SHOKZOpenSwim Pro - Open-Ear Bluetooth Headphones & 32GB MP3 Player, IP68 Waterproof, Bone Conduction Headphones, Secure Fit for Workouts, Running and Swimming, Built-in Microphone, App, RedCarbonfree Certified

These are a product that I'm shocked (no pun intended) at how much they have changed the game for swimming (and other activities). For background, I'm no expert swimmer, but am an Ironman triathlete (completed 4 full length). These have changed my entire outlook on training. Fairly easy to setup. Charge, familiarize yourself with the controls, and get used to the feeling on headphones not in your ear.Swimming: Absolute game changer. Make sure you change the setting to MP3 setting, bluetooth doesn't work underwater. You can download the app and connect to your phone, but I would recommend knowing the button controls. Once you dial in the swim settings, side load MP3s, get into a comfortable position, it's absolute magic. Some of the reviews mention can't hear out of water - settings must be off, bluetooth must be on, something is wrong. AGAIN - MP3 mode, swim EQ mode, and your are golden. I have swam 6000 meters over the last 2 weeks, and listening to music flawlessly. Even between sets. Freestyle, other strokes, pool, open water. Barely tell they are on, no discomfort with goggles, cap, etc.Running/Cycling:-Again, make sure mode is back out of swim EQ mode, and the sound quality is better. Hitting 30MPH on the bike you will experience some wind noise, but still better then one headphone (I previously used one right ear air pod or one wired apple headphone as the AirPods would come lose or die on long rides). These eliminate all that stress with better sound quality 90% of the time.-Make sure back into bluetooth mode and you can stream anything from phone.Some quirks that were basically only annoying:-The controls aren't the same for each Shokz model. When searching online be careful to learn the controls for FF, Rew, skip song, etc. Some trial and error and using I'm now familiar.-The charge and data transfer cable is proprietary. I got some Shokz 710 to usb adapters so I'm not out of luck when traveling or can't find the proprietary cable.-Sideloading MP3s for non-bluetooth mode is kind of annoying, which I knew it was going to be but it's not entirely clear. We are heavy spotify and Amazon music users. We have thousands of songs in our libraries, but those songs can only be downloaded if the song or album is actually purchased (OUTSIDE OF THE MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION). Turns out only 300 of our 10K songs were purchased over the years, which highly limits what can be downloaded and trasnferred for MP3/Swim mode. There are some hacky ways to convert podcasts to MP3s, etc. but it's not super easy.-The battery life isn't quite as great as the Open Pro 2 that my wife as , but it's sufficient. The charger on those is USB C as well, which I'm sure the next generation of will convert to.If you are on the fence, figure out the purchasing of MP3s and these work well for swimming. If you won't use for swimming get the non open swim version with USB C charging. If you ever will swim with these or will do any training in the pool - ABSOLUTE GAME CHANGER.

Love these for exercising outdoors and still being able to be aware of surroundings. My husband uses his when swimming laps and says the sound quality is good, but it doesn't always maintain a good Bluetooth connection when under water. I feel like they are a little big, the mini fits my head/neck better. I find they generally have good sound quality except when I am somewhere with lots of ambiemt/background noise (like on a airplane). Sound quality is good for taking calls. Way more comfortable to wear than earbuds. The battery really lasts and charges pretty quickly.

These are probably overkill for me, but I absolutely love them! I bought them to use for work meetings, and they work seamlessly with Team and Zoom calls. My old headsets were either too uncomfortable for all day meetings, or too bulky for traveling. These can stay on all day without any discomfort!I also use them to listen to music or audio books around the house. I love that I can still hear what's going on around me in case my baby cries.

