-supported. Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, and we may earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. Commission never changes what we write or how we score a product.
Shokz suits you if you want music without shutting out traffic, a pool lane or the person next to you. Named expert tests rate its flagship the best bone conduction set you can buy, and UK buyers average 4.4 out of 5. Compare the sound against in-ear rivals if audio quality is your first priority.
How we made this estimate
We did not test these headphones ourselves. This page compiles 14 sources read between 16 and 17 October 2026: 11 independent expert reviews, including lab-measured write-ups from SoundGuys, RTINGS and TechGearLab and field tests from TechRadar, Advnture, 220 Triathlon, Men's Fitness, T3 and Gizmodo; two verified-buyer rating pools on Amazon UK and Trustpilot UK; and the spec sheets, prices and policy pages on the brand's own UK store, which we read through a GB connection so the pricing matches what you will see.
Every price and policy below traces to one of those sources. Where the testers disagree, we say who says what instead of averaging the disagreement away.
What you are actually buying
Shokz makes open-ear headphones, which is a different product category from the earbuds most people own. Nothing goes into your ear canal. Instead the audio reaches you either through bone conduction, where transducers rest on your cheekbones and send vibrations to the cochlea, or through small air-conduction drivers that sit just outside the ear.
The point of both designs is the same: your ears stay open. You hear the car, the coach, the lane rope, the colleague at the next desk. That is the trade the whole range is built around.
The brand sells across four use cases on its UK store, labelled Sports, LifeStyle, Swim and Communication. Its own homepage claims more than 30 million units sold, distribution in over 70 countries and more than 6,600 patents applied for worldwide, and describes itself as the number one sports headphone brand of 2025. Those are the company's figures, not independently audited ones, but the distribution claim is consistent with how widely the hardware turns up in UK sports shops.
The UK store runs on Shopify, ships from a UK operation, and lists support at [email protected]. Klarna and PayPal instalments are offered at checkout where you qualify.
Which Shokz model fits your sport?
The range splits cleanly, and picking the wrong line is the most common way to be disappointed by a set that is otherwise well reviewed.
Running and general sport. The bone conduction neckband models: OpenRun Pro 2 at £169, OpenRun at £129.95, and OpenMove at £79.95 with a 6-hour battery, IP55 splash resistance and a 29g weight. The Pro 2 is the one the testers rate; the OpenMove is the entry point.
Swimming. OpenSwim Pro at £199 is the specialist. It carries 32GB of onboard MP3 storage, Bluetooth 5.4, IP68 waterproofing, a 9-hour battery and a 27.3g frame. The onboard storage matters more than it sounds, because Bluetooth does not transmit through water.
Everyday and office. The clip-on OpenDots line runs from OpenDots Air at £129 to OpenDots ONE at £149 and OpenDots 2 at £179, which adds IP57 protection and a combined bone-and-air-conduction driver. The ear-hook OpenFit line tops out at OpenFit Pro at £219, with OpenFit Air 2 at £129.
Calls and hybrid work. OpenMeet, OpenMeet 2 and the OpenComm 2 series carry boom microphones for people on calls most of the day.
Sizing tip: the OpenRun Pro 2 is sold in Standard and Mini frame sizes, chosen by head circumference. The merchant publishes a sizing guide on the product page, and because the fit is a sprung band rather than an eartip, the size choice does more for comfort here than it would on an in-ear set.
Where the testers agree
Across 11 independent reviews the consensus is consistent on three points: the fit is excellent, the battery life is genuinely long, and the flagship is the best-sounding bone conduction hardware currently sold. Reviewers at TechRadar, T3, Advnture and The Run Testers all describe forgetting they were wearing the hardware mid-session, which is the practical test that matters for a long run.
| Source | Model tested | Verdict or score |
|---|---|---|
| SoundGuys | OpenRun Pro 2 | 7.3 — “the best bone conduction headphones around” |
| TechGearLab | OpenRun Pro 2 | 84 overall |
| TechRadar | OpenRun Pro 2 | “The ideal runner's headphones”; price judged worth it |
| Advnture | OpenRun Pro 2 | “Hard to imagine a better pair of running headphones” |
| RTINGS | OpenRun Pro 2 | Best bone conduction set it has tested |
| What Hi-Fi | OpenRun Pro 2 | Good sports design; rates the sound below in-ear alternatives |
| 220 Triathlon | OpenSwim Pro | 92% — best waterproof player tested for swimmers |
| Men's Fitness UK | OpenSwim Pro | As useful in the gym as in the pool |
| T3 | OpenDots 2 | “Shockingly good” for a non-canal design |
| Gizmodo | OpenDots 2 | “A clip worth considering” |
| Loudmouth Audio | OpenDots 2 | 4 out of 5 |
Verified buyers land in the same place. The OpenRun Pro 2 averages 4.4 out of 5 from 8,387 ratings on the black Amazon UK listing and 4.3 from 8,506 on the orange one. On Trustpilot UK the store itself holds 4.5 out of 5 across 2,463 reviews, where the recurring theme in the positive reviews is how quickly warranty replacements get handled.
