Shokz Open Fit Pro review: a great-sounding contender for the open earbud crown | Tech Radar

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I would ditch all my headphones in favor of these brilliant open earbuds' stacked feature set, were it not for one flaw...

The Shokz Open Fit Pro have noise reduction, great bass and are super comfy, but that treble...

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The Shokz Open Fit Pro boast impressive noise reduction – read: noise cancellation but for an open-ear design – and with Dolby Atmos capability plus head-tracking technology, they are a contender for the best fitness headphones on the market. Punchy bass and unbelievable comfort mean you'll even consider using them as your primary headphones, but for their occasionally over-eager treble. Running the London Marathon? Treat yourself, you won't regret it.

+Dolby Atmos with head tracking for true-to-life listening

Dolby Atmos with head tracking for true-to-life listening

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Shokz knows its way around a pair of open earbuds. At the time of writing, the brand has three entries in our best open earbuds with good reason — it is one of the few companies out there dedicated to the fitness headphone/bone conduction market.

With the Open Fit Pro, though, Shokz seems to be courting new customers. Whereas the Open Run Pro 2, clip-on Open Dots One and our market leader the Open Fit 2+ were targeted at a sports-specific market where audio accompaniment of any kind saves us from the monotony of a freezing early-morning January run or a rain-lashed cycle commute, the Open Fit Pro are different.

Sure, they're still tailor-made for runners, cyclists and general sporty types — including tennis, in my case — but the Open Fit Pro are pushing the barriers of what open earbuds can be for dyed-in-the-wool audiophiles. Want Dolby Atmos with head-tracking tehcnology? They've got it. Want customizable EQ profiles, in addition to the five provided by the Shokz app? They've got them. Want support accessories for an even more secure fit? Yep, them too.

Even want active noise cancellation? OK, they've not quite got that — these are still open earbuds, after all — but they do have what Shokz calls 'noise reduction', courtesy of a synchronized dual-diaphragm driver and triple-mic system with the Shokz ear-adaptive algorithm. This is incredibly rare in open earbuds and the results are mightily impressive. Sure, they can't block out everything in the way a pair of in-ears with active noise cancellation can, but in 'noise reduction mode' they do a damn good job if you need to keep regular life at bay and concentrate.

With Bass Boost selected from one of the five EQ presets, they deliver a punchy, nuanced sound that is impressively clear and detailed. The Dolby Atmos with head tracking is a welcome addition, especially in an office environment when turning your head from side to side to speak to colleagues, and delivers responsive sound to the ear that is closest to the source device.

Design-wise, the carry case is small enough to fit into your pocket, battery life is superb-to-relentless and the comfort akin to wearing air. On more than one occasion, I'd forgotten I was wearing them. While exercising, I never felt like they would slip, let alone fall out, especially after I fitted the rubber o-ring for extra stability.

The Shokz Open Fit Pro, then, are audiophile-friendly open earbuds that fully warrant their place in the best we've tested. They may be a little on the expensive side compared to the competition, but when you consider the aural additions these feature that almost no other open ears possess, they're worth it.

Open earbuds used to be the sole preserve of runners or cyclists who wanted to listen to background music without getting mown down by traffic. Not any more.

12 hours (earbuds, noise reduction disabled), 50 hours (total)

12 hours (earbuds, noise reduction disabled), 50 hours (total)

Shokz Open Fit Pro review: Price and availability

The Shokz Open Fit Pro launched at CES in January 2026 and went on sale immediately. You can pick up the Open Fit Pro for

That makes them a fairly hefty chunk more expensive than our class-leading Shokz Open Fit 2+ (

The biggest criticism usually laid at any open earbuds' door is their lack of versatility. Sure, they're great if you want to listen to something while working out — that's why a sporty type, like me, is doing this review while Tech Radar's brilliant audio editor Becky Scarrott, who did the initial experiential, is indisposed with a frozen shoulder — but you would want something much punchier and full-blooded for everyday listening. They're a second pair, nothing more.

The Shokz Open Fit Pro want to be more, and we'll come on to that, but first let's deal with their fitness side. I hate anything jammed into my earhole, so their open-ear design is perfect for me, and allowing external ambient sounds through is essential for the running and cycling I mostly did while wearing them during a month-long stint working at the recent 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.

