The Shokz OpenFit 2 is an almost perfect update to the originals

I wanted to love Shokz’s OpenFit 2, the company’s latest open-ear wireless earbuds debuting here at CES 2025. While Shokz made several improvements to the overall design and function, the sound can still be a tad hollow.

I tried the OpenFit Air a few months back, and they ticked off almost everything I was looking for in a pair of open-ear running buds. While not perfect, bass was decent. Volume could also be quite challenging in certain environments — again, something understandable for open-ear design. The problem was the ear hook design didn’t fit well if I wore my eyeglasses. (That, and the touch controls were finicky to use.)

Shokz sent me a pair of the $179.95 OpenFit 2 ahead of CES. Based on the updates, I was very hopeful. For starters, Shokz added an extra speaker to each bud for a total of two: one dedicated to bass, the other for mids and highs. It’s an approach that worked fantastically well with the OpenRun Pro 2 bone conduction headphones that include an air conduction speaker to improve the bass. (My colleague David Pierce and I are diehard OpenRun Pro 2 converts.) Volume has been slightly improved. The ear hook design has also been tweaked so the curved portion over the top of the ear is thinner. Physical buttons were added to each bud for simpler controls. Battery life also improved to 11 hours, up from the seven hours on the original OpenFit and the OpenFit Air’s six hours. There are also four EQ presets!

And in my testing, I immediately noticed many of these improvements. It’s still not ideal, but the thinner ear hook is easier to use with my glasses on days when I don’t want to wear contact lenses. Loud highways and super noisy environments were still challenging but outperformed the OpenFit Air. While getting these hands-on pics, the bustle of the Vegas Strip didn’t drown out my music or prevent me from hearing my colleague Antonio G. Di Benedetto’s photo cues. I got about 10–11 hours on a single charge. When I wanted to pause or skip tracks, the physical buttons were easier to use (though my butterfingers still occasionally struggled, especially when wearing press-on nails.)

Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Unfortunately, I also couldn’t help but notice the sound quality. While better than the Air, it wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped. On “Unfair” by Stray Kids, what should be rumbly baritone vocals sound muddy. Vocals, in general, can sometimes sound distant even with the vocal EQ. At higher volumes, bass-heavy songs occasionally sounded distorted. My issues were most apparent when I was running outdoors. However, if you’re listening to a podcast or in a relatively quiet room at a lower volume, it’s much less noticeable.

All of this is somewhat expected from open-ear buds. It’s more that the effect of having dedicated speakers for bass versus treble and mids wasn’t as impressive as the OpenRun Pro 2. When I first tried the latter, my jaw dropped and I said, “Oh.” With these, it’s more of an appreciative nod. This might be because the OpenFit 2 are traditional headphones using air conduction. The OpenRun Pro 2 use air conduction for bass and bone conduction for treble and mids.

Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Whether the sound quality is a deal-breaker depends on how you intend to use these buds. I mostly use open-ear buds for running and found myself wanting to reach for the OpenRun Pro 2 instead. But while puttering around the house or strength training, the lack of a wraparound neckband makes these infinitely more comfortable, especially for exercises like chest presses or leaning back in my chair.

The OpenFit 2 are available starting today for $179.95 in black and beige.