After the Brooklyn Half Marathon, my foot began to hurt. I was diagnosed with tendonitis soon after running the UAE 10k (which aggravated the injury) and ended up not running at all for over a month. Just as a physical therapist had me restart running, I received the Aftershokz Bluez 2 running headphones to test out.
The Aftershokz Sportz M2 headphones were my favorite headphones and my regular running headphones, but they were wired with a control box I needed to clip to my collar between the headphones and my iPod Nano. The Bluez 2 headphones have a similar shape that goes around the back of the head and is held in front of the ears, but utilizes bluetooth technology, so everything is held in the headband. The biggest acclimation was the weight difference of the Bluez 2 on the head, since the additional weight causes the headphones to sink a little on the head while running.
Soundwise, the Aftershokz Bluez 2 sound even better than the Sportz M2. Even thought they are bluetooth, I found the sound to be clearer and have more depth than the M2 headphones. The Bluez 2 really shone when listening to classical music, but lacked heavy bass when listening to Metallica. The Bluez 2 don’t necessarily have the fidelity of several hundred dollar headphones, but sound perfect when running and exercising, which tend to be times when not listening with such precision.
My favorite feature of the Aftershokz Bluez 2 is the open ear design that allows easy hearing of the world around the wearer. Wearing them on the track and on the street, I was able to hear everything around me, from other people to cars driving by, without any problems.
After two weeks with the Aftershokz Bluez 2, I can easily say that Aftershokz still makes my favorite running headphones. The improved sound and ease of hearing still make them the best running headphones in my opinion. The removal of the wires only improves their usage and stops the wires and control box from getting in the way.
