ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Suunto Wing bone conduction headphones can be found in Lava Crimson and Black for $199.
- Lengthy battery life, LED lights, head motion management, transportable battery pack, and IP67 water and sweat resistance are the highlights.
- Pricing is comparatively costly, however the sturdiness and endurance greater than make up for it.
My first publicity to bone conduction headphones occurred just some yr in the past, after I wished to hearken to music throughout my runs whereas my ears remained open, conscious of my environment. It did not take me lengthy to appreciate the opposite advantages of the product class, together with the longer battery life than commonplace earbuds, and the truth that these ear hangers by no means fell out regardless of how a lot I juked and jived whereas working.
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Since then, we have gone from two or three opponents within the bone conduction market to virtually too many to rely, together with from corporations which can be already established within the health market. Suunto is thought for its GPS sports activities watches, however for the previous month, I’ve been working, path working, indoor rowing, biking, and strolling with the corporate’s new Suunto Wing headphones. They usually’re incredible.
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The Suunto Wing bone conduction headphones are available in Black and Lava Crimson (as reviewed) with a value of $199. This can be a fairly commonplace value for high-end bone conduction headphones, and the Suunto Wing gives just a few distinctive options I’ve not but seen on another mannequin.
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Essentially the most vital purpose I put on bone-conduction headphones is for consciousness and security, particularly when working at evening or in unfamiliar territory. Suunto’s rendition has a novel security function within the LED lights positioned on either side of the headphones.
Three small lights are embedded into the block behind your ear the place the battery is situated. The lights might be personalized from the Suunto smartphone app to shine always, in flashing mode, and in an SOS sample. Three shiny purple LED lights seem on all sides of your head and this may assist make you extra seen to these round you as you train outdoors and/or at evening.
Two buttons are discovered on the underside of the headphones, controlling energy and quantity up/down. With a fast configuration on the smartphone app, you may then lengthy press the quantity down button to toggle the LED lights on and off, which makes issues very handy if you want extra security.
One other distinctive function of the headphones is the top motion management performance. Once more, this may be toggled on and off within the Suunto smartphone app and is turned off by default. When a name is available in, you may shake your head back and forth twice to reject the decision or nod twice to reply the decision.
This function goes past taking calls; In case you are listening to music, shaking your head twice back and forth switches to the following tune. I used this fairly a bit when listening to some random Spotify playlists and located shaking my head a lot simpler than pushing buttons on my watch or headphones.
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One closing function not seen by others is the facility financial institution charging system. The headset rests securely on a triangular battery pack that has a plastic clip to safe the headphones. You may then take this battery pack with you when touring and recharge your headphones, including about 20 hours of playback.
The headphones themselves last as long as 10 hours with a full cost, with 10 minutes of charging offering you with as much as three hours of music help. I traveled with the facility financial institution throughout a latest journey and might verify that Suunto’s battery life estimates are correct. I am going to add that activating the LED lights does influence the battery life, lowering it to about 4 hours, down from 10 hours.
I’ve had earbuds fail prior to now from my sweat and the customarily wet situations I run in, however bone conduction headphones don’t relaxation inside my ears and sit out on the floor of my head. It definitely helps that the Suunto Wing are rated at IP67 and sweat and water resistant.
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One minor gripe I’ve is the multi-function button discovered on the skin of the left aspect. It is a bit too flush and is identical shade because the headphones, so it wasn’t at all times the best to activate or see.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
I’ve examined a number of bone conduction headphones over the previous few years they usually’re solely getting higher. The Suunto Wingheadphones got here out of nowhere and have shortly develop into my most well-liked headset because of the extra security options, transportable battery pack, and excellent efficiency. The pinnacle motion management is very helpful because it’s typically inconvenient for me to faucet round to play music or reply calls.
