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[2023] Buying Guide for Bone Conduction Headphones for Cycling

Aug 31,2023 | David

As science and technology advance and develop, headphones have become increasingly prevalent in our daily lives. Whether it's outdoor cycling or commuting to work, we always want to listen to some music to relax and unwind, and headphones have naturally become an indispensable accessory for us. However, prolonged use of headphones can cause certain damage to our hearing.

In order to meet the music needs of cycling enthusiasts during sports, a new type of headphones - bone conduction headphones, have become increasingly popular among the masses in the past two years. This article will comprehensively introduce the features of bone conduction headphones and recommend several excellent products. After reading this article, even first-time buyers of bone conduction headphones can find a product that suits them.

Introduction to Bone Conduction Headphones for Cycling

1. Principle of bone conduction headphones

The principle of bone conduction headphones involves converting sound into vibrations of different frequencies, which are then transmitted through the skull, bone labyrinth, inner ear lymph fluid, etc., to the auditory center. This eliminates the need to transmit sound through the ear canal, allowing the wearer to enjoy music while still being aware of surrounding sounds. These headphones are highly suitable for activities like cycling and running.

Bone conduction headphones have gained popularity among athletes and sports enthusiasts due to their suitability for physical activities. Renowned marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge and cyclist Chris Froom are some notable athletes who have shown an interest in this product. It is believed that the future development of this technology will continue to improve.

2. Types of bone conduction headphones for cycling

(1) Ear-hanging style

Currently, the most common type of bone conduction headphones available in the market is the ear-hook style. This design offers a more secure fit, ensuring they stay in place whether you are cycling, running, or hiking. They typically weigh around 20-30 grams, and even with extended wear, they remain comfortable and have a strong battery life.

(2) Ear-clipping style

The ear-clip style is designed as a split type, with each earpiece weighing about 10 grams. They have a compact appearance and are lightweight, serving both as functional headphones and accessories. However, their drawback is relatively weaker battery life and limited noise-canceling capabilities.

3. Music experience with cycling bone conduction headphones

Based on the opinions of most users, the music experience with bone conduction headphones has received a lot of praise. Although they may not offer the same fullness in sound as traditional headphones, they prove to be exceptionally practical in sports and outdoor activities. What's even more important is that bone conduction headphones do not cause the discomfort of blocked ears or the annoyance of feeling closed off. When you're cycling and your favorite music starts playing, the pure rhythm and clean beats rush to your brain, filling you with even more vitality.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Bone Conduction Headphones for cycling

1. Advantages of bone conduction headphones cycling

1) Safer

Most bone conduction headphones are designed to be worn on the earlobe, transmitting sound directly through the skull to the inner ear. With both ears remaining open, users can hear surrounding sounds, making them safer for activities like cycling where awareness of the environment is crucial.

2) Healthier

Bone conduction headphones generate smaller vibrational waves compared to regular headphones, reducing the potential harm to the hair cells in the ears by approximately 80%. Therefore, wearing bone conduction headphones is a healthier option compared to traditional ones.

3) More hygienic

Since bone conduction headphones don't need to be inserted into the ears, they are more hygienic and won't cause heat buildup or breed bacteria inside the ears. This feature is beneficial for sports enthusiasts, especially cyclists.

4) Hearing protection

The vibration of bone conduction headphones bypasses sensitive areas like the eardrums, reducing fatigue and effectively protecting our hearing. Their secure fit during outdoor activities prevents them from falling off, ensuring a positive music experience while cycling.

5) Comfortable to wear

Bone conduction headphones are worn on the earlobes without entering the ear canal. This alleviates fatigue associated with traditional earbuds, making them more comfortable for extended wear during physical activities like cycling.

2. Disadvantages of Bone Conduction Headphones for cycling

1) Unsuitable for sleeping

Due to their design, bone conduction headphones cannot be worn during sleep as they may cause discomfort and pressure on the head. However, this limitation can also serve as a reminder for users not to wear headphones while sleeping, as it can cause significant harm to the ears.

2) Slightly inferior sound quality

Bone conduction headphones deliver sound through skin and bones to the auditory nerves, resulting in slightly poorer sound separation and reproduction compared to in-ear headphones.

3) Sound leakage

While bone conduction headphones can transmit sound clearly through the skull, they may not snugly fit against the head to maintain comfort, leading to some sound leakage. This can be a consideration for those seeking complete noise isolation.

3. Summary of pros and cons of bone conduction headphones for cycling

For sports enthusiasts, especially cyclists, bone conduction headphones offer a healthier and more hygienic option with a comfortable fit and reduced pressure on the ears. However, they may have some sound leakage and slightly inferior sound quality, especially in noisy environments.

Brand Overview of Bone Conduction Headphones for cycling

With the rise of bone conduction headphone technology, the sports market has shown interest in these headphones, especially for cycling enthusiasts. Alongside well-known brands like Newman and Sony, many excellent manufacturers have also entered this market.

1. Wissonly

This is a rapidly developing brand with engineers and designers specializing in bone conduction technology and is known for producing bone conduction headphones suitable for cycling and highly appreciated by active young people.

2. Philips

As a globally renowned multinational technology company, Philips is known for producing high-quality bone conduction headphone models in recent years.

3. Shokz

Established in 2011, Shokz is a consumer electronics brand specializing in sports headphones, pioneering bone conduction technology and applying it to various outdoor activities like cycling and swimming.

4. Haylou

Haylou is a global consumer electronics brand founded in China in 2015, which ventured into the bone conduction field in 2022, achieving notable results.

5. Vidonn

Founded in 2013, Vidonn is a company focused on designing and developing smart wearable products for sports and health, offering traditional in-ear and bone conduction headphones with advanced new technologies.

