Shokz OpenMeet: Bone-sound lightweight for the office
Shokz is presenting a 78 gram office headset that promises particularly long wearing comfort and the OpenFit open-ear headphones are getting a successor.
It leaves the ears free and weighs just 78 grams: Shokz is presenting an office headset at the CES in Las Vegas that promises particularly long-wearing comfort. The manufacturer has also refreshed its open-ear headphones.
For the OpenMeet headset, Shokz combines sound transmission via bone conduction with conventional air conduction drivers, as used in the open-ear headphones that hang in front of the ear canal. As with its sister model, the OpenRun Pro 2, the bone conduction transducers are responsible for reproducing the highs and mids, while the conventional drivers take care of the bass. This is intended to eliminate the weakness of bone sound transmission at low frequencies.
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The sound drivers rest on the cheekbone in front of the ears so that the ear remains completely free. During phone calls, two microphones in the microphone arm ensure that as little ambient noise as possible is transmitted to the other person. The OpenMeet connects via Bluetooth or optionally in the UC version (Unified Communication) via a pre-coupled dongle. Shokz advertises the headset with a battery life of up to 15 hours. Five minutes of charging should provide a further two hours of battery life. Shokz has not yet provided any information on German prices; in the USA, the standard version will cost 219 US dollars and the UC version 249 US dollars.
At the same time, Shokz presented the successor to the OpenFit open-ear headphones. The first model was one of the first examples of the new genre of open-ear headphones, which celebrated their breakthrough at CES 2024. As with bone conduction headphones, the ear remains free, but the sound is transmitted via conventional air conduction drivers that hang in front of the ear canal. The main innovation of the new model: Shokz claims to have improved the bass in particular. The OpenFit 2 also underlines low frequencies with vibration. The first version of the OpenRun bone conduction headphones also vibrated when bass was played, but we found this rather annoying in the test.
Unlike the first version, physical buttons control phone calls and media playback, which should reduce operating errors compared to touch surfaces. The OpenFit 2 is not waterproof, but is protected against splash water in accordance with IP55. Shokz will be selling the OpenFit 2 from summer for 190 euros.
Heise Medien is the official media partner of CES 2025.
(rbr)
