How do bone conduction headphones work

Traditional earphones send sound into your ears via airwaves. They basically vibrate a stream of air into your ears which are subsequently picked up by your eardrums and interpreted by your brains. They, however, have one severe limitation. They do not allow you to listen to other sounds apart from the music you might be streaming at any given time. This means you basically have to suspend every other activity you might want to undertake for the sake of listening to the track of choice. This is why Bone Conduction headphones come into the discussion . Now how bone conduction headphone work. Do Bone Conduction Headphones Really Work ?? Today we will try to figure out these answers into our article.

This is the limitation that bone conductors are designed and manufactured to eliminate. They transmit audio via bone vibrations as opposed to airwaves. This allows you to use your ears to simultaneously listen to other sounds while enjoying your favorite tracks.

In our conversations below, we are going to examine how the headphones work in details. We are also going to ascertain whether headphones of this kind are worth the money they go for. We do hope that this will give you the head start you require to make the right purchasing decision.

How Do Bone Conduction Headphones Work?

They basically work by transmitting audio signals via bone vibrations as opposed to airwaves. Below is the breakdown of how they generally function:

Step I: Pick up Signal

These headphones are compatible with several devices such as radios, phones, GPS devices, and Bluetooth connectivity. As a first step, they pick up the signals from any of the relevant electronic devices listed.

They do so in a number of ways and means. They may utilize a connecting wire, Bluetooth connectivity, or any other form of wireless connection available. You must be certain that they are compatible with each other before setting up any connections.

Step II: Generate Vibrations

They then proceed to generate vibrations that respond to the vibrations of the source devices. Vibrations basically mimic the sounds that originate from the source. It does so by determining the frequency of the incoming signal and generating its own signal that has the same level of frequency.

It uses a built-in magnet to do so. It is these vibrations that the headphone later converts into signals for eventual transmission to the bones.

Step III: Transmit Vibrations to the Bones

After generating the vibrations, the headphone converts them into signals. These are electric impulses that may be transmitted to the bones. This is what sets the bone conduction headphone apart from ordinary headphones. It thereafter transmits those signals to the bones of the skull.

Step IV: Transmit the Vibrations to the Inner Ear

Upon receiving the signals, the bones of the skull transmit the said signals to the inner ear. (The signals bypass the outer and middle portions of the ears). This procedure yet again differs from the ordinary airwave transmission. The ordinary transmission involves the outer and the middle ears as well.

While at the inner ear, signals are converted into nerve impulses. This is carried out by the cochlea. This is the portion of the inner ear that generates nerve impulses in response to the signals that are provided for by the bones.

Step V: Sends the Nerve Impulses to the Brain

The nerve impulses are then sent to the brain for interpretation. It is after this step that you are now able to hear and comprehend the message that is contained in the audio tracks.

Do Bone Conduction Headphones Really Work?

YES, they do! The following are the persons or unique circumstances that may require these kinds of headphones:

Conductive Hearing Loss

Perhaps the most significant circumstance under which these kinds of headphones may applicable is for those persons that suffer from the conductive hearing loss. This is an auditory disorder which arises whenever there is a problem with the transmission of sound through the three main chambers of the ear. These headphones are designed to bypass the first two chambers and thus enable those with ear problems to hear normally.

Ability to Multitask

As has already been noted above, these headphones do not at all interfere with the normal hearing apparatus and channels. As such, you may also listen to the ambient sound at the same time as you are listening to your favorite tracks via these headphones. This ability to multitask comes in handy when you are driving, in a fitness gym, walking along the street, or maybe in class.

Improved Situational Awareness

Closely related to the above is the fact that these headphones enable you to stay alert at all times. You will less likely lose focus, become absent-minded, or drift your attention at all. This again will help you to drive, navigate congested streets, and stay alert whenever you are going about your business. In light of this, you will less likely sustain injuries or collide with others whenever you listen to your music or audio content by using this headphone.

Reduced Damages to the Ears

Given that they do not utilize the ordinary ears, they are less likely to inflict on you the common issues and problems that ordinary earphones do. These include damages to the eardrums, insensitivity to low sounds, and partial deafness to mention but a few! You can thus be certain that you will not at all feel disparaged or placed at any significant disadvantage by opting for these gadgets.

Too Much Ambient Sound

In some cases, you might want to listen to your favorite audio content in very noisy environments. These included crowded streets, in public transportation vehicles, and public spaces. Ordinary headphones may not offer you the reliability you desperately want under such circumstances. This is for the sheer reason that they transmit sound to your ears the same way as these ambient sounds do.

This is where conduction headphones come in handy. BY reason of using a different mode of sound transmission, they will enable you to ward off ambient noise while enjoying your favorite audio content.

