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OpenRock S: One minute assessment
Audio model OneOdio is again with its second-gen air conduction headphones – the OpenRock S are extra reasonably priced and longer-lasting than their predecessors the OpenRock Pro, however embrace fairly a couple of additional options that sadly don’t work too effectively.
Air conduction is a tech supposed to allow you to take heed to music whereas exercising with out impacting your consciousness of your environment, and it options closely in our information to the best open earbuds (typically referred to as the perfect open ear headphones). Whereas the AirPods Pro 2 have Transparency Mode to deliberately enhance the sounds of your environment and Shokz has its bone conduction, OneOdio’s answer is to dangle a mini speaker over your ear, so it’s not blocking out all of your surrounding noises however as a substitute traversing a little bit of open area and nonetheless getting the job carried out.
Whereas air conduction hasn’t traditionally leant itself to incredible audio constancy, the characteristic works for its supposed objective, and you may take pleasure in music whereas additionally being conscious of automobiles, folks, aggressive canines or different hazards. Too conscious, maybe, as one of many S’ large issues is that its max quantity is simply too low. A lot of the time throughout my testing, music was all however drowned out by noises similar to vehicles, treadmills or, as my parkrun testing will attest, the sounds of different runners!
That’s doubly true in the event you’re driving a motorbike or someplace windy, because the sounds of gusts of wind dashing previous your ears will all however drown out your tunes.
If you will get round this quantity subject (if maybe you hear throughout a yoga class, say), then you definitely might be impressed by the OpenRock S. Like their predecessors, the OpenRock Professional, they’ve an extremely comfy match that retains them safe in your ear; they’re light-weight too, and it’s straightforward to neglect you’re carrying them.
Plus, the battery life right here is totally unbelievable. You may take heed to music for 19 hours continuous earlier than you should cost the earbuds, and if you issue within the cost of the carry case itself, that quantity goes up all the way in which to 60 hours. You’d be hard-pressed to discover a rival sports activities earbud that comes even near that determine.
These are among the most reasonably priced sports activities earbuds too, costing roughly half the value of among the best-known rivals from the likes of Shokz. An incredible choose for folks on a price range.
As you’ll be able to inform from that description, these are some stable sports activities earbuds at coronary heart. OneOdio has added fairly a couple of options which don’t work too effectively – the contact controls carry out poorly and the EQ modes appear to have little impact in any respect – however in the event you can ignore these, the OpenRock S are first rate buds for health followers.
OpenRock S assessment: Specs
|
Element |
Worth |
|
Water-proof |
IPX5 |
|
Battery life |
19 hours (earbuds), 60 hours (whole) |
|
Bluetooth kind |
Bluetooth 5.3 |
|
Weight |
12g / Charging case: 132g |
|
Frequency response |
20Hz-40Hz |
OpenRock S assessment: Worth and availability
- Introduced and launched in October 2023
- Value $99 / £89 (roughly $150)
- A few of the most buds with this sort of tech
The OpenRock S was introduced in mid-October 2023 as the most recent entry to OneOdio’s line-up of over-ear sports activities headphones.
You’ll pay simply $99 / £89 (roughly $150) for them, which is a aggressive value in comparison with rivals inside and with out of the corporate. That is the value that OneOdio introduced them for, and that they’re promoting for, however Amazon US lists this as a reduced value down from $129. So far as we are able to inform, they’ve by no means truly bought for this value.
At this value, the S undercuts OneOdio’s personal earlier entry into the working earbuds area, the OpenRock Pro, which value $119/£119 (round AU$185). For essentially the most half, these are extra premium, although in some areas (like battery life) the S is the higher purchase.
Most rivals value extra, just like the Shokz Openfit which sells for $179.95 / £179.99 / AU$289. So you might effectively think about these price range choices in the event you’re searching for air conduction earbuds, although in fact, you should buy health earbuds for less expensive in the event you don’t want this tech.
