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If you’ve made the switch to bone conduction, you probably use Shokz. And if you use Shokz, you already know the big selling points: situational awareness, all-day comfort, and ears that stay free and open. But once you’ve had your Shokz headphones for a few weeks, you start to wonder if you’re really making the most of this technology. Personally, I’ve been rocking with my OpenRun Pro 2s before every run for the past year now. I’ve discovered a number of hacks to make the Shokz experience better. Here are five of my favorites:
Wear earplugs with your Shokz
I know this one sounds backwards: Why would you block your ears when the whole point of bone conduction is to keep them open? Beth Skwarecki, another one of Lifehacker’s resident Shokz fans, swears by this combo.
“Wearing Shokz plus earplugs is so much less sweaty and uncomfortable than over-ear headphones when you’re in a loud gym,” Beth says. “I started doing this when I realized that the clanking and bar dropping of my weightlifting workouts is probably loud enough to be unsafe over the long term, especially when I’m in an enclosed space like my garage. My Apple Watch was constantly telling me I’d been exposed to loud noises. So now I keep earplugs in my gym bag, and combining those with Shokz works really well.” With this combination, you can still play music while protecting your ears. Beth’s go-to earplugs are these high-fidelity ones.
Use glasses to find the perfect Shokz fit
If your Shokz ever feel like they’re not quite locked in, your glasses can help, even if you don’t actually need them for vision. (Sunglasses work just as well.) Here’s the trick: Put your Shokz on first, making sure they sit flat against your skin in front of your ears. This is where the transducers—the small pads that actually deliver sound through vibration—make contact, just in front of your ear canal, roughly level with your cheekbone. Then, put your glasses on over the top. The arms of the glasses gently press the transducers a little closer to your cheekbones, tightening the contact and naturally amplifying the sound without you having to touch a single setting. It’s a simple two-second adjustment, and it’s especially handy for runners or cyclists who are already wearing sunglasses anyway.
Use deodorant to avoid that sticky feeling
Bone conduction headphones need more surface contact with your skin than typical earbuds, which is great for sound quality, but not always great for comfort once you start sweating. Before a workout, swipe a super thin layer of antiperspirant stick along the spots on your jaw and in front of your ears where your Shokz sit. It cuts down on sweat buildup at the contact points, which means less slipping and a less sticky feel by the end of your session.
And if your Shokz are still sliding around even with the deodorant trick? Try the opposite approach: lightly dampen your skin at those same contact points, either with a splash of water or by letting yourself work up a light sweat during warmup. I’ve found that just the right amount of moisture actually improves grip and helps the headphones stay put. Just be sure to dry off afterward so they’re not sitting against damp skin for too long.
Turn off your phone’s volume limits
Open-ear headphones like Shokz let in ambient sound by design, which is a huge plus for safety, but it does mean you sometimes need a little extra volume to hear your music or podcast clearly over street noise, gym clanking, or wind. When I felt like my Shokz just couldn’t get loud enough, I turned to my phone’s settings.
What do you think so far?
Most smartphones have a built-in volume limiter for hearing protection that can quietly cap how loud your Bluetooth audio gets. Here’s how to check:
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iPhone: Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Headphone Safety, then toggle off “Reduce Loud Audio.”
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Samsung: Settings > Sounds and Vibration > Volume > More, then turn off “Media Volume Limit.”
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Other Android devices: Look for “Absolute Volume” in your Bluetooth settings for your Shokz device and enable it.
Turn these off and you’ll likely notice an instant difference in headroom, especially outdoors. Just be careful with the overall loudness of your headphones going forward: Keeping them too loud for too long can hurt your hearing in the long run.
Turn your Shokz back into wired headphones
If you’re really in a pinch, or just feeling retro, some Shokz models support a 3.5mm aux connection, which means you’re not totally dependent on Bluetooth. If your connection is acting up, or your battery’s dead, you can plug in with a compatible aux adapter and keep going wired. It’s a great backup option for travel, or any time Bluetooth just isn’t cooperating.