While cycling, your ears are your mirrors and the balance between listening to Only God Knows by Young Fathers and hearing traffic behind me was about perfect. When running, especially the 3.5km between hotel and office at the Winter Olympics, I could at all times hear the maniacal Milanese drivers who would otherwise have mown me down without a second's thought had I been too zoned in on Fontaines D. C.'s Romance LP.

Connection, that includes multi-point pairing, was never a problem thanks to the Shokz' uber-stable Bluetooth 6.1 technology and nor was getting extra sweaty with their IP55 rating good for water and dust resistance.

In my (windowless) office in Milan, I also used the Open Fit Pro to transcribe athlete flash quotes and take reliably crystal-clear calls from reporters despite the high-pressure, higher-noise newsroom environment surrounding me. The same was true when calling my fiancée — your aforementioned Techradar audio editor, no less — from a packed pizzeria and an evening watching figure skating from opposite ends of the arena (it's a long story).

The battery life is more than above average and borders on the relentless. Shokz promise 12 hours of listening from a single charge, plus another 50 hours from the slimline and lightweight case, which I found to be about bang on. On a couple of occasions I ran into the office with only the earbuds, used them regularly to listen to and transcribe interviews on a 10-hour shift and ran back to the hotel. They lasted all day and even got me back into the office the following morning (this time with the charging case in my back pocket).

In a bit of rush? No problem, 10 minutes of fast charging will give you four hours' listening. Wireless charging is also an option, albeit at a slower pace. Sure these figures come down a bit when you turn on 'noise reduction' mode — six hours from a charge, another 24 from the case — but we're still talking about listening periods firmly in the 'every day' territory.

Time to talk about why you'd want to. That 'noise reduction' mode really is excellent for a pair of open earbuds. It's basically impossible for the Shokz to have ANC but the noise reduction technology, helped by the brand's Super Boost technology, ear adaptive algorithm and synchronized dual-diaphragm driver, does a great job of blocking out more of the world.

The companion Shokz app is also a boon. It's home to five EQ presets, plus two options to create your own sound profiles, and is also the destination to turn on 'noise reduction' (touch control toggles are also available), Dolby Atmos and head tracking technology. You can also customize those multi-point connections and use the very useful 'Find My Earbuds' function.

The overall impression is very positive. Sure, closed earbuds have a bigger feature set in general — but the fact that all this exists in a set of open earbuds, is pretty impressive indeed.

The difference in price between the Shokz Open Fit Pro and the vast majority of their competitors can be explained in how they sound, or at least, how they try to sound. Remember, at a price touching $250, Shokz are going after an audiophile market here.

For the most part, they succeed. The detail at the low end — especially with EQ preset Bass Boost turned on in the Shokz app — is impressively dynamic, and weighty enough to almost make you forget that these are open earbuds. Wet Leg's Chaise Longue loses none of its lustrous early bass power thanks to that synchronized dual-diaphragm driver, while Age of Consent by New Order enhances the propulsive force of Peter Hook's four-string.

If treble is your bag, you're also in luck, but you've really got to love it. Treble Boost brings forward guitars and vocals — only accentuated further if you switch on the Vocal setting in the app – which sound at their best for semi-spoken word songs like Go! by Public Service Broadcasting but for my money it's to the detriment of the overall sound profile.

Bass gets lost and the treble overwhelms to the point it sounds a little tinny, rendering a song as good as The Concept by Teenage Fanclub almost unlistenable — so much Norman Blake and Raymond Mc Ginley rhythm guitar and almost no Gerard Love woozy bass.

You can also create your own EQ in the app, which, though a little fiddly, does do a good job in establishing a Goldilocks setting just for you. In the end, though, I listened almost exclusively in Bass Boost mode and felt all the happier for having done so.

The Open Fit Pro's aforementioned noise reduction mode does as good a job as can be expected from a set of open earbuds. Helped by a triple-mic system (up from two in the Open Fit 2), Shokz's ear-adaptive algorithm can predict external noise and delivers a solid reduction in what you hear. In the app, you can also select how much noise reduction you actually want with a toggle, although I didn't notice much difference. You will, though, have to crank up the volume to a Spinal Tap 11 if you want to block out the world around you — in doing so, I had a notification on my phone telling me I had "exceeded the recommended limit for audio exposure" over the previous seven days. This has never happened to me before.

