Shokz OpenRun Pro Vs. Shokz OpenRun: My Final Verdict

I’ve been a bone-conduction convert for years, but I’ve always faced the big question: do I really need the “Pro” model? I’ve spent months testing both the flagship Shokz OpenRun Pro and the rock-solid Shokz OpenRun (the standard model). My main intent here is to cut through the marketing noise.

I’m going to lay out exactly what that “Pro” label gets you in terms of bass, battery, and feel, and tell you which one you should actually spend your hard-earned money on, depending on what kind of athlete you are. This is the ultimate breakdown you need.

A Brief Comparison Table

My Experience With The Shokz OpenRun And OpenRun Pro

My journey into the world of open-ear listening wasn’t a choice; it was a necessity. I’m a city runner, and my old earbuds, while great-sounding, were a liability. I couldn’t hear bike bells, oncoming traffic, or other runners yelling “on your left!” I needed situational awareness. My first real pair was the AfterShokz Aeropex, which Shokz rebranded into what we now know as the Shokz OpenRun (Standard). It’s the same legendary headset.

The first time I ran with the OpenRun, it felt like a superpower. The headset is so impossibly light (only 26 grams) that it genuinely disappears on your head.

There’s no ear fatigue, no pressure, and no disgusting “thump, thump, thump” sound every time your feet hit the pavement (a huge issue with in-ear buds).

I could hear my podcast with perfect clarity while also hearing everything else. I could hold a conversation with my running partner without pausing my audio.

I lived with the standard OpenRun for two solid years. They became my indestructible partner. I’ve run with them in torrential downpours, sweat buckets on them during 90-degree summer runs, and even rinsed them off under the tap afterward. The IP67 waterproof rating is no joke. The sound? It was… fine. For podcasts and audiobooks, it’s 10/10. For music, it’s a 4/10. Music was “thin.” It had no soul. Bass was just a suggestion, a tiny, tinny “tktk” sound instead of a “thump.” But I accepted this. I was wearing them for safety, not for an audiophile experience.

Then, the OpenRun Pro was released. My local running store got a demo model. I was intrigued by the “enhanced bass” claims. I picked them up, and the first thing I noticed was the feel. The Pro is coated in this soft-touch, matte-silicone finish that just feels more expensive. It’s slightly heavier (29g), but not in a way you’d ever notice without a side-by-side test.

I paired them and pressed play on a song I knew well. The difference was not subtle. It was immediate and shocking. The Pro has Shokz’s “TurboPitch™” technology, which is a fancy name for two extra bass enhancers built into the transducers.¹ For the first time ever in a bone-conduction headset, I could feel the bassline. It wasn’t just a sound; it was a physical vibration. It wasn’t going to rattle my teeth like a pair of Beats, but the music suddenly had depth. It was motivating. My old OpenRun made music a background distraction; the OpenRun Pro made it a performance enhancer.

I immediately bought a pair. That 10-hour battery life was another huge upgrade for me. As a marathon trainer, my 3-hour-plus long runs would always give me “low battery” anxiety on my 8-hour OpenRun. The 10-hour Pro just laughs at a long run.

But after a few weeks, I discovered the Pro’s kryptonite. I got caught in a sudden, heavy rainstorm about three miles from home. I suddenly remembered the Pro is only IP55 rated. That’s a massive downgrade from the IP67. IP55 means it can handle sweat and a light drizzle, but not heavy, driving rain. Not a rinse-off. I pulled them off and tucked them under my shirt, finishing my run in silence. I got home, and they were fine, but the worry was the problem. I never, ever worried about my standard OpenRun.

The final piece of the puzzle was the microphone. I took a work call on a windy day with my standard OpenRun, and the person on the other end said, “Are you in a hurricane? I can’t hear a word.” The next day, I did the same thing with the Pro. I asked my colleague how I sounded. His response: “Perfectly clear. Are you in your office?” The dual noise-canceling mics on the Pro are in a completely different league.

My experience left me with two very different, very specialized tools. The OpenRun is the rugged, all-terrain, “go-proof” tool. The OpenRun Pro is the high-performance, luxury “experience” tool.