Closing Remark

Notwithstanding the few shortcomings highlighted above, the bone conduction headphones are still great possessions and a worthy purchase. As a matter of fact, they are a ‘must have’ for persons who have hearing issues. In light of these, you clearly have no option but to consider purchasing them for your usage.

How Bone Conduction Works

To understand how bone conduction works, you first have to understand how we hear sounds, which we do in two ways:

Sound travels in waves through the air. Normally, sound waves travel through several structures in the ear, before being translated and transmitted through our nervous systems to our brains. First, the waves enter the outer ear, or pinna, which is the big flappy piece of cartilage that helps to focus the sound. From there, the sound goes into the air-filled middle ear, which includes the auditory canal and the eardrum, a flap of skin that vibrates when exposed to the energy from sound waves. On the other side of the eardrum, there are three small bones, the ossicles, which are attached to it. They transmit the vibration to the cochlea, a fluid-filled structure that takes those vibrations and converts them to electrical impulses that are sent along the auditory nerve to the brain [source: Hass].

But that’s not the only way our body can process sound. Sound waves can also be transmitted through the bones in your head. When the bones vibrate, the sound reaches the cochlea, just as it would by going through the middle ear and eardrum, and results in the same sort of nerve impulses being transmitted to your brain. This method of sound transmission is called bone conduction [source: Walker and Stanley].

The great 18th- and early-19th-century composer Ludwig Van Beethoven, who suffered hearing loss apparently caused by thickening of the structures in his middle ear, may have been one of the first people to develop a bone-conducting device help him hear music. He attached a rod to his piano and then connected it to his head, so that it transmitted the vibration of his playing directly to his cochlea [source: Mai]. Bone-conducting headphones are built around this same concept.

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If you haven’t heard of bone conduction headphones, then prepare yourself for something weird. They’re ultraquiet, they don’t sit on (or in) your ears, and they vibrate your skull. But how can you hear sound through your skull?

Sounds Are Just Vibrations

Before diving into bone conduction, let’s first look at how sound works. Like light, sound travels through the air in waves. But unlike light, sound can also travel through dense objects. This is why sounds are usually referred to as “pressure waves.” They cause objects to vibrate, even if you can’t see it.

There are a bunch of tiny organs in your ear designed to react to sound. In other words, they’re great at vibrating. The star of the show is your eardrum, which is a thin flap of skin that vibrates like the head of a drum or the diaphragm of a microphone. It encourages your other ear organs and tiny ear bones to vibrate. (As a side note, don’t look up pictures of the eardrum. It’s gross.)

miha de/Shutterstock

Once everything starts shakin’, your cochlea looks around and records what’s going on. It then sends that data to the brain, where it’s translated into music, voices, or any other noise that you’re subjecting yourself to.

So far, it seems like hearing is a relatively simple process. And guess what? Bone conduction is just as simple.

Bone Conduction Skips Your Eardrums

Alright, so typical hearing depends on the eardrum to vibrate all of the little organs and bones of your inner ear. The eardrum isn’t necessary for hearing, but without it, your inner ear bones and organs would be static.

See where this is going? Bone conduction bypasses your eardrum by sending vibrations to your inner ear through your skull. Once all the tiny bones and organs of your inner ear start moving, your cochlea doesn’t know the difference. It records the vibrations, sends them to the brain, and you suddenly hear music, podcasts, or the obnoxious videos that automatically play on news websites.

Now, this doesn’t mean that bone conduction headphones are totally silent. They’re still audible (a lot less audible than earbuds), but they’re designed to push sound waves through your skull, rather than through the air.

Why Use Bone Conduction Headphones?

Again, bone conduction headphones skip the eardrum and don’t push much sound into the air, so they have several practical uses. For one, you can use them to free up your ears while exercising, talking to people, or listening for traffic. You can also use them to avoid the harmful sound levels of typical headphones. They’re essentially the opposite of noise-canceling headphones.

More interestingly, you can use bone conduction headphones to get around some hearing disabilities, especially conductive hearing loss. Even some hearing aids take advantage of bone conduction. It’s been said that Beethoven held a tight rod between his teeth and his piano to compose music while deaf.

AferShokz

Conductive hearing loss is mostly a problem of the middle ear (namely, the eardrum), which is precisely the part of the ear that bone conduction headphones skip when sending vibrations to the inner ear. Of course, the extent of your hearing loss will determine how well bone conduction headphones work for you. Problems with the inner ear (especially nervous or cochlear issues) will also limit the effectiveness of bone conduction headphones.

Should I Buy Bone Conduction Headphones?

Before you go out and buy a new pair of bone conduction headphones, consider your needs. If you want to bypass your hearing loss or hear your surroundings while listening to music, then, by all means, grab the best pair of bone conduction headphones you can afford. (We’re not just being cute—a lot of bone conduction headphones suck. Buy a good pair, or you’ll be disappointed.)