I tended to use noise reduction only when in an office environment and needed to focus — I'm not the biggest fan of ANC in general and found the noise reduction here too manufactured to the point of slight nausea — but it's easy to turn on and off with either the buds themselves or using the Shokz app. On my flight home, it also made an appreciable difference to both aircraft and wailing baby noise, albeit nothing compared with my Cambridge Audio Melomania P100s, which combine an over-ear seal with ANC.

Elsewhere, the combination of Dolby Atmos and head-tracked spatial audio is a winner. It upscales TV on the Radio's Wolf Like Me without sounding too muddy, while listening again to Tidal's Dolby Atmos version of Wet Leg's Chaise Longue was a transformative experience. With both Dolby Atmos and head-tracking switched on, the bass-heavy intro is punchier, with extra clarity, and you feel 'in the mix' much more throughout.

When a breathy 'what?' halfway through the first verse appeared from apparently behind my right ear, I genuinely turned around, certain a prank was being played on me by a sleep-deprived Olympics colleague. Only when the same happened moments later in my left ear, having turned my head, was I finally assuaged that it was vocalist Rhian Teasdale with some Dolby Atmos help. You might think it's a gimmick, but it genuinely felt like she was in the room.

The best thing to be said about the Open Fit Pro's design is that on numerous occasions after pausing a track to deal with a work enquiry, I simply forgot I was wearing them. They really are that comfortable, especially over long periods. They sit snugly around your ear, too, with a handy demonstration from the Shokz app of how to fit them if you're a luddite like me.

Weighing 12.3g, each bud may be a little heavier than our current open-ear market leaders the Open Fit 2+ (9.4g) but, typical of the Shokz oeuvre, the Open Fit Pro's general silicone stylings are supremely tactile. The driver housing is made from an 'aerospace-grade aluminium PMI dome cap' which adds security and a well-positioned nub that sits perfectly to direct sound straight into the ear. It's the same with the charging case, which feels premium and is small enough to fit in your pocket — whether jeans or even running shorts, as I found.

Thanks to the Open Fit Pro, for the first time in my 30 years' playing competitive tennis (yes, my name really is Andy Murray), I listened to music during match training. How your opponent hits the ball is your biggest clue to their shot — its pace, its spin and even its trajectory — and despite listening to Queens of the Stone Age banger The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret, while warming up I could still hear and track the ball in the way I always have. I wouldn't wear the Shokz for anything more than a 15-minute warm up — my addled brain can only cope with doing so many things at once — but they brought a new way of interacting with a sport I love.

Unlike running and cycling's repetitive movements, tennis' reactive twisting and turning really gave the Open Fit Pro a stability workout to stay on my ears. And they managed it. In tougher rallies, I found my right earbud feeling slightly unstable, but attaching the supplied ultra-soft silicone o-rings to the inside of earpiece sorted that in a heartbeat. I always wear a baseball cap when playing tennis, as well as a helmet while cycling, and neither interfered with the Shokz sitting snugly around my ears.

I regularly put on and took off jumpers, T-shirts and sportswear without having to take out the buds. As if to prove a point, I just put on a hoodie while writing this sentence. The fit really is excellent. The buds, that is. The hoodie has probably seen better days.

Evidence of how easily-bendable the hook is. (Image credit: Future / Andy Murray)

Whether in white or the review sample black I tested, the Open Fit Pro look sleek, smart and unobtrusive — numerous colleagues in Milan were surprised when asking me a question and I'd respond by either taking off the Shokz or using the buds' touch controls to pause.

Those touch controls are great, by the way. Each bud has an easily accessible nub, which does everything. One quick press on either bud for pause, and answer and end call; double click for skip track; triple click for previous track; a quick press followed by a continuous hold does volume up (right) and down (left); and press and hold to toggle noise reduction. These are all customizable in the Shokz app, too. Listening to Fontaines D. C.'s Starburster over and over with that triple click saw me through a couple of 3.5km PBs.

Only in one design area does the Open Fit Pro suffer, and it's one familiar to any regular open earbuds wearer. Despite the clever noise reduction mode, to really block out the world around you'll need to crank the volume, making sound leakage a problem. At 50% volume in a silent room it's barely audible, but start to push things further to drown out external stimuli and it's immediately obvious.

