Are Bone Conduction Headphones Good for Your Ears and What Are The Best Headphones？

As the name suggests, bone conduction headphones are headphones designed based on bone conduction technology.

Bone conduction is a sound conduction method. The vibration of the sound source drives the bone to vibrate, and then transmits the sound to the inner ear, so that the sound can be heard.

When bone conduction headphones work, sound transmission does not need to pass through the eardrum, so they are good for ears and will not cause hearing damage.

Next, I will introduce " how bone conduction earphones work"," why they are good for your ears", and recommend the best five headphones.

How do bone conduction headphones work?

When it comes to the working principle of bone conduction headphones, you must first understand the "essence of sound". Simply put, the sounds we hear every day are vibrations in the air. For example, have you ever seen a scene of “loud high-pitched sound shatters a glass window”on TV? This phenomenon is caused by the treble that transmits strong air vibrations to the glass window, causing the glass window to resonate.

We hear sound as vibrations in the air. Sound travels through the ear canal to the eardrum, then through a spiral organ called the cochlea to the brain, where it is finally perceived by us. While standard headphones that fit into the ear canal use this "standard" path to transmit air vibrations to the brain, bone conduction headphones work quite differently.

The sound transmission path of common headphones: sound source vibration → external auditory canal → eardrum → cochlea → brain

The sound transmission path of bone conduction headphones: sound source vibration → skull → cochlea → brain

So, with bone conduction headphones, you can enjoy music without ear canals or eardrums. Bone conduction headphones do not need to be plugged into the ear canal when worn, which will cause less damage to the eardrum and better hygiene for the ear canal, so they are the healthiest headphones.

Are bone conduction headphones good for your ears?

Bone conduction headphones are good for the ears, they cause less damage to the ears and are the healthiest kind of headphones.

1. Does not harm the ear canal

Bone conduction headphones do not need to be plugged into the ear canal when wearing them, so the damage to the ears caused by wearing headphones will not happen.

2. No damage to the eardrum

Bone conduction headphones do not need to use the ear canal and eardrum to transmit sound, so the eardrum will not be damaged.

3. Does not harm the cochlea

The vibration waves of bone conduction headphones are relatively gentle and stable, and will not damage the cochlea.

4. Does not harm the auditory nerve

The electromagnetic waves of bone conduction headphones are weak, which is close to the intensity of electromagnetic waves in nature, so they will not damage the auditory nerve.

Special attention should be paid to the fact that if any headphone is used at high volume for a long time, it will cause damage to the ears, and the same goes for bone conduction headphones. Therefore, pay attention to volume control when using bone conduction headphones, and it is recommended that the volume not exceed 60%. At the same time, every 2-3 hours of use, you should rest for 10-15 minutes.

In addition to the advantage of being good for the ears, bone conduction headphones have many advantages, such as

1. They are safer

They do not need to be inserted into the ear canal when worn. While listening to music, you can still pay attention to the surrounding sound. When exercising outdoors, wearing with bone conduction headphones, you can also hear the sound behind you, so as to avoid some dangerous situations.

2. They are more hygienic:

Bone conduction headphones do not need to be worn in the ear, even if they are worn for a long time, they can keep the ear canal clean and hygienic, avoiding the growth of bacteria caused by blocking the ear canal, which can cause otitis media, otitis media and other diseases;

3. They are more comfortable:

Bone conduction headphones are very light, and there is no sense of weight when worn, and the surface of many bone conduction headphones is made of skin-friendly soft materials, which is very comfortable to wear.

Bone conduction headphones that are good for the ears are also safer, more hygienic, and more comfortable headphones. These advantages make them popular at an extremely fast speed.

There are a large number of bone conduction headphones in the market. How to choose them has become a problem. My suggestion is to choose brands with accumulated technology in this field, such as Wissonly and Aftershokz. Next, I will recommend five of the best bone conduction headphones for you.

1.Wissonly Hi Runner bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

I noticed Wissonly bone conduction headphones when they were first crowdfunded online. And later, I saw that some otologists were recommending them on online forums, so I bought them. This Hi Runner is their flagship product whose overall functionality is also the most perfect. The headphone use the latest research from the Wissonly lab. It increases the vibrating area of the vibrator by 35% and optimizes the direction of sound transmission to make the sound more concentrated, resulting in a wider range and more spatial of the music. The brand claims that its sound quality is HI-FI level, and I actually tested it myself. I thought that the sound quality was very close to HI-FI level, but it did not reach this level. Of course, the current sound quality is satisfactory enough.

Wissonly Hi Runner bone conduction headphones are also equipped with a new Bluetooth 5.0 chip that has stronger anti-interference ability, that can easily cope with various complex outdoor scenes, and ensures the good mood during exercise is not disturbed by disconnection. At the same time, the stable connection also brings low latency performance, and there is no problem in listening to songs, following dramas, and playing games. What's more, they have 32G of built-in memory that can store 5,000 songs. This helps you to enjoy music when you are exercising outdoors without your phone.

In terms of comfort, the Wissonly Hi Runner performs well, it is very light, only less than 30g, and it does not feel any weight to wear. The body is made of titanium alloy which makes it have a good fit, and you don't need to worry about their falling off during sports.

The waterproof of the Wissonly Hi Runner deserves special mention, and it is IPX8 grade. It means that you can carry it underwater for up to 20 meters and still use it normally, which is crazy!

2. Philips 7607 bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation

They use a 17mm large-scale sound unit that makes their low-frequency sound more delicate, and that makes middle and high frequency sound clearer and not harsh. IP67 waterproof performance allows them to have a waterproof and sweatproof function in daily wear, and to be no problem in the face of sudden rain in a short time. When you wear them at night, LED night running lights make passing vehicles perceive your own location, so the safety factor is higher.

3.AfterShokz OPENRUN PRO bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation

AfterShokz Openrun Pro's headphones are very light, weighs only 26g. It's very light and comfortable to run on your ears. The whole machine is made of titanium alloy, and the headphones on both sides are wrapped with skin-friendly silica gel, which make it has a IP67 waterproof grade. It can be drenched in the rain, splashed with water and washed, and there is no problem even in bad weather during outdoor sports. The structure adopts the back-hanging design and can't be worn in the ear, which is very friendly to users who often wears it. The whole machine is also equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 three-core chip, which can realize fast connection, stable sound quality connection within 10 meters, and intelligent identification by algorithm, which can effectively filter the ambient sound and make the voice clearer.

4.Earsopen peace tw-1 bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation

Peace tw-1 is different from the traditional bone conduction headphones, and it adopts a unique ear clip form, which has certain firmness. However, the wearing process is a bit complicated, and it is impossible to finish wearing with one hand. IP67 waterproof level can easily cope with rainy days, but it is not suitable for swimming. The Bluetooth version of 5.0 keeps the connection stable during music transmission.

5.vidonn F3 bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation

Vidonn F3 bone conduction headphones weigh only 29g and are very comfortable to wear. All aspects of performance are good. For entry-level headphones, its sound quality is acceptable for daily use. After all, it is difficult for you to ask an entry-level bone conduction headphones to have too good sound quality. It is worth mentioning that its exterior design is sporty and fashionable in color, which is very suitable for young people.

Among the five bone conduction headphones recommended above, my favorite are Wissonly and Aftershokz. The core teams of these two brands have more than 10 years of technical experience in this field. The sound quality, sound attenuation and comfort of their products are very good. Compared with the two brands, Wissonly has a better configuration and higher cost performance