Read More: Comparison Of Tozo T6 And Airpods

Pros Of Shokz OpenRun Pro

• The TurboPitch™ Bass Is a Game-Changer: This is the number one reason to buy this headset. The 9th-generation bone conduction technology, combined with those two extra bass enhancers, makes music come alive. You’re not just hearing a thin, reedy version of your playlist; you’re getting a full-bodied, rich sound. That kick drum has a genuine “thump.” This is incredibly motivating on a run. It transforms the experience from “listening to music” to “running with music.” It also means they’re fantastic for casual use, not just for workouts. I can wear them while doing chores and actually enjoy the music, something I never did with the standard OpenRun. If music is your primary motivator when you run, the Pro is worth the price of admission for this feature alone. It finally closes the gap between the open-ear safety and a truly premium audio experience.
• Vastly Superior Microphone Quality: The microphone on the standard OpenRun is a functional afterthought. The dual noise-canceling microphone on the OpenRun Pro is a core feature. The difference is staggering. The Pro mics are positioned further forward on a small boom and are designed to isolate your voice while digitally canceling out background noise. I’ve taken important work calls while walking down a busy city street, and the person on the other end had no idea I was outside. On the standard OpenRun, I would have to stop walking and cup my hand over the mic just to be heard. This feature makes the Pro an “all-day” headset. You can wear it for your morning run, transition straight into your work-from-home calls, and then listen to a podcast while making dinner, all with one device. It’s a true communicator, not just a listener.
• Extended 10-Hour Battery Life and Quick Charge: Ten hours is a ton of battery life. For the standard runner, this means you might only have to charge it once a week. For me, as an endurance athlete, it means I can go for a 4-hour marathon-training run and know I still have 60% of my battery left. The 8-hour battery on the standard OpenRun always left me with “range anxiety” on my longest days. The Pro eliminates that completely. On top of that, the quick-charge feature is even faster on the Pro. If I forget to charge it, a quick 5-minute charge while I put on my shoes gives me an hour and a half of playtime. The standard OpenRun needs 10 minutes for that same 1.5 hours. It’s a small, but significant, quality-of-life improvement.
• Premium Fit, Finish, and Feel: When you hold both, you can tell where the extra money went. The Pro is coated in a soft-touch, premium matte silicone that feels fantastic against the skin. The standard OpenRun is a more traditional, slightly slippery plastic. The Pro’s headband also feels a bit more robust and substantial. It’s a subtle difference, but it adds to the “premium” experience. The buttons on the Pro are also larger and more “clicky” than the ones on the standard OpenRun. This is a huge deal when you’re running with gloves in the winter. I can easily find and press the volume and power buttons on the Pro without fumbling, whereas the smaller buttons on the OpenRun were always a bit of a challenge.

Cons Of Shokz OpenRun Pro

• The Drastic Drop in Water Resistance: This is, without a doubt, the Pro’s biggest flaw and the one tradeoff that makes this a difficult choice. The Pro has an IP55 rating.² The standard OpenRun has an IP67 rating.³ This isn’t a small difference; it’s a massive one. IP67 means the standard OpenRun is fully waterproof and dust-proof.⁴ You can submerge it in one meter of water for 30 minutes. You can rinse it under a faucet. It is indestructible. The Pro’s IP55 rating means it’s merely “water-resistant.” It can handle sweat (even heavy sweat) and a light rain shower, but that’s it. You cannot rinse it under the tap. You cannot wear it in a monsoon. You cannot, as I have, accidentally drop it in a puddle and just pick it up and keep going. This one spec forces you to treat your expensive “Pro” headset like a piece of delicate electronics, while you can treat the cheaper OpenRun like a piece of rugged gear.
• Noticeably More Vibration at High Volumes: That enhanced bass comes at a cost: vibration. The “thump” you feel from the bass enhancers is a literal, physical vibration against your cheekbones. At normal listening volumes (60-70%), it’s perfectly fine. But if you’re on a noisy street and crank the volume up to 80% or higher, that vibration can become distracting or even ticklish. On a high-energy song, it feels like a tiny, buzzing massage on your face. Some people hate this. I’ve gotten used to it, but it’s a very real side effect of the more powerful technology. The standard OpenRun, with its lack of bass, also has a distinct lack of this “tickle,” making it a “quieter” feeling on the face, even at high volumes.
• The Premium Price Tag: The OpenRun Pro is the top-of-the-line model, and it’s priced accordingly. It is significantly more expensive than the standard OpenRun. You have to ask yourself a very serious question: is better bass and a better microphone worth the extra money? For many people, the answer is no. If you are 90% a podcast listener and only take calls in quiet environments, the Pro is overkill. You are paying a hefty premium for features you may not even use. The standard OpenRun already provides the most important feature—open-ear safety—at a much more budget-friendly price point.
• Still Uses a Proprietary Charging Cable: This is a complaint about the entire Shokz lineup, but it’s particularly annoying on a “Pro” model. Both the OpenRun and OpenRun Pro use a proprietary magnetic charging cable.⁵ You cannot charge them with a standard USB-C or Micro-USB cable. This means you must bring their specific cable with you when you travel. If you lose it or forget it, your $180 headphones are a paperweight. On a Pro-level device in the modern era, the lack of a universal USB-C charging port feels like a real miss. I’ve had to buy two extra cables just to keep one in my car and one in my travel bag out of pure paranoia.