OpenRock S assessment: Design
- Stable and lightweight earbuds construct
- Temperamental contact controls
- Carry case is large, cumbersome and heavy
There are two points to the OpenRock S’ design: the earbuds themselves and the carry case.
I’ll contact briefly on the carry case as a result of you’ll be able to’t miss it: it’s a giant sturdy plastic shell that expenses the buds and retains them secure if you’re not utilizing them. Nevertheless, it’s fairly lengthy and vast, so it could not slip into your backpack’s aspect pocket like most different buds’ charging circumstances will.
Now the buds: these are very comfy. They’re light-weight at simply 12g every, and have the hooked design frequent in sports activities earbuds meaning they keep lodged in your ears whether or not you’re on a mountain bike or working round on an uneven floor.
The most effective testomony to the design is to level out that not as soon as throughout testing did they fall out. I’ll say, although, that the OpenRock Professional did really feel much more sturdy on the ear, because of a tighter grip.
Ostensibly there are contact controls on the buds, however in testing these not often labored reliably. You’re meant to have the ability to faucet the OpenRock brand on the buds to regulate your music or calls, however I discovered it typically failed to choose up touches. That was doubly the case if my arms had been damp from rain or sweat, and I might generally find yourself simply hammering at my ears attempting to cease a observe. I discovered it a lot simpler to only use the paired telephone to vary tracks or hold up a name.
The OpenRock buds are IPX5 water-resistant, which in principle means they’re protected against water jets and low-pressure streams. They’re definitely sweat-proof, which is an important factor, however I wouldn’t advocate utilizing them in heavy rain in the event you’re hoping to make use of the contact controls.
OpenRock S assessment: Options
- Air conduction makes certain you’ll be able to hear your environment
- Presumably the perfect stamina in the marketplace
- EQ modes have little influence
As was talked about within the introduction, the OpenRock S are air-conduction earbuds. Because of this a speaker on the bud hovers over your ear canal and ‘initiatives’ the music in – the entire level is which you could put on these and likewise hear surrounding sound, good for in the event you’re on a street or some place else the place consciousness is vital.
For this objective, the OpenRock S works rather well – I may hear my music whereas additionally having situational consciousness. The principle subject could be that that is typically an excessive amount of the case – generally I couldn’t truly hear music, for causes I’ll get into within the ‘Efficiency’ part.
There’s additionally pretty little audio spilling, so folks round you aren’t going to listen to you figuring out to an hour-long loop of Mambo No. 5 (except you sing alongside, in fact).
The most effective characteristic of the OpenRock Professional is again and even higher for the S, and that’s the battery life. The Professional model of those sports activities headphones had unbelievable lasting energy however OneOdio has turned that as much as 11 for the OpenRock S.
The OpenRock S buds final for 19 hours straight of music or calls, however if you issue within the battery within the case, you will get a whopping 60 hours of use time earlier than you should energy them again up. That’s an incomprehensibly lengthy battery life when you think about that many sports activities headphones solely final for 10 hours or much less earlier than needing a lift.
With this one characteristic, the OpenRock S make themselves invaluable for folks doing lengthy expeditions and journeys, who wish to take heed to music however won’t have dependable entry to a charging level.
Not all of the options of the headphones are this commendable although. One I’ll flag is OneOdio’s try and make the most of adjustable EQ: urgent and holding each buds’ contact controls without delay will toggle you between ‘Rock’ and ‘Calm down’ modes. Sounds helpful for no matter sort of train you’re doing, proper?
Not fairly proper. Ignoring what I’ve already stated concerning the messy contact controls, the distinction between these two modes is extremely minor. What’s worse, is which you could’t truly change the mode if you’re on a name or listening to music – you must flip that off earlier than you alter the mode, making it tougher to understand the EQ adjustments. An app would work so a lot better for this operate, however the OpenRock doesn’t have one.