These are a must working in industrial environments. practically indestructible, can handle repeated drops no problem, water proof. Since these work by bone conduction, I can wear these and ear plugs at the same time. When you pair them with earplugs they do get much louder and are slightly muffled, they sound very good without earplugs. This combo lets me protect my hearing, and listen to tunes and hear notifications and calls. Absolutely superb. Fits well with ppe like hardhats and safety glasses. Fitting it in with a respirator is tricky but doable. The volume buttons are a little small for use with gloves. The battery easily lasts a full shift. I like the magnetic charger.

Update 2Explained the issues since the headphones were under warranty. They did not even require me to send them old ones to them. Right after contact they emailed me to let me know a new pair was on there way. They arrived and jane worked great. They still need to provide playlist capability, though.UPDATE:I have to downgrade my review because the software disappointment has turned into software bugs that have made the device useless in less than a year.I try not to overreact and understand that bugs occur, but there have been signs of connection issues with these for a while. I am no stranger to bluetooth connection issues, so when issues occurred with these, I usually just endured them since they were mostly an annoyance. One minor annoyance is that these seem to turn on by themselves. I will consciously turn them off to conserve battery. Later, listening through another pair of headphones, the sound suddenly cut out. When I checked bluetooth, the shokz had somehow turned on and connected, diverting the sound. This frequently happens in my pocket as well, but that may occasionally be an accidental button press. This can lead to an unexpected dead battery when I need to use them. But there were much more concerning issues.The first hint of a bigger problem was on a trip for work. Had the headphones on. Turned them off and left them on the charging cord while I had dinner. Upon return, they were flashing as if to pair. I could not get them to pair. I could not get them turn off. I could not get them to play music. I tried every possible button combination for different amounts of time and nothing would happen. They just continued to flash in silence until the battery died. Placed them on the charger the next day, they charged up and turned on as if nothing happened.Things were fine for a few weeks when a similar event occurred. I once again let them flash until they died, charged, and they seemed to turn on again. After a single use, I decided to change some of the files (they still do not have any playlist or decent music organization software on the app). When I attached the headphones to the computer, it did not seem to register. The PC did not acknowledge the headphones were connected. The headphones did not have a charging light. I could not access the files. Over time I did multiple resets, tried multiple cords, and tried multiple computers. I managed to get them to connect via bluetooth and played music from my phone. They phone said the headphones were connected, as did the Shokz app. Yet no sound would play. These are now useless trash less than a year after spending $200 on them. I have an expensive set of Bose headphones that I've had for 10 years that work excellent, connect when I want, and never give me problems other than replacing padding due to wear and tear. The fact that a much newer product feels so haphazard and janky is a stark contrast. I wanted to enjoy these so much and began by sharing how much better they made my swim sessions when I first got them, but now find myself warning some of the same people off trying them based on my experience.------Original Review----------These work well and I have used them extensively because swimming is my primary form of cardio.The 3 star rating is because the app and setup leave a lot to be desired. There are several things missing that I would expect to be basics on a brand name item like this.1) The lack of an ability to create playlists when using the built in storage is a major drawback. Even my cloud storage app- which is just a massive cloud-based hard drive- has a built in playlist function for music that you may choose to backup. The fact that the app for headphones doesn’t is perplexing.2) In some ways related to 1, you cannot rearrange the order of songs. Even without a playlist, I attempted to change file names using numbers so I could order tracks. It always plays in the order they were added regardless of file names. To change the order, you must offload every track and replace them 1 at a time in the new order.3) I wish there was a way to add songs wirelessly when connected to wifi. The process is fairly easy with the cable, but if I don’t have the cable with me, I’m stuck with whatever is on the device.The headphones are durable. They have appropriate battery life and generous storage. The preset states for swimming are well-engineered to give clear sound underwater and they did a great job with that.I’m happy with the purchase. However, I paid more than they currently cost and that also is affecting my score. Many competitors have come out with much cheaper options, so for my experience, that hurts them in the overall value.I recommend getting a spare cord from their website. The cost is reasonable and the charging/data cable is proprietary, so other cords will not work. I keep one at home and the other goes with me for charging and changing the data.