These Shokz earbuds made it easy for me to retire my bone conduction headphones – here's why

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Open-ear earbuds enthusiasts typically revere their form factor because they either want to remain in tune with their surroundings or dislike the feeling of earbuds inside their ear canal. Whatever the reason may be, open-ear earbuds have popped up in every corner of the earbud industry, proving their popularity and utility.

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But what about people who don’t want to hear everything but still want an open-ear experience? Shokz’s OpenFit Pro earbuds explore exactly that. The company unveiled its latest open-ear earbuds with noise reduction technology at CES 2026, marking a first for the company and an apt environment in which to make the announcement.

I’ve tested the earbuds’ unique feature during the first days of the show, and before you disregard it, here’s why it could be one of the most useful audio technologies you’ll see this week.

Don’t call it noise cancellation

Open-ear earbuds were a response to the sometimes impracticality of tight in-ear seals and aggressive noise cancellation of traditional earbuds. However, a fully open form factor can be equally impractical, allowing all external noise to reach your ears and diminishing your listening experience.

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The Shokz OpenFit Pro offer noise reduction, not cancellation, addressing background noise, which is one of the largest challenges open-ear earbuds wearers face. Although the purpose of open-ear earbuds is to hear your surroundings, it can be difficult to hear your music or the other person on a phone call clearly when the earbuds don’t block street noise, voice chatter, and other ambient sounds.

I wore the OpenFit Pro in moderately crowded cafes, while walking through casino lobbies, and when standing outside waiting for my Uber drivers. The most noticeable benefit was during phone calls, and the noise-reduction feature addressed wind noise, traffic hum, and the murmur of a crowd. In cafes and crowded lobbies, the noise reduction softened the collective chatter that accompanies a group of people speaking. 

Why I’m digging the design

Many people find open-ear earbuds more comfortable, since they don’t have to insert earbuds into their ear canals. The OpenFit Pro’s open-ear form factor and noise-reduction technology kept me aware of my surroundings without letting in conversations or sounds I didn’t need to hear. 

I could hear sudden noises I needed to be aware of, such as sirens, PA announcements, or crosswalk signals, but I didn’t have to hear ambient chatter or the hum of Vegas’ overactive air conditioning systems.

Therefore, the OpenFit Pro made me feel like situational awareness was more of a feature I could control and leverage, rather than a symptom of the earbuds. I had a say in how much, or how little, ambient noise affected my listening experience, but I didn’t have to sacrifice my awareness by inserting AirPods into my ears during hours-long writing sessions.

Redefining open-ear listening

At first, open-ear earbuds with noise reduction may sound counterintuitive, but the technology prioritizes your sound experience rather than blocking out your external environment. Instead of canceling noise and enveloping you within a bubble, the OpenFit Pro gently fades your background and enhances the sound of your earbuds. 

So you can still interact with your environment without fiddling with noise-reduction settings, while still hearing your phone call, audiobook, or music front and center. 

The OpenFit Pro adopt Shokz’s standard true wireless earbud form factor: over-the-ear hooks, metallic accents, and soft silicone materials around the ear hooks. The OpenFit Pro fall into Shokz’s more casual lineup of earbuds, offering an 11 x 20mm dual-diaphragm driver, Dolby Audio with Head Tracking, DirectPitch 3.0 for decreased sound leakage, and OpenBass 2.0 for optimized bass reproduction.

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The OpenFit Pro are heavier and bulkier than the company’s other OpenFit earbuds, likely due to the OpenFit Pro’s inclusion of multiple microphones and internal noise processing technology for the noise reduction feature. The OpenFit Pro are also Shokz’s most expensive offering, retailing at $250. They exceed the OpenDots One, which were previously the company’s most advanced and casual open-ear earbuds for everyday wear.

ZDNET’s buying advice

The Shokz OpenFit Pro are a solid option for people who want high-quality open-ear earbuds that can reduce external noise interruptions to the open-ear listening experience. If you find that open earbuds let too much of your environment’s noise into your ears, disrupting your music and phone calls, the OpenFit Pro have a solution.

If you value a simple, open-ear headphone experience, particularly one with a lightweight design suitable for exercise, you won’t like the OpenFit Pro. They are stacked with advanced audio features, and their additional internal noise-reduction components make them heavier and more expensive.