Disclaimer: I received the Aftershokz Trekz Titanium to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!”
Hello lovely blog readers!
On this Boston Marathon Eve I thought I take a moment to tell you all about a new product I’ve been testing, the Aftershokz Trekz Titanium.
These headphones are pretty awesome. They are not an in-ear headphone, but rather a near-ear headphone. They are designed to rest just in front of your ear and conduct some of the sound through your check bone! Why is this awesome? Because then you can hear the world around you while you also listen to your preferred music, podcast, book on tape, etc.
“But Katherine, why wouldn’t I want my headphones to be in my ear?”
Great question blog reader! One word – safety!
With these headphones, yes you do lose some the ambient noise canceling that in-earbuds create, but what you gain is an awareness of what’s around you. You can hear bikers calling out, other runners, and nature, all the nature!
There is something refreshing about hearing my podcast AND the early morning birds on my runs. And for someone like me that normally only runs with one earbud in so that I can purposefully stay aware of my surroundings, these are a no brainer. I find myself grabbing these headphones every time. Being aware of my surroundings puts my anxious mind at ease in the pre-dawn hours.
Okay now that I’ve gushed for awhile here are the downsides. If you run along busy roads, these might not be for you. The rush of cars will interfere with the sounds from the headphones since while some bone conduction occurs the majority of the sound is just small speakers. Also, it takes awhile to figure out your fit. I have a large head (me and my 6′ 2″ boyfriend share hats) and the first couple times they were definitely snug and needed to be removed slowly. Regardless of that though I still found my grabbing these for every run. Finally, the notifications that tell you when they turn on, connect to a device, running low on battery, etc tend to be much louder than the audio you might be listening to. I tend to be really sensitive to loud music sounds (self-proclaimed) and sometimes they startle me.
Do you run trails? You should check these out. They are probably the best thing out there if you want to stay safe but still take some audio with you. You will hears birds and other animals tweeting or rustling in the bushes while listening to your preferred distraction. 🙂
Battery life? These headphones claim to work for up to 6 hours but I feel like they last longer than that. I find myself charging them maybe every 8 hours of use.
The Aftershokz Trekz Titanium headphones are a great fit for anyone wanting headphones that are wireless and not in-ear. They allow you to stay connected to your surroundings AND stay connected with the audio distraction of your choice.
Get a pair of any Aftershokz headphones and use code BIBRAVE20 for 20% off!
