Price

The OpenFit 2+ is available now in Europe before launching in other countries and territories. You can grab them from the Shokz website and in-store at Selfridges and John Lewis in the UK. They’re priced at £179 / $199 which is more than the OpenFit 2 (£169).

The original OpenFit cost £179 / $179, while the OpenFit Air sits at £94. Shokz has also released the OpenDots One in the US, which are priced at $199. That means the OpenFit 2+ are the most expensive Shokz earbuds in the UK.

Put that up against the competition and that’s still cheaper than the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, which launched at £299 but can now be found for closer to £250. There’s also solid-performing open-ear earbuds like the Huawei FreeArc (£99), Soundcore AeroClip (£129) and the Nothing Ear Open (£129) that all sit below the OpenFit 2+’s price.

Design

• New silicone for added comfort
• Improved waterproof rating
• Physical and touch controls included

By and large, the OpenFit 2+ remain very close to the design of the OpenFit, which I still think makes it better for wearing in some scenarios than others.

Shokz says uses a new ultra soft silicone for the ear hook design to improve comfort. I can’t say the original OpenFit had massive issues with comfort and I don’t think the new silicone really makes a huge difference on that front. I’d still happily wear them for long periods and haven’t suffered wearing fatigue over an extended amount of time.

I’d class the OpenFit 2+ much like the OpenFit as everyday earbuds. So, while you can absolutely work out with them, I still have some problems with them in that scenario and would say the OpenFit Air is better for wearing in the gym or for a run.

Sitting at a desk or walking around and the fit is absolutely fine. I just found some slight movement during exercise where the earbud sits against the ear. They’ve never felt like they were going to fall off, but in terms of forgetting the earbuds are on, it’s tougher to do that with more intense exercise use.

The individual buds have jumped in weight (9.4g from 8.3g), perhaps to better counter the balance from the first version, but I’m not sure it’s entirely improved.

Where Shokz has made worthwhile changes is with the controls. Previously it was a touch based setup and while they were some of the better examples of touch controls I’ve tried on open-ear earbuds, they were more problematic using them on the move.

Shokz has now added a single button above each earbud, which takes care of most of the controls on offer. That includes playing and pausing audio, skipping tracks and pressing it down to increase and decrease volume.

The only reason you’ll need to interact with the touch controls is to launch your smartphone’s smart assistant. This is a good decision and as a result, even when on the move, the controls simply work so much better.

There’s also been a change in the water resistance rating for the earbuds but not the charging case, which again doesn’t offer any sort of protection against moisture. The buds have moved from an IP54 rating to a IP55 sweat-proof one, which means it can withstand sweat, light rain splashes and dust.

That case stays largely the same and while not the most compact, does keep the buds securely in place and comes with the added ability of wireless charging.

Battery life

• Boost in overall battery life

Battery life on the OpenFit 2+ has, on paper, improved from the OpenFit. You should be able to enjoy up to 11 hours listening time, which is up from 7 hours. Add in a fully charged case and that’s a total battery life of up to 48 hours. That’s up from 28 hours.

They take an hour to fully charge from flat and offer essentially the same quick charge feature that gives you two hours of use from a 10-minute charge. Unlike the OpenFit 2, you can also drop that charging case onto QI-certified wireless chargers.

I’ve found an hour’s listening saw the battery drop by 10%. That works out to 10 hours, which while not hitting that 11 hour mark, is an improvement on the OpenFit. It’s also important to remember that both listening volume and the EQ modes in use have an impact on battery life. Overall, the battery has been more in keeping with Shokz’ best headphones for battery performance.

Sound Quality

• New DirectPitch air conduction technology
• Dolby Audio mode added

Like the OpenFit and Shokz’ other recent earbuds, it’s opted to use air conduction as opposed to bone conduction to punch that sound into your ears in a safer fashion.

This approach involves placing speakers in close proximity to your ears, with the biggest benefits over bone conduction being a boost in power, bass performance, having a greater ability to tinker with the sound profile, all while not providing any of the vibration tickle of bone conduction headphones.

There are some aspects of the open-ear approach, whether it’s air or bone, that you cannot escape. That’s experiencing audio leakage and accepting that a closed-style set of headphones or in-ear earbuds will invariably offer better overall sound.

Even with those compromises, the OpenFit 2+, in open-ear terms, offers really enjoyable sound and there’s some improvements from the first OpenFit.

Once again, Shokz employs its DualBoost technology, which equates to putting two individual speakers in each bud to deliver deep bass, crisp mids and highs. Its OpenBass 2.0 algorithm also wants to make sure you enjoy a good bass performance overall as well.

The sound of the OpenFit 2+ does feel louder than the OpenFit and that certainly helps in louder environments or when using near busy roads or windier, blustery conditions. Those exterior noises do not thankfully drown out your sounds and you can still manage to enjoy the best of what the OpenFit 2+ has to offer.

There’s a set of EQ presets along with a custom EQ option in the companion Shokz app to better tailor the buds to your preferred sounds and it does pay off to play around with the EQ options to get the best sound.

In terms of delivering deep bass, crisp mids and highs; on A Tribe Called Quest’s Can I Kick It?, the bass is punchy and likeable, but also showcases some of the struggles the OpenFit 2+ has in delivering the crispness Shokz promises.

On Goldfrapp’s Ohh La La and Grizzly Bear’s Two Weeks, mids have more of a boxy quality while treble is what I’d classify as grainy as opposed to sparkly.

That perhaps doesn’t paint the best picture of what the OpenFit 2+ sound like, but they are absolutely one of the nicest-sounding open-earbuds. They just lack the balance and poise you get from Bose and Sony’s open-ear earbuds.

One of the biggest differences between the OpenFit 2 and the OpenFit 2+ is the addition of a Dolby Audio mode, which also appears on the OpenDots One and promises a more immersive, spatial audio experience.

It has to be enabled from the app and while it’s designed for music, watching videos or gaming, I found when listening to music it wreaked more havoc with an already slightly unbalanced profile.

It’s a much better fit for watching films and shows, but I’d still question whether this is the kind of feature that’s worthwhile on open-ear earbuds when it’s always going to have more rewarding results from earbuds that offer much better seal and isolation.

If you want to use them for calls, there’s two microphones placed inside of each of the earbuds with Shokz now using AI to promise crystal-clear calls. I wouldn’t say what I experienced was crystal clear quality or quite on par with the call quality you can enjoy from Sony or Apple’s earbuds.

The boost in overall volume makes them much more suited for handling calls and as long as you’re not in very busy environments, the call quality is just about up to scratch.

Should you buy it?

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