Aftershokz Air Bone Conduction Wireless Bluetooth Headphones with Reflective Strips, Slate Grey

EDIT 11/1/2019: I was looking at my profile and noticed this old review and realized I needed to update it.I did eventually get my hands on a working set of actual Airs (I believe I wound up just ordering directly from the company to get exactly what I wanted). They have been awesome, the sound quality is great for bone-conducting headphones and the battery lasts a good long while. I enjoy being able to control the volume, pause the audio, or skip to the next track from the headphone buttones themselves rather than digging the phone out of my pocket. If I lost or broke these, I wouldn't hesitate to order another pair immediately!I will say the call quality as a phone headset leaves something to be desired, but that is not why I ordered them, and I would definitely recommend it not be why you order them either. It's nice to be able to use them for that purpose rather than dig your phone out to answer a call during a run or while bicycling, but it's a compromise solution at best.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I've had Trekz Titaniums for over a year and a half now, I wore them when I ran or rode my mountain bike. Great headphones, I've really enjoyed them. The sound isn't perfect, but that is the sacrifice I gladly made to be able to hear car traffic or bicycles overtaking me when running on trails. However, I recently finished a run, wiped down my Titaniums and tossed them on my passenger seat. Sometime between then and when I grabbed them that evening to take them in to charge, the band right behind one of the earpieces cracked, leaving that speaker kind of floppy. I have no idea how, I assume it got wedged in the crevice of the seat and I set something on them. It was definitely my fault, because they weren't cracked when I took them off.So, bummed, I came to Amazon (where I got the first pair) to order another. Upon searching them up, I see that Trekz has a new design called the AIR that they claim are not only lighter and sturdier but sound better as well! Now, the weight of the Titaniums had never really bothered me, but lighter is better when it's hanging from your head. And while the sound quality wasn't terrible, it could definitely be better. But the biggest reason I decided to go with the $50 more expensive AIRs is that they claimed to be sturdier, with a titanium band all the way around. That seemed like a great idea to me, considering why I was back in the market for headphones.So, after determining that the standard Airs were out of stock for weeks apparently, I went ahead and ordered this pair with some goofy reflective tape I absolutely do not care about for an extra $10.They duly arrived two days later and I eagerly took them out of the box (side note: the packaging is a little much, AfterShokz). They are definitely lighter and lower profile than the Titaniums I was replacing, yet felt fairly sturdy. I plugged them in and fully charged them before pairing them with my phone. After charging and pairing (which was as easy as could be) I popped them on to see how they sounded.Initially, I was quite impressed with the sound. They definitely seemed an improvement over the Titaniums. You're never going to get good in-ear earbud quality from bone-conducting headphones, so get that idea out of your head. You are sacrificing some sound fidelity to get the sound through your skull rather than blocking your ear canals, so you can still hear what's going on around you. Nevertheless, I was happy.Then, I switched over to some jazz with a little bass and noticed that the right speaker was buzzing terribly with the bassline. I pulled it away from my ear, and the left side sounded great. Put the right back on my head and it sounded like a blown $5 speaker from a blue-light special. I switched the equalizer setting, which seems to pull most of the bass out, but it still buzzed and now neither speaker sounded very good.So, now bummed that I have received a defective pair, I package them back up, request the return with Amazon and print off the shipping label. However, I am impressed enough with the one good speaker that I decide to go ahead and order another pair right away, so that I will have them by the weekend. I trust Amazon isn't going to screw me over on the return so I just purchased another pair rather than waiting for the return credit.Two days later, on Friday, I receive my 2nd pair. I open the Amazon box and immediately realize that I am looking at a pair of Trekz Titaniums, just like the pair I broke. I am initially cross with myself, thinking I must have somehow ordered the wrong thing. But then I remembered clicking the "Order again" button from my AIR order. So I log in to Amazon and sure enough, I did order the same exact Trekz Air headphones that I'd received the first time. Only this time, I'd