For the unfamiliar , allow ’s just get this out of the style : Yes , the Shokz OpenSwim Pro are headphones to utilize while swimming . For the slightly more familiar : These arebone - conduction headphonesthat are great for being used in body of water .
And for those who already spend tidy sum of metre doing laps and own the original OpenSwim and want to know what this “ Pro ” business is all about ? These upgrades think of you’re able to now stream audio from your usual cyclosis music or podcast app while you ’re out of the water system .
That ’s the brusque version . Here comes the retentive version .
What’s new
The OpenSwim Pro ( which launch at the same time as theOpenFit Air ) chassis on the original OpenSwim . And as the name implies , they ’re still meant to be used while swimming . They keep the same around - the - head design ( which create sensation because you still want that extra constancy ) , but they ’ve gained a earthly concern of functionality .
See , Bluetooth headphones do n’t really work in urine . Because water . So the original OpenSwim were specify to just playing back local music file . If you ’re of a certain eld , you ’ll recall that in the era before thestreaming medicine apps , we had to rip CDs and manage our own euphony file topically on our computers . In folders . ( And we absolutely worried about thing like right of first publication , prod nudge , trice wink . ) The first iPods were essentially the same , too .
Nowadays , using MP3 file cabinet is a fairly rarefied thing . But if you require to habituate the OpenSwim line as designed , in weewee , it ’s what you ’ll have to do . The only arduous part is actually finding effectual music data file to download and move around as you see fit . It ’s not impossible — just not something you may do onSpotify or Apple Music , ya have a go at it ? But once you have your files , it ’s just a subject of plugging the OpenSwim Pro into a calculator , where they ’re pick out like any other external drive . replicate over your music , quality Swim mode in the Shokz app or via the button on the headphones , and you ’re good to go .
raw this fourth dimension is an old feature article called Bluetooth that was n’t usable in the original OpenSwim . So now you’re able to flip back and forth whether you ’re in the pool or on dry land . There ’s a toggle in the app for that , and you’re able to delegate that to a button on the OpenSwim Pro . ( And they ’ll also synchronise to two machine at once viaBluetooth multipoint , if that ’s authoritative to you . )
Not to put too fine a point on it , but we ’ll put the functionality in bullet point here so there ’s no discombobulation :
Time to get wet
The idea of listening to music while swim is still jolly novel to me — I ’m not a lap covering kind of guy . But I by all odds understand wanting to have something to listen to while you ’re doing one duration of the pool after another .
Before you get in the water , you ’ll probably note that the sound coming out of these thing is n’t all that great . There ’s not a ton of bass whether you ’re rain cats and dogs things with Bluetooth or if you flip over to the local style for swimming . That ’s fairly standard for this form of bone - conduction gadget — everything ’s pretty punk . And broadly speaking address , I ’m fine with that because I ’m probably go to be using these while I ’m exercising . If audio quality is that important , check out the Shokz OpenFit alternatively .
But water system is a magical thing . Once you ’ve convey your cheek indicate at the surface and the sound starts to flow through that H20 — and remember to flip over to local euphony playback first — you ’re suddenly recognize by a surprising amount of bass . piddle send sound more cursorily than line , of course . But I was enjoyably surprised at how well the OpenSwim Pro are tunedfor use while swimming . perhaps that should n’t be a surprisal — that ’s what they ’re meant for , after all . But the remainder issue was amazingly good .
The functionality , by the way , is buoyed by anIP68 waterproof ratingthat should keep things secure up to 2 meters for two hours . The mics also have a “ breathable ” tissue layer that should keep you understandable , but the fine photographic print still warns that weirdness may bechance at some point , because we ’re still dealing with electronics and water .
The app, and other things …
Controls on the OpenSwim Pro are pretty much identical to those of other bone - conductivity options that come before them . There ’s a declamatory clit on the left - hand seedpod that sits just above your auricle , and two buttons on the right - hand fore that sit down below your spike . Those buttons serve as combining power / book buttons . But note that the controls are customizable in the Shokz app . The large button on the left can trigger a voice supporter or switch from Bluetooth to MP3 mode , and the same can be done with the clit on the right field , configured as a longsighted press of both of them together . ( Individually , they attend to as power and volume . )
There ’s no chemical mechanism to skip forward or back , so you ’ll take to do a little preplanning as far as playlists are concerned . That ’s even more true when it come to MP3 playback mode — it ’s sort of like the bad old days when we ’d burn MP3 standard candle to use in cars . MP3 style does allow you to choose between “ normal ” or square - through playback , shuffle , or repeat .
You do n’t get much in the way of EQ options , but the app is where you’re able to flip between music or vocals in Bluetooth mode , and standard or swimming EQ modes for MP3 playback . However , if EQ is a self-aggrandizing bargain to you and you want to improve the sound as much as possible , in Bluetooth mode , if your well out app has work up - in EQ fitting capabilities ( Spotify , Apple Music , and Amazon Music do , for example ) , you’re able to improve matter pretty .
Battery spirit is rated at 9 hours in Bluetooth modality , and 6 hours in local MP3 mode . Both of those should be more than passable , and 10 minutes on the charismatic charger should get you about three more hr of playback .
Other tech glasses of note : There ’s 32 GB of onboard repositing for all those MP3s , which is kind of a silly amount . ( Shokz puts it at about 8,000 4 MB files . ) And you ’ll be using Bluetooth 5.4 on that side of things .
Should you buy them?
If you have n’t see it out by now , the Shokz OpenSwim Pro are ecological niche headphones . They ’re dead the sort of thing I ’d buy if I were to spend hour doing laps in a pool . Or if I were a triathlete . I do neither of those things .
They ’ll do on the button what they say they ’ll do , and they do it well . They ’re not everyday phone .
But that ecological niche status also mean a higher price at $ 180 . These wo n’t be for effortless natator , but then again , they ’re not presuppose to be .
