Aftershokz (now Shokz) Aeropex bone conducting headphones (now discontinued, but the Shokz Openrun are similar) sit over the ear in contact with the skin and rather than sending audio into the ear canal like 'normal' headphones or earphones, they vibrate and use bones in the skull to send the audio into the ear itself.
The front portion contains the bone conducting technology and then a loop gives over the ear to another unit containing the batteries/electronics and Bluetooth and another loop goes behind the head to connect to the same setup on the other ear.
Aftershokz Aeropex |
The headphones are very light weighing in at 26g, have an estimated 8 hour playback time and are rated IP67 (so good for sweat resistance, but not for swimming). There is a USB cable for charging with a magnetic connector to ensure it aligns with the 2 pin charging port (and cant be put on the wrong way around).
Charging port |
Play/pause music - click once - one beepNext song - double click - one beepPrevious song - triple click - one beepAnswer call - click once - two beepsEnd call - click once - one beepAnswer call waiting and end current call - press and hold for 2 seconds - one beepIgnore a call - press and hold for 2 seconds - two beepsActivate voice assistant - press and hold for 2 seconds - beepsRedial last number - double click on standby - Redial last number
Power On - press and hold vol+ for 2 seconds - Welcome to AftershokzPower Off - press and hold vol+ for 3 seconds - Power OffMute - press and hold vol+/vol- for 2 seconds (on call) - mute on/offChange EQ - press and hold vol+/vol- for 2 seconds (music playing) - EQ changedCheck battery status - click vol+ or vol- (music paused) - Battery high/medium/low/charge meJust volume - vol- or vol- (music playing) - one beep
The LED indicates: -
Solid red - chargingSolid blue - chargedFlashes red/blue - pairingFlashes blue - incoming callFlashes red (every 2 minutes) - low battery
The moisture detector will indicate the headphones are wet if plugged into the charger and they should be dried.
Bone conducting headphones do take getting used to as the audio goes straight into the back of the ear, while allowing the ears to hear normally. This can be extremely useful for things like cycling or running so you're aware of your surroundings and what's going on. Probably less useful for wearing in a busy office environment and trying to zone out. They are extremely light and as they don't sit in the ear (or cover the ears) there's no long discomfort per se.
The only slightly irritating issue is the vibration on the skin if the volume is too loud or the frequencies in that particular range, but that's really a petty issue.
Though the Aeropex have been discontinued they are still available from sports' shops, the replacement Openrun is directly available from the UK Shokz site for £129.95, they come in black/grey, blue/dark blue, dark grey/light grey and red/dark red.
There's now also the Openrun Pro and Openrun Pro mini, which are newer models supporting Bluetooth 5.1, rated IP55, 12 hours play time, larger multi-function button and enhanced base also from UK Shokz site for £159.95 though they are 3g heavier.
Shokz now also do swimming bone conduction MP3 players and UC headphones.
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