In the past two years, Bluetooth bone conduction headphones have been the hottest electronic product and are very popular among sports fans. We often see people wearing them when running, cycling, and exercising. But about bone conduction headphones, everyone’s understanding is different. To help you better understand them, I sorted out some facts about this type of headphones.

7 facts about Bluetooth bone conduction headphones

1. Bluetooth bone conduction earphone is a kind of headphone that transmits sound through bones. The process of transmitting sound does not need to pass through the air and eardrum;

2. They are generally ear-hanging type, it does not need to plug the earplugs into the ear or cover the whole ear;

3. Bluetooth bone conduction headphones cause the least damage to the ears and are the healthiest headphones. They can also keep the ear canal clean;

4. Bluetooth bone conduction headphones are very suitable for wearing when exercising. They can not only let you hear music but also hear the sound of the surrounding environment, which is safer.

5. The sound quality of Bluetooth bone conduction headphones is slightly worse than that of traditional noise-canceling headphones, but the sound quality is fine when listening to music or talking on the phone; They have a slight sound leakage problem.

6. Bone conduction headphones are all waterproof, and some are even professional IPX8 waterproof.

7. Bluetooth bone conduction is a mature technology that has long been used in the military, firefighting, hearing aids, and other fields. Headphones are a new application of this mature technology. The reliability and safety have been tested and can be used with confidence;

How do Bluetooth bone conduction headphones work?

To understand how Bluetooth bone conduction headphones work, you need to understand how the ear works.

The ear is divided into the outer ear, middle ear, inner ear, and auditory nerve from front to back. The outer ear is what we call the part of the ear that is visible from the outside. When sound enters the outer ear, it travels directly to the eardrum, and the sound that hits the eardrum vibrates the air in the middle ear like a drum, causing the air to vibrate and travel to the cochlea of the inner ear. Shaped like a snail, the cochlea contains lymph fluid and sound-sensing cells called hair cells. The vibration of the eardrum causes the lymph fluid and hair cells in the cochlea to vibrate. Hair cells convert this vibration into an electrical signal and transmit it to the auditory nerve. The auditory nerve carries the electrical signals received from the hair cells to the brain. The center of the brain processes the electrical signals it receives, resulting in the sounds we hear. This way of transmitting sound is the way of air conduction. Common headphones use air-conduction sound transmission, but the working principle of Bluetooth bone conduction headphones is completely different. It uses bone conduction sound.

We can compare the difference between these two sound transmission methods:

The sound transmission path of air conduction headphones: outer ear → eardrum→ middle ear → inner ear (cochlea) → auditory nerve → brain

The sound transmission path of Bluetooth bone conduction headphones: temporal bone (skull) → inner ear (cochlea) → auditory nerve → brain

Compared with air conduction headphones, the sound transmission path of Bluetooth bone conduction headphones does not have several steps of “outer ear→eardrum→middle ear”. When using them, the sound conduction process is that the sound source vibrates and directly transmits the sound to the inner ear (cochlea) through the skull. This working principle also makes the headphones do not need to be inserted into the ear, which better protects the ear canal and eardrum.

So how to choose Bluetooth bone conduction headphones? I think you need to pay attention to three key points: sound quality, sound leakage reduction and comfort.Here are some excellent headphones recommended to you.

1. Wissonly Hi Runner Bluetooth bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

This is the fastest growing brand in the past six months. It may not be much famous, but in the field of Bluetooth bone conduction headphones they are proper technical experts. Their team began to develop bone conduction headphones that do not hurt the ear as early as 10 years ago. With an excellent bone conduction vibration unit optimization program, It became famous very soon in the field of bone conduction. It has been recommended by the majority of otologists!

Due to the particularity of the technical principle, bone conduction headphones are more difficult to be improved in sound quality. Wissonly Hi Runner team subverted the traditional sound quality scheme, made a breakthrough to use large wire-frame vibration unit. They through structural optimization improved the effective vibration area, thereby improved the vibrator sound efficiency, made the sound more shocking and powerful, they optimized the sound transmission direction, reduced the sound loss during sound transmission, and made the sound quality more concentrated. In terms of comfort, the overall body of the Hi Runner is made of high-tech hypoallergenic silicone material, which does not contain chemical components to avoid allergies. The overall feel is as silky as baby’s skin, avoiding uncomfortable wearing for a long time.

In terms of functions, as the flagship model of Wissonly Bluetooth bone conduction headphones, Hi Runner has an IPX8 waterproof grade which is higher than the industry standard. It is equipped with 32G body memory, and uses the latest Bluetooth 5.0 chip, which makes the connection more stable. The battery life is also very good, lasts 8–10 hours of continuous playback at normal volume, and supports magnetic fast charging. It only takes 2 hours to fully charge.

2. Philips A8606 Bluetooth bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

A8606 headphones are made of titanium alloy skeleton, wrapped with skin-friendly silicone material, which can not only keep the shape stable, but also cause no pressure on ears. The body fits auricle tightly, so it is easy to wear and can be used for a long time. This headphones adopts IPX5 waterproof design, so there will be no problem in drenching and sweating. The disadvantage is that the sound quality needs to be improved, and the sound leakage is also serious.

3 AfterShokz OPENRUN PRO Bluetooth bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

Openrun Pro are ear mounted style headphones. But thanks to the lightweight materials such as titanium alloy used in the basic frame of the headphones, the overall weight of the headphones is only 26g, and there is no feeling of weight when worn. It is worth mentioning that the headphones have an IP67 waterproof and dustproof grade, and that they can be washed and rinsed with water. In addition to benefiting from the plating process on its surface, of course, also because of the overall body design, Openrun Pro have better waterproof characteristics. In addition, they also uses dual silicon microphones. In the right side of the headphones, you can see the microphone cut-out reserved for the microphone. With CVC’s noise reduction algorithm, they can effectively eliminate the impact to calls in complex environments.

4.earsopen FIT BT-1 Bluetooth bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

Earsopen FIT BT-1 Bluetooth bone conduction headphone, the new favorite of Japanese headphone industry, has an open listening experience and can also accept external sound. It has the BONE AUDIO feature with super telepresence, which has better listening effect.It adopts the exclusive latest AVV technology, with its correct vibration earsopen device, and improves the bone conduction ability by leaps and bounds.It also has fashionable and high-quality streamline design,it use light body material and weight of only 34g. Its waterproof, dustproof and anti-skid performance is also good.

It can be safely used indoors and outdoors, and it is comfortable to wear and moves freely.

5. vidonn F3 Bluetooth bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

The Vidonn F3 Bluetooth bone conduction headphones weigh only 29g, and there is no discomfort whether you have it hanging neck or hinging ears for a long time. The ear arm of the bone conduction vibrator is on the outside, leaving space for the glasses leg to pass, which solves the embarrassing situation of not being able to wear glasses when wearing headphones.

The charging port of Vidonn F3 bone conduction headphones is the universal standard MICRO-USB interface. It adopts a soft rubber plug to waterproof, but the soft rubber plug is not connected to the body, there will be a risk of loss. The manufacturer gives two spare soft rubber plugs in the box.

This is an entry-level product, and it’s hard to expect good performance in terms of sound quality and leak prevention, but it’s enough for everyday use.

It should be noted that the prices and functions of the above products are different. You can choose them according to your needs. I prefer the products of Wissonly and Aftershokz. Their sound quality and sound leakage reduction are excellent. I have been using Wissonly recently. It has a very high cost performance ratio. I like it very much.