Yahoo Movies The 8 Best Bone Conduction Headphones
The 8 Best Bone Conduction Headphones
Bone conduction headphone technology is super cool: they have plates that sit against your jaw or cheekbones, sending sound vibrations directly to your inner ear, totally bypassing your ear canal and ear drum. That means you can listen to music and take calls and still hear what's happening around you. Pretty smart—and one might argue essential—in our multitasking world for safety, never mind cutting down on the frustration of screaming “excuse me!!” to the oblivious plugged-in bro standing in the middle of the supermarket aisle. Read on for our recommendations for the best bone conduction headphones to consider for every budget and activity.
What to Consider
Budget and fit aside, the most important things to keep in mind while shopping for bone conduction headphones include waterproof rating, hours of playtime or talk time on a single charge, and standby time, which refers to how long they stay charged if left unused.
Generally speaking, you can expect to get up to six hours of battery life on a single charge and headphones designed for work, often with noise-cancelling mic, can feature talk times up to 16 hours. The majority of headphones are water-resistant, with an IPX5 rating, though look for headphones with an IP67 rating if you’re a heavy sweater or bike or run in heavy rain. Swimmers will want something completely waterproof, with an IPX8 rating.
Most, but not all, bone conduction headphones feature Bluetooth 5.0 technology and operate similarly in terms of multifunction one-button-touch operation. In terms of weight, the majority are around an ounce, some slightly more or less.
How We Chose
AfterShokz has really cornered the market for bone conduction headphones. Right now, they’re among the best you can buy for technology and design, with a product line to suit different activities, and so the majority of what we review below come from the brand. That said, there are some other options out there of decent quality and lower price points worth considering if you're on a budget. There are also bone conduction headphone specifically for kids, which we also feature below. Every option we cover has an average customer rating of 4 stars or more.
Bone conduction headphones are a cool technology that send sound vibrations directly to your ear. You can listen like you normally would without putting anything in your ears!
