Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Like all open-back headphones, OpenFit Pro have an airy, open soundstage that provides a more natural listening experience than regular headphones – it’s closer to the speaker listening experience. You can make them even more immersive by enabling the confusingly named Optimized for Dolby Atmos mode. I say confusing because this mode neither replaces Dolby Atmos nor is it strictly intended for use with existing Dolby Atmos content. This is essentially Dolby’s best headphone-based audio software, which combines spatial audio processing (for a wider, deeper soundstage) with optional head tracking. Both of these features will work with any content; However, Dolby claims that it works best when listening to Dolby Atmos content.
This is the first time Dolby technology has been used on a set of open-ear headphones, and it’s a great combination. It increases the perceived width and height of the space, and does so without negatively affecting dynamic range or loudness, which often affects similar systems. And yes, the effect is more pronounced when listening to Atmos than when playing stereo content. I’ve used Dolby’s spatial technology on several products, including the LG Tone Free T90Q, Jabra Elite 10, and Technics EAH-Z100, and this is the first time I’ve liked it enough to leave it turned on for music listening.
Still, it’s not as good as Bose’s immersive audio on the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds. Bose’s head tracking is smoother, especially noticeable when watching movies, and its spatial processing is more compelling and immersive for music and movies.
Where Shokz has a big leg up over Bose is the call quality of the OpenFit Pro. The OpenFit Pro’s mics do a great job of eliminating noise at the end of the call. You could be walking down a busy street, hanging out in a crowded coffee shop, or even passing an active construction site, and the people you’re talking to probably won’t have a clue that you’re not sitting on a quiet park bench. As with all open-back headphones, being able to hear your own voice naturally (without using a transparency mode) eliminates the fatigue normally associated with long calls with regular headphones.
Comfortable design
Photography: Simon Cohen
Comfort is a key benefit of Shokz’s OpenFit series, and the OpenFit Pro, with its soft silicone-wrapped earloops, is no exception. Unlike previous OpenFit models, which position the drivers just outside the concha of your ear, the Pro’s drivers project directly into your ears and, in my case, they contact the inner part of that cavity. This greatly increases stability, but over time I became aware of this contact point.
They never became uncomfortable, but it’s not quite the experience to forget you’re wearing them OpenFit/OpenFit 2/+ models. As a glasses wearer, I tend to prefer clip-on headphones like the Shokz OpenDots One, and yet the earhook shape of the OpenFit Pro has never been an issue. Shokz includes a set of optional silicone support loops, likely aimed at people with smaller ears or who need a more stable fit. They didn’t improve my fit, but then again I have pretty large ears.
As with all hook earbuds, the OpenFit Pro charging case is on the large side. It offers excellent build quality thanks to the use of an aluminum frame and you get wireless charging (which isn’t the case with many open-ear models), but it’s still much less compact than a set of AirPods Pro.
Easy to use
Photography: Simon Cohen
For the OpenFit Pro, Shokz finally ditched its hybrid touch/button controls in favor of simple physical buttons, and I think that’s the right decision. You can now decide exactly which combinations of button presses control actions like play/pause, track skip, volume, and voice assistant access, a level of freedom that wasn’t available on previous versions.
