Shokz Open Fit Pro: rich sound, less background noise
30.6.2026
Translation: Veronica Bielawski
Video: Nico Bernasconi
Want to listen to music but still hear when there’s a car approaching? That’s what open-ear headphones are for. With its latest release, Shokz has shaken things up by throwing in some noise reduction.
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Open-ear headphones with noise reduction – seems paradoxical. Isn’t the whole point of open-ear headphones to hear ambient sounds? The Open Fit Pro aim to resolve this contradiction. Can they pull that off?
The Open Fit Pro are the third model in the Open Fit series. I wasn’t entirely won over by the first one, which launched in 2023 – here’s my review. Although the two successors, the Open Fit 2 and the 2+, brought improvements, I was won over by the Bose Ultra Open with their good sound and comfortable fit.
Now the Open Fit Pro mark a new category of open-ear headphones with noise reduction. I’m curious whether I’ll like it; at first glance, the new feature strikes me more as a gimmick than something useful.
Right off the bat: the Open Fit Pro aim to reduce ambient noise – not cancel it out with classic ANC. The idea is that you can still hear what’s going on around you, just not at full volume.
Comfortable to wear and easy to use
Comfort comes before sound. After all, what good are headphones that sound great but hurt to wear? The Open Fit Pro fare well in this regard, the earhooks sitting securely on the ear outside the ear canal. For small ears (like mine), there’s a soft silicone insert. With it, the headphones fit perfectly and don’t budge even when I’m jumping on the trampoline or skipping rope.
One feature I love is the two physical buttons on the Open Fit Pro’s earhooks. They’re easy to feel and operate even with thin running gloves. On other models, the touch panel has often annoyed me during sport – through accidental inputs when brushing back my hair or simply through movement. That doesn’t happen with the Open Fit Pro.
Sound is clear and balanced
The sound quality of open-ear headphones has improved significantly in recent years. The tinny, thin sound of the early models is long gone, with this iteration of the Shokz raising the bar another notch.
The Open Fit Pro deliver full bass and an overall balanced sound. In the app, you can further personalise the sound using a 10-band equaliser, but I’m happy with the default settings. With sports headphones, I’m not after crystal-clear musical enjoyment anyway – I just want decent sound for my run or workout. And the Open Fit Pro deliver. Audiobooks and podcasts also sound rich and pleasant in speech mode.
Noise reduction wins me over
Noise reduction on the Open Fit Pro works on the same principle as noise cancelling on other models: microphones pick up ambient sounds and play a counter-signal (essentially a sound wave with inverted highs and lows) into your ear. These signals cancel each other out, reducing said sounds.
Since the Open Fit Pro don’t go into your ear canal, this doesn’t work as well as it does with in-ear headphones. But that’s not the goal: I still want to be aware of my surroundings, to hear when a car or bicycle is approaching.
In fact, I’ve always seen awareness of my surroundings as a clear advantage of open-ear headphones. And that’s why I’ve stayed away from ANC. But now I’ve changed my mind slightly. I still don’t like noise cancelling for sport – but noise reduction makes running through the city or along a babbling stream more pleasant.
My previous open-ears quickly reached their limits on busy roads or on the train. Not the Open Fit Pro. With them, I can listen to a podcast on the train or jog along to music without having to crank the volume up to headache-inducing levels. Points for that.
And at the gym too, I like being able to tune out the heavy breathers (who are obviously training harder than me). The background noise isn’t gone, just less dominant.
The noise cancelling does have one odd side effect, though: when I’m not listening to music but keep the headphones on at loud locations, such as an underpass, I feel a strange pressure on my ears. But it goes away again as soon as I switch on a song or podcast.
App offers flexibility
To get going, you simply hook the headphones onto your ears. Then, if you want, you make a few more adjustments in the app. For example, you can manually switch the noise reduction on and off. It’s supposed to cut ambient noise by up to 14 decibels – you can set the level. I found around 50% to be optimal. That way, the ambient noise is muffled and there’s no distortion in the music.
In addition to tweaking the sound via different modes and the equaliser, you can assign various functions to the buttons, such as controlling the volume, answering calls or skipping songs.
A key feature for me is multipoint pairing. The Open Fit Pro work via Bluetooth 6.1 and allow me to stay connected to both my laptop and iPhone and switch between the two without having to re-pair.
Battery life and charging case
The battery is supposed to last up to twelve hours without noise cancelling. Mind you, I’ve never actually worn the headphones that long – I put them back in the charging case between uses.
With the case, battery life increases to up to 50 hours. You can recharge the headphones in the case via USB-C or wirelessly.
With the power-hungry noise reduction switched on, the battery lasts only half as long: six hours for the headphones and 25 hours with the case. That’s always been enough for me so far. And since the charging case is nice and flat, I can easily take it along in my running belt.
In a nutshell
Good sound with less disruptive background noise
The Shokz Open Fit Pro’s noise reduction won me over. Thanks to it, the headphones work well even in fairly loud environments. The improved sound and the button controls are further advantages. With this model, Shokz has struck a good balance between sound quality, safety and awareness of your surroundings.
Pro
- Good sound with full bass
- Noise reduction (*not* ANC) works in moderately loud environments
- Good fit, comfortable to wear
- Button controls
- Multipoint pairing
- Long battery life
Siri Schubert
Senior Editor
Siri.Schubert@digitecgalaxus.chResearch diver, outdoor guide and SUP instructor – I love being in, on and around water. Lakes, rivers and the ocean are my playgrounds. For a change of perspective, I look at the world from above while trail running or flying drones.
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