Yes, I know the drill - you shouldn’t cycle with headphones as all your senses should be operating at maximum capacity for safety reasons. And while I tend to agree with this notion, what if the product in question doesn’t block out or affect audio awareness? Well, there is a solution and it comes from the Beijing-based company Oladance.
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While I often use earbuds, they tend to block out or cancel too much outside noise awareness which can be detrimental to safety. I’ve even gone as far as to wear just one - in the ear furthest away from the road - but it’s not the greatest way of listening to music or podcasts for that matter. Oladance, and its Wearable Open Ear Headphones concept, has addressed this issue and the result is truly remarkable.
In fact, as far as the best headphones for cycling, running and general exercise go, the Oladance Wearable Open Ear Headphones are at the top of the tree.
Oladance Wearable Open Ear Headphones - Technical details
The Oladance Wearable Open Ear Headphones are housed within a fairly sizeable container similar to that of a sunglasses case. This container acts as both a charging station and protective storage solution. While the container comes sans a built-in battery like its rivals from Apple et al, you’ll need to charge the headphones by plugging in a USB-C cord into the rear end of the container. It’s a pretty simple and smart way of handling things in my opinion but adding on-the-go charging wouldn't go amiss here.
The headphones themselves have a peculiar design and represent a new take on the earbud concept - they’re essentially a meld of the TSW IEM and bone-conduction earphones. In terms of their design, the open-ear blueprint is double-ended and fits around the ear quite cleverly. The battery end rests on or just above the mastoid bone behind the ear, while the speaker is suspended in front of the ear canal. Each headphone employs a 16.5mm speaker which is controlled via touch-sensitive controls. It's pretty intuitive when it comes to the operation but more on that later.
Given the size of the headphones, the hard case or container is larger than most of its rivals despite not featuring any remote charging capabilities. The hard case is prone to picking up finger grease but this is merely a bugbear and nothing more. The hard case still does a great job; not only when it comes to protection duties but also in keeping the headphones secured when not in use.
They’re available in four colour options: Space Silver, Interstellar Blue (tested), Martian Orange/Blue or Cloud White, enough variation to sate all tastes. The complete package - headphones and hard case included - weighs 84g, and each headphone comes in at 12g. For context, Apple AirPods Pro tip the scales at 56g (AirPods and case) but weigh just 5g each. And while this might appear as a significant weight penalty, the extra grammage can't be felt when in use owing to the clever design and the way the Oladance Wearable Open Ear Headphones fit on the ears.
Oladance Wearable Open Ear Headphones - Performance
The Oladance Wearable Open Ear Headphones are super-easy to set up out of the box and connected to my iPhone instantly thanks to Bluetooth 5.2. I merely opened the hard case and my phone picked it up under Bluetooth devices. The headphone controls can take some time to master but it's very intuitive. The smart touch controls sit on the speaker section of the device. You'll need to play around with the way they work but it won't take long before you get the hang of things. A single tap controls stop/start; a double tap is skip or rewind, three taps activate the voice assistant and sliding up or down changes the volume. The Oladance companion app lets you customise the buttons to best suit your needs - this goes for both music and accepting phone calls.
Before the Oladance Wearable Open Ear headphones arrived for testing, I exclusively used Apple AirPod Pro headphones and they did the trick for the most part. The only drawback was having to use one in the ear furthest from the open road. I could never use both as the noise cancellation would drown out all outside sound. What was immediately evident with the Oladance was the ability to clearly listen to music, talk and hear outside noise thanks to the open-ear design, the latter of which does nothing to affect the quality and definition of the sound coming from the speakers.
The way the Oladance Wearable Open Ear Headphones fit the ear is also a notable improvement to the earbud-style plug system. Earbuds often get sweaty and can fall out the ear - something many riders have experienced, myself included. The way the Oladance Open Ear Headphones fit is just genius; using the shape of the ear and mastoid bone to secure it in place while the speaker end sits just above the ear canal. As much as I tried to unsettle them and shake them free, the headphones stayed put and never once left their position. The headphones are both waterproof (IPX4) and sweatproof.
As an avid Zwift user and eSports racer, I use headphones during racing to communicate with my team over Discord. The sound clarity - even while mashing the pedals indoors with the fan and turbo trainer blaring - was brilliant. The audio quality is crystal clear and the onboard microphone is superb - my teammates could hear me clearly even with my fan at full blast. Outdoors, it's a similar experience and on par with the Apple AirPods Pro. If anything, it's only once the wind starts to pump or when there's a fast descent that you might have trouble with wind/noise interfering with the audio. But for the most part, it's loud and clear and does little to affect outside noise.
The battery life is excellent with a claimed 16 hours. I managed 15 hours before it needed a charge but I do change songs quite frequently which might have had something to do with not getting a full 16 hours. A full charge will take up to two hours and will require you to plug the USB-C cable directly into the charging case.
Oladance Wearable Open Ear Headphones - Verdict
In terms of absolute performance, an open-ear headphone will never provide the same sense of quality and high-definition sound as a bone-conduction device or TSW IEM unit but the Oladance Wearable Open Ear Headphones are quite brilliant in the way they work and don’t muffle any outside noise while riding. Apart from the high-quality sound and battery life, headphone security is what the Oladance Wearable Open Ear Headphones do better than any option on the market. The headphones stay planted and don’t slip or fall out for whatever reason - and for me, that’s reason enough to buy a set.
While some of its rivals - such as the Apple AirPods Pro/Pro 2, Sony's WF-C500 and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II - deliver better audio quality, they aren’t necessarily the best options for those who exercise. The AirPods tend to fall out of the ears when sweaty and Sony and Bose drown out all outside noise which is not a good attribute for cyclists or runners who rely on spatial and audio awareness to avoid dangerous situations. The Oladance Wearable Open Ear Headphones’ design is brilliant and they stay put no matter the situation - I’ve tried to unsettle them and wriggle them loose but to no avail.
That said, they are not without fault and the price of $179.99 / £199.99/ €179.99 is hard to ignore. While they are on the upper end of the pricing spectrum, the user experience, sound quality and battery life are up there with the very best. Speaking of battery life, it would be great if Oladance could add a battery to the case for on-the-go charging. That said, as an individual who likes to train with music, the Oladance Wearable Open Ear Headphones are the best headphones I've used on the bike.
Oladance Wearable Open Ear Headphones - Tech specs
- Price: $179.99 / £199.99/ €179.99
- Dimensions: 58 x 40 x 20mm (headphone), 130 x 48 x 26.5mm (carry case)
- Colours: Space Silver, Interstellar Blue (tested), Martian Orange/Blue or Cloud White
- App: Yes
- Weight: 84g case with headphones, 12g per headphone
- Battery: 16-hours
- Waterproof rating: IPX4
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2
