For runners whose paths often have them going through busy areas, being able to hear one's surroundings is of the utmost importance. And while you can wear headphones with a special “transparency” mode to achieve this while listening to music and other things, it's not the solution for everyone.

For instance, some people just can't stand having something in or on their ears for sensory reasons. Others might want the option to, say, listen to GPS directions or podcasts while driving without breaking any traffic laws that regular headphones would.

That's where the Shokz OpenRun Pro headphones come in. These are actually bone-conduction headphones, meaning they deliver audio directly to your inner ear without blocking your ear canal or having to pass through the eardrum. The advantages? Better situational awareness, more comfort, and you can even hold conversations with a running partner while your fitness playlist plays.

They have a whole page explaining how it works if you want to know more. Otherwise, I can tell you that it's a very cool — and at first, kind of strange — phenomenon to experience.

The OpenRun Pros are mostly identical in design to the previous Aftershokz Aeropex set from before the company's rebrand some months ago, with the addition of quick-charging, improved audio, better background noise filtering during phone calls, and a couple more hours of battery life per charge.

These guys did a great comparison between the OpenRun Pro and Aeropex models:

As they note, there are some tradeoffs between the two models, and depending on your personal needs, you may actually prefer the older headphones over the newer ones.

The OpenRun Pros are $180 on Amazon, whilethe Aeropexes are $130. Either way, enjoy those
ᔆ ᴷ ᵁ ᴸ ᴸ ᔆ ᴼ ᵁ ᴺ ᴰ ᔆ ??