Are Bone Conduction Headphones External Speakers and How About the Advantages of Them?

Under the trend of smartphones becoming thinner and lighter, the peripheral products of mobile phones, headphones, are also necessary digital products for everyone. Common headphones on the market include in-ear headphones and wireless headphones. Their sound production principle is to enter the eardrum through air conduction. However, wearing such headphones for a long time will not only put a certain amount of pressure on our eardrum but also damage the eardrum after long-term use cause some damage. In order to protect ear health better, a brand-new healthy headphone, bone conduction headphone, came into being. This headphones uses a non-in-ear design, which is safer, healthier, and more hygienic.

As a new thing, when many people first come into contact with bone conduction headphones, they may pay more attention to some negative news about poor bone conduction. The most common worry is, "Bone conduction headphones are external speakers, right?" This statement is incorrect. Real bone conduction headphones are not external speakers. They generate mechanical vibrations through bone conduction vibration units and transmit sound to the cochlea. And why there is a saying that "bone conduction is an external speaker". It is probably because they bought fake bone conduction headphones, which are shaped like bone conduction headphones, but are actually air conduction headphones. They hang on the ears through two external speakers, and still transmit sound through the air. Moreover, they are not in-ear, and people have to turn up the volume very loudly in order to hear the sound, which will cause serious sound leakage problems, and there is no privacy guarantee at all. Therefore, when purchasing, you must choose real bone conduction headphones, not fake bone conduction headphones that rely on external speakers to make a sound.

Principle of bone conduction

Bone conduction is a way of sound conduction, which converts sound into mechanical vibrations of different frequencies, and transmits sound waves through the human skull, bone labyrinth, inner ear lymph fluid transmission, screw, auditory nerve, and auditory center.

Bone conduction headphones do not need to be plugged into the ear, but the sound is transmitted through the skull. The sound does not need to pass through the external auditory canal and eardrum. From this perspective, they have no damage to the eardrum at all. Because it will not damage the hearing and does not block the ears, it will not bring negative pressure, blockage and discomfort to the ears.

Advantages of bone conduction headphones:

1.Health. Bone conduction adopts the principle of bone vibration and sound transmission, which does not need to enter the ear, nor does it need to be transmitted directly through the eardrum. Bone conduction transmits sound directly to the inner nerves of the ear through the skull, minimizing the impact on the ear's hearing.

2.Safety. Whether you use this non-in-ear bone conduction headphone to listen to music when you are running, cycling, walking or commuting, you can still hear the surrounding sounds, and you can also communicate with others normally, which avoids hearing loss caused by hearing loss. Risk of accident due to external noise.

3.Hygiene. Because bone conduction headphones are not in-ear, it is very helpful to maintain the internal hygiene of the ear. They will not clog and deposit a lot of bacteria due to prolonged sweating during your exercise, which is more hygienic than traditional in-ear headphones.

4.Comfortable; Bone conduction headphones are generally fixed on the head by hanging ears, which are generally designed to prevent shaking and not easy to fall off.

Due to the advantages of bone conduction headphones such as being healthy and not in the ear, they are also a headphone that has been highly recommended by otologists and hearing experts. It is also a good choice for some people who suffer from otitis or ear diseases, small ears, oily ears, etc.

Since there are many so-called "bone conduction headphones" pretending to be "bone conduction headphones" on the market, you must be very cautious when purchasing. If it is the kind of headphone with holes in the fuselage, it is probably not a real bone conduction headphone. Below I will recommend several bone conduction headphones with good reputations for you.

1.Wissonly Hi Runner Bone Conduction Headphones

Recommended reason: Real bone conduction headphones, Bluetooth 5.0, IPX8 waterproof, 32G memory, 10 hours long battery life

Wissonly is one of the few bone conduction headphone brands that has mastered bone conduction vibrator technology. It is an engineer-led brand, and its core engineers have more than 10 years of experience in the field of bone conduction.

Wissonly has a unique bone conduction vibrator technology and sound leakage reduction technology, and this Wissonly Hi Runner bone conduction headphone is the master of these two technologies. Their innovative bone conduction vibrator technology increases the effective vibration area of the vibration unit by 35% compared with ordinary bone conduction headphones, thereby greatly improving the sound quality and completely changing the problem of the poor sound quality of bone conduction headphones. They are also equipped with a new fully closed sound leakage reduction technology, which can effectively reduce 90% of the sound leakage problem. I did a field test specifically. At 70% volume, within a range of 2 meters from the headphones, no sound can be heard at all, and the privacy is very good.

Hi Runner also uses the new Bluetooth 5.0 to reduce power consumption while improving connection stability. Their batteries can play music continuously for 10 hours, and they are also IPX8 waterproof, so they can be worn while swimming. For this reason, they also thoughtfully prepared 32G storage for swimming users, so that they can listen to songs without interruption underwater in places where there is no Bluetooth signal.

2.AfterShokz Openrun Pro Bone Conduction Headphones

Recommended reason: True bone conduction headphones, very light body only 26G, Bluetooth 5.0, IP67 waterproof, 8 hours of battery life

The whole body of Openrun Pro is made of skin-friendly silicone, which makes it more comfortable to wear. In order to reduce the weight, it chooses titanium alloy as the connection material of the fuselage, which is not easy to bend and deform, and ensures the service life. The Openrun Pro bone conduction headset is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon QCC3024 and Bluetooth 5.0, and their connection is stable and there is no disconnection. Coupled with LeakSlayer sound leakage elimination technology, it can effectively protect the privacy and avoid the embarrassment caused by loud sound.

3.NANK Runner CC2 Bone Conduction Headphones

Recommended reason: entry-level true bone conduction headphones

This headphone is designed with skin-friendly soft rubber, no pressure, and the wearing experience is very good. With a large-size bone conduction vibrator, the stereo sound effect is like being in a music scene. The battery life can reach 6 hours, which is more than enough for daily use. As an entry-level bone conduction headset, it is still good. But the waterproof level is not high, not suitable for water sports.

4.AfterShokz Openmove Bone Conduction Headphones

Recommended reason: An Inexpensive Alternative to AfterShokz Openrun Pro

This is a relatively old product launched in 2020. It uses Bluetooth 5.0 technology and supports a 1-second connection. PremiumPitch2.0 sound quality optimization technology and the continuous upgrade and optimization of LeakSlayer sound leakage elimination technology have improved the sound quality of the headset. But they only have IP55 waterproof protection, which is only suitable for daily life waterproofing and cannot be used for swimming and diving.

Bone conduction headphones are more suitable for our healthy living needs, allowing us to enjoy shocking hearing without hurting our ears. It is worth a try.