received a pair of Titaniums, which sell for $50 less than I was charged!Wondering how this could have happened, I look all over the box for an inventory sticker, and found it stuck to the plastic shrinkwrap (which I had thankfully not immediately ripped off of the box before realizing it was the wrong product). Right there on the paper inventory sticker, it said "Trekz Air" headphones. Ironically, the sticker was placed over the bar code on the actual product box, but didn't cover where the box says "Trekz Titanium". See the attached photo, assuming I uploaded it correctly. Somehow, they've labeled their Titanium inventory with the stickers meant for the Air headphones. OOPS!I looked at the shipping label on the Amazon box, and it says "AfterShokz" above the return address. But, it's the same return address in Lexington, KY that the first box had, and that one says Amazon Fulfillment. So I don't know who screwed up the inventory stickers, but if you order a pair of these, you better make sure you get what you paid for, and not a pair of Titaniums that should have cost 2/3 the price!So, now I am shipping back two pairs of headphones, one defective and the other not even what I ordered, and I still don't have a pair to wear - or do I? Turns out duct tape was sufficient to temporarily fix the old Titaniums for now, so I've still got tunes for the trail. Nevertheless, I intend to order YET ANOTHER set of Airs, because the sound out of the left speaker of the first pair really did sound nice, and they were incredibly light.If I ever get a fully working pair of actual Air headphones, I'll update my review with my thoughts on how they actually sound in stereo!

I've had many different earphones, earbuds, and headsets over the years and these are the best for what I wanted.While I was an over the road truck driver I went through 5 different sets of headphones until a fellow driver recommended these. The primary thing that I use them for is phone conversations and listening to audio books but do also listen to music. I've got a slight hearing deficiency and have tinnitus quite bad so trying to make out words is sometimes difficult especially if there is background noise.Things that I like about them:They don't cover your ears so you can still hear everything that's going on around you. Since the sound is transmitted directly to your Cochlea so it's almost like another "channel" that you're hearing. Very weird but it really works! And, I don't have to have the volume as high as I did with other headphones. I can hear the sounds better/clearer and background noise doesn't interfere. In fact, I can still pay attention to the other sounds while not loosing what's coming from the headphones. Another benefit is that's a crucial safety concern when driving!Having tinnitus is a very annoying pain it the #$$. I can hear the ringing in my ears almost constantly. One thing about these headphones is that while listening to music I don't seem to notice my tinnitus! It's not gone, it's just unnoticed. It's not the same as with in ear or over ear headphones. Again, I think that is because the sound/vibrations are bypassing the eardrum and going straight to the Cochlea. (I don't mean to say that these headphones cure tinnitus! They don't! They just seem to distract from it. At least for me.)I do a lot of ATV riding and while doing that I like to listen to music. With these I can do that and leave them in place when I stop to talk to other riders not having to remove earbuds, etc. I just turn the volume lower and can have a normal conversation. While riding at higher speed I do have to turn them up all the way but can still hear the music just fine. Having them at full volume is a little annoying as the vibrations are pretty intense so I don't leave them up that high too long. Oh, and listening to music,,, I can now make out some lyrics that I've missed in the past!Lastly, wearing them is extremely comfortable! At least for me it is. Very light and I don't get sweaty from them. The only thing I notice sometimes after wearing them for several hours is a slight discomfort on the tops of my ears.What's not to like:If you're an audiophile, these probably aren't for you if you're going do be doing any "serious" listening. Don't get me wrong, the sound quality is good, it's just not "perfect". For someone who is very critical and wants top notch sound quality, I really don't think you're going to get that with any bone conductive headphones...The sound quality of phone conversations is excellent on the wearer's end but mediocre on the receiving end. My wife and daughter also have these so I've heard them when they're using them and it's not bad, but it's just not great.Bottom line:I love these and have recommended them to several family members and friends and haven't had anyone that I've recommended them to come back with anything negative to say!