Open-ear earbuds are a wonderful idea in the same way a convertible is a wonderful idea. Fresh air, awareness, effortless comfort—then a truck drives by and physics reminds you who owns the property.
Shokz has been living in this category for years, and the OpenFit Pro is the first time it feels like the company is trying to make open-ear audio behave like a primary choice, not an “I guess these will do” backup. The headline feature is what Shokz calls Open-Ear Noise Reduction. No, it does not create a private bubble of silence. It does, however, meaningfully reduce the urge to crank volume just to hear a podcast over the everyday clatter of life.
Who OpenFit Pro is for
- Buy it if you run, lift, commute, or work in places where awareness matters and comfort is non-negotiable.
- Buy it if you’re tired of earbuds that treat your ear canal like a storage unit.
- Skip it if you want hush-quiet flights, deep isolation, or the strongest bass possible.
- Skip it if you buy purely on price. OpenFit Pro is priced like it knows it’s the flagship.
Price and what you get
OpenFit Pro launches at $249.95. In the box you get the earbuds, the charging case, a USB-C cable, and the usual documentation. The premium here is paying for comfort, upgraded drivers, physical buttons, wireless charging, and the noise reduction feature that tries to make open-ear audio less easily bullied by the world.
Design and comfort: the entire reason open-ear exists
Shokz sticks with the earhook style that made the OpenFit line so wearable. The hooks are flexible, the contact points are soft, and the fit feels stable during workouts without forcing a seal in your ear. That last part matters. A seal is what enables strong isolation, but it’s also what makes many earbuds feel like they’re slowly negotiating with your skull.
Comfort is the OpenFit Pro’s central argument. You can wear these for hours and forget they’re there, which is an oddly rare luxury in audio. If you’ve ever yanked an earbud out mid-run because it started feeling like an expensive mistake, this is the antidote.
Controls and the app: physical buttons, thank you for your service
OpenFit Pro uses physical buttons. This is correct. Touch controls on workout earbuds are a slapstick routine featuring sweat, hair, hats, and accidental skips at the worst possible time.
The Shokz app covers EQ presets, custom EQ, toggles for the noise reduction levels, and other settings like multipoint pairing and firmware updates. Everything is simple enough that you won’t feel like you’re troubleshooting your ears in public.
Sound quality: open-ear, but finally grown up
Open-ear sound usually comes with familiar compromises: clear mids, polite bass, and a ceiling on immersion. OpenFit Pro raises that ceiling. Bass still won’t match sealed in-ears, because again, physics is smug. But there’s more body and punch than the typical open design, and vocals stay clean without becoming brittle.
Shokz leans on its upgraded driver approach and includes Dolby Atmos optimization support. In practice, that’s less about fireworks and more about making the presentation feel wider and better separated. If you enjoy spatial audio, it’s a nice extra. If you don’t, you can ignore it and still get strong everyday sound for an open design.
Noise reduction: what it does, and what it absolutely does not do
Let’s say the quiet part out loud: open-ear earbuds cannot create in-ear style silence because nothing is sealing your ear canal. If you buy this expecting the kind of hush you get from good in-ears, you’ll be disappointed and also you will have learned something about acoustics.
What OpenFit Pro’s noise reduction does well is soften steady background noise so your music and podcasts don’t feel instantly overpowered in places like gyms, cafés, or offices. It’s best described as a focus aid. It makes the world slightly less intrusive, not nonexistent.
A few reviewers note the mode can introduce a mild pressure sensation for some people. If you’re sensitive to that feeling, it’s worth testing—especially since the earbuds are perfectly usable with the mode off.
Call quality: surprisingly competent, with the usual caveat
Calls are strong for the category. Voices come through clearly, and the mic setup does a respectable job reducing background distraction. Extremely loud streets are still extremely loud. But for walking calls, work chats, and quick meetings, OpenFit Pro holds up better than you’d expect from something that leaves your ears open.
Battery and charging: legitimately one of the highlights
Battery life is one of OpenFit Pro’s strongest traits. Shokz rates it for long listening per charge and a large total with the case. Multiple reviews also point out the important footnote: enabling noise reduction reduces battery substantially.
Wireless charging is included, and once you have it, you start resenting earbuds that make you plug in like it’s still 2019.
Connectivity and daily use
Bluetooth performance is stable, and multipoint makes it easy to move between a phone and a laptop without ritual sacrifice. If you live in meetings and also pretend you have a work-life boundary, multipoint is a quiet quality-of-life upgrade.
Workout use: what these were clearly built to do
For running and gym sessions, OpenFit Pro makes a convincing case. The fit stays put, the open-ear format keeps you aware, and the sound is full enough that you don’t feel like you’re sacrificing motivation just to hear your surroundings.
If you run outdoors or cycle, awareness isn’t a cute extra—it’s the point. Shokz understands that, and OpenFit Pro is one of the better executions of the concept.
Pros and cons
- Pros: excellent comfort, stable earhook fit, physical buttons, improved sound for open-ear, useful noise reduction in the right environments, strong battery with the case, wireless charging, multipoint support
- Cons: premium price, noise reduction is not sealed-ear ANC, bass cannot match in-ears, loud environments remain loud, noise reduction may feel odd to some users
Should you buy Shokz OpenFit Pro?
If you want the best “daily-driver” version of open-ear earbuds Shokz currently makes, OpenFit Pro is a strong pick. Comfort is elite, the controls are mercifully practical, and the noise reduction feature is the first open-ear attempt I’ve used that changes how often you reach for the volume buttons.
The main drawback is the price, because it forces the honest question open-ear products always skate around: is this a specialized tool or your main earbuds. OpenFit Pro tries to be both, and it gets close—especially if your life includes workouts, commutes, and shared spaces where awareness is part of the deal.
Just don’t buy open-ear earbuds for airplane travel and then act surprised that the airplane continues to be an airplane.
Sources and further reading
- Shokz: OpenFit Pro product page (features, pricing, images)
- Shokz: OpenFit Pro user manual (app features, multipoint, controls)
- Tom’s Guide: OpenFit Pro review (battery notes, features, pricing)
- SoundGuys: OpenFit Pro review (noise reduction impressions, value discussion)
- Engadget: OpenFit Pro review (real-world use, noise reduction observations)
For editors and managers:
- What this is about: A practical review of Shokz OpenFit Pro, emphasizing comfort-first open-ear design, improved sound, physical controls, and the limits of open-ear noise reduction.
- Product positioning: Premium open-ear true wireless earbuds aimed at workouts, commuting, and office use where awareness matters.
- Key decision points: comfort and stability, sound quality uplift vs prior open-ear models, noise reduction helps in steady-noise spaces but cannot replace sealed-ear ANC, strong battery with a wireless-charging case.
- Who should not buy: buyers seeking maximum isolation, deep bass, or travel-focused ANC performance.
About the Author
Chad Hughes is a Cross Disciplined tech Founder, most notably for Professor Soni Agentic AI and founding Veribeat Capital.
