OneOdio OpenRock Pro Wireless OpenEar Air Conduction Earbuds

OneOdio's OpenRock Pro Wireless OpenEar Air Conduction Earbuds are great for leaving you able to hear what's going on around you; however, if it's particularly loud, they're not quite powerful enough to avoid being drowned out. Neither the buds nor the charging case are exactly tiny either, but the sound quality is surprisingly good – and they last really well.

In the box, you get a manual, a USB-C charging cable, the headphones themselves and a charging case. Neither of these last two are particularly small, but then you do get great battery life.

> Buy the OpenRock Pro Earbuds from OneOdio for £118

Although the headphones are big-ish, they are not heavy and because they don't go into the ear canal, they are very comfortable to wear. They can be tweaked a bit for fit, though more to stop them falling off your ears rather than getting them closer in. Despite initial expectations, them falling off is not an issue.

Pairing is straightforward too, and just worked on the variety of devices I tried.

OpenOdio says the OpenRock Pros are rated to IPX5, which is fine for this kind of device. Google suggests it's 'Considered water-resistant, sweatproof, rainproof, or splashproof but not as fully waterproof.'

Sound

The sound quality is a pleasant surprise. For an over-ear design at this price they punch well above their weight, with a surprisingly good level of bass for what they are.

This design's main advantage, however, is also its main disadvantage: On the one hand, by leaving your earholes unbunged they don't block out environmental sounds that many consider vital to staying safe while cycling. They're also a bit more sociable for home use.

On the other hand, those ambient sounds can seriously compete for volume, and these don't always quite have the oomph to win. I found these okay for Zwifting with a loud cooling fan on, but in heavy traffic or with wind noise above around 35kph, I found myself not being able to follow a podcast or hear all of the music.

Charging and battery

OneOdio claims up to 19 hours for the headphones on one charge, and up to 46 hours while using the charging case. I've been using these for about a month now and have only charged the case once.

Charging is quick, using the supplied USB-C cable. Full charge takes around 90 minutes, but if you're in a hurry, just five minutes will give you an hour of playtime.

Press the little button on the bottom of the case and an LED indicates charge level: over 50% and the LED is green, 21-50% is orange, and 11-20% is red. Below 10% the LED will flash red five times.

Value

At £118 these are not the cheapest headphones, but against other open-ear or bone-conducting headphones we've reviewed, the price is not unreasonable.

The Mojawe Mojo1 wireless bone conduction headphones are close at £129.99, and Shokz OpenRun Pro headphones cost more at £159.95; both suffer from wind noise (or more accurately, don't stop your ears from suffering it).

Oladance's Open Ear Headphones are significantly more expensive at £199.99 and don't come with a battery in the charging case.

Of course you don't have to spend that kind of money on earphones; the JLab Go Air Sport True Wireless Earbuds cost £39.99 and Stu enjoyed using them, though they do go in your ears and block external sound.

Overall

I like these. They are comfortable, battery life is great and the sound quality is good too. Both the headphones and charging case are bigger than some, but if that's not an issue for you – but being able to hear traffic is – these are great.

Verdict

Great open-ear headphones with a long battery life, but can get drowned out if it's really noisy