The Shokz OpenRun Air 2 is a sensible update to a proven running headphone: better sound, longer battery life and USB-C charging, wrapped in a familiar open-ear design. At A$229 in Australia, the appeal is comfort and a secure fit, with room to hear your surroundings.
This Shokz OpenRun Air 2 review looks at whether those upgrades are enough to replace the original OpenRun, and where the more expensive OpenRun Pro 2 still earns its place.
Shokz has handled that by taking the sensible route. The OpenRun Air 2 looks extremely familiar, weighs essentially the same and sticks with the same wraparound bone-conduction design, but gets improved audio technology, longer battery life, USB-C charging, app support and some useful software features.
It isn’t a dramatic reinvention. Nobody at Shokz appears to have burst into a meeting yelling, “What if we made them triangular?” Thankfully.
Instead, this feels like the OpenRun being brought properly up to date.
Review context: this assessment draws on supplied early running tests, including a session lasting more than an hour. Extended call testing, particularly in heavy wind, was limited. Manufacturer battery figures are claims rather than a measured full-discharge result.
Design and Fit
Put the OpenRun Air 2 beside the outgoing OpenRun and you probably won’t spend much time wondering what family it belongs to.
It’s still the classic Shokz design, with transducers sitting in front of your ears and a flexible band wrapping around the back of your head. The Standard version weighs 26.4g, while the Mini drops very slightly to 25.9g. Despite “Air” appearing in the name, the Standard model is actually the same 26.4g weight Shokz lists for the previous OpenRun. Shokz does, however, claim a profile more than 9% smaller than the OpenRun, with revised ear hooks. The improvement is in size and shape rather than a dramatic weight reduction.
That sounds slightly disappointing until you remember that 26.4g is already ridiculously light.
The bigger benefit of the design is stability. Early running testing provided for this review included multiple runs, including one lasting more than an hour, and the OpenRun Air 2 reportedly stayed comfortably in place without bouncing around or creating noticeable pressure around the head.
You also get Standard and Mini sizes, which is important with this type of headphone because you don’t have adjustable arms or interchangeable ear tips to rescue a bad fit.
Physical buttons remain, and I’m glad Shokz hasn’t decided that sweaty runners desperately needed tiny touch-sensitive surfaces instead. Volume and playback controls are much easier to deal with when you’re moving, wearing gloves or halfway through questioning your decision to go running in the first place.
Another welcome change is USB-C charging as standard. Proprietary chargers have a unique ability to disappear precisely when you need them, so moving towards the cable already sitting on half the desks in Australia makes much more sense.
Water resistance is rated at IP67, making these suitable for sweaty sessions, rain and being rinsed after training, although Shokz specifically says they are not intended for swimming. Let the charging port dry completely before plugging them in.
One practical catch: Shokz does not include a USB-C cable in the box. Most people will already have one, but it is worth knowing before your first run.
Shokz OpenRun Air 2 Features and Specifications
The biggest upgrade is inside.
Shokz has moved from the PremiumPitch 2.0+ technology used in the OpenRun to its newer PremiumPitch 3.0 bone-conduction system. Unlike the OpenRun Pro 2, however, the Air 2 doesn’t combine bone conduction with separate air-conduction drivers. That distinction becomes important when we get to sound quality.
| Specification | Shokz OpenRun Air 2 |
|---|---|
| Australian price | A$229 |
| Audio technology | PremiumPitch 3.0 bone conduction |
| Weight | Standard: 26.4g; Mini: 25.9g |
| Battery life | Up to 10 hours (manufacturer claim) |
| Charging | USB-C; around 1 hour for a full charge |
| Quick charge | 5 minutes for up to 2 hours of playback |
| Bluetooth | 6.0; Multipoint pairing with two devices |
| Water and dust resistance | IP67; not for swimming |
| App | 4 EQ presets, 2 custom EQ modes, custom controls and Find My Headphone |
| Sizes | Standard and Mini |
Shokz has also considerably improved the software side. The Shokz app offers Standard, Vocal, Volume Boost and Private EQ presets plus two custom EQ modes. You can adjust controls, update firmware, connect two devices simultaneously using Multipoint and use Find My Headphone if they’ve vanished somewhere between your gym bag and the kitchen bench.
Multipoint is particularly useful if you’re switching between a laptop and phone throughout the day. It takes what could otherwise be purely exercise headphones and makes them easier to use outside training.
Battery life has increased from eight hours on the original OpenRun to a claimed 10 hours here. Charging has also improved, with a full charge taking around an hour and five minutes of charging providing up to two hours of playback.
Those aren’t glamorous upgrades, but they’re the sort you actually notice after owning something for six months.
For the full feature list and battery-test conditions, see Shokz’s official OpenRun Air 2 specifications. The claimed 10-hour result comes from laboratory playback at 75% volume using SBC audio.
