AfterShokz is known for their lightweight awesome headsets for listening to music and audio while you exercise and compete, but now with the OpenComm bone conduction stereo Bluetooth headset, they’ve entered the office and home office market. And, you’re going to love them for it.
Water Resistant
The OpenComm is lightweight and you can wear it all day long – seriously. It packs 16 hours of talk time – but I honestly hope your work days aren’t 16 hours long. They are IP55 water-resistant, so go ahead and walk to Starbucks in the rain – they’re good. You might want a raincoat, but they’re fine.
Bone conduction technology
If you’ve never used an AfterShokz headset, you’ll be in for a surprise. Notice, there’s nothing sticking in your ear. “So how do you hear?” you ask. That’s the bone conduction feature I mentioned before. I could explain, but they do a better job hear – no – here.
Suffice it to say, it sounds awesome and it doesn’t block your ear canals from hearing an ambulance on the way to Starbucks. AfterShokz is on their 7th generation of sound technology, so they’ve got it nailed.
Bluetooth 5.0
I’ve had great luck using this headset where I need to get up from a Zoom meeting and go refill my coffee. My kitchen is more than 30′ away and I’ll still keep listening without a missed syllable.
Control buttons
Those orange buttons fulfill a number of functions. The one up front is the multifunction button – Play/Pause, next/previous song, answer/hang up and more. The two buttons marked + and – are used to power on, connect to Bluetooth, and volume up/down.
Maybe it’s just me, but I much prefer these tactile buttons to the touch controls on so many other Bluetooth headsets.
ANC technology
The other big feature of this headset is the Automatic Noise Cancellation function through the dual DSP noise-canceling mic. Without getting into the technology, the important takeaway is that your voice will cut through the noise in the background and sound perfectly intelligible to the person on the other end of the conversation.
Charging
The good news is that it only takes 60 minutes to get a full charge on your headset – which is 16 hours of talk time. The unfortunate situation is that they require the USB cable shipped with the headset. There is a somewhat unique magnetic connector that I’ve never seen anywhere before. So, don’t lose that cable, because all those mini, micro and USB-C cables won’t help you.
Learn more
MSRP is currently $159.95 or 4 interest-free installments of $39.99. Free Shipping & Free Returns. Two-Year warranty. Comes with a hardshell case and the charging cable you’ll need. See their website: https://aftershokz.com/us/products/opencomm