The Difference Between Wireless Bluetooth Bone Conduction Earphones and Air Conduction Headphones

In the past two years, I have a new toy, which is wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones. I use them to listen to music while running and it feels good. I often share opinions about headphone products and music with my friends in the hardware community and sports community. Nowadays, many people can't figure out the difference between wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones and air conduction headphones. Some people even listen to the propaganda of unscrupulous merchants and mistakenly say that air conduction headphones are an upgraded version of wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones, which really makes me speechless.

The difference between wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones and air conduction headphones

Literally understood, their main difference is in the way of sound transmission. wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones use the skull as a medium to transmit sound, while air conduction headphones use air as a medium to transmit sound. The reason why some people mistakenly think that air conduction headphones are an upgraded version of wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones is mainly because some air conduction headphones are cleverly designed to look the same as wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones and wear the same way. Once the manufacturers of air conduction headphones carry out large-scale publicity, consumers will be misunderstood.

Air-conduction headphones work with the sound-generating unit attached to the temple, but they are actually two speakers. They rely on the speakers to emit sound waves, which transmit the sound to the ear through the air, and the sound waves vibrate the eardrum to produce hearing. In fact, most traditional headphones are also air conduction headphones. Therefore, this kind of headphone is actually a kind of traditional headphone, you must not be fooled.

How do wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones work?

When we speak, we ourselves actually hear the sound through the air (air conduction) and through the bones (bone conduction) at the same time. We may have become so used to it that we think that hearing our own voice is just transmit through the air. As an example,when you close your mouth while brushing your teeth, this ensures that there is no air-conducted sound, but you can still hear the brushing sound, and it is clearly heard, it is the sound through the bone.

Bone conduction technology is actually the technology of transmitting sound through bones. During the transmission process, the sound source causes the bone to resonate, thereby transmitting the vibration to the cochlea, which is the principle of bone conduction technology.

Wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones are headphones manufactured based on bone conduction technology. When they work, people only need to stick the sound unit on the temple, and the sound unit will convert the sound signal into mechanical vibration, drive the skull to vibrate, and the skull will transmit the vibration to the cochlea. After the cochlea perceives the sound, it will be transmitted to the auditory nerve and brain. Finally, the sound is formed. This is how wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones work.

Therefore, wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones can hear the sound without being plugged into the ear. They can well protect the eardrum and maintain the hygiene of the ear canal, which is very helpful for ear health.

Are wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones safe?

We often hear people worry about the safety of wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones, but we can promise that they do not harm the human body at all.

First of all, due to the sound transmission method of wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones, they do not need to pass through the ear canal and tympanic membrane, which can avoid damage to the tympanic membrane. Moreover, the vibration waves of them are relatively moderate, and the impact on auditory hair cells will be less, so they are the headphones that cause the least damage to the ears.

Secondly, traditional earphones have problems with electromagnetic waves, which can cause damage to the human brain and hearing nerves. The electromagnetic waves of wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones are extremely weak, which is the same intensity as the electromagnetic waves existing in nature. So they will not cause damage to the human brain and hearing nerves.

Moreover, wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones can help avoid the dangers of wearing them. It does not need to occupy the ear canal when wearing it. In addition to hearing the sound in the headphone, you can also hear the sound of the outside world. Wearing them when crossing the road will not be in danger because you can't hear the sound of the horn; when you are exercising outdoors, you can also avoid some dangerous situations.

It can be seen that wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones are relatively safe, but safety is not absolute. If you use them to listen to music at high volume for a long time, it will still cause damage to the cochlea.

In addition to safety, wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones have many advantages, such as comfortable wearing, cleanliness, high waterproof level, etc.

Of course, wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones have some drawbacks, the two most prominent being sound quality and sound leakage.Compared with traditional earphones that focus on sound quality, their sound quality is weaker, but this does not mean that their sound quality is poor. In fact, some wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones with better quality have very good sound quality.

Sound leakage has always been a common problem with wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones, mainly because the vibration of the bone conduction vibration unit drives the vibration of the headphone body, resulting in sound leakage. However, with the advancement of technology, better wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones do a good job in preventing sound leakage, and the problem of sound leakage has basically been solved.

A large number of earphone manufacturers have joined the field of bone conduction earphones. Which one is the best? I will give you some recommendations

1, Wissonly Hi Runner wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones

Reason for recommendation:

As a veteran electronic product fans, I can responsibly tell you that the Wissonly wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones are true bone conduction, which can protect hearing, so they are recommended by many otologists.

At the same time, Wissonly Hi Runner is also very good in terms of sound quality. It uses a 360 surround vibration unit, which can increase the vibration area by 35% compared with traditional wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones.They reduces the loss during bone conduction sound transmission, and which makes the sound more powerful.

Wissonly Hi Runner wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones are made of memory titanium that can be self-adjusted, which can ensure that the headphones have a good wearing experience and take into account more users.

In terms of functionality, as the flagship model of Wissonly Brand, Wissonly Hi RUNNER supports IPX8 waterproof level which is higher than the industry standard, and it can be worn in diving. It is equipped with 32G body memory, as well as the latest Bluetooth 5.0. Its product performance and experience have been comprehensively improved, truly making wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones suitable for more life scenarios.

2. Philips A6606 wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones

Reason for recommendation:

The headphones have a compact structure that is completely ergonomically designed.

They are stable to wear, and cannot be shaken off in rough sport, which helps you to do movements without restraint during exercise. They are open headphones that do not need to be plugged into the ear. This keeps the ear canal fresh, healthy and comfortable.

They support IP67 waterproof grade, daily sweating is no problem. But after all, they are not professional-grade waterproof, can not be used in swimming.

3.AfterShokz OPENmove wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones

Reason for recommendation:

The surface of the AfterShokz OPENmove wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones 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 peace tw-1 wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones

Reason for recommendation:

The wearing style of Peace TW-1 wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones is very unique. It adopts a clip-on wearing method, has a certain stability in wearing, even if in strenuous exercise it can be stably clamped on the auricle. The weight of the body is 9g, during the wearing process, it will not feel heavy. IP67 waterproof rating helps it to be worn outdoors in rainy days easily, and daily sweating is not a problem at all to it, but it can not be used in swimming.

The disadvantage is that its clip-on wearing method may cause discomfort after wearing it for a long time.

5.Nank Runner CC3 wireless Bluetooth bone conduction earphones

Reason for recommendation:

Its headphones’ body is designed with a titanium alloy rear-hanging body, which is light in weight, and it doesn't feel heavy when worn. The ear-hanging design is also very convenient to wear, so you don't have to worry about falling off. The whole headphone adopts seamless design, and even the earphones are wrapped in silica gel, which can greatly reduce sound leakage. As magnetic charging is adopted, after each use, it is only necessary to put the magnetic suction head at the buckle position of the headphone. Compared with the previous products, the sound quality is obviously improved, but it still needs to be improved. Those who have low requirements for sound quality can choose it.

I believe that through the above recommendations, you may already know how to choose bone conduction earphones. If you are still confused, it is recommended to choose a brand with good technology accumulation, such as Wissonly and Philips. Philips is a big brand, needless to say, but it is worth emphasizing Wissonly, which has a deep technology accumulation, better configuration, and higher cost performance.