If you’re just looking for quality, then stick with what you know. A good pair of headphones will always “sound” better than the best pair of bone conduction headphones. Bone conduction is a solution to many problems, but it comes at the expense of sound quality.

Although true wireless earbuds have been hogging the limelight as of late, there’s another breed of specialized wireless earphones garnering attention: bone conduction headphones. These have deep-seated roots in the hearing aid industry, but naysayers and die-hard fans are abound. Let’s breakdown whether or not bone conduction headsets are a gimmick or something more.

Editor’s note: this article was updated on April 10, 2020, to address the best bone conduction headphones in the FAQ section.

How does bone conduction technology work?

Those with hearing issues may benefit from bone conduction headphones since they don’t rely solely on the eardrum.

The abridged version of bone conduction headphones is that they rest directly on the listener’s cheekbones. Unlike traditional headphones and earbuds, the eardrum doesn’t vibrate to pass the information along to the cochlea. Instead, the vibrations from the bone conduction bee-lines for the cochlea.

Due to the lack of eardrum involvement, this technology is good for people with hearing deficiencies, as the bone conduction vibration acts as in lieu of the eardrum.

The case against bone conduction headphones

Bone conduction nay-sayers harp on the importance of isolation, but it’s more than repetition for the sake of repetition; it makes an audible difference. Insulating your eardrums from outside clamor benefits clarity because a good seal mitigates auditory masking. What’s more, if your eardrum isn’t being used, transmission accuracy is compromised. You’ll get the gist of your media playback, but audio quality is severely degraded.

If audio quality matters to you at all, avoid bone conduction cans.

Sound quality aside, the fit may be uncomfortable. Let’s take the Aftershokz Trekz Titanium, one of the more popular options; it rests atop your cheekbones and balances its weight on a small portion of your ears. It’s hard to maintain a stable fit when walking, let alone when doing more vigorous activities like running.

Those who fall into this camp believe you’re paying more for less. The concept is novel, but real-world use reveals many deficiencies. Of course, there are always two sides to a coin.

The case for bone conduction headphones

Aftershokz’ bone conduction headphones wrap around the back of the head but don’t sit securely compared to alternatives.

All right, so consumers in favor of bone conduction headphones champion the technology for safety reasons and because it’s beneficial for those who are hard of hearing. Regarding the former, being aware of your surroundings during outdoor workouts is a necessity, especially for runners. Since these don’t seal around or even touch the ear canal, they allow you to hear other pedestrians, passing cars, and any other potential hazards.
What’s more, if you suffer from hearing loss and, or use hearing aids, bone conduction headphones are a viable option. While conventional earbuds and headphones may interfere with or jostle hearing aids, bone conduction headphones bypass this. Additionally, listeners who are deaf in one ear may enjoy stereo sound that can’t be heard with traditional in-ears. Bone conduction headphones give certain listeners a sense of hearing that may otherwise be unavailable to them.

Although audiophiles likely won’t be endorsing bone conduction headphones anytime soon, the fact remains that they serve a purpose for those with impaired hearing. To call them a complete gimmick would be oversimplifying the technology and its various use-cases. Yet, to call them the best thing since the TRRS plug would be a severe exaggeration. If your hearing ability is unimpaired, there are plenty of great wireless and true wireless earbuds out there that provide better audio quality. If you are someone who experiences hearing loss, bone conduction headphones are a great option.

Frequently Asked Questions

Not really. Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) generally happens in the cochlea by loss of stereocilia (the tiny hairs that move and start the chemical process of your brain interpreting sound). Because of this, anything that moves those tiny little hairs can cause NIHL if there’s enough force. Be careful with how loud you listen!!

Unfortunately, bone conduction headphones get sound to your inner ear by vibrating the bones removed in your surgery, so it’s unlikely they’ll work for you.

The Aftershokz Aeropex are the best bone conduction headphones: they use Bluetooth 5.0 technology, have an eight-hour battery life, and are IP67-rated. To learn more, check out our list of the best bone conduction headsets.

In theory yes: because your ear canal is unoccluded, outside noise can make it to your inner ear much more easily than it would if you were wearing headphones or in-ears. However, you still need to listen at a responsible volume, as your brain can make it harder for you to hear certain noises if you’re listening to loud music. Remember, auditory masking takes place in your brain, not your ear.

Yes. Earplugs physically block the entrance to the ear canal, while bone conduction headphones work by sending vibrations to the bones in your inner ear. In theory this should work, though you would lose out on the advantages of bone conducting headphones.

