I love riding while listening to music, but I mostly ride solo and commute to and from the trailhead. This means I need to be aware of what’s going on around me and keep an ear open for cars, pedestrians, and other cyclists. This usually means one earbud in and the other dangling, or no tune at all, which can be nice on occasion. I’m a pretty sweaty human, and this leads to the abuse and destruction of headphones with frequency. It’s a real predicament I find myself in. Thankfully, bone conduction is a thing, and there are plenty of options out there that would solve my problems.
Details
Deven McCoy
MSRP: $199 USD
- Open Ear Experience: Slim bone conduction speakers use enhanced speakers that provide decent sound.
- 100% Waterproof: H2O Audio’s waterproof technology allows headphones to withstand submersion to 12′ (3.6m) underwater for unlimited time. Waterproof Rating: IPX8.
- MP3 Player: Built-in MP3 player with 8 GB of memory that holds several thousand songs and accepts most music formats, including iTunes .M4A.
- Bluetooth: Note Bluetooth does not work underwater. To enjoy music underwater, use MP3 or PLAYLIST+ mode.
- Battery Life: ~5 hours of playtime, depending on usage, in BT mode. Longer playback in memory (MP3) mode. Battery life will vary based on mode and volume. Charging time ~2h.
- Weight: 35 grams
Deven McCoy
I detest the use of noise-canceling earbuds on the trail (both for my own use and others), but I also appreciate good audio – and I’m willing to make compromises; that compromise is bone-conduction headphones. I’ve been using the H2O Audio TRI 2 headphones for a while now, and although they don’t provide the best audio quality, it’s better than no music; the real standout is the IPX8 waterproof rating. My sweat is no match for these headphones or a mid-ride dip in the creek or river.
In terms of comfort, the TRI 2 kind of disappears when you put them on, and I rarely remember that I’m wearing them on a ride. They work well with sunglasses and pretty much every helmet I’ve tested. They’re lightweight, durable, and allow me to hear other trail users and the symphony of tires on dirt.
Deven McCoy
The only drawback is the battery life. You’re looking at about 5 hours of playback, but that does depend on the volume, which is usually almost all the way up to counter wind noise – something that is very noticeable when using bone-conducting headphones. In my experience, 3 hours is about the max playback time at higher volumes, give or take half an hour.
Deven McCoy
The TRI 2 come with a carry case that doubles as a charger, and seeing as these are targeted at triathletes, they also come with some earplugs for swimming – something I have not put to the test because I’m not about that life. The TRI2 headphones are obviously wireless, and Bluetooth is the primary way you’ll use them, but not the only way. They connect to my phone immediately upon powering them on, and I have had zero issues with that.
H2O Audio
On the headphones themselves, there are three buttons. One for volume up, one for volume down, and a play/pause button that also serves as the mode switch between Bluetooth and MP3 player modes. This has caught me off guard a few times since I’m programmed to double-press the play/pause button to skip songs. Instead, the TRI2 headphones use the + and – buttons to skip to the next or previous track, with a long press to go back.
The model that I have been testing is equipped with Playlist+, which effectively makes these an MP3 player with 8 GB of storage. I haven’t used this feature, and I honestly don’t know where my SSD full of all my MP3 and FLAC files is, so Bluetooth and streaming it is for me. Even though I don’t have the audio tracks on an SSD, you can record playback using the Playlist+ feature by double-pressing the + button to start and stop recording. These recordings are then saved to the device and can be accessed through the MP3 Memory mode (double-press the play/pause button).
Not perfect, but better than nothing at all, and definitely worth looking into if you are in the same predicament as I am. The TRI2 with Playlist+ retails for $199 USD, but there is a non-Playlist+ equipped model that comes in at $149 USD. Compared to the SHOKZ OpenSwim Pro at $229.95, that’s not a bad deal.