Shokz OpenFit Air review: the new open-ear headphones, open to everything

The brand-new OpenFit Air Bluetooth headphones from Shokz are here, the successors to last year’s OpenFit. Besides technical improvements, the price has changed too: the OpenFit Air cost just a €139 recommended retail price (RRP) and are therefore €60 cheaper than the predecessor. At €139, they are an absolute no-brainer for me.

Design and charging case

The OpenFit Air come in white, pink, and black, which is the one I have. The fairly large charging case gives you the feeling of unwrapping a special piece of jewelry, more like a high-quality ring box. So be careful if you give them as a gift. With a shiny metallic element and a matte plastic housing, the earbuds look surprisingly stylish.

Comfort

The ear hook stands out. It is made of pleasantly flexible silicone and has a cutout, a hole, at the end. After a few minutes, you don’t feel it at all. Thanks to its teardrop-shaped cross-section, it doesn’t press anywhere on the outer ear.

The OpenFit Air have an open-ear design: they are not inserted into the ear canal but sit in the outer ear from the outside. Many open-ear headphones sit relatively loosely, but the slightly curved housing sits close to the ear and stable in the outer ear. That has many advantages: with in-ears, the ear canal starts to hurt after a while or sweat builds up, and some people can’t tolerate them at all and get a rash. That doesn’t happen here. From the front, you hardly notice them because they are flat. The speaker sits directly above the ear canal so the sound gets through and little is lost to the outside.

Controls

The touch areas on the outside are large enough. You don’t have to hunt for little buttons like on some expensive earbuds, which is especially good during workouts. In the app, you set what should happen when you double-tap or press and hold on the left and right. There are preset combinations for that. I would have liked to be able to choose more flexibly for left and right.

Sound

The sound quality surprised me. I like to listen to music and podcasts with bass-heavy, full sound. That is a challenge with an open-ear concept, and the OpenFit Air handle it with flying colors. For that, there is the Shokz OpenBass technology, which explicitly boosts the low frequencies. In the app, you choose between sound modes: I always use the boosted bass. I also like the speech mode when I want music more in the background while working. Here, the mid frequencies are raised and the sound becomes more even. A real equalizer would have been nice.

I’m not a sound expert, but the sound is definitely on the level of the Apple AirPods that you put in your ear. There is no active noise cancelling, which only works with in-ear or over-ear. But that is exactly one of the advantages of open-ear: you stay aware of your surroundings. I find that extremely pleasant, which is why I’m a big fan. I wear the OpenFit Air all day, while working or going for walks, and don’t have to constantly put them on and take them off.

Calls and connection

Thanks to the four microphones, the OpenFit Air are wonderful for calls and video conferences, and the people I talk to understand me clearly. You can pair them with several devices at the same time and switch seamlessly between a MacBook for video conferences and a Galaxy S24 Ultra for calls. It works the same way with tablets.

Battery

	OpenFit Air
Music on a single charge	up to 6 hours
Calls on a single charge	up to 4 hours
With charging case	28 hours of music, 20 hours of calls
Charging in the case	0 to 100% in one hour
Fast charging	10 minutes for 2 hours of music

Sports

Thanks to the ear hook, they sit securely, and nothing wobbles even when jogging. I would also be relaxed while mountain biking or doing downhill riding, though I do neither. You can even still hear the hikers angrily yelling after you. They are splash-resistant to IP54, and sweat and a bit of rain won’t bother them. You shouldn’t go swimming with them.

Verdict

The new OpenFit Air turned out really well. You can tell that Shokz put thought into wearing comfort. The sound is really good, they are excellent for calls, and they are perfect for all everyday situations. You can simply leave them on. On top of that, they look stylish and cost €139, so I personally don’t need to think about it for long. You can get them now in all the usual electronics stores and online, for example via Amazon.