This depends on the design of your hearing aid. If you have in-the-ear (ITE) or invisible (IIC) hearing aids, you should be able to use bone conduction headphones with hearing aids without issue. However, if you have behind-the-ear (BTE), receiver-in-canal (RIC), or open-fit hearing aids, you could experience some discomfort when wearing bone conduction headphones because they may make contact with the top part of the hearing aid module.

Although bone conduction headphones bypass the eardrum, they still have to transmit vibrations to the inner ear for your cochlea to receive and funnel to the brain via stereocilia vibrations. Therefore, bone conduction headphones still must emit the same frequencies and vibrations to reach your cochlea, meaning some sound will be heard to those around you due to the lack of seal.

Source: AfterShokz

Best answer: Bone conduction headphones work by vibrating against the bones in your cheek or upper jaw, which in turn sends those vibrations to the inner ear, bypassing the ear canal completely. Since they don’t depend on the eardrum, they can be great for people with hearing deficiencies, and since they aren’t in or over your ear, you’ll be able to hear what’s happening around you. They aren’t very good at reproducing sound that’s true-to-life because of their design, but sometimes sound quality isn’t the most important feature.

Sound is vibration with bone conduction headphones

Audio travels through the air in a pressure wave, and variations on the frequency and strength of that wave are what makes us hear different sounds. As the pressure wave hits our eardrums, they vibrate in time with the pressure wave and the cochlea — an organ inside your inner ear — interprets things to let our brains hear the sounds.

Regular headphones, whether wired or wireless, work on this principle. A small speaker inside each earbud or earcup passes along the sound waveform for our eardrums to pick up and pass along in turn. All speakers work this way, not just headphones.

Bone conduction headphones don’t sound bad. They sound different.

Bone conduction has its roots in the military and healthcare fields, and doesn’t require the eardrum to pass the waveform along to the cochlea. Instead, bone conduction headphones rest against the cheekbone or upper jaw and the vibrations, which mimic an audio waveform, are passed directly to the inner ear. Since they aren’t in or over your ears, you can hear things like traffic sounds or another person trying to get your attention. And since they don’t rely on the eardrum, they can be great for folks with hearing loss.

One drawback to bone conduction headphones is the sound quality. They don’t sound bad, but they just don’t sound great either. Better put, they sound different. We’re not used to hearing things via a direct conduit from a vibration motor to our inner ear, but if you need to hear your surroundings or have hearing loss, they can be the right headphones for you.

How bone conduction might help

Bone conduction has an interesting history in its evolution. Beethoven, the famous classical music composer, eventually lost his hearing, yet learned to continue writing music by biting onto a rod and placing it against his piano. The vibrations coming from the instrument passed through the rod and over to his cochlea to actually hear what he was playing. This discovery helped him write symphonies he otherwise wouldn’t have been able to listen to.

Hearing aids have been developed since to take advantage of bone conduction, and even those who suffer from tinnitus may find some relief in using them to offset the ringing sound that comes with that condition. Even so, bone conduction headphones aren’t going to be able to make a deaf person hear again, but those with some hearing loss may derive some benefit from them.

Getting used to a different fit

Because the sound doesn’t funnel from the headphones’ speaker drivers into your ear canal, bone conduction headphones don’t actually cover your ear at any time. This has a two-pronged effect that is part of what makes them so unique. On the one hand, those with hearing impairments can keep their ears free to hear whatever they can of the outside world, with or without a hearing aid. On the other, there is no real ear fatigue as a result.

You can arguably wear these for longer periods with less discomfort. They are designed to wrap around the back of the head, with ear hooks holding them in place so that the bone conduction pieces align with the jawbone. At first, they may feel off, but in time, the fit starts to feel natural.

Where to use bone conduction headphones

Bone conduction headphones can be great for outdoor activities like walking, running, cycling, swimming, rowing, and others. That way you can hear what’s going on around you while listening to your favorite music, podcasts, or audiobooks. One of our favorite pairs, the AfterShokz Aeropex, are just great overall headphones if you want to go for a bike ride.

There aren’t many limitations on what you can listen to, but you might struggle to hear more detail if you were in an environment producing a lot of competing noise, like a crowded venue or on a busy street. They don’t seal the ear from the outside world the way over-ear, on-ear or in-ear headphones do, so there’s no way to cancel out all that ambience.

Our pick

AfterShokz Aeropex

Free your ears, not the sound

AfterShokz confirms its spot at the front of the bone conduction headphones market with the Aeropex, which deliver as promised.

• $160 from Amazon
• $160 from Best Buy

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

Take calls and get the most out of your earbuds without breaking the bank

It’s not easy to find a pair of sub-$20 earbuds that sound good and have a microphone, especially as the world transitions to Bluetooth for everything. However, there are still some great earbuds out there that won’t break the bank and sound great, as long as you have the possibly-necessary dongle.

