Shokz OpenDots One review

Open wireless earbuds could be here to stay. The concept was still very much in its infancy when Sony unveiled its ring-shaped LinkBuds in 2022, with subsequent offerings in the shape of Bose’s Ultra Earbuds Open and Huawei’s FreeClip and Freeclip 2 all proving that the concept isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

It makes a lot of sense that a company such as Shokz – best known for its sporty and bone conduction headphones – would want to get in on the open earbud action.

Much of the appeal of this bold new alternative to traditional in-ears comes from their comfort and increased user awareness, so it’s no surprise to see a brand best known for its active headphones build a pair of earbuds that promise an unobtrusive, sport-ready fit that still keeps you tuned in to the outside world.

The bad news for Shokz, as we’ve already seen, is that competition is seriously hotting up.

We’re in the beginning of what could be an open earbuds goldrush, and if Shokz’s OpenDots One don’t have the performance to match up to their rivals, they could find themselves missing out on what could be audio’s next big thing.

Build & comfort

Shokz has billed the OpenDots One as both its “smallest” earbuds and its “most revolutionary”. We find that revolutionary claim a little hard to swallow, as the OpenDots’ appearance puts us firmly in mind of the admirably talented (but considerably more expensive) Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (£299 / $299 / AU$449).

The Shokz emulate those Bose buds by offering a battery cylinder alongside a rounded bud linked by a silicone band joining the two sections – pop the cylinder on the outer side of your ear, the earbud on the inner side, and hey presto, you’re away.

As this is an open design, there are no eartips and the acoustic enclosure sits outside the ear canal, so you’re not getting that in-ear seal associated with more traditional designs.

The OpenDots One are certainly small, we’ll give them that, with their lightweight, compact footprint and out-of-ear design combining nicely to provide the desired effect of making the buds all but disappear during use. That said, they’re bulkier and weightier than the Huawei FreeClip 2, clocking in at 6.5g per bud against 5.1g for the Huaweis.

An open earbud design is a big plus for anyone who finds traditional in-ears intrusive or too tricky to lock into place, though we would say that some users may find getting the ideal position of the buds a little challenging to establish right away.

A forty five degree angle works nicely for us, but we imagine it will vary from person to person, and occasionally we feel that the buds’ slightly soft clamping force can make the OpenDots feel as though they’re shifting ever so slightly during exercise. Part of that is down to a trick of the mind – if you’re used to the locked-in feeling of regular in-ear buds, you may find the on-ear Shokz a little disconcerting initially.

That said, if you can get them to fit properly, they should be up to the task of accompanying your toughest treks and challenges. Thanks to their IP54 water and dust resistance rating, the OpenDots One are happy handling sweat and light rain, and not once do we sense that our test pair are in any way bothered when they’re caught in a nasty downpour during a February dog walk.

The added awareness provided by a set of open earbuds also represents a significant boon for sporty adventurers. If you like to keep your wits about you as you weave in and out of urban traffic while jogging, say, the lack of isolation grants the buds significant appeal.

There are downsides to this, of course. As is part of the open earbuds deal, you will find that external noises naturally intrude upon your music listening to a much greater degree than with standard sealed buds with eartips.

That’s ideal for granting greater awareness of your surroundings, but if a more direct connection with your music is what you crave, an open design might not be for you.

Features

There’s no noise cancelling to be found with the OpenDots One, but they do offer support for Dolby Audio which aims for a more “realistic and engrossing sound experience”. In practice, switching to Dolby pulls the sound a little further away from your ears for what is a looser, freer and somewhat less focused audio profile.

The OpenDots One boast up to 10 hours of continuous listening time from the buds, rising to a total of 40 hours with the charging case – by comparison, the rival Huawei FreeClip 2 manage 9 hours from the earbuds and 38 hours with the case in play. A 10-minute quick boost of the Shokz will grant up to two hours of playback in a pinch, with the buds offering wireless charging if you have a compatible charger.

