Review: Aftershokz Titanium Bone Conducting Headphones

Welcome to the world of endless conference calls! My last pair of headphones broke after a few months of constant use, so I decided to treat myself to a new, sturdier pair.

These Aftershokz are SEVENTY QUID! Which is about £40 more than I usual spend on a pair of cans. But these use magic to get the sound into your head. They make your cheekbones vibrate and that sends the music direct to your eardrums. This means your ears can still receive outside sounds. Handy if you're jogging and don't want to be run over. Or if an Amazon delivery comes while you're deep in a Zoom breakout room.

They are a little bulky - but they don't stick out too much on a video call. You won't look like you're wearing a gaming headset.

The weight is a little more than I would like, certainly heavier than cheaper headphones. But for wearing all day, they'll do.

Tightness is a bit of an issue. The bone conduction works best when pushing gently on your skull. Rather than resting on top of your ears, they gently squeeze your head. It isn't unpleasant, but it takes a bit of getting used to.

So, the killer question, what's audio quality like?

AMAZING! Voices are clear and crisp - when using A2DP. No perceptible lag. The sound appears inside your head.

Plosives are particular weird. The bass literally thumps you about the face whenever anyone says a hard "P" directly into their mic. You can turn the bass down by changing the equaliser settings - hold both buttons simultaneously. It doesn't completely eliminate the bass thump - but it does make it more bearable.

Stereo separation is fine. And the maximum volume is pretty loud. But - and this is deeply weird - you can still hear the outside world.

The box comes with a cloth bag and hard carry-case. You also get a pair of foam earplugs and a basic Micro-USB cable.

Pros

• Works with Linux. Bluetooth is a fragile technology, but these paired just fine on the latest Pop OS / Ubuntu. When I switched them back on, they paired instantly.
• The multifunction button successfully sent play / pause commands to my music app.
• Up to 6 hours of call time. If you're spending more time than that per day on calls - speak to your trade union.
• Volume controls on the headset. Handy if your phone is in your pocket.
• Pairs with multiple devices - so you can have music from your phone and calls from you laptop.
• Voice quality is so good that it reveals just how bad some people's microphones are.
• People reported my voice quality as "basically fine" - but I tend to use an external mic.

Cons

• Micro-USB rather than USB-C for charging. That's a shame, I like having the same charger for everything. I used a magnetic adapter.
• There's a digital assistant called "Audrey". Literally all it does is say whether the device is pairing or what the battery status is. I'm not quite sure that requires a dedicated button.
• If you're using the microphones on the headset, it switches to HSP/HFP which drops the incoming audio quality to mobile phone levels. I couldn't find a way to have high quality audio and a microphone.
• Microsoft Teams seemed to forcibly switch me to lower quality HSP. This is a bug with Microsoft's Linux app. Luckily I don't use teams much.
• There are two different music equaliser options - the normal one is fine, and the bassy one sounds muddled. I expect it's good if you're out in a noisy environment.
• There is quite a lot of sound leakage. Because of the way these headsets work, you'll never get total sound isolation - so don't wear them on the train. Who am I kidding, you're going to be stuck inside forever.

Verdict

These aren't audiophile quality headphones - but that's not what you buy them for.

Once you get used to them, they're great. Pretty comfortable to wear, good battery life, and excellent voice quality - and you can still hear the doorbell ring.

They do take a little bit of getting used to. Bone conduction is a weird but effective way to get audio into your head. Some people's voices are really boomy, and these headphones exaggerate that.

Music playback is adequate for casual listening. If you stick the earplugs in your lugholes, the music quality increases. With the bass up, you can feel your skull gently rattling - it's like having your cheeks assaulted by a particularly rambunctious bumble-bee. And I mean that in a nice way!

If you can spare £70, I think they're brilliant.