Sound Quality, Battery Life and Calls
The main question is whether PremiumPitch 3.0 meaningfully improves the sound, and based on the early testing supplied, the answer appears to be yes, although don’t expect the OpenRun Pro 2 to suddenly become redundant.
Compared with the original OpenRun, the Air 2 delivers a fuller presentation with more warmth and a little more bass presence. That’s important because bass has traditionally been one of the compromises of bone-conduction headphones. You can vibrate someone’s cheekbones only so enthusiastically before things start getting weird.
Music has more substance here than on the older OpenRun, and vocals come across more convincingly. The supplied testing also found a noticeable improvement across the sound generally rather than one particular frequency suddenly becoming spectacular.
What you do not get is the weight and bass response of the OpenRun Pro 2. That model supplements bone conduction with air-conduction technology, and the result is a richer, more powerful presentation. Our Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 review explains what that hybrid approach brings to running headphones.
The Air 2 therefore sits exactly where it should. It sounds better than the basic OpenRun without trying to pretend it’s Shokz’s best-sounding sports headphone.
The Volume Boost EQ is also useful outdoors. It can make podcasts and music easier to hear when there’s more environmental noise, although there’s an obvious limit here.
Open-ear headphones are supposed to let outside sound in. If you’re running beside busy traffic, you’re going to hear busy traffic. Turning them up until you don’t rather defeats the entire reason for buying them.
Battery performance also needs some context. Shokz claims up to 10 hours, but higher listening volumes can reduce that figure, as you’d expect. The early testing material indicated battery drain increased noticeably when running at louder volume levels, so I would treat 10 hours as a best-case figure rather than something guaranteed regardless of how you use them.
Call performance is another area Shokz has tried to improve. There are dual microphones combined with AI noise reduction intended to reduce ambient sound and improve voice clarity. The testing information supplied wasn’t extensive enough for me to make a firm judgement on call quality, though, particularly in heavy wind, so that’s one feature I’d want more time with before declaring it a major upgrade.
Running Comfort and Everyday Use
The main appeal of the OpenRun Air 2 isn’t that they produce audiophile-grade sound. They don’t.
It’s that you can put them on, go running and largely forget about them.
Because nothing sits inside your ear canal, there’s no ear-tip pressure and less of that sealed-off feeling you get from conventional earbuds. The lightweight neckband design also appears to remain stable during running without needing constant adjustment.
That makes them particularly appealing for longer sessions. The supplied running tests included over an hour of continuous use without comfort becoming an issue, which is arguably more important here than another paragraph about Bluetooth specifications.
The physical controls help as well. When running, I would choose a proper button over a capacitive touch panel every time. Touch controls are lovely until sweat, rain or gloves become involved and your headphones suddenly decide that trying to increase the volume actually means calling somebody you haven’t spoken to since 2021.
The Shokz app also makes the Air 2 feel noticeably more modern than the original OpenRun. Being able to switch EQ modes, customise controls and manage Multipoint gives you more flexibility without making setup unnecessarily complicated.
Volume Boost could become particularly useful for anyone whose running routes alternate between quiet parks and noisier suburban roads. Just don’t expect software to defeat a passing truck. Physics remains annoyingly committed to doing its job.
What I Liked
The best thing about the OpenRun Air 2 is that Shokz hasn’t tried too hard.
That sounds like faint praise, but it isn’t. The basic OpenRun design already worked exceptionally well for running, so changing the shape simply to make the second generation look different would have achieved very little.
Instead, Shokz has concentrated on the boring improvements that actually make a product better. Battery life is longer. Charging is quicker. USB-C is standard. The app does more. Multipoint is included. The audio hardware is newer.
I particularly like the combination of the secure neckband and physical controls. True wireless sports earbuds have become excellent, but there’s still something reassuring about headphones that aren’t capable of launching themselves into a storm drain halfway through an interval session.
The improved sound is also significant enough to matter. You’re not suddenly getting huge sub-bass, but the extra warmth helps music feel less thin than older bone-conduction models.
What Could Be Better
The word “Air” suggests something dramatically lighter, yet the Standard OpenRun Air 2 weighs the same 26.4g as the original OpenRun.
That is not really a problem because both are extremely light. The smaller profile and revised ear hooks give the Air 2 a physical update, but buyers expecting a big drop in weight will not find one.
Sound quality still carries the usual open-ear compromises too. If your priority is getting the richest possible music reproduction rather than maintaining awareness of your surroundings, there are better conventional earbuds available.
Even within the Shokz range, the OpenRun Pro 2 remains noticeably stronger for bass and overall musicality. The Air 2 improves the standard model without closing that gap completely.
