AFTERSHOKZ Aeropex Open-Ear Wireless Bone Conduction Headphones, IP67 Rated, Blue Eclipse

I have suffered from Misophonia, which is an extreme sensitivity to specific sounds, for the past 28 years. I have always needed earplugs to sleep, but in the last few years I have needed something more. I have experimented with various brands of sleep headphones over the last few years, but none were adequate at blocking breathing or snoring sounds, even when used with the best earplugs. After significant research, I finally decided to give bone conduction headphones a try. I am so glad that I did!Upon opening the shipping box, I was amazed to find what I can only describe as the best packaging that I have ever seen on a product. I know it has nothing to do with the product, but it does instill some confidence when the box is rivaled only by the latest flagship phones, complete with a magnetic latch to hold it closed. Needless to say, it went on the shelf.Ok, on to the actual product.Material (8/10): The headphones have what I would describe as velvety feel to them, not really plastic and not rubber, just firm with a soft warm texture. The headphone band is a bit hard and does not flex very much. This is not really a con, but takes some getting used to when sleeping with the headphones.Charging (10/10): The proprietary charging system is one of the nicest features of these headphones. The cable terminals are surrounded by strong polarized magnets. There is no connector to insert or break, just get the cable within 1/2" of the charging port, and it snaps in place and holds on tight in the correct orientation. There is no concern of inadvertently connecting the charging cable backward, or damaging the connector.Sound Quality (7/10, but please read): This was not a big driver for me, since I usually use them with white noise or something that doesn't require high quality. Due to the method that the sound is transferred from the transducer into the bone, I feel that the sound quality is excellent for how they work. If you are planning to compare them to the latest $300 active noise cancelling headphones, you might be slightly disappointed. Music sounds good, but you may miss some minute details, if you are into that.Microphone (10/10): I have currently only used this feature once, to speak with a service technician while I was on a bike ride in heavy traffic. I don't know how I sounded to him, but he had no problems hearing me clearly through the 25mph wind vehicle noise.Battery life (10/10): Other dedicated sleep headphones that I have tried didn't even make it 6 hours overnight. I have yet to drain the battery on the AfterShokz Aeropex. The battery is stated to last 8 hours, but I was skeptical, expecting that this would be based on a low volume. I wear earplugs with them and have them turned up rather high. They have made it through every 8-hour night that I have used them. Once I forgot to charge them before the next night, and topped them up for about 20 minutes before bed and they made it through another full night. I hit the volume button the next morning and they still had medium battery left!Sleep comfort (5/10): These are not made specifically for sleeping and take some experimentation to make work. The band that connects the two sides sticks out quite a bit behind your head, and I thought it would make back sleeping difficult. Fortunately, if you rotate the band up against your head before laying down, it works quite well, and doesn't move the sound pads off of the cheek bone too much. If you use a firm pillow, side or stomach sleeping can be uncomfortable due to the thickness of the sound pads. I was able to make both work by using a softer pillow that can accommodate the pads without much discomfort.Noise Masking (10/10): When worn in conjunction with good earplugs, these things are amazing. First, the earplugs block out most noise. The AfterShokz introduce sound into your cheek bones, which reverberates behind the earplugs, pretty much masking every sound in existence. I would not recommend this if you live alone, as you may not hear a smoke alarm, gun shot, or truck running through your house. In all seriousness, I have not woken up once from snoring or talking in the last few weeks since I purchased these. With earplugs and the best external sleep headphones or noise canceling headphones, I would routinely wake up several times each night.I was not finding any reviews that discussed the important points that I was looking for regarding good sleep headphones, so hopefully this review helps anyone who is looking for the same thing. I may end up purchasing a second pair as a backup to use on my bicycle commute just so I never have to go another night without these.

It wasn’t until recently that I learned about Bone Conduction technology. As a professional painter, I’ve been seeking a way to safely listen to what I want to at work while also be aware of my surroundings. This is especially crucial on construction sites!!! I’m uncertain of how I was first introduced to the idea, but after a couple months of researching, reading reviews and debating on buying a less expensive product, I decided to just splurge and buy the newest model of the Aeropex. My theory was if I liked the sound quality from a cheaper model, I would definitely want the newest version. I can say, without a doubt, that I’m glad I went with the more expensive choice. These headphones are amazing!!! I’ve had them for 2 weeks now and I seriously wear them all day long... I’ve been telling everyone about them since I received them. So far, 8 of my friends have either purchased them or expressed interest in such!!! These things are total game changers!!!If you’re looking for booming bass response, these aren’t for you... Unless you wear ear plugs!!! The sound quality completely changes when you plug your ears. It’s like having on-ear/over-ear headphones on!!!On a full charge, the battery lasts me well over an 8 hour work day. On a full charge, I can listen to music all day at work at about 50% volume and still have enough charge to listen for a couple of hours when I get home.I also love the Bluetooth phone capability. As a job foreman, I often need to correspond with my boss during the day. These make it easy to talk on the phone while working on a job site or while driving between jobs.The only cons I can think of are that they only come with 2 proprietary magnetic chargers from the factory and currently they are sold out of replacement chargers. Also these headphones are definitely not noise cancelling, so if you’re expecting, or need that, these aren’t for you, unless you decide to wear ear plugs... Otherwise, these headphones have met any and all of my expectations!!!I took a chance buying these and I’m glad I did. As I stated above, they are total game changers. I can’t stop telling people about them!!! I even have a friend who is primarily deaf in one ear and he couldn’t believe that he was hearing music in proper stereo again!!! And again, as I stated above, many of the people I’ve shared these with have decided to purchase their own!!!Waterproof, long battery life, great sound quality and lightweight... These are exactly what I’ve been looking for!!! I would recommend these headphones to anyone!!! Well worth the price!!!