The best wireless headphones for Samsung’s Galaxy Watch smartwatches

Samsung’s smartwatches are great for staying on top of notifications and keeping track of your fitness, and they pair perfectly with Bluetooth headphones for music streaming and podcasts.

These headphones make it easy to drown out the world with your Note 9

There’s no shortage of options available if you’re in the market for headphones to pair with your Galaxy Note 9. From workout earbuds to noise-canceling headphones and truly-wireless options, these are the headphones for the Galaxy Note 9.

Jerry Hildenbrand

Jerry is Mobile Nation’s resident nerd and proud of it. There’s nothing he can’t take apart, but many things he can’t reassemble. You’ll find him across the Mobile Nations network and you can hit him up on Twitter if you want to say hey.

Staab (2012) indicates that knowledge of bone conduction hearing has been around since the time of Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576), a physician, mathematician and philosopher as well as an early deaf educator in the early 1550s. In one of Cardano’s 230 books, entitled “De Subtilitate,” (1550), he described a method by which sound was transmitted to the ear by means of a rod, or the shaft of a spear held between one’s teeth.

Bone conduction is among the first concepts mastered by young audiologists in the assessment of their patients, as it is part of the information necessary to arrive at a diagnosis for a hearing difficulty. When initially discovered, it was primarily of academic interest until Cabrei in 1846 and then Bulwer in 1848, who capitalized on the use of a rod invented by Itard in 1821.

Bone conduction has had some intermittent use in the education of the deaf and some success with hearing aids for the deaf, particularly for those disorders that involved the middle ear, but its use was rather cumbersome as it could cause frequent headaches, and other issues to the person that was the recipient of its use.

While known to professionals such as otolaryngologists, audiologists and others for some time it has only been in the past 20 years or so that bone conduction it has been seen as a possible method for implantation of amplification. Implants that capitalize on bone conduction hearing, such as the Bone Anchored Hearing Aid ( BAHA), the Sophono, Bonebridge, Soundbite and others now offer an alternative to cochlear implants, traditional hearing aids and other treatment.

Bone Conduction Headsets: A Safer Alternative to Earbuds?

Although bone conduction has been around for a long time in audiology, otolaryngology and other hearing circles, it has only recently appeared in the electronics market as a concept for military communication gear and consumer electronic products. Unlike Ear buds or other types of air conduction headphones, bone conduction headphones do not block out ambient noises. Since they do not plug the ear canal, users can hear what is going on in the environment while listening to their favorite music, running, or other activities. Navy SEAL teams and other military, SWAT teams and other police applications can communicate during missions yet stay in tune with what is happening around them. These devices are light-weight and well-vented, yet robust and adjustable. Worn around the back of the head, they offer volume controls and other features that make them full-featured headsets.

Because the bone conduction headset does not cut the user off from the environment, it is considered safer than air conduction alternatives. Additionally, there is no damage from stimulus intensity and/or the constant ear insertion ear buds and other types of insert headphones.

Apple was recently awarded a patent to incorporate bone conduction technology into their earphones.

There seems to be two general types of these products:

• those used for the tactical military operations such as combat or police purposes, selling from $225-850 US$
• the more affordable type for the rest of us, consisting of consumer electronic versions available from $20 – 150 US$

The latter type are used for leisure, business, sports, study and probably could be used by some hearing impaired individuals (those with conductive or mixed hearing losses). The devices have the capability to pair to most any cellphone or other device that has Bluetooth connection capability. The packaging for some of these headsets even include earplugs to block out the outside noises and enjoy a better (probably higher intensity) sound from the headset.

How Do Bone Conduction Headphones Work?

Bone conduction occurs when sound travels through the bones of the skull to the inner ear. Bone conduction actually occurs every time you speak and explains why your voice sounds somewhat higher pitched when you listen to yourself on a tape recorder. Bone conduction by itself offers a deeper fuller sound and your voice sounds deeper when not mixed with the sound that comes to the ear from the ear canal.

Audiologists know that sound travels in waves and when it hits the eardrum it is translated into a series of mechanical vibrations. When sound first enters the ear, the pinna focuses it into the auditory canal and then on to the ear drum, which vibrates sympathetically to the sound. These vibrations are passed on by the three auditory ossicles that vibrate into the cochlea. The cochlea is a fluid filled labyrinthine chamber that translates vibrations into the electrical signals that the brain perceives as sounds This is called air conduction hearing.

Bone conduction hearing bypasses everything and transmits these vibrations through the bone directly to the cochlea, effectively leaving ear canal and eardrums free to listen to other things. Virtually all of the bone conduction headphone manufacturers use a jaw bone placement for the stimulus rather than the traditional mastoid stimulus commonly used for audiometry, as it appears to provide a clearer, more consistent signal.

