Shokz | Aftershokz Aeropex, Blue Eclipse / Standard

I received these headphones in December 2021.PROS: These have decent distance. I leave my phone on my desk, and throughout the day, physically walk to different rooms, behind some doors (even the bathroom!) and only lose signal when I go outside.These sound really good; not audio engineer or Bose quality but good enough for the podcasts I listen to all day. They are loud enough to tune out the constant machinery in my job, but I can hear when someone speaks to me.They hold charge really well. I use them M-F, 6-7hrs each day and they've never cut out on me. They charge quickly in the evenings, so I can plug 'em in, fix family dinner, and drop them back in my purse for the next day, most times before I even eat.CONS: The plastic/latex covering has begun ... MoreI received these headphones in December 2021.PROS: These have decent distance. I leave my phone on my desk, and throughout the day, physically walk to different rooms, behind some doors (even the bathroom!) and only lose signal when I go outside.These sound really good; not audio engineer or Bose quality but good enough for the podcasts I listen to all day. They are loud enough to tune out the constant machinery in my job, but I can hear when someone speaks to me.They hold charge really well. I use them M-F, 6-7hrs each day and they've never cut out on me. They charge quickly in the evenings, so I can plug 'em in, fix family dinner, and drop them back in my purse for the next day, most times before I even eat.CONS: The plastic/latex covering has begun shifting/coming loose. So pushing buttons is a hassle now. Pressing the power button can take several tries before it works. Hitting the stop button has a delay. And the charging plug has to be set on the headphones in a certain way, and the shifting latex cover makes it easy to miss a clean connection.I got the regular size, but I really needed the minis because they're big. They hover over my ear holes instead of on my temples. If I wear my hair in a bun, I can reposition them to set correctly on my temples. Because of this, I can hear people talk to me/call my name, but I have to hit the stop button, or yank it off my ear in order to understand what they're saying.Overall, I love the bone conduction technology, and I'd consider this brand again if they're truly updating their models.

I’ll start by saying that for some uses, these are great. I’ve worn headphones and listened to music while falling asleep for as long as I can remember, as my brain has always seemed to spin endlessly without something to chew on. During the pandemic, I’ve taken to using earplugs as my wife gets up early to do a gym class over zoom, and earplugs represent no problem to these.Battery life is typically far better than earbuds, and I can easily get a full day of meetings and streaming stuff in the background while I work without any trouble or any need for a recharge.Sound quality is middling at best. It’s fine for YouTube or watching Netflix, but it’s quite “meh” for music. However, I’ve had far worse corded headphones before, and given they’re usable with earplugs ... MoreI’ll start by saying that for some uses, these are great. I’ve worn headphones and listened to music while falling asleep for as long as I can remember, as my brain has always seemed to spin endlessly without something to chew on. During the pandemic, I’ve taken to using earplugs as my wife gets up early to do a gym class over zoom, and earplugs represent no problem to these.Battery life is typically far better than earbuds, and I can easily get a full day of meetings and streaming stuff in the background while I work without any trouble or any need for a recharge.Sound quality is middling at best. It’s fine for YouTube or watching Netflix, but it’s quite “meh” for music. However, I’ve had far worse corded headphones before, and given they’re usable with earplugs and that I don’t listen at high volumes at night (I.e. sound quality wouldn’t be great anyway) I’m fine with that.The BEEP in response to volume adjustments or the side button is horrendous, especially if you have earplugs in and have acclimatized to nearly no sound. It’s painful, bordering on stunning in much the same way a flashlight is in a completely dark space after acclimating to the dark. Aeropex might want to consider dropping the volume beeps completely (isn’t the volume getting louder or quieter enough indication?j and dropping the feedback for the side button to half its current level or less. It’s all fairly unnecessary.However, by far the worst part is that I’m on my second pair in 13 months, soon to be a third as the replacement pair are now failing; I poked customer service this morning about an RMA. Both pairs of headphones failed in exactly the same way: they started getting a bit buzzy a few months in, and a few months after that, the transducers are obviously flapping about unconstrained in the blobs on the end. They sound like a bag of nails when I pick them up and shake them, and I can’t listen to them any more.It’s seriously disappointing that the premium price doesn’t appear to result in a premium product. I’ve had far more longevity from one of Anker’s original sets of earbuds (actually from their first Kickstarter under the Zolo brand that they eventuallly gave up on) that cost a fraction for what these things did.I’m not confident that the second RMA pair will last any longer, and once the warranty period is up next year, I’m expecting that I’ll have effectively rented a pair of headphones for 2 years and change.

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 ... MoreI 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.