Buzz
I’m a huge fan of my bone conduction headphones. They’re my go-to for running, allowing me to stay alert to approaching vehicles. They’re also fantastic in loud environments, where I combine them with earplugs. Because these headphones bypass the ear canal, I can listen to music through bone conduction while keeping my ears protected. But how does this innovative technology function, and what are its drawbacks? Let me break it down.
How bone conduction works
Typically, when we perceive sound from our surroundings, sound waves move through the air until they reach the eardrum inside the ear canal. The eardrum vibrates in sync with the sound’s frequency, transmitting these vibrations to the small bones in the middle ear.
(From there, vibrations travel to the inner ear, reaching the cochlea, where they are converted into signals sent to the brain, ultimately forming our perception of sound. While this process is fascinating, it’s beyond the scope of this article. Our focus is solely on how vibrations travel from headphones to the middle ear.)
However, there’s an alternative method to vibrate the middle ear bones: directly transmitting vibrations through the skull. Legend has it that Beethoven would bite his conducting wand and press it against his piano to “hear” through his teeth. You can test this yourself by playing music through earbuds and holding the speaker against your tooth. You’ll hear the music clearly. Fascinating, isn’t it?
We experience bone-conducted sounds regularly. Whenever you speak, you hear your voice through both bone (and soft tissue) conduction and air conduction. (This is likely why your recorded voice sounds unfamiliar compared to what you hear when speaking.) Plug your ears and speak aloud, and you’ll hear only the bone-conducted portion of your voice.
Bone conduction headphones leverage this principle. Like traditional headphones, they feature small speakers. However, instead of directing sound into the ear canal to vibrate the eardrum, these headphones position their speakers against a bone—typically the cheekbone near the ear. While they also transmit sound through soft tissues like skin and muscle, the bones are the primary conductors, giving the technology its name.
Do Shokz and other so-called “bone conduction” headphones truly transmit sound through bone?
Yes, these headphones utilize genuine bone conduction, though not exclusively. A portion of the sound is also transmitted through the air.
Since skepticism exists—I stumbled upon Reddit threads debating the legitimacy of bone conduction—here are two simple experiments you can try with bone conduction headphones to grasp how they function.
First, wear the headphones as usual, with the speakers resting on the bony area in front of your ears. Play some music and enjoy. Next, gently lift the speakers away from your head, breaking contact. You’ll still hear the music, but it will sound faint and hollow compared to when the headphones are worn properly.
Now, wear them normally again, but this time, block your ears with your fingers or earplugs. The sound will change—becoming richer and deeper, in my experience, though I’m no sound expert. It might even seem louder. This demonstrates that the headphones don’t rely on air conduction to deliver sound to your eardrums.
Is bone conduction safe for your ears?
Bone conduction headphones are neither better nor worse for your ears compared to traditional ones, as the cochlea—the part of the ear most susceptible to common hearing loss—still receives vibrations in both cases. Excessive volume from bone conduction headphones can harm your hearing, just like overly loud regular headphones.
However, bone conduction headphones can offer one advantage for ear health, as mentioned earlier. In noisy environments, you can use earplugs to shield your ears from external noise while still enjoying music through bone conduction headphones, effectively filling the silence without compromising ear protection.
This summer, I began combining earplugs with bone conduction headphones during outdoor workouts near a noisy air conditioner. I also realized that the sound of dropping weights during Olympic weightlifting was surprisingly loud. Using Loop earplugs, I discovered I could still hear my music clearly through my Aftershokz Aeropex Mini (an older model of the Shokz OpenRun Mini) even at minimal volume. This setup significantly reduced my overall noise exposure, making it a win-win solution.
What are the downsides of bone conduction headphones?
While there are no health or safety concerns, bone conduction headphones don’t deliver the same pristine sound quality as traditional headphones.
While some bone conduction headphones outperform others, it’s wise to read reviews and test them personally if sound quality is a priority. Generally, their strength—allowing ambient noise to mix with your music—is also their weakness. Brands like Shokz don’t isolate external sounds, so what you hear is a blend of your music and the surrounding environment.
Even when I use my Aftershokz with earplugs, the audio quality isn’t exceptional. Similar to how your voice sounds muffled with plugged ears, the combination of bone conduction and earplugs doesn’t match the clarity of high-quality traditional headphones.
For me, these minor drawbacks are outweighed by the unique benefits of bone conduction headphones. I don’t require studio-quality audio for podcasts during runs; I just need to listen while staying aware of my surroundings. When I crave high-fidelity music, I enjoy it at home with a premium pair of noise-canceling headphones.
