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Sunday, March 15, 2026

I’ve got mad beats…

… On the sides of my skull?
 
My aunt and uncle were visiting from Connecticut early this year, as they wanted a vacation and didn’t realize they would be going home to “The Great Blizzard of 2026”. While they were here, they had made friends during their stay in another community. These friends were utilizing a different form of headphones during outings – whether they were at the gym, swimming, golfing or shopping; the person had a wraparound type of listening device that would settle by their temples and hook over their ears.
 
Imagine, if you will, the type of Bluetooth headphones that wraparound your neck and utilize ear pieces that are connected by a thin wire from the base of each side and they end up sitting in your ear. This new device gets rid of the tethering string (down your neck) and actually makes it more of a hearing aid meets headbandesque listening device. There’s no clean way to describe this, outside of the fact the connecting piece (back of head piece) sits / rests in the center of your skull. The ear pieces are hooked like the in-ear headphones that people mistake for hearing aids, however, the speakers don’t go in your ears; they’re flat pieces that rest at the sides of your head.
 
It’s bone conductivity, much like the idea of cochlear implants. Which, I guess, can be another way to describe these things; it uses the premise of a cochlear implant (speaker on bone hearing aid) without the need for surgery. This allows you to be able to listen to every kind of audio (music, podcasts, make phone calls) while being able to still pay attention to your surroundings. It by no way takes the implants out of the picture because that’s a completely different hearing issue (and fix). This headphone is using the idea of having a speaker on the sides of your head instead of directly in your ear. It is also why the headphones have a connecting piece of plastic, so everything is one piece and you can still be able to take it off and charge it when needed, as well as not lose it while wearing it.
 
I know I’m making some sort of crazy out of this, as I’m trying to explain it, just stick this out. I’m getting to a point. 
 
I’ve seen some people in the gym wearing these contraptions and thought they looked exactly like the wraparound headphones that came out a few years ago. The only difference is there’s no ear canal ear piece because they sit on the front of your ears (the area between your ears and eyes). People seem to enjoy using these headphones and are holding conversations with the humans around them and still seem to be listening to whatever is playing. I don’t know how they can multi task like that, but they do it with ease.
 
My uncle got to talking to one of the people in the community he was at, and that person showed him exactly what these things are capable of. As my uncle got to experience this new freedom of surround sound / multi-point listening, he was more excited to try it himself. He ended up getting a pair of Shokz Open Run on Amazon for $129. The headphones got to him in record time, so he was able to use them while still on vacation. The first few days, he couldn’t stop raving about them; he loved them so much. He had told my mother about them and she tried them on, agreeing how the sound was crisp and clean and it didn’t feel like she was wearing any audio stuff on her head. She wanted me to try them, but I declined. There’s something about sharing a pair of headphones I just get iffy about. Plus, they’re not something I’d want to go out and buy.
 
I have too many squirrel moments as it is; too many distractions. I don’t need something that is not completely in my ear to drown out extra noise. It’s bad enough that my hearing is getting to the point that I can’t listen to podcasts currently. Both pairs of JLab headphones are giving me issues as I’m working out. I don’t know if my hearing is getting progressively worse, or my headphones are not adapting correctly to what I’m listening to, as the upgraded iPhone got rid of some EQ settings I had been utilizing in the previous models. Odds are, it’s really my hearing getting worse, but I can’t say until I see someone about it.
 
That being said, I actually faced my ick and tried a pair of the headphones while shopping at Target. They are at the same price point in a big box retailer as they are online at the A to Z store. It’s just going to depend on how you want to get hit with taxes, to really get an end result, out the door cost.
 
Using the sample tracks the electronic department offered, I was able to try the Shokz and had to look around for a moment; I wasn’t expecting the volume it was set on. It definitely was crisp, clear and loud in my head and there was no feedback or fuzz. I was alone when trying them, so I couldn’t see how they fared with human interaction. I couldn’t have a conversation with anyone while wearing the headphones to see how bad of a distraction this would be. I did, however, turn on the ringer on my phone to see what it would sound like with some sort of other, outside noise. As I was expecting it, I knew it was coming and can’t say it was great. I should have had someone with me to test these, but I didn’t feel like calling anyone to hold a 5 minute conversation with.
 
I honestly don’t feel like it would have been worth it for me to purchase, simply because they’re not something I would have bought anyway. I mean they seem to be a good quality pair of headphones and would be worth a purchase for someone else, but it’s truly not me. I know it’s important to not have distractions when you’re out and about and these would be such a good thing for people to use, but again, I don’t need to be hearing everyone else’s conversations in the gym. This is the main place where I’d primarily be using the device since I don’t carry headphones around with me under normal circumstances (I barely make calls as it is). While at the gym, I have a hard enough time with the TVs being turned on really loud and the noise of the treadmills (and other machines) so my headphones aren’t cutting out that stuff. If I bought something that didn’t even go over or in my ears, it would make things worse for me. I am using both in ear and over the ear headphones at the moment and unfortunately they are both wireless since the iPhone got rid of the headphone jack. I’d love to use my nice wired cans again, but I don’t want to keep purchasing the slim adapters for the port. At one point, I was buying multi packs because something was going wonky on them every few months.
 
On top of everything, $129 for a pair of wireless headphones is a lot of money, from any store. I had my chance to buy a pair of Beats, but I bought the Jlab instead; only because there is no headphone jack. Yes, a high price point could mean a high quality and better opportunity for solid sound. I understand that. However, when all you want is to use what you have (and can’t), you have to get what’s available and affordable to you. It’s almost like saying, “the next best thing without breaking the bank”; if you can find something comparable, why not go for it it? You won’t know until you try it.
 
I know; take my own advice – here I’m saying I didn’t want to try the Shokz at first and then I did. I’m all over the place with my suggestion, but at least I finally gave in and tried it. It allowed me to understand it’s not something I’d want to buy and use. More power to those who do; there’s nothing wrong with it. I know I’ll be patiently waiting for “the next best thing” to come along, unless somehow the phones get the headphone jack back, and I get to use my Heyday (Target brand) plug ins.
 
Until that happens, go listen to something groovy.
 
Cheers;


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