References:

Henry, P. & Letowski, T. (2007). Bone Conduction: Anatomy, Physiology, and Communication. Human Research and Engineering Directorate, ARL. ARL-TR-4138. Retrieved June 20, 2016.

Staab, W. (2012). The origins of bone conduction hearing. Hearing Health and Technology Matters, LLC. Retrieved June 20, 2016.

True wireless earphones have stolen the wireless audio spotlight these past few years, but that’s not the only wireless technology worth eyeing. Bone conduction headphones fill a particular niche, and are exceptional for outdoor athletes and certain segments of the hearing impaired community. We’re diving into all things wireless bone conduction headphones.

What are bone conduction headphones?

Bone conduction headphones are, well, headphones that rest right atop the listener’s cheekbones. Rather than cueing the eardrum while sound waves travel through the air, bone conduction headsets send vibrations through the jawbone, bypassing the middle ear. The technology has its roots in hearing aids, and dates back to the 1920s, when Hugo Gernsback created the osophone — a bone conduction hearing aid. Nowadays, bone conduction audio has expanded beyond the world of health and medicine, and serves as a great tool for outdoor athletes. Since the headset frees up the ears, listeners are left constantly aware of their surroundings, which is paramount when running outside or hiking.

How do bone conduction headphones work?

Bone conduction headphones transmit sound waves through the listener’s skull by constantly vibrating bone. More specifically sound is conducted through the skull right to the cochlea, avoiding the eardrum, malleus, incus, and stapes. The cochlea then moves microscopic hairs (stereocilia) within the Corti. This flowing movement initiates a string of chemical reactions that causes neurotransmitters to stimulate the auditory nerve. Once an impulse is fired off from the auditory nerve, it travels to the brain which interprets this information as sound.

This process also explains why your voice sounds lower to you than it does to others. Bone is better at transmitting low-frequency sounds than high-frequency sounds, which is why we’re often surprised by how high-pitched our voices sound when played back as a recording.

Bone conduction differs from standard earbuds and headphones because the former inserts directly into the ear canal, and the latter uses padded ear cups that sit on or around the ear. In both instances, the eardrum and other mechanics are engaged, which works for most people. However, bone conduction headphones are a great option for anyone who suffers from hearing loss.

What are the best bone conduction headphones?

If you’ve searched the internet for a pair of Bluetooth bone conduction headphones, you’re likely already familiar with the company AfterShokz. After all, it controls a large segment of the bone conduction earphones market. Our sister site SoundGuys has an in-depth list of the best bone conduction headphones available, but here’s our quick rundown of the top three.

AfterShokz Aeropex

The Aeropex is AfterShokz’ flagship headset and is the most durable of the three, given its IP67 rating that denotes both dust and water-resistance. You can completely submerge the Aeropex bone conduction headphones up to one-meter depths for 30 minutes at a time. These aren’t explicitly swimming headphones though as they lack onboard storage; still, it’s a good protective feature in case you drop them into the lake.

An integrated microphone can be used when accepting hands-free calls and battery life is on-par for wireless earphones: eight hours of constant playback. You can also access Google assistant and control playback with the multifunction button. It uses Bluetooth 5.0 firmware and costs $125 USD, making it the most expensive of the bunch.

AfterShokz Air

This sub-$100 workout headset is slimmer than the rest and includes reflective strips that keep listeners visible during nighttime strolls or jogs. The AfterShokz Air battery life is rated at six hours, which isn’t great but should get you through a week of working out. Another downgrade from teh Aeropex: the Air uses Bluetooth 4.2 firmware, which could explain the relative dip in battery life. Embedded microphones are good for fielding calls. It’s only IP55-rated though, so don’t drop it in your local pool.

AfterShokz Titanium

The AfterShokz Titanium was my first foray into the world of Bluetooth bone conduction headphones, and is a great headset for anyone unsure of the technology. It’s one of the more affordable options available and is IP55-rated, uses Bluetooth 4.1, and has a six-hour battery life. Nothing about this headset will blow you away, and if you’re able, we recommend going with either of the other AfterShokz models for they have more reliable connection strength than the Titanium. For more great deals on headphones check out our coverage here.

Other frequently asked questions

Q: Are bone conduction headphones safe?
A: Yes, bone conduction headphones are perfectly safe and arguably safer than traditional in-ear earphones because nothing is lodged in your ear canal. This means you don’t have to worry about trapping a silicone sleeve in your ear or causing an ear infection. They’re also safe for running outside as they allow you to remain fully aware of your surroundings; of course, you still need to listen at a safe volume so your environment is clearly audible to you.