OpenRock S assessment: Efficiency
- The design would not lend itself to nice audio constancy
- OneOdio’s TubeBass solely succeeds making certain there’s any bass
- Max quantity may be very low
Given the character of air conduction expertise, it’s comprehensible in the event you’d anticipate the OpenRock S to wrestle within the audio efficiency division in comparison with different health bud rivals… and also you’d be proper.
The most important subject I confronted through the testing interval is that the OpenRock S was simply too quiet, even at max quantity. The purpose of the tech is to allow you to hear surrounding sounds, however generally that’s all I may hear – for instance on the health club, it was generally arduous to listen to components of a track over the sound of surrounding treadmills, and when carrying the buds close to a street, site visitors may drown out a track. To be clear, this isn’t a problem I had with the OpenRock Professional to the identical diploma.
In fact, you don’t wish to be deafened by earbuds, particularly since air conduction tech may simply disturb folks round you if it had been too loud. However OneOdio would solely have improved the buds by letting them crank out a couple of extra decibels.
When you’ll be able to hear them correctly, the OpenRock S sound simply nice – audiophiles received’t be impressed however with the drivers dangled near your ears as a substitute of straight in them you’re not getting the identical remedy as you’ll for in-ear earbuds or headphones. Sure, the tech is bettering so much, however these earbuds aren’t the perfect instance of nice sound in an open design.
OneOdio has a tech referred to as TubeBass which offsets among the problems with air conduction, because it’s designed to boost bass. Nevertheless its advantages can solely go up to now.
As I discussed earlier than, there are two sound profiles you’ll be able to toggle between. Rock mode is the one I’d advocate – relaxed is simply too tinny.
OpenRock S assessment: scorecard
|
Class |
Remark |
Rating |
|
Worth |
The OpenRock S are among the most reasonably priced air conduction buds on the market. |
4/5 |
|
Design |
Although the case is a bit too large, the buds match effectively and are very gentle. |
4/5 |
|
Options |
A lot of the additional options work poorly, however the tremendous battery life makes up for it. |
3.5/5 |
|
Efficiency |
The low most quantity makes it arduous to trule enjpy your tunes |
3/5 |
OpenRock S: Ought to I purchase them?
Purchase them if…
Do not buy them if…
Additionally think about
|
Element |
OpenRock S |
OpenRock Professional |
Shokz OpenFit |
|
Water-proof |
IPX5 |
IPX4 |
IP54 |
|
Battery life |
19 hours (earbuds), 60 hours (whole) |
19 hours (earbuds), 46 hours (whole) |
7 hours (earbuds), 28 hours (whole) |
|
Bluetooth kind |
Bluetooth 5.3 |
Bluetooth 5.2 |
Bluetooth 5.2 |
|
Weight |
12g / Charging case: 132g |
13g / Charging case: 64g |
8.3g / Charging case: 57g |
|
Frequency response |
20Hz-40Hz |
20Hz-20kHz |
50Hz-16kHz |
How I examined
The total testing interval for the OpenRock S ended up being effectively over a month, and whereas that was partly resulting from an sickness which meant I could not check these buds for train functions for the complete interval, it does imply I received to make use of them so much.
I examined the buds within the following methods: whereas biking via a metropolis alongside roads, whereas working in busy and quiet areas, whereas in gyms on varied items of apparatus, and likewise when at dwelling in an otherwise-quiet space. I actually put the OneRock S via their paces, with completely different actions and in numerous environments.
Primarily I streamed music via an Android smartphone, however I did check calling and video calls with them too. I additionally examined them side-by-side with the OpenRock Professional, to completely check out how they evaluate.
I have been writing for TechRadar for nearly 5 years now, for a number of as a full member of group and several other extra as a contract tester. I’ve tried varied items of health gear together with earbuds, headphones, smartwatches, health trackers and sleep headphones and likewise tablets, smartphones, ereaders, audio system, scooters and much more.