Customisable touch controls are on offer, and while there’s usually a short lag between making a command and the buds processing your request, it’s a reasonably well implemented system. Double tapping on the connecting silicone band will play or pause your current song, whereas long-pressing on the right and left earbuds adjusts the volume up or down respectively.

If you want to tweak your touch control settings, you can do so via the neat and well-ordered Shokz control app, from which you can check your buds’ battery, toggle Dolby Audio, access equaliser settings and use a handy ‘Find My Earbuds’ feature if you’ve misplaced your precious OpenDots One.

Bluetooth Multipoint is also on the menu, meaning you can connect your earbuds to twin sources simultaneously and switch between them without having to pair and re-pair them, while smart wear detection (which can be switched on and off via the app) means the Shokz will automatically pause your audio when the buds are removed and resume it once they’re returned to your ears.

Call quality

The OpenDots One house four noise cancelling mics in a bid to increase caller clarity, though as we’ve often found in the past, open earbuds can often struggle with voice calls.

It’s a similar story with the Shokz. Voices are slightly fuzzy and ill-defined as we conduct a conversation next to a busy road, with the sound of cars sloshing through recently fallen rain intruding easily into our dialogue.

Switching to our iPhone 15’s built-in microphone and speakers offers a clearer, more solid and more isolated experience, so if you have a choice, it might be better to ditch the buds and do things the old-fashioned way.

Sound

To compete in this ever-growing field, the OpenDots One tease a "rich, powerful sound" courtesy of their dual-driver system, with lower end reproduction bolstered by Shokz's own 'OpenBass 2.0' algorithm for more depth and greater texture in the bass.

Promises aside, we have to temper expectations at this point. We’re not anticipating the same sonic fidelity from the OpenDots One as their in-ear counterparts – a lack of seal is always going to hamper their performance – but they still need to keep up with the sonic standards set by their price-comparable open rivals.

A powerful sound is what we’re promised, and a powerful sound is just about what we receive. Nothing about their sonic signature comes across as anaemic or lacking in musical muscle. Quite the contrary: load up Liars’ Big Appetite and you’ll be impressed by just how much meat the open buds put on those musical bones.

There’s a fullness across the frequencies, with most of the power weighted from what is undeniably a fulsome lower end. The Shokz do make tracks sound powerful in the bass, and while it’s admirable for a pair of buds of this type to produce so much bass clout, we can’t help but wish there was more subtlety and agility at these all-important lower sonic reaches.

That lack of musical agility isn’t restricted to the OpenDots’ bass handling. A tune such as Justice’s Phantom Pt. II should skip along with a metronomic sharpness, yet through the Shokz, it sounds listless and flat.

Think less of a spritely John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, and more of a drunk uncle at a wedding trying to keep up with the twenty-somethings after six pints and too many servings of cake.

Clarity and precision are lacking, too. The OpenDots One are somewhat loose and muddy in the way they present the music they’re playing.

While a track such as Radiohead’s Burn The Witch just about hangs together, there’s little sharpness or leading edge definition to what should be sharp, angular violin strokes and light, crisp drums.

Switching to the rival Huawei FreeClip 2, which we still only awarded three stars for sound, shines a spotlight on these limitations.

The FreeClip 2 are clearer, offer more detail and are significantly more musically engaging, injecting far more life into Phantom Pt. II than the Shokz can muster.

Those little sprinkles of subtlety re-emerge when listening via the Huawei buds as they track the rise and decay of the track’s fuzzy electronic pulses in a far more convincing manner.

Verdict

The OpenDots One is Shokz attempting to break into the ever-growing open earbuds market with mixed results.

Their unobtrusive and robust design gives them both leisure and sporting credentials, yet their uninspiring sound lags behind that of their price-compatible rivals.

When you can get similar alternatives with superior performance, it makes the OpenDots One a tricky sell.

SCORES

• Sound 2
• Features 4
• Comfort 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Huawei FreeClip 2

Also consider the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

Read our Sony LinkBuds Open review

Best wireless headphones reviewed and rated by our in-house experts