Customer Ratings & Reviews

I wear earbuds of some sort pretty much all day every day at work. Always looking for the unicorn of buds. I thought I had the unicorn in my last budget pair, but the batteries went south after a couple months and only gave me about an hour of run time. So it was time to try a premium pair. I’ve grown fond of the open ear style so the Shokz OpenDots 2 seemed like a good option. Unboxing was simple and uneventful. The box contains the 2 earbuds, charging case, USB C charge cable and some paperwork/manuals. I did install the app, I don't believe it is required, but it is needed to set custom EQ, turn Dolby on/off, firmware updates etc. The app did require creating an account, which isn’t my preference, but pretty common these days. The first thing I noticed with the app was the microscopic text font. I know I’m getting old, but I had a hard time reading even with my cheaters on. I walked through the steps in the app for pairing, the tutorial and the firmware update. You have the option in the app to choose some preset equalizers or you can go through the custom eq setup, it’ll play a little tune twice and ask you if you prefer the A or B version. After about 6 samples it sets your custom eq based on choices. When all was said and done I prefer listening to music with the Dolby turned on (which also turns off the EQ) During my daily use with these Shokz OpenDots 2, I’ve been finding them very comfortable. At first I had some minor soreness/pressure points but they went away. They might have been just a tad tight, but are now breaking in. Previous ear buds I’d usually only wear 1 at a time and swap left and right all day due to discomfort. With the Shokz I can wear both all day long. Sound quality is very good for open ear design. Sometimes open ear types need to be ‘rotated’ to the sweet spot for good quality sound. Shokz documentation even shows you the proper way to wear them. In use I’ve found that sweet spot to be quite large, they don't have to rotate a certain perfect way for optimal sound. They strike a nice balance of good quality sound while still being able to hear your surroundings. While using for phone calls, I’ve also been told they sound good. Battery life seems to be on par with the claims. I can get almost a full work day with them on. They do state using Dolby will shorten battery life. I usually just drop them in the case for a little bit during lunch and then they last the entire day. Speaking of the case, it’s nice and small and easy to get the Opendots 2 in and out of. I’ve only found one issue as of now. Shokz claims Opendots 2 are interchangeable between left and right side. In use this seems to be the case in regards to the left and right side ‘gesture’ controls (play/pause/volume/etc). I was however able to grab the Opendots 2 from the case, put them in the opposite side of where they had been worn last time, go and play a stereo test video with left and right audio, and the Opendots 2 would be outputting sound on the wrong side compared to the test video. This wouldn't be a big issue just listening to music, but if you are watching videos/movies you want the sound stage to match what your eyes are seeing. I did test this a few times on different videos and after inserting/removing the Opendots 2 from the charging case etc, and I was able to duplicate it. Hopefully this is something they can fix in firmware. The fix for now for me is to take them out of the case and put them in the same side ear. All in all, I’m happy with the function, sound and comfort of the Shokz OpenDots 2. They are reaching up there in price range, approaching over the ear noise canceling type, but for the open ear style I think they are worthy of the premium price provided they last me at least through the 2 year warranty period.

Sound quality is amazing probably one of the best open ear buds you can listen to I was genuinely amazed but unfortunately it was kinda uncomfortable on my right ear after wearing them for a long period of time but when they are comfortable it feels like nothing is there and the music is playing in my head and the mic quality for phone calls is so clear they have no idea I’m using the buds. Great buy for many people but not sure how they’ll feel on you

These are great headphones for exercise if you come in with appropriate expectations. They are small, open-ear headphones, so the bass basically isn't present. This can result in music sounding a little muddy as the mid frequencies seem over-emphasized. Despite this, the audio is generally good. For podcasts, you're not really even going to notice unless you're used to listening to 99% Invisible with Roman Mars on real headphones or speakers (bass-heavy voice). The battery life is amazing. I've been using these for at least a couple of hours every day, usually more, and when I connect them to my phone, the battery level is showing 60% for the case and 100% for the earbuds. If you keep them in the case, I'd expect you can go at least a week or two without having to charge with moderate use. These, as with any Shokz headphones, are meant for exercise, and I'd say that these are comfortable enough to wear for a couple of hours at a time while still being able to hear the environment around you. If you're going for a run and need to be aware of traffic, these are a great option.