Shokz OpenDots ONE: three weeks of comfort, battery life and a bulky case

I usually use headphones for music during my commute, occasional exercise, and discreet listening during meetings. I had always used in-ear headphones, but wearing them for too long made my ears feel swollen and itchy, so I started looking at open-ear headphones.

I bought these Shokz OpenDots ONE headphones last month and have used them for almost three weeks. Here are my real-world impressions.

Comfort: Does wearing them feel comfortable? This is what everyone cares about first.

Comfortable! Really comfortable!

I had previously tried a colleague’s clip-on headphones, and my ears hurt after 30 minutes. These are different: the “titanium loop” is flexible and can adapt to the shape of your ears. On my first day at work, I wore them for six hours straight, taking them off only while eating, and could not feel them at all. Several times I reached up to touch my ears because I thought I was not wearing headphones.

The especially great thing is that wearing glasses does not interfere with them at all. I switch between prescription glasses and sunglasses, and neither causes pressure. This is very friendly for people who wear glasses.

Battery life: It is genuinely excellent.

I saw an official claim of 10+ hours per charge and 40 hours with the case, so I tested it myself

• Two hours of commuting, one hour during my lunch break, plus listening to music while slacking off at work

• I used them for a full week before charging them once

The key point is that they support wireless charging. I can simply put the case on the wireless charging stand on my desk and pick it up whenever I need it.

Sound quality: How do they sound? This is from a non-professional perspective.

To be honest, they definitely cannot match in-ear headphones in the 1,000-yuan range, but they sound much better than I expected.

I used to think open-ear headphones were just small speakers playing sound outward, but the bass here is genuinely good. When I listened to Jay Chou’s “Sunny Day,” the drumbeats in the intro were very clear rather than dull and muffled. The biggest surprise was a live version by Mayday: it actually had a kind of immersive concert feel. I do not know whether that is because it supports Dolby.

As for sound leakage, I set the volume to 60% on the subway and asked the colleague sitting next to me whether he could hear anything. He said no. They were also fine in the office, so I did not embarrass myself.

Several situations where they really won me over

1. Listening to music while commuting and hearing station announcements: The advantage of open-ear headphones is that I can still hear the sounds around me, so I will not miss my stop again.
2. Running: They stay securely clipped on, do not fall off while running, and do not slip when I sweat.
3. Slacking off in the office: I can wear them during a work call, and my colleagues think I am concentrating on work when I am actually listening to music.
4. Listening to podcasts in bed at night: Lying on my side does not press on my ears, so it is comfortable.

The drawbacks should also be mentioned

• The price is fairly high: 1,298 is definitely not cheap, and I hesitated for a long time before buying them.

• The charging case is a little large: It is noticeably larger than an AirPods case, and it makes a noticeable bulge in a jeans pocket.

• I found that they provided essentially no noise cancellation. They are open-ear headphones, so anyone who wants active noise cancellation should look elsewhere.

To sum up

If you are like me

✅ In-ear headphones make your ears hurt

✅ You wear glasses

✅ You often commute or exercise

✅ You want headphones that are comfortable to wear and also sound good

Then I’d genuinely recommend going for these. They are expensive, but when you think about using them every day, wearing comfort matters most. After all, you only get one pair of ears.

By the way, the white version looks great. I bought the white one, and its matte finish is very easy on the eyes. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask in the comments.