Aftershokz, the brand that has brought innovative headphones perfect for fitness enthusiasts and athletes, has landed on the Philippine shores. These functional, lightweight and (most importantly) flexible headphones have totally changed the game for me in terms of safety and design.
While I love me some absolutely cordless in-ear fitness earphones, a lot of other aspects have been compromised just to “cut the user loose”, so to speak. Battery life is one of them and has been a total deal breaker for me.
Afteshokz boasts of an unconventional OpenFit design, which allows you to hear your music and still get ambient sound from your surroundings. Perfect if you run, bike or train outdoors. Its innovative bone conduction technology with Premium Pitch+ Sound lets audio pass through your cheekbones instead of your outer ear canal. Sound too fancy? It’s not as complicated as you think. Play music before you put it on and you’ll hear it faintly when you put it a few centimeters close to your ear. Technically, it still produces sound waves i.e. vibrations your ear can detect. Once you put them on properly though, you start to hear more clearly as the same vibrations pass through your cheekbones, straight to your inner ear.
When I first checked these out in a Digital Walker store, I was told all these and well, I expected a very futuristic device. I put them on, listened to half a track, took them off. Meh. It felt like having small speakers right above your ear.
When I finally got my own, I decided to give it another shot. I ran outdoors with it, trained in a noisy packed gym and even walked to work with them. I realized that each time I put them on, it felt like the music was not loud enough. I would crank the volume to its maximum and then turn it back down a bit when I think about how it could possibly ruin the device (I dunno, I just made that part up) but I leave it at about 80% max. Coming from noise cancelling headphones that really put me in the zone, I would always look to upping the volume. But after about a couple of tracks using the Aftershokz, the sound comes through much better. I think of it as the adjustment period. I love how the bass comes through- sound vibrations through your cheekbones that sometimes feel ticklish. No sound leakage, no weak bass.
The brand offers two models of the Aftershokz Trekz- Titanium and Air. Both are made of Titanium and basically has the same features but the Air (which is what I have), is 20% lighter than the Titanium model weighing only 1.06 oz. It’s also very sleek and minimal in terms of design- totally up my alley. Also because they’re made of Titanium, these things are much more durable than most in the market- safe to throw in your gym bag if you’re in a hurry. It comes with a stylish rubber case and a pair of earplugs, which you can use if you want to completely shut out the noise around you like when reading or staying in to listen to music.
Apart from that, you can make and take calls without fuss. Both models have a built-in noise-cancelling mic so you don’t have to worry about not being heard and allow 6 hours of music and calls. They’re also IP55 rated to repel sweat, moisture and dust. Its voice prompt feature guides you through hands-free commands such as power, pair, play and talk, just call for Audrey.
I never thought I’d say this, but I love this product. It keeps my ears open for any possible accident and increases awareness of my surroundings, but still allows me to get in that zone which is exactly what I need for outdoor running. I use mine in the gym too because they still ward off people I don’t want to talk to but at least I know when I’m in someone’s way or whatever.
The Aftershokz Trekz Titanium retails for P5,690 while the Aftershokz Trekz Air retails for P8,590. Available at Digital Walker, Astroplus, Beyond the Box, Brick MultiSport Store, Deuter, E-Central Cebu, Glorious Ride Bike Shop, iCenter Cebu, iLiberty Tech Gadgets and Accessories, JMB Albay Gadgets, Mobile 1, R.O.X., Lazada and Shopee.
