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

What are bone conduction headphones?

Bluetooth 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. Ordinary headphones are air conduction, while the sound unit of them is a horn. When you play music, their horns convert the sound into sound waves, which travel through the air in your ear to your eardrum, causing the eardrum to vibrate and then send the sound to the auditory nerve, where it is finally heard by your ear. 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 Bluetooth bone conduction 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.

The unique wearing method of Bluetooth bone conduction headphones also brings many advantages. The most important thing is that they are very safe

What is the advantage of bone conduction headphones?

The way bone conduction headphones are worn without earbuds brings tangible benefits:

Safer: It does not block your ears when wearing it, allowing you to maintain awareness of the surrounding environment, making outdoor sports safer;

Healthier: it uses bones to transmit sound, and the sound is directly transmitted to the auditory nerve, avoiding damage to the eardrum, and can protect hearing well;

More hygienic: Bone conduction headphones do not need to be worn in the ear, even if worn for a long time, they can keep the ear canal fresh and avoid otitis media, otitis media and other diseases caused by blocked ear canal;

More comfortable: They are very light, and there is no sense of weight when worn. The surface of many bone conduction headphones is made of skin-friendly soft material, which is very comfortable to wear;

Unique appearance: wearing bone conduction headphones with unique design can help you attract more people’s attention;

When keeping in touch with the outside world, you can communicate with friends or colleagues while listening to music, and you will not neglect them because of listening to music.

There are two sides to the coin, bone conduction headphones have many advantages, but it also has some disadvantages.

What is the disadvantage of bone conduction headphones?

While bone conduction headphones are popular, they’re not perfect. They also have some disadvantages, summed up in three:

Disadvantage 1 : sound quality

Because of the design characteristics of bone conduction headphones, their anti-interference effect is not ideal when wearing them for shopping, subway, car and other noisy environments. And the sound quality is not as good as traditional headphones, because they transmit sound through the skin, skull and then to the ear ossicles, so the degree of music reproduction is not as good as traditional in-ear headphones.

Disadvantage 2 : sound leakage

The sound is transmitted through the vibration of the vibrator, so part of the sound is also transmitted through the vibration of the air, and sound leakage cannot be completely avoided. It’s just that some headphones invest more research and design in reducing sound leakage, and solve most of the sound leakage problems. For example, the Wissonly Hi runner bone conduction headphones I own are excellent representatives among them.

Disadvantage 3 the price is slightly higher

The technology of bone conduction headphones is more complicated than that of traditional headphones, the materials are better than traditional headphones, and the manufacturing process is more complicated, which ultimately makes the price of them a little higher. But this year, with the rapid popularity of them, their prices have dropped significantly after the production has increased significantly.

Of course, in the past two years, the technology in the field of bone conduction headphones has made great progress, and some of the disadvantages mentioned above have been greatly improved, such as the sound quality and the reduction of sound leakage.Now I will recommend some good bone conduction headphones.

1 Wissonly Hi Runner bone conduction 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 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 bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

Philips A6606 adopts the latest generation of exterior design, which strengthens water resistance and slip resistance during sports for a more stable fit. The surface of its body uses skin-friendly materials, which will be more comfortable to wear. The body is also relatively light, and there is no sense of weight when wearing. It also has a night running indicator to ensure that the cyclist or vehicle behind you can see you during night running, thus you can avoid danger. From a configuration point of view, the configuration of this product may not be very high, but Philips’ quality is trustworthy. The price may be slightly expensive.

3.AfterShokz OPENRUN PRO bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

This headphones focuses on the direction of the Bluetooth headheadphones, and the ergonomically designed ear-attached rear suspension helps consumers to do large-scale movements such as running and jumping without worrying about the headphones being dumped. Openrun Pro’s bone conduction unit is designed with a 30-degree tilt technology, coupled with Aeropex suspension damping technology, which can effectively reduce the vibration generated during exercise and bring a more comfortable hearing experience. The waterproof level of openpro has reached IP67 level. If you sweat and rain during exercise, don’t worry about it slipping or affecting the sound quality. The intelligent control button on the right side of the headset can realize blind exercise with one hand, easy song cutting and other functions only by raising your hand.

4.Earsopen peace tw-1 bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

The wearing style of Peace TW-1 bone conduction headphones 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 bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

Runner CC2 is an entry-level bone conduction headset, but its overall performance is very good. The headphone body is made of aviation grade material, which has good flexibility and is not easy to be damaged. The weight of the body is only 28g, combined with skin-friendly food-grade silica gel as the surface material, which brings a skin-friendly and comfortable wearing experience. Its waterproof grade reaches IPX6 level, which can meet the basic life-class waterproof.

Consider three key points of sound quality, sound leakage reduction and comfort,wissonly and Aftershokz are the best of the above five bone conduction headphones. If product parameters and cost performance are considered, wissonly performs better.