Pros Of Shokz OpenRun (Standard)

• The “Go-Proof” IP67 Waterproof Rating: This is the standard OpenRun’s superpower. An IP67 rating is not a gimmick; it completely changes how you interact with your headphones. It means they are waterproof and dustproof. I’ve run in torrential, sideways rain without a second thought. I’ve done muddy, gritty trail runs and simply rinsed them off in the sink when I got home, just like I’d rinse my shoes. This “indestructible” nature gives you incredible peace of mind. For athletes who train in all conditions (triathletes, obstacle course racers, or just hardcore runners who don’t let the weather stop them), this feature alone makes the standard OpenRun a better choice than the more-expensive Pro. It’s a tool, not a jewel.
• Fantastic Value for the Price: This model hits the absolute sweet spot of price and performance. It gives you 90% of the core Shokz experience for a fraction of the Pro’s cost. You get the revolutionary open-ear safety, the lightweight all-day comfort, great battery life for a marathon (8 hours is plenty for most people), and the quick-charge feature. For the price, it is arguably the best-value fitness headphone on the entire market. It’s the “gateway drug” to bone conduction, and frankly, it’s so good that most people will never even need to upgrade. It’s the perfect, no-nonsense workhorse.
• Extremely Lightweight and “Invisible” Comfort: At only 26 grams, the standard OpenRun is one of the lightest headsets Shokz has ever made. It’s 3 grams lighter than the Pro, and while that sounds like nothing, you can almost feel it. The standard OpenRun has a slightly thinner, more flexible headband. It feels less like a “headset” and more like a pair of glasses. I’ve worn it for 6-8 hours straight (on a long travel day, for example) and experienced absolutely zero discomfort. No ear pressure, no headband ache. It is the definition of “all-day comfort” and is so light that I have, on multiple occasions, gotten into the shower still wearing it (which, thanks to the IP67 rating, was totally fine).
• Perfectly Clear Audio for Podcasts and Calls (in quiet): While I (and everyone else) complain about the lack of bass for music, let’s be clear: the audio for spoken-word content is flawless. The 8th-gen technology is perfectly tuned for the human voice. Podcasts, audiobooks, and navigation prompts are crystal clear, sharp, and easy to understand, even in moderate wind. If you are a runner who primarily uses your runs to catch up on podcasts, you will have zero complaints about the audio. It’s exactly what you need it to be. Similarly, if you take a phone call in a quiet room or office, the microphone is perfectly serviceable.

Cons Of Shokz OpenRun (Standard)

• Weak, “Tinny” Audio and Zero Bass: This is the most common complaint, and it’s 100% true. Listening to music on the standard OpenRun is a compromised experience. The sound is “thin” and “reedy,” like listening to an AM radio. There is no low end. The kick drums and bass guitars that drive a high-energy running playlist are simply gone. This can be demoralizing. If you rely on a powerful beat to get you up a hill, the standard OpenRun will fail you. It’s a headset that plays music, but it doesn’t let you experience it. This is the single biggest “Pro” of the Pro model; it actually solves this problem.
• Very Poor Microphone Performance in Noise: The standard OpenRun has dual microphones, but it does not have the Pro’s noise-canceling technology. This means the microphones pick up everything. If you’re on a windy day, the person you’re talking to will hear a wall of wind. If you’re near traffic, they’ll hear the cars as loudly as they hear you. This makes taking phone calls on the go a frustrating experience. You end up having to stop, find a quiet corner, and shield the mic with your hand. This completely defeats the purpose of being able to take a call “on the run.” If you plan to use your headset for frequent calls, this is a major drawback.
• The 8-Hour Battery Can Feel Short: Eight hours sounds like a lot, but in practice, it can be limiting. For marathon runners or ultramarathoners, an 8-hour battery might not even last your entire race. For the average user, it means you’re charging it more often. If you use it for a 1-hour run every day and a 3-hour run on the weekend, that’s 7-8 hours right there. You’re charging it at least once a week. The Pro’s 10-hour battery just provides so much more breathing room and reduces that “battery anxiety” significantly.
• Still Uses That Annoying Proprietary Cable: This con is shared with the Pro, but it’s worth repeating. The magnetic charging cable is fast and convenient when it’s sitting on your nightstand. It’s a nightmare when you’re in a hotel room and realize you forgot it. You can’t just borrow a USB-C from the front desk. You’re done. There is no other way to charge it. Shokz includes a “moisture detected” alert on this cable, which is a great safety feature (especially with the IP67 rating), but most users, including me, would gladly trade that for the universal convenience of a USB-C port.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Conclusion

So, here’s my final word. I own both, and I find myself reaching for the OpenRun Pro 90% of the time. That enhanced bass and 10-hour battery just make my runs more enjoyable, and the ability to take a crystal-clear work call without breaking my stride is a huge quality-of-life win.

However, on days when the weather app shows a 100% chance of heavy rain, I still grab my trusty standard OpenRun. Its indestructible, waterproof nature gives me a peace of mind the Pro just can’t.

My advice to you is this: If you just want to hear podcasts and stay safe on a budget, the OpenRun (Standard) is a perfect, indestructible tool. But if music motivates you, if you want that richer sound, and if you need a reliable microphone for calls, you should absolutely spend the extra money on the OpenRun Pro.