Q: Can bone conduction headphones cause tinnitus
A: Yes, bone conduction headphones, like all headsets, can cause tinnitus even though they bypass the eardrum. There are different kinds of hearing loss that affect different mechanisms of the ear, the most common of which is Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL). A consequence of SNHL is the inability to perceive high-frequency sounds due to damage to the stereocilia. Again, these hairs are within the inner ear and rest along nerve pathways. They can still damaged by constant stimulation or extremely loud sounds.

Q: Can bone conduction headphones cause headaches?
A: Unfortunately, any headset can cause headaches and vibration headphones are no exception. Our temples are sensitive to pressure, which could make wearing a bone conduction headset difficult and uncomfortable. All it takes is a light amount of pressure for an extended period of time to cause a headache from these headsets. What works for me may not work for you, but generally speaking, you’re unlikely to experience headaches with bone conduction earphones at a higher rate than you would from on-ear and over-ear headphones.

Q: Can you wear bone conduction headphones with glasses?
A: Yes, I’m a bespectacled listener and was able to wear a Bluetooth bone conduction headset without putting in contacts. I wasn’t nearly as comfortable wearing the wireless bone conduction headphones with my glasses as I was without my glasses, but it worked without hindering the technology.

Bone conduction headphones — sometimes called ‘bonephones’– are headphones that transmit sound waves through the bones in a user’s skull instead of their ear canal. When in use, the bones in a user’s skull will vibrate to amplify the sound waves, allowing users to listen to device audio, while keeping their ears free. This benefits people with a hearing disability, or who need to use their ears for staying aware of their surroundings.

Bonephones use a method called bone conduction audio technology. In this method, a transducer converts audio data to vibrations, which travel along the user’s bone structure to the cochlea, an inner ear structure that transmits the information along the auditory nerve as a signal to the brain. In effect, the user’s skull is the device’s speaker. This is contrasted against normal headphones, which emit vibrations through speakers placed in or on top of the outer ear.

Sound is technically just a vibration of particles. Most people generally think of vibrations in the air when they think of sound, but sound can also travel through solids and liquids. Therefore, flesh and bone can function as a speaker, because particles in a solid can vibrate too. In fact, solids transmit sound faster than air and water, because the particles in a solid are the most tightly packed together. This makes solids the best conductors of sound, followed by water, then air, which have looser particle configurations.

This may seem counterintuitive, as listeners generally experience distortions in sound when trying to hear something through a liquid or solid. If a listener is underwater, someone speaking above the surface would sound garbled. If loud music is playing next door, the listener generally perceives it as muffled. These distortions occur not because liquid and solid are worse sound conductors, but because in both examples, the sound is first passing through air, then into the other medium.

Bonephones are designed to account for this fact. Most models have a strap that wraps around the back of the user’s head, securing vibration-generating pads against the skin just above each ear. The pads curl over the top of the ear slightly to help hold the device in place on the user’s head. Securing these pads against the user’s skin minimizes sound distortions because the sound travels directly from the pads through the skull in one straight shot, without air in between.

In general, bonephones are used to allow individuals to listen to audio privately and while on the move, just like regular headphones. However, bonephones are different because they bypass the outer and middle ear entirely. They also have a unique design that lends itself to physical activity, unlike most basic headphones. For these reasons, they may be preferred over regular headphones by:

• gym-goers and other physically active people who need headphones designed to stay on their head while exercising;
• joggers or bikers who want to keep their ears open for approaching traffic or people trying to say something to them;
• users who listen to audio in a social environment and need to be at least partially attuned to what peers or announcements are saying;
• users with impaired hearing, whose use of standard headphones may be physically obstructed by assistive technology; and
• users with impaired hearing who would likely experience better sound quality through bone conduction than through damaged ears.

The central advantage of bonephones is that they don’t use the ears. For many users, this is beneficial because they can use their headphones while remaining attuned to the outside world.

Bypassing the ears makes bonephones especially beneficial for hearing-impaired users as well because it enables them to listen to audio with more clarity than they were previously able to through standard earbuds. For example, a listener who is deaf in one ear would be able to hear audio in stereo through bonephones. Additionally, if the listener has a hearing aid, they can leave it in while still listening to music through bone conducting headphones.

Bonephones also eliminate the risk of hearing damage that comes with listening to audio too loud through standard headphones. The eardrum is much more fragile than the flesh and bone that bonephones act on.

Their thin and secure design also makes them appealing to physically active users. One bonephones manufacturer — AfterShokz — originally designed bonephones for use in the military. Some bone conduction headphones also have memory, and users can upload songs directly to them. This may be another selling point for especially active users.

Despite the novelty and select usefulness of bonephones, they have been met by consumers with mixed responses.

Many users agree that the sound quality in bonephones is worse than regular headphones. Specifically, users report that they are generally quieter and have weaker bass frequencies.

