Shokz OpenDots 2 and OpenDots Air: What can the new clip-on earbuds do?

Shokz is releasing two new clip-on earbuds: the OpenDots 2 for €199 and the cheaper OpenDots Air for €139. Here is the comparison with my opinion and a clear buying recommendation. Shokz has sold over 20 million devices and holds more than 5,800 patents, so you can assume they know what they are doing.

The concept: clip-on, nothing in your ear

The earbuds clip onto your earlobe. Nothing sits in the ear, it sits on the ear, and the ear stays open. You listen to music or podcasts and still hear the doorbell, traffic and conversations. You can wear them for hours and at some point forget they are there. I wear headphones all day, while editing videos, for podcasts, while making calls and for voice messages. They have to be very comfortable for that, and the OpenDots deliver.

Shokz OpenDots 2 (€199 RRP)

Case and design: High-quality build, smooth surface, a pairing button and USB-C on the side. The earbuds sit firmly in the case with magnets. There are three colors: Pearl White with gold accents, Gray and Black.

Comfort: At only 6.4 g per earbud, you practically do not feel them. The band is called Joint Arc and consists of a flexible nickel-titanium plate that adapts to any ear shape. There is no left and right, the earbuds recognize the ear automatically. Wear detection pauses the music when you take them off and resumes it when you put them on.

Sound: With open-ear headphones, bass has been a problem so far, because the low end dissipates without a seal in the ear. Shokz relies on three technologies:

1. Bass technology: Each earbud has two 11.8 mm drivers working in a spherical acoustic chamber. Together they deliver the performance of a 16 mm driver. A newly developed diaphragm gives the OpenDots 2 around 70% less distortion, even at high volume.
2. Mirror Pitch: The sound is reflected into the ear in a targeted way, like light in a mirror. This brings more bass, more volume and less energy loss.
3. Direct Pitch for privacy: The earbud sends an out-of-phase sound wave outward that cancels out the escaping sound. If you want even more privacy, you activate the private mode in the Shokz app.

In the test, I played music loud and with lots of bass and held the microphone next to my ear, like a seatmate on the bus. Without private mode, something is audible. With private mode, you hear nothing even very close. On top of that comes Dolby Audio with spatial sound and clear voices. For open-ear, I find that impressive. There are four EQ modes: Standard, Bass, Vocal and Private, or you build your own mode in the app. As for codecs, there is only AAC and SBC, no aptX and no LDAC.

Calls: Each earbud has two air conduction microphones and a bone conduction microphone, which senses the vibration of your jaw and filters your voice out of the ambient noise. On top of that come AI noise reduction and adaptive beamforming. Even in a loud café, your voice comes through clearly.

Battery: 10 hours of music per charge, 40 hours with the case. Five minutes of fast charging are enough for two hours of music. Not yet a given in the open-ear segment: the case charges wirelessly on a pad.

Controls: Press and tap, and every gesture can be freely assigned per ear in the app. For me, pressing on the left starts and stops playback, and on the right it skips to the next track. A new force sensor ignores accidental touches, for example when putting on glasses or brushing your hair back.

Connection and protection: Bluetooth 6.1 with a stable connection up to 10 m. Multipoint for two devices at the same time. With the Google Find Hub app, you can trigger a ringtone or show the last location. The earbuds are dust- and water-resistant according to IP57, so sweat, rain and workouts are no problem. Swimming and showering are not possible. The case is IP54.

Shokz OpenDots Air (€139 RRP)

The Air are €60 cheaper and come in two colors, Morning Purple and Black. The purple is something different from the usual white, gray or black.

Where they save:

• no Dolby Audio and no Mirror Pitch
• the same 11.8 mm drivers in the spherical chamber, but without the newly developed diaphragm. I find the sound of the OpenDots 2 slightly clearer, but the Air’s is really good. Without a direct comparison, you do not necessarily notice the difference.
• only two air conduction microphones, no bone conduction microphone. Slightly noticeable for the other person on calls in noisy places
• no wireless charging
• 9 instead of 10 hours of battery, 36 instead of 40 hours with the case
• fast charging: 10 instead of 5 minutes for two hours of music

Where there are no compromises: the same Bluetooth 6.1, the same force sensor, multipoint for two devices, four EQ modes, Direct Pitch and AI noise reduction on calls. Despite the name, the Air are not lighter, they weigh 6.3 g instead of 6.4 g.

Comparison at a glance

	OpenDots 2	OpenDots Air
RRP	€199	€139
Weight per earbud	6.4 g	6.3 g
Dolby Audio	yes	no
Microphones	2 air conduction plus bone conduction	2 air conduction
Battery (earbuds / with case)	10 h / 40 h	9 h / 36 h
Wireless charging	yes	no
Fast charging	5 min for 2 h	10 min for 2 h

Which model is worth it for whom?

OpenDots 2, if you want the best possible sound, make lots of calls, are often in loud environments like an open-plan office, want to simply place the earbuds on a pad, or sweat a lot during sports.

OpenDots Air, if you mainly listen to music and only make calls occasionally, have no problem charging with a cable and would rather invest the €60 elsewhere. For me, the Air are not a consolation prize but offer about 90% of the OpenDots 2 at a much better price. The links to both models are in the video description.