Where the testers disagree
Sound quality is the one real split, and it is worth understanding before you spend £169.
The lab-focused sources treat the flagship as a strong result for its form factor. SoundGuys credits the DualPitch system, which adds a small air-conduction driver purely to carry bass, with making the Pro 2 noticeably fuller than the model it replaced.
What Hi-Fi, which judges headphones primarily on audio, reached a different conclusion: it found the sound short on depth, body and dynamics compared with in-ear sets at similar money, and said buyers who care most about audio quality should look elsewhere.
Both readings are defensible because they are answering different questions. Open-ear designs have no seal, so bass has less energy to work with and there is no isolation to lean on, a limitation RTINGS and Tom's Guide both describe as inherent to the category rather than specific to this brand. If you want the best sound per pound, an in-ear set wins. If you want to hear a cyclist behind you, nothing sealed will do the job.
What you will pay in the UK
The UK store sells at fixed GBP prices with no currency conversion, and current list prices are £79.95 for the OpenMove, £129.95 for the OpenRun, £169 for the OpenRun Pro 2, £179 for the OpenDots 2 and £199 for the OpenSwim Pro. Co-branded OpenRun Pro 2 editions sit at £179. The full UK catalogue is the place to confirm a figure before you commit, because the sale lines move.
Three routes change that maths, and all three were live on the UK store when we checked.
- Certified refurbished. The refurbished collection starts at £59.95 and runs up through £96.95 and £119.95 tiers, with the refurbished OpenRun Pro listed at £119.95. These ship free with a 30-day risk-free trial, and carry a 1-year warranty instead of the standard two.
- Student and key-worker verification. Verified students get 20% off through Student Beans, which the merchant's own student page shows as £135.20 for the OpenRun Pro 2, £159.20 for the OpenSwim Pro, £103.96 for the OpenRun and £75.20 for the OpenFit Air. Separate verified routes exist for teachers and for NHS, military, veteran and first-responder buyers through Beans iD, though those pages do not print a percentage.
- Seasonal sale lines and signup offers. A first-order discount is offered for new email subscribers, with the flagship clip-on and refurbished lines excluded. Sale pricing on individual models and a free-gift bundle on the newest clip-on were both running at the time of writing, and the referral programme issues a discount to a referred friend above a roughly £79.95 order.
Our take on value: at full list price the flagship models are priced as flagships, and the 7.5 we gave for value reflects that. The refurbished line and the student route are where the pricing becomes genuinely competitive, and the OpenMove at £79.95 is the honest entry point if you mainly want awareness rather than audio.
What works well and what to check
What works well
- Fit and comfort draw consistent praise across every named expert review we read, including on multi-hour sessions.
- Situational awareness is the design's whole purpose, and reviewers confirm it delivers that on roads and in pools.
- Battery life holds up: 12 hours claimed on the OpenRun Pro 2, 9 on the OpenSwim Pro, with fast charging praised by TechRadar.
- The swim model's 32GB onboard storage and IP68 rating make it the specialist 220 Triathlon scored at 92%.
- Verified buyers on Amazon UK and Trustpilot UK sit in the 4.3 to 4.5 band across more than 19,000 combined ratings.
- Delivery and returns are straightforward: free UK delivery above £30, 2 to 3 business days, 30-day returns, a 24-month warranty on new products.
What to know before you buy
- Compare the sound against a sealed in-ear set at the same price if audio quality is your first priority; What Hi-Fi rated it below in-ear rivals on that measure.
- Multiple testers note that open-ear audio can be hard to follow in loud environments such as a busy gym or a windy seafront, because there is no isolation to help.
- SoundGuys and RTINGS both report audible leakage at higher volumes, worth knowing if you listen on a quiet train.
- Bluetooth does not transmit underwater, so pool use on the OpenSwim Pro means loading tracks onto its MP3 storage first.
- 220 Triathlon measured roughly 40% of the swim model's battery used over a two-hour MP3 session, so charge before a long swim.
