Bluetooth bone conduction headset phones are becoming popular among sports fans. We always see people wearing headphones that don’t have to be tucked into their ears when they are running, riding, or working out. They looks cool, so what exactly are bone conduction headset phones? In addition to their cool appearance, what are their other characteristics?How about their pros and cons?

What are bone conduction headset phones?

As the name suggests,bone conduction headset phones are headphones that use bones to conduct sound. They actually use the principle of sound transmission in solids, and directly transmit sound to the auditory nerves through the skull to achieve sound transmission and perception. Compared with traditional headphones, due to the different transmission paths, they do not need the earbud part of traditional headphones, or even do not need to touch the ears at all. They ensure that the ear canal hygiene will not be affected, so they are healthier and more hygienic.

From the appearance design, Bluetooth bone conduction headset phones are non-in-ear headphones. They mainly have three designs: hanging-ear type, clip-on type, headband type. The hanging-ear bone conduction headphones are to hang on the auricle, and the vibration unit is put close to the temple to transmit sound by the skull; Clip-on types are clamped on the ears, and the vibration unit is placed close to the auricle, and the sound is transmitted by the bones on the auricle. A headband type is used to tie the vibrating unit to the head to transmit sound through the skull. Among the three designs, hanging-ear type are the mainstream.

Bone conduction headset phones is a new application of old technology. Bone conduction technology is very mature and safety is very good, so you can use them with confidence.

How do Bluetooth bone conduction headset phones work?

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

Compared with air conduction headphones, the sound transmission path of Bluetooth bone conduction headset phones 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.This is a good advantage.

Advantages of Bluetooth bone conduction headset phones

It does not occupy the ear canal when in use. In addition to hearing the sound in the headphone, it can also hear the sound of the outside world, so that you are not isolated from the outside world, which can ensure your safety. For example, if you wear headphones when crossing the road, you won’t be in danger because you can’t hear the horn. That means if you often exercise outdoors, you can avoid dangerous situations. It allows you to listen to all directions while listening to music, protecting yourself without hindering others. Safety is the most prominent advantage of them. Because of this advantage, bone conduction headphones are very popular among sports fans.

Bone conduction headset phones do not need to be tightly plugged into the ears, they are very comfortable to wear. It perfectly avoids ear pain caused by wearing in-ear earphones for a long time. The comfort of wearing is a near-perfect advantage for sports fans who need to wear it for a long time. To further improve wearing comfort, mainstream brands of bone conduction headphones also make the fuselage very light and use soft and skin-friendly materials for the fuselage surface. Companies like wissonly and Aftershokz have made great efforts in this regard.

Bluetooth bone conduction headset phones have another advantage: Since the headphones do not need to be plugged into the ear when worn, it is very helpful to maintain the internal hygiene of the ear. It will not cause a lot of bacteria to accumulate in the ear canal due to sweating for a long time during exercise. Compared with traditional earphones, it is more hygienic and healthy.

Of course, bone conduction headset phones also have some disadvantages. For example, the sound quality may not be as good as traditional noise-canceling headphones, such as more or less sound leakage problems. These two problems are mainly caused by the sound generation principle of bone conduction headphones, and they are difficult to solve to a 100% extent. However, some excellent bone conduction headphones have made a lot of efforts to solve these two problems and they achieved good results. The sound quality of these headphones is generally very good, and the sound leakage problem has almost been solved.

In general, Bluetooth bone conduction headset phones have more advantages than disadvantages, which is why they are becoming more and more popular. Now, I will recommend some excellent headphones.

1. Wissonly Hi Runner Bluetooth bone conduction headset phones

Reason for recommendation:

Wissonly bone conduction headset phones are recognized by the market with its leading bone conduction vibrator technology. Their team has accumulated more than 10 years in the field of bone conduction technology, which has been affirmed in terms of product quality and hearing protection effect.

Wissonly Hi Runner uses a large-size bone conduction vibrator, which increases the vibration area by 35%. When you wear it, the diffusion direction of sound quality will be more comprehensive, the coverage will be wider, and the sound will be more stereo. Its sound will be deeper in low frequency and more transparent in high frequency. They have also made a lot of efforts in the technology of sound leakage reduction, including the built-in reverse sound wave system and the all-closed-body design, thus reducing the sound leakage by 90%.

It is comfort: Wissonly Hi Runner’s whole body is made of high-tech and low-sensitivity silicone, which contains no chemical components to avoid allergy. The overall touch is as silky as baby’s skin, which can avoid uncomfortable situations when worn for a long time.

Wissonly Hi Runner bone conduction headphones are also equipped with a new Bluetooth 5.0 chip, which has stronger anti-interference ability, and can easily cope with various outdoor complex scenes, so as to ensure that the good mood during exercise will not be disturbed by disconnection. The stable connection also brings ultra-low delay performance. Listening to songs, chasing dramas and playing games meet all the daily demands for headphones.

2. Philips A6606 Bluetooth bone conduction headset phones

Reason for recommendation:

The A6606 uses a titanium alloy frame. It is very stable to wear during running and has less shifting, helping you to exercise without feeling weight. The unique way of transmitting sound of bone conduction headphones bypasses the air, reduces noises, but is most afraid of having stethoscope effect. The A6606 is designed so that the frame of the headphones does not touch the back of the head, avoiding the “stethoscope effect” during exercise, so you can hear more precise and clear sound details.

3.AfterShokz OPENmove Bluetooth bone conduction headset phones

Reason for recommendation:

The surface of the AfterShokz OPENmove bone conduction headset phones 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 Bluetooth bone Conduction Headset phones

Reason for recommendation:

Earsopen was born in Tokyo, Japan, and is a brand of bone conduction headphones owned by BoCo Co., Ltd. Earsopen PEACE TW-1 is the first Bluetooth headphones with left-right separation among bone conduction products. Because the sounding unit is small and closer to the ear canal, the sound leakage is also very small. The main body of the headphone is T-shaped, and the ear clip is adopted. Comfort is not as high as the first two models, but this way of wearing is really the only one. If you must choose TWS’s one, it’s good.

5.Nank Runner CC3 Bluetooth bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

Runner CC2 is made of titanium alloy, with a body weight of 28g, and the overall wearing experience is good. The sound quality and sound leakage are better than their previous products, but they still need to be improved. The headphones also support high-definition call noise reduction, which is a plus.

The ability of this headphone is relatively average, and there are no special highlights or obvious shortcomings. As an entry-level bone conduction headphone, it is still qualified.

The above five Bluetooth bone conduction headset phones are all products with good performance.Among them, wissonly and Aftershokz are the most recommended brands because they both have core technologies in this field. Compared with the two brands, Wissonly’s product parameters is better and cost-effective.