The other limitation is noisy environments. Volume Boost helps, but these aren’t noise-cancelling headphones and aren’t trying to be. A train commute, busy flight or loud gym isn’t where I’d choose them over traditional earbuds.
I’d also like more extensive real-world testing of the upgraded microphone system before treating AI noise reduction as a reason to upgrade by itself. “AI” appears on enough product boxes now that it has almost become punctuation.
Australian Price and OpenRun Pro 2 Comparison
As checked on 7 October 2026, Shokz Australia lists the OpenRun Air 2 at A$229. The outgoing OpenRun is listed at A$219, with the official store showing it as sold out. At those list prices, the Air 2 costs only A$10 more. Prices and availability may change.
At that difference, buying the older OpenRun makes very little sense unless you find it heavily discounted elsewhere.
You get two additional claimed hours of battery life, quicker charging, PremiumPitch 3.0, Bluetooth 6.0, Shokz app support, Multipoint and improved microphone processing for an extra ten dollars. That’s about as straightforward an upgrade decision as you’re going to get.
The more interesting comparison is the OpenRun Pro 2, listed at A$319 in Australia. That makes it A$90 more expensive than the Air 2 at the checked list prices.
I’d spend the extra money on the Pro 2 if sound quality is high on the priority list. Its combination of bone and air conduction delivers noticeably more bass and weight than the Air 2 can manage.
But that’s also what makes the Air 2’s position interesting. Plenty of runners aren’t buying open-ear headphones because they want to sit on the couch analysing bass extension. They want something lightweight, secure and comfortable that lets them hear a cyclist approaching from behind.
For that person, saving A$90 starts to look very sensible.
If you prefer separate earbuds to a neckband, our Shokz OpenDots 2 review covers the brand’s clip-on alternative. For the rest of your training setup, see TDP’s runner’s gear guide.
Who Should Buy the Shokz OpenRun Air 2?
The OpenRun Air 2 makes the most sense for runners, cyclists, walkers and gym users who prioritise awareness and comfort.
They’re particularly well suited to outdoor running. You can listen to music or podcasts without completely disconnecting yourself from traffic, other runners and the world around you.
They’re also an easy recommendation for existing OpenRun owners whose headphones are getting old and need replacing. The design will feel immediately familiar while the battery, charging, app functionality and audio performance all move forward.
What I’m less convinced by is upgrading from a perfectly healthy OpenRun purely because the Air 2 exists. The improvements are worthwhile, but they’re evolutionary rather than dramatic. If your existing pair still works perfectly, there’s no urgent need to fling it into a drawer and pretend you’ve never met.
Likewise, listeners who care more about sound quality than environmental awareness should probably look at conventional earbuds or spend more on the OpenRun Pro 2.
Shokz OpenRun Air 2 Review: Verdict
The Shokz OpenRun Air 2 is exactly the sort of second-generation product I’d rather see more companies make.
It doesn’t throw away a proven design just to create an exciting comparison graphic. Instead, Shokz has kept the light, comfortable and secure formula that made the OpenRun work and improved the areas that were starting to feel dated.
PremiumPitch 3.0 brings a useful improvement in sound, battery life rises to 10 hours, charging is faster, USB-C makes life easier and the Shokz app finally gives the standard OpenRun line much more flexibility.
There are limitations. The OpenRun Pro 2 still sounds substantially better, noisy environments remain a challenge and current OpenRun owners aren’t getting a radically different physical product.
But at A$229 in Australia, with only a tiny gap between it and the listed price of the previous OpenRun, this is now the Shokz model I’d look at first for most runners.
It’s not Shokz reinventing the running headphone. It’s Shokz resisting the urge to reinvent something that didn’t need fixing, then quietly improving nearly everything around it. Sometimes the sensible update is the better one.
Shokz OpenRun Air 2 FAQs
Can you swim with the OpenRun Air 2?
No. The IP67 rating covers dust and water resistance, but Shokz says the OpenRun Air 2 should not be used for swimming or underwater activities.
Does the OpenRun Air 2 have noise cancellation?
It has AI noise reduction for the microphones during calls, rather than active noise cancellation for listening. Its open-ear design deliberately allows environmental sound in.
Is the OpenRun Air 2 lighter than the original OpenRun?
The Standard versions both weigh 26.4g according to Shokz. The Air 2 Mini weighs 25.9g, and Shokz claims the new design is more than 9% smaller overall.
Is a charging cable included?
No. You will need your own USB-C cable. Shokz lists the box contents on its Australian product page.
Zachary Skinner is the editor of TechDrivePlay.com, where tech, cars and adventure share the fast lane.
A former snowboarding pro and programmer, he brings both creative flair and technical know-how to his reviews. From high-performance cars to clever gadgets, he explores how innovation shapes the way we move, connect and live.