- Refurbished units carry a 1-year warranty rather than 24 months, and the first-order signup offer excludes the flagship clip-on, flagship ear-hook, refurbished and accessory lines.
- Check the frame size on the OpenRun Pro 2 before ordering, and note that a return has to go back in resalable condition with all original packaging.
Who should buy Shokz
A good fit if you: run or cycle on open roads and need to hear traffic; swim lengths and want music in the pool; take calls all day and want your ears free; find in-ear tips uncomfortable or get ear infections from them; or want to listen while staying available to family in the same room.
Worth comparing alternatives if you: mostly listen on commutes and want noise cancelling; judge headphones primarily on bass and detail; want the lowest possible price for occasional use; or need something that doubles as a studio or flight headphone.
Alternatives worth comparing
Suunto Wing and Wing 2. The most credible non-Shokz bone conduction option, built for the same awareness-first buyer. GearJunkie and LiveScience rate the Wing 2's endurance highest of any bone conduction set they tested, up to 12 hours alone and about 24 with its bundled power bank, plus IP67 protection, LED visibility lighting and head-gesture controls. Reviewers place its sound below the OpenRun Pro 2, so prefer it if you want the extra safety and endurance features more than the audio.
Haylou PurFree BC01. Named by GearJunkie as the best value bone conduction set at under $100. Prefer it if you want to try the format cheaply before committing to a flagship, and accept that the fit and sound are not at the level the expert panel describes for Shokz.
Bose Ultra Open Earbuds. The direct rival to the OpenDots 2 clip-on design, and the comparison RTINGS runs most often. Prefer Bose if you are already in that ecosystem; testers at T3 gave the comfort edge to the Shokz clip, crediting its softer silicone contact surfaces.
Questions buyers ask most
Are Shokz headphones worth the money?
For the job they are designed to do, the compiled evidence says yes. Eleven named expert reviews and more than 19,000 verified buyer ratings put the flagship at the top of its category, and verified buyers average 4.3 to 4.4 out of 5. If you judge headphones purely on sound per pound, a sealed in-ear set at the same price will beat them, which is the trade you are making for open ears.
Can you hear Shokz headphones underwater?
Yes, with the right model and the right mode. The OpenSwim Pro is rated IP68 and carries 32GB of onboard MP3 storage specifically because Bluetooth signals do not travel through water. Load your tracks onto the device before you swim; streaming from a phone will not work once you are submerged.
Do Shokz leak sound to people around you?
At higher volumes, yes. SoundGuys and RTINGS both describe the drivers as effectively small speakers resting against your head, so some audio escapes. At normal outdoor listening levels in a gym or on a street this is rarely an issue; in a quiet office or on a train, keep the volume modest.
How long does Shokz take to deliver in the UK?
The UK store advertises 2 to 3 business-day delivery, free on orders above £30. The £30 threshold is assessed on your subtotal after any discount is applied, so a discounted order near that figure may fall under it.
Can I return Shokz headphones if they do not fit?
Yes. The UK return and refund policy gives you 30 days from purchase for a refund of the product price plus the cheapest standard delivery option. The item has to go back in resalable condition with its original packaging and accessories, the merchant responds to a request within 2 business days and supplies a return label at no fee, and the refund is processed 2 to 5 business days after the parcel is inspected.
Is there a Shokz student discount in the UK?
Yes. Verified students get 20% off through Student Beans, and the merchant's student page shows the discounted prices directly, including the flagship running model at £135.20 against a £169 list price. Teachers, NHS staff, military personnel, veterans and first responders have their own verified route through Beans iD.
Does Shokz have a warranty in the UK?
New products bought from the UK store or an authorised retailer carry a 24-month limited warranty against manufacturing defects, alongside what the brand calls lifetime customer service. Certified refurbished units carry 12 months instead. On Trustpilot UK, where the store holds 4.5 out of 5 from 2,463 reviews, warranty replacements are the most frequently praised part of the service, though a minority of reviewers report slower replies while a claim is in progress.
Bottom line
Shokz earns 8.4 out of 10 on compiled evidence, and our confidence in that number is high for the running and swimming lines, where 11 expert reviews and two large buyer-rating pools point the same way, and moderate for the newer clip-on and ear-hook models, which have fewer measured reviews behind them so far.
Buy it for the reason it exists: open ears, long battery, a fit people forget they are wearing, backed by 30-day returns and a 24-month warranty. Check the current sale and refurbished pricing before you order, and if you are a student or a key worker, verify first, because that route is usually the cheapest way in.
