Review: Runner Diver2 Bone Conduction Swimming Headphones

The good folk at Nank (Naenka) have sent me their latest waterproof Bluetooth headphones to review. Wear 'em while you're in the shower, swimming, jogging, or just on an endless sea of Zoom calls about quarterly budgets.

Unboxing

Bone Conducting??!

Yup! Rather than sticking speakers in your ears, these literally rattle the bones in your head to produce sound. It takes a little getting used to, but is rather pleasant. I also find it more comfortable than traditional in-ear products.

It also means you can easily hear your surroundings. Perfect if you're jogging or cycling. The one down side is that they do leak a fair bit of noise. So don't wear them on the bus, please!

Waterproof?

Yup! With a claimed IP68 rating, these can handle more than just a splash of water - you can go swimming with them.

Well, OK, I don't have a swimming pool at home (😢) but I do have a shower! So I stuck them on, tuned in to "Singin' in the Rain" and had a good scrub. No, you can't see a video of that. Trust me, you don't want to! Anyway, the audio quality drowned out the sound of the shower.

I know what you're thinking - if you're swimming won't that put you outside the range of Bluetooth? Yes. But these headphones hold a little secret. A built-in 32GB MP3 player!

Formats

The headset came preloaded with a few FLAC and MP3 files. I also copied across some M4A (AAC) files and they also worked. Sadly, it didn't play OGG or Opus. If there are any more exotic file formats you'd like me to try, stick a request in the comments box.

The 'phones played my music without skips, blips, or artefacts. Generally good sonic reproduction all round.

Charging and file transfer

In order to keep the unit as hermetically sealed as possible, there's no USB port. Instead there's a pogo-ping layout which uses magnets to ensure you connect it in the right orientation.

It's an elegant solution to the problem of stopping water getting inside your gadget. But I'm not a huge fan of proprietary cables. Both transfer and charging speeds are fine. And the layout isn't hideously complicated if you want to wire up your own. But I don't want to carry another cable around with me.

Tech Specs and Linux Info

The Bluetooth connection from the headphones was HD AAC - so no ultrahigh quality APT-X or LDAC etc. But that's not what these cans are for. You are not going to experience sonic perfection while swimming The English Channel. Instead you get decent quality audio bouncing straight into your skull.

The NFC chip was detected by my phone - after waving the headset around for a bit. Personally, I think it's easier to just use traditional Bluetooth pairing.

The headphones worked perfectly with Linux. When plugged into USB these show up as 4c4a:4155 Jieli Technology USB Composite Device. It's a bog-standard USB drive so you can just copy your banging choons onto there. No weird software needed.

They paired over Bluetooth and music streamed just fine. On video calls, people were able to hear my voice and I heard theirs. So, job done!

Verdict

Hmmm... There's no doubt these are impressive headphones - for £140 they ought to be! Let's take a look at the good, and the bad:

Good

• Excellent sound. Considering these are using bone conduction, the sound is phenomenal. Everything is crisp and clear.
• Waterproof! I used them in the shower and they didn't electrocute my head!
• MP3 player. 32GB of space is pretty generous, and there's also support for FLAC if you're feeling fancy.
• Good range of earplug accessories if you want to drown out the world.
• Battery life as expected. Lasted all the way through my exercise routines.
• Works with Linux without a faff. Not always a given, so nice to see.

Bad

I don't think the lack of OGG / Opus is a show stopper. And I can't complain about the lack of HD Bluetooth. There's no equaliser - so you might find it a bit heavy on the bass - but you can tune that on your phone.

However, I'm really not a fan of the magnetic USB cable.

All of my gadgets are USB-C. My phone, eReader, thermal printer, VR Headset. I don't want a proprietary cable to lose. The supplied cable has alignment magnets which are pretty nifty. Data speeds are basically fine for drag-and-drop. And the pogo-pin connector is pretty rugged, slim, and ingress proof.

I can't be too hard on this. While Qi charging might have made sense, it doesn't do data transfer. And USB-C is relatively chunky and needs a rubber cap to prevent water getting in.

Replacement cables are a couple of quid from AliExpress or about a tenner direct

If you can live with a separate cable, it's an absolutely great gadget. I'm looking forward to swimming with it on holiday.

Discount!

You can get a 15% discount with promo code Terence.