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

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. It transmits sound without passing through the air and eardrum, which also enables the sound transmission way of bone conduction to clearly restore the sound in a noisy environment, and will not affect others due to the spread of sound waves in the air.

The technology of bone conduction is very mature. In the 18th century, Beethoven used bone conduction technology to hear the sound of piano performance. We all know that music genius Beethoven was deaf in both ears. In order to hear the sound, he bit the baton with his mouth and put the other end of the baton on the piano when he was playing. The vibrations of the piano are transmitted through the baton to his teeth and bones, and then to the inner ear. This method helped Beethoven to hear the sound of the piano, and he also created a large number of well-known piano pieces.

Bone conduction technology has a wide range of applications. It has been used more in the military field and hearing assistance field in the past. But in recent years, this technology has been widely used in bone conduction headphones, making this headphone a fashionable product and becoming popular.

Wireless bone conduction headphones has a lot of advantages,In order to better understand their pros and cons, we need to first understand how they work.

How do bone conduction headphones work

If you want to understand how do bone conduction headphones work, you must first know what “bone conduction” is. “Bone conduction” is one of the two main ways of sound transmission (the other is air conduction). It transmits sound through the mandibular bone of the human body to the cochlea. And then sound stimulates the auditory hair cells in the cochlea, thereby generating electrical signals that allow us to hear sound. These technical principles may sound obscure, but there are also cases of “bone conduction” sound transmission in life. For example, when eating, we can clearly hear the chewing sound; we still can clearly hear our own voice when covering our ears and speaking. These are “bone conduction” that helps us to hear sound. Take hearing the sound of chewing when eating as an example, during the eating and chewing process, the vibrations caused are transmitted through the bones to the inner ear to get us to hear sound.

Bone conduction headphones are headphones based on bone conduction technology. The working principle is to use the vibrator on the sound unit to turn the sound signal into mechanical vibration, which causes bone resonance and conducts sound to the inner ear, so as to achieve the result of listening by”bone conduction”.

Pros of wireless bone conduction headphones:

Bone conduction headphones 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 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.

Cons of wireless bone conduction 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 headphones have been improved to varying degrees.

Another cons 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 wireless bone conduction headphones on the market have been greatly reduced currently.

In general, wireless bone conduction headphones 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 bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

I noticed Wissonly wireless 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 wireless 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 A6606 bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

In terms of appearance, A6606 adopt a simple and solid color design. Except for the logo at the end of the ear hook, there is no unnecessary decoration. The overall sense is very strong, and they visually give people a simple sense of technology. They feel quite good to wear, neither compressing the head and cervical vertebrae nor messing up the hair. A6606 do not need to be worn into the ears. They do not hurt the eardrum during long-term wearing ,and they will not cause you sweat during exercise, and are comfortable and breathable. In addition, their IP67 dustproof and waterproof rating, 9-hour battery life, Bluetooth 5.2 and other features make the bone conduction headphones a good choice.

3.AfterShokz OPENRUN PRO bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

Openrun Pro wireless bone conduction headphones have IP67 waterproof rating, they are waterproof, sweatproof, and dustproof. They are no problem to get caught in the rain or splashed with water. Even in outdoor sports, when encounter bad weather, you will be not afraid at all, they let you enjoy the fun of sports all the time.

In addition, the headphones do not need to be plugged into the ears. Their comfort is just amazing. Their is no need to poke the ear like a drill any more. And you do not have to worry about that after you wear them for a long time, your ear canal will itch and be uncomfortable, and as well as breed bacteria. The whole body surface is silicone material, their net weight is 28g, and they are comfortable and lightweight.

4.Earsopen PEACE bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

The Japanese wireless bone conduction headphones adopt the wearing method of ear clipping that is very novel. Although they are ear clipping type, after wearing it for a long time the ear will be somewhat painful. They have IPX7 waterproof performance. Both battery and charger can be used in the charging case, but there is a small problem that the charging case is not waterproof. Their sound quality is still good, and they are excellent in the audio performance of the high, medium and low. And there is a sound leakage problem, but the overall is still good.

5.Nank Runner CC3 bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

The titanium alloy body of the Runner cc2 wireless bone conduction headphones is more flexible and durable, and there is no need to worry that the paint of wearing the headphones for a long time. Their weight is so light that you don’t even feel their presence while wearing them. The headphones are equipped with a Bluetooth 5.0 chip, which makes the Bluetooth connection more stable. The sound quality and sound leakage reduction performance are also very good. The Runner cc2 also reach the IPX6 waterproof rating, so there is no problem with rain and sweat.