On the morning commute this shouldn't be a problem if you don't want your neighbor to know you're getting your groove on to Chappell Roan's Pink Pony Club, but while my fiancée was watching TV, she could hear my dirty secret from across the room when I tried to drown out her weekend Homes Under the Hammer catchup. Nor does the 'Private' EQ setting particularly help – there's only a negligible improvement for your companion and the bass suffers significantly for you. I wouldn't bother.

In the general scheme of things, the Shokz Open Fit Pro aren't that expensive, it's just that for nearly $250 they come in at the north end of the open earbud market, albeit not quite as pricy as the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds. With noise reduction, Dolby Atmos and head-tracking technology, though, Shokz seem to be targeting these as the only buds you need in your listening arsenal.

So, are they worth it? In audio terms, absolutely. You quite simply won't find a better-sounding set of open earbuds with this feature set, and as sturdy a battery life. I wouldn't necessarily throw out your regular over-ears or ANC in-ears just yet, though. There are times when you need to zone in and hear nothing of the outside world.

That being said, as a pair of sports-specific open earbuds, I don't think you'll find better.

It's a packed set, with as much on offer as can be expected from a set of open ears.

It's a packed set, with as much on offer as can be expected from a set of open ears.

Noise reduction is effectively ANC for an open-ear design, with Dolby Atmos and head tracking nice extras. Tinny treble, though.

Noise reduction is effectively ANC for an open-ear design, with Dolby Atmos and head tracking nice extras. Tinny treble, though.

So comfortable and tactile you'll forget you're wearing them, but sound leakage at upper volumes is an issue.

So comfortable and tactile you'll forget you're wearing them, but sound leakage at upper volumes is an issue.

They're still a second set, but what a great-sounding second set to have.

They're still a second set, but what a great-sounding second set to have.

You want to upscale your exercise From the excellent noise reduction to head-tracked Dolby Atmos and a punchy bass, the Open Fit Pro will keeping you running, cycling and even hitting tennis balls for hours on end. You won't find better.

You're often on the go The Shokz's battery life is superb to relentless in general and, with a charging case that fits in your pocket, you'll go days without having to go in search of electricity.

You like wearing air Yeah, the Open Fit Pro really are that comfortable. You just won't notice you've got them on.

You don't dig much treble It overwhelms in general, and I always had Bass Boost on to compensate. Fine for me, but maybe not for you.

You only want one pair of buds Shokz aren't quite there yet with a one-set-of-open-earbuds-to-rule-them-all policy. If you fly a lot or need to block out the world to concentrate, you'll need another pair. That makes them slightly expensive.

12 hours (earbuds, noise reduction disabled), 50 hours total

12 hours (earbuds, noise reduction disabled), 50 hours total

Shokz Open Fit 2+ Our previous open earbud market leader has some competition, but the fact the brand's in-house alternative isn't so good for glasses wearers is a problem. Read our full Shokz Open Fit 2+ review

Bose Ultra Open Earbuds These clip-on open ears are even more expensive than the Open Fit Pro and less sound leakage, but not the noise reduction. Read our full Bose Ultra Open review

I tested the Shokz Open Fit Pro for well over a month, which is longer than our regular testing period at Tech Radar.

The buds were paired to an i Phone for the entirety of the testing, using Tidal's high-res and Dolby Atmos audio outputs. I used them at home at work and also on runs, while cycling and even playing tennis, at which I've competed at a high level for 30 years.

Andy Murray is an award-winning writer and columnist, voted the Consumer Journalist of the Year at the 2015 PPA New Talent Awards. A fluent Spanish speaker and former semi-professional footballer, he was senior staff writer of world-leading football magazine Four Four Two from 2012 to 2019 and continues to write and edit for them, national newspapers, websites, the Olympic Games and Premier League clubs.

An avid music lover since an existential introduction to The Bends by Radiohead aged 10, he has been a Glastonbury regular for decades and always lends an ear to the latest tech. For the past three years, he has tested products, subedited reviews and delved deep into the minutiae of VPNs for Tech Radar.

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Key Takeaways

• News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets

• Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more

• Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards

• I would ditch all my headphones in favor of these brilliant open earbuds' stacked feature set, were it not for one flaw

• The Shokz Open Fit Pro have noise reduction, great bass and are super comfy, but that treble