There are also downsides to the physical design. Some users note that playing music at higher volumes causes an unpleasant or strange vibrating sensation in their face. This design also causes a certain amount of sound leakage, which may be a problem for those who want to listen to something privately or listen to something in a quiet setting without disturbing anyone. Other users complain about the fit of the headphones, which, depending on the user and model, can be uncomfortable.

Bone conduction headphones are also significantly more expensive than run-of-the-mill earbuds. In 2020, basic Apple earbuds cost approximately $30, whereas some popular bone conduction models are priced at $130. For this price, users could buy normal headphones with far better sound quality than several bone conducting models. There are some very cheap bonephones available, but the majority are much pricier than the alternative.

Bonephones are commonly marketed to athletes because of their sleek design. Some of the top bone conduction headphones on the market include:

• AfterShokz’s Trekz Titanium — Six hours of playback, Bluetooth-enabled, reasonably priced.
• AfterShokz’s Trekz Air — Similar features to the Titanium model, but more expensive. This is because the Air model is 20% lighter. Also, Air models have Bluetooth v4.2 instead of Titanium’s v4.1.
• WinnerGear’s Exobone — Sweatproof, lightweight, foldable design appeals to athletes. It has good sound quality and charges quickly.
• Vidonn’s F1 — Fits well, has noise-canceling features for voice calls.
• Bose’s Frames — Sunglasses with bone conduction technology in them. They are enabled for Bose AR (augmented reality), which is an audio-only augmented reality
• Siusumfo’s Bone Conduction Headphones — Lightweight, long battery life of over 4 hours continuous use, waterproof design, Bluetooth v5.0.
• Shangri-La’s Bone Conduction Headphones — Bluetooth, 8 GB of memory, one of the cheapest models without unanimously poor user reviews.

Although the concept of using bones as an amplifier seems futuristic, the idea has been around for centuries. The classical music composer Beethoven used bone conduction to help him continue writing music after going deaf. He would put one end of a rod in his mouth and the other end against the piano, sending the vibrations through the rod into his skull, allowing him to “hear” the music he was playing. Some animals are also able to communicate through bone vibrations.

Bone conduction in humans: what it is and how it works

You may not think that, as humans, we have much in common with whales and elephants except that they are fellow mammals. But you might be surprised to learn that we can hear in a similar way to these colossal beasts via bone conduction.

But what is bone conduction, and how does it work?

Most of the sounds that reach our ears do so by air conduction. This is when sound vibrations pass down the ear canal causing your eardrum to vibrate. Your brain processes these vibrations and interprets them as sounds.

But there is another way we can hear things, and that is by bone conduction. This is a when sound bypasses your eardrum and is heard directly by the cochlea, aka the inner ear.

Beethoven – whose hearing faded as he grew older – discovered this by holding his conducting baton between his teeth as he played piano, using the vibrations travelling down the baton to hear the sound by the way of bone conduction.

How does bone conduction work?

Bone conduction is all about sound vibrations. In particular, vibrations on the outside of the bones located in your upper cheek and jaw. Any tiny vibrations that occur on the skin and bone, as produced by bone-conducting headphones such as those in the Aftershokz range, are carried through the bones to your cochlea. In a sneaky twist, your cochlea does not realise that the sound is coming from the bones rather than the eardrum, and you still process them in the same way, meaning you can hear the sound clearly.

This means that with bone-conducting headphones such as the Aftershokz Aeropex, you can play music or podcasts and the sound is carried to your inner ear directly via the bones in your face,

In this way, your ear canal can hear other ambient sounds giving you situational awareness and added safety, your ears remain pain-free and the headphones are more hygienic as germs are not transferred from your ear to speakers, as they are with in-ear buds .This unique feature gives you ears pain free for long time use, situational awareness for outdoor safety, dry and hygiene ear canal for sports.

How do animals use bone conduction?

This way of hearing is similar to the way whales communicate and hear each other in the ocean. In 2015, scientists discovered that baleen whales hear via vibrations in the whale’s skull. This led to restrictions on the amount of noise humans are allowed to make below water, for example during military exercises or from commercial shipping vessels.

Elephants also use bone conduction to hear messages from other elephants, messages often received from many miles away. The animals use their feet to sense seismic vibrations on the ground, with the vibrations passing up their foot bones all the way to the middle ear.

So the next time you are out running with your Aftershokz headphones on, take a moment to marvel at how the song you are listening to is reaching your ears in the same way a whale’s call reaches its mate’s ear through miles of water.

For more on the benefits of bone conduction headphones

• 5 BENEFITS OF BONE CONDUCTION HEADPHONES
  Find out exactly how bone conduction can make a difference to the way you hear

BIG “INVENTOR”: BEETHOVEN
How did Beethoven become an inventor? Read more about how his discovery influenced the discovery of bone conduction technology, and in turn, the Aftershokz range of headphones