AfterShokz Trekz Titanium Wireless Bone Conduction Headphones Bluetooth Sweatproof Earphones with Mic for Sports (Normal Size, Grey)

Wow!I ordered these because when out and about I like to hear what's going on around me so generally end up listening to music from one earphone. Also wired headsets can be a little restrictive or risk catching on things.I generally check Amazon for my gadgets then also Google search for any more reviews and the Aftershokz range seems to have quite a good reputation and the Trekz Titanium are highly rated for their sound quality, comfort and fit so I thought I'd give them a go.I wasn't expecting miracles as I am used to high quality IEM's or headphones but Wow!The box they arrived in looks great and you can see the headset inside. I took it out and instantly it felt really light and well built. I gave it a quick charge but wasn't able to fully charge it because I needed to pop out and wanted to give them their first try.The Trekz Titanium paired very quickly and easily with my Sony ZX100hn audio player and off I went. Initially I didn't have them on just right and the right side seemed a little louder than the left but eventually I found the sweet spot! They were very comfortable and the sound was really clear with a soft bass and I was able to listen to my music while still being aware of my surroundings. I was even able to walk along holding a conversation with my youngest daughter while the music played along and I could hear both clearly.Initially my plan was to use the new headset when out and about but switch to a wired set in the office BUT generally I sit with one earphone in so that I can hear if my phone rings or someone in the office speaks to me so I thought I'd give the new headset a try... I now sit at my desk listening to music in stereo and still totally aware of what's going on in the office and can hold conversations without having to turn my music off.I have tested and I can have the volume HIGHER than I actually set it before it starts giving any significant sound leakage and even then it wouldn't be heard over the buzz of the office. So that others would hear it I would have to have the volume at an uncomfortable level for myself. That doesn't mean the office is loud at all but the leakage is quite minimal at volumes I use.Today I paired the headset with my mobile and for some reason I was unable to connect both my mobile and my ZX100 so I listened to music from my mobile until I received my first call through the headset. I could hear the person on the other side perfectly and they could hear me although I was talking fairly quiet. I need to try it outside and see how good it is then but I could not go out, listen to my music and not have to rely on a smart watch to let me know I have a call/text.I plan to try the headset with my PC too. I have ordered a USB Bluetooth adapter because my built in Bluetooth wouldn't see the headset but it hadn't seen a previous Bluetooth headset I'd tried either. Generally when gaming I use my Virtual Reality headset which has built in headphones for audio and even non VR games I play on a giant virtual screen. When I don't fancy using the VR headset though I can't be bothered moving it to get to the wired headset I used to use with my PC so I am planning on the new headset giving me audio and still being able to listen to the TV or family when needed.Battery life.... The specification states up to 6 hours use and upto 10 days standby. I haven't been able to test the standby yet (and probably won't get to test the 10 day claim due to daily usage) BUT yesterday after being charged to full for the first time I put the headset on at 5am and didn't take it off until I got home at 3:40pm so 10 hours and 40 minutes and I turned it off and put it on charge. I hadn't had the low battery warning.So the battery life has exceeded my expectations above and beyond. Usually with rechargeable batteries they get better after a few charge/discharge cycles so I will be seeing how it goes. If I am using for work and then with my home PC it will get a good test.Even though I had it on all day yesterday I forgot I had the headset on except for the music reminding me.Highly recommendable for anyone that goes out walking, running, cycling or whatever and even recommended for people that listen to music at work but wants a small wire-free solution.Edit: After reading the manual I found where you can pair two devices at once. It was easy to set up and now, out and about or in the office during the day, my mobile is connected for hands free calls and my audio player connected for my music. At home I turn my audio player off and the headset connects to my PC so I can listen to anything on it around the house or just wire free if I don't fancy using my big headset or VR headset.The headset is very comfortable and, even still now, I will have some audio/music playing and will have Wow! moments at the sound quality and the size of the sound-stage.

These aren't the first AfterShokz headphones that I've owned. I've had two sets of wired headphones and one set of the first type of wireless headphones. My first set of wired headphones, failed after a number of years, but this was down to something being dropped on them rather than a design failure. I still have the other wired headphones and they are still going strong after five years of use. The first wireless set I had was returned as the band was too small for me and this made them uncomfortable.So to the technology... these are bone conduction headphones. They don't go in or on your ears, they sit on the bone just in front of your ears and then transmit the sound through that bone so that your ears pick up the sound that way. It's the same as when you speak. If you put your fingers in your ears, you'll still hear yourself speak, this is because the sound of your voice also gets to your ears through the bones in your head also transmitting the sound to your ears.Now if you are looking for audiophile quality sound, you will be sorely disappointed. However, every time I upgrade to a newer Aftershokz product, I'm always impressed by the sound quality increase and the Trekz Titanium is no different. Going from the Sportz3 headphones to the Titanium, the extra quality is impressive. Due to the design, you'll never have an overload of bass, so bass, mids and highs are nicely balanced.I use my headphones for when I go out running. I have a few different routes to run, but all of the routes have some part where I will be running on rural roads where there is no pavement. I don't like running without either listening to music or a podcast/audiobook. I've tried sports headphones that go in the ear, but they've either dropped out when I start running or they've blocked sound out so much, that for me it becomes dangerous on the road. With the Aftershokz, you can still block out a lot of the sound around you by raising the volume up to the max, but I don't know why you would want to do that. When running, I've found that I don't have to go much further than over half volume to be able to get a good balance between music volume and being able to hear things happening around me. One point that really needs to be raised though is that these probably wouldn't be good for noisy environments such as gyms that have loud music playing as it will drown out the headphones, but Aftershokz do include two foam earplugs to help with this. This however will defeat the reason for having bone conducting headphones.Pairing these to either my phone or mp3 player is so easy and is just like any other bluetooth headset. You also get voice feedback when you turn on the headset, when you enter pairing mode and then when it's connected. You can pause/play music by using the button on the left ear pad, with the volume buttons being on the right hand side of the band. The buttons are easy to find when out running.As stated before, I returned the first wireless headphones that I had bought due to fit - these were the Bluez2 headphones, but these headphones had a wide plastic band. The new Trekz Titanium band is made of titanium and is so much more flexible, so there is no issues for me with regards to the band. There is still some clamping force from the headphones, but really not as bad as previous models. One thing that I did notice, was that if I tried wearing this for a bit longer, they tended to rub the top of my ears as they tended to rest on them. Just moving the band up, relieved this issue, but it's not enough of an issue to stop me wearing them. I've now also started wearing these headphones around the house as well as I like that I can listen to music without cutting out everything else.I am really happy with these headphones and hope to get a lot of use out of them. Aftershokz have also brought out a new model and I may even try them out. I'm very happy to give these five stars and I'm sure you'll be happy if you do purchase them. If you haven't tried bone conducting headphones before, they do take a bit of time to get used to them, but you'll be happy you did try.I definitely recommend them. If you found this review helpful, can you please help me by clicking on the helpful button. Thanks.