6. NANK

Dedicated to human hearing health, NANK is committed to providing open-ear, healthier bone conduction audio products, leading the industry in bone conduction technology.

Recommended Bone Conduction Headphones for Cycling

1. Wissonly Hi Runner Bone Conduction Headphones

Wissonly Hi Runner is a wireless and open-ear bone conduction headset, which allows you to hear the sound around you, enhancing safety and hygiene during cycling. They feature Bluetooth and MP3 dual-playback modes, making it convenient for outdoor enthusiasts without a signal or when carrying a phone is inconvenient.

Wissonly Hi Runner bone conduction headphones are very powerful, having 32G internal memory is one of its main features, which can store 5000 songs. It has a great battery life that allows you to listen to songs for up to 10 hours, making it suitable for hours and hours outdoor sports. Its overall frame is made of adjustable aircraft-grade titanium steel material, which can accommodate different sizes of head circumference, whether it's a small child, an adult or an elderly person, you can be sure to wear it securely. It won't fall off easily when cycling, and the helmet used for cycling can work well with it.

As the flagship model of Wissonly bone conduction headphones, it is very light weight, only 28g, wearing it will not have a sense of weight. The surface of the headset is made of soft and skin-friendly silicone material, and the material is very safe and comfortable to wear. It also has an IPX8 waterproof rating that is higher than the industry standard, which allows you to have a better experience while cycling as the headset won't malfunction due to erosion from rain or sweat. However, the open design leads to one drawback of these headphones, wind noise can be easily heard during cycling. But for cyclists, safety is the most important thing, and the overall advantages of these headphones are more important than the disadvantages.

2. Haylou PurFree BC01 Bone Conduction Headphones

Titanium wire skeleton makes the headset weigh only 28g as a whole, almost the lightest batch in the same category.And the whole internal frame is made of titanium band material and the design is soft and lightweight, and there is no sense of weight when you wear it. Suitable for groups that need to wear headphones for a long time, especially cycling enthusiasts. It is more flexible, running, driving, swimming and other multi-scene applicability is relatively stronger.

This headset has IP67 level dustproof and waterproof function, when cycling sweat can be washed with water as you go and not afraid of damage, but can not be a long time to wash water, and can not be used when swimming. The surface of the headset is covered with a soft material of silicone, long-lasting wear can also avoid wear and tear on the skin. The battery life of up to 8 hours, configured with 16GB ultra-large memory, can hold 2500 songs.

Using high-end flagship chip and the latest directional audio technology. Provides dedicated bass sound while minimizing sound leakage.16mm runway style high performance sounding oscillator can deliver more focused audio with less vibration, which makes the sound more concentrated and reduces the loss of sound quality. It will have a slight sound leakage, and this is one of its drawbacks.

3. Shokz OpenRun Pro Bone Conduction Headphones

Specifically designed for sports scenarios, these wireless headphones provide stable Bluetooth connectivity and have a lightweight, only 29g, and comfortable design.

It adopts a shield-shaped bone conduction vibrator, and the area of the affixed skull area is large. The use of TurboPitch low-frequency enhancement technology, and the bass aspect is better. Plus, it have a good dispersion of the side pressure.

It has a large button shape design for easier operation, and it has a built-in long-lasting battery with 10 hours of ultra-long life. It has excellent IP55 grade dustproof and waterproof performance, which can work normally when sweating or raining. It can be used when running, but it can't be used when swimming. If its waterproof grade is IPX8, then the user will have a better experience of outdoor cycling.

4. Vidonn F3 Bone Conduction Headphones

Featuring a balance of comfort and stability with rubber-coated bone conduction unit, the Vidonn F3 headphones have IPX5 water resistance and are suitable for regular workouts and activities. The headset weight is only 29g, when using no matter hanging neck or long time hanging ear will not have discomfort.

Bone conduction unit in contact with the skin for the soft rubber material, compared to the hard material of the bone conduction unit vibration and sound leakage possibility is smaller, and better sound quality.

The multi-function buttons, indicator lights, microphone openings of Vidonn F3 bone conduction Bluetooth headphones are concentrated in the right unit. The way and number of times to achieve different functions, and the integration of all operating methods in a button leads to the operation is too complex, which is difficult for the user to remember, and I think it is a shortcoming.

5. Boco Earsopen BT-5 Bone Conduction Headphones

Boco Earsopen "PEACE SS-1" is a wireless bone conduction headset. It has a special way of wearing it, you just need to clip it to your ear like an earring. When you put it on your ear, the weight is very light and there is no sense of weight. It is waterproof to IPX7 and can be used normally when cycling in the rain, but it has no built-in memory and can only work in Bluetooth mode.

The part of it in contact with the skin is made of rubber, and some special treatment has been done to avoid the problem of falling off, which balances the comfort of skin-friendly and anti-falling off. In terms of sound quality, its performance is relatively average, the bass performance is not very goo. Only when the volume is increased, the volume of the bass area will increase, and the music experience will be reduced.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you can choose bone conduction headphones for cycling based on your needs and budget. If you seek good performance, sound quality, and high water resistance while maintaining affordability, the Wissonly Hi Runner Bone Conduction Headphones are recommended, which belongs to the category of products with good performance, good sound quality, high waterproof level, and high cost performance.

As a novel sound transmission technology, bone conduction headphones have clear advantages over traditional headphones, especially for cycling, providing an enjoyable music experience while maintaining awareness of the surroundings and protecting ear health. Bone conduction headphones are now the preferred choice for cyclists. However, further improvement is desired in sound quality to make bone conduction headphones even more versatile, and suitable for both sports and daily music enjoyment, meeting our sincere expectations for this technology.