Curious how those AfterShokz are working out?
I've just used them indoors so far.
The Good:- arrived no problem
- no shipping charges to Canada
- reasonable cost $39USD
- fit and finish look good
- fit my head pretty well
- sound quality is darn good
- "speakers" don't go in your ear so you can indeed still hear stuff [see note below]
- small battery on cord has volume control for easy adjustment on the fly
- comes with nice case to store product
- weather and sweat-proof
The Bad:- semi-rigid back band won't fit all heads [my boss is a big guy and they were too small for his neck]
- semi-rigid back band comfy for shorter sessions...I'll have to see how I feel after 4-5hrs+
- needs charging via USB [supposed to have 12hr life I haven't tested this yet]
- battery is partway down cable and you need to clip it to something so it doesn't hang off headphone band
- if battery was integrated into headphone band it would be a more streamlined easier to use product
- although buds are not in ear you can turn them up so loud they effectively block out sounds anyways
- semi-rigid band design means they take up more room in a pack than a couple ear buds on a flexible cord
- you feel the bass on your cheeks, but you don't hear booming bass like you do from in ear buds
The most important feature for me was the fact these don't go into your ears so you can hear the outside world. This is accurate, however, they conduct sound to your inner ear and they are loud enough you can effectively block out outside sounds by simply drowning them out. Of course you don't have to blast the volume so that's something you can control.
We got 2 sets in our house and we'll both use them for urban bike riding. I'll use mine at work as well so I can hear people/phones.
I don't know whether the comfort and size/form factor will make it a winner for bikepacking trips yet. I'll try it and see what I think. At the moment I don't have a dynohub so keeping them charged will be my challenge. I have a small auxiliary battery that might work to get me an extra 3 days or so of use. Which would probably be good enough for testing.
