Did you know that a new type of headphones is popular among young people now? They are bone conduction Bluetooth headphones. They’re pretty cool, and a different type of headphone than all the ones that came before it. If you haven’t read it, follow my article to find out.

Bone conduction headphones are headphones in which the sound generating unit is attached to temples. Their vocal units convert sound into mechanical vibrations, which cause bone vibrations, and transmit the sound to the auditory nerve.

They are vastly different from common headphones.Bone conduction headphones convert sound into mechanical vibration when making sound, and directly transmit the vibration to the auditory nerve of the inner ear through the bone without passing through the air and tympanic membrane.

Because of this difference, the way bone conduction Bluetooth headphones are worn is also different. They don’t need to be plugged into the ear, but hang on the pinna so that the sound unit is pressed against the temple. Of course, there is another type of clip-on bone conduction headphones, which are clipped to the ear when worn, and then the sound unit will stick to your auricle. But the vocalization and delivery of the sound is the same for both.

How do bone conduction Bluetooth headphones work?

To understand how 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 bone conduction Bluetooth 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 bone conduction Bluetooth headphones: temporal bone (skull) → inner ear (cochlea) → auditory nerve → brain

Compared with air conduction headphones, the sound transmission path of 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. The unique wearing mode of bone conduction headphone also brings a lot of benefits.

Advantages of bone conduction Bluetooth headphones:

Bone conduction uses bone vibration transmission principle. The headphones are not inserted into the ear, do not need to transmit sound through the eardrum, but directly conduct sound to the internal nerves of the ear through the skull. So they can minimize the impact of headphones on ear hearing. In addition, the non-in-ear wearing method of them is very helpful for maintaining the internal hygiene of the ear. It will not accumulate a lot of bacteria due to prolonged sweating during exercise to block the ear canal, which makes the ear more hygienic. Because they are healthier to wear than common headphones, many doctors in the field of otology also recommend them.

Bone conduction Bluetooth headphones are not inserted in the ear. Whether when running, cycling, walking or commuting, etc., you can wear headphones to listen to songs and still can hear the surrounding sounds and communicate with others normally. Thus you avoid the risk of accidents caused by not hearing external sounds, which greatly improves the safety of outdoor sports. And bone conduction headphones are generally fixed to the head by hanging ears, generally have a anti-shake design and are not easy to fall off. So in the field of sports, many people use them.

Of course, it must be honestly said that just as a coin has two sides, bone conduction headphones also have their disadvantages.

Disadvantages of bone conduction Bluetooth headphones:

Because sound is transmitted to the ear ossicles through the skin and the skull, the audio restoration is definitely worse a little than that of the traditional in-ear type. But from the perspective of sports headphones, in addition to the sound quality, it is more important that the headphones are not easy to fall off, light and convenient. The sound quality of bone conduction headphones is slightly poor only when they are compared to in-ear headphones of the same price.That doesn’t mean their sound quality is bad and hard to hear. The sound quality of most current bone conduction Bluetooth headphones have been improved to varying degrees.

Another disadvantage is that they leak sound when used. This is unavoidable for all of them on the market. But with the rising of technical level, sound leakage of excellent bone conduction Bluetooth headphones on the market have been greatly reduced currently.

In general, bone conduction Bluetooth headphone has obvious advantages, their disadvantages have been gradually improved. It is a headphones worth buying.Next, I will recommend some excellent wireless headsets.

Best wireless bone conduction headsets in 2023

1 Wissonly Hi Runner bone conduction Bluetooth headphones

Reason for recommendation:

Wissonly is one of the few bone conduction headphone brands that have mastered bone conduction vibrator technology, and one of the few brands in the industry that have sustained experience in using bone conduction technology to protect hearing. Wissonly Hi Runner advocate a healthy way to listen. They perfectly combine the principles of healthy hearing and bone conduction sound transmission, to create a non-in-ear and non-ear-damaging bone conduction headphone which can effectively protect hearing.

Due to the particularity of the technical principle, sound quality of bone conduction headphones is more difficult to be improved . To this end, Wissonly Hi Runner subverts the traditional sound quality scheme, makes a breakthrough to use the large-size bone conduction vibrator. Through structural optimization, the effective vibration area of the vibrator is increased by 35%, thereby improving the vibrator sound efficiency, making the sound more powerful.It also optimizing the direction of sound transmission, reducing sound loss during sound transmission, and making the sound more concentrated.

The skin-friendly silicone material of the Wissonly Hi Runner body’s is a product that can be in contact with the skin for a long time. It is naturally a better choice and feels good to the touch. Because the entire headphone is made of skin-friendly material, it is very comfortable to wear. Even if you wear glasses, you can still hang it firmly on your ears. The headphone frame uses memory titanium, which has the advantage of being stretchable and lightweight.

2. Philips A6606 wireless bone conduction headsets

Reason for recommendation:

This Philips A6606 bone conduction headphones, with its comfortable silicone surface, is comfortable to wear. It is ergonomically designed, so that it will not fall when it is firmly worn. Its IP67-level depth waterproof standard makes you easy while sweat during daily exercise. This model is equipped with a night run lamp device, and while running at night, it can make cyclists or vehicles notice you. This is a very thoughtful design. It is equipped with Bluetooth 5.2 technology, which has faster transmission distance and lower power consumption than 5.0, but this one can’t be used in swimming.

3.AfterShokz OPENmove bone conduction Bluetooth headphones

Reason for recommendation:

The surface of the AfterShokz OPENmove bone conduction headphones is made of warm and skin-friendly silicone material, and with open ears wearing style, it is very comfortable. With the help of CVC noise reduction algorithm, its voice is relatively clear in calling, and it is basically not affected by the external ambient sound. It also adopts Bluetooth version 5.0, which has high stability of Bluetooth connection and brings lower power consumption. Openmove specializes in “sports use”, and music quality is not its core, which may be slightly worse.

4.earsopen SS900 wireless bone conduction headsets

Reason for recommendation:

This bone conduction headphone adopts the ear-clipping mode, and the novel wearing mode also makes it need to be worn with both hands. Moreover, there will be obvious discomfort of ear-clipping when worn for a long time. In the headphones’ body, the pressure control area is adopted, and the headphones can be controlled by clicking and double-clicking, etc. The single ear part weight of 8g basically has no weight sense during wearing. With the bone conduction vibrator technology newly developed by BoCo Company, it has a good performance in the low frequency range, but it has obvious sound leakage in the middle and high frequencies.

5.Nank Runner CC3 bone conduction Bluetooth headphones

Reason for recommendation:

Among entry-level headphones, the Runner CC3 still performs well. Its body is wrapped in a layer of skin-friendly material, which will not feel uncomfortable to wear during exercise, and the firmness is also good, which can firmly lock the headphones on the ears.

It also has an MP3 mode with 4G memory, which can save nearly 1,000 songs. You can enjoy listening to songs without a mobile phone. The waterproof level and battery life are average, and it is not suitable for swimming.

Among the above five products, Wissonly and Aftershokz are my favorite. Their sound quality, sound leakage reduction and comfort are all very good. Compared with the two brands, Wissonly’s product parameters are better, cost-effective, and worth buying