Since I found out about the TrekZ Air bone conduction headphones three years ago, I’ve used them every time I go running at night or on business trips. Bone conduction headphones give me good sound quality while letting me keep my ears open for safety. I’ve been rocking out with the Naenka Runner Pro bone conduction headphones while training for an upcoming Ragnar trail race.
Naenka Runner Pro: Description
In 2019, I reviewed the TrekZ Air and then looked at the AfterShokz Xtrainerz, which are made for swimming workouts. These headphones have 4GB of internal storage that can hold up to 1,200 songs. However, they don’t have Bluetooth, so you can only listen to MP3 music that you own and manually load onto the headset.
With the Naenka Runner Pro, you get a pair of well-made bone-conduction headphones that can stream music from your phone or watch via Bluetooth. The headphones can also play music from their own memory when your phone or watch isn’t nearby. You get the functions of two headphones in one, and the Naenka Runner Pro costs just $129.90 on the Naenka website and as little as $117.99 on Amazon.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Excellent sound quality
- Bluetooth with AptX
- 8GB MP3 player
- Can be used for swimming
- Lightweight design
Cons
- Flimsy charging cable
- Audio drowned by busy roads
- Bigger battery drain when using music player
Naenka Runner Pro: Specifications
| Speaker driver | 16mm speaker |
| Water resistance | IPX8 waterproof |
| Microphone | CVC noise reduction |
| Battery | 230 mAh with magnetic USB Type-A charging cable Wireless connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Materials | Titanium alloy with soft-touch matte silicone cover |
| Headset weight | 1.3 ounces |
Naenka Runner Pro: Design
The AfterShokz Xtrainerz and the Naenka Runner Pro look very similar. It weighs 33g and has the same enclosed cavity design (which is why it is IP68 waterproof), slim headband, and question mark-shaped earpieces that hold the bone conduction transducers.
There is no way to change how they fit, so people with bigger heads will find them more comfortable. The headband will hang off the back of the neck too much for people with smaller heads. Still, it hangs over the ear well and didn’t move around at all during our test workouts.
The Naenka Runner Pro does not use touch or gestures. Instead, it uses buttons. Its tiny on/off switch does everything. Double taps, long presses, and the like start pairing, accept/end/reject calls, play/pause/skip tracks, switch between devices, call Siri or Google Assistant, and switch between Bluetooth and MP3 mode.
Drag-and-drop is all it takes to put files on the 8GB insides of the Naenka Runner Pro, but during our tests, the proprietary cable kept disconnecting from the computer we used to connect it to.
Naenka Runner Pro: Features
Naenka uses bone conduction technology to send sound to your ears. This technology works by sending vibrations through your cheekbones and up towards your ears, but not into your ears. That means you’re getting a design with open ears, which still lets some outside sound in. Early bone-conduction headphones had trouble making good sound, and when the vibrations were sent up to the ears, they tickled.
Luckily, that’s not what’s happening here. Naenka lets you choose between two ways to listen. The first one is a pretty standard Bluetooth one that lets you connect it to your phone. I tried it with both an iPhone and a Realme Android phone, and neither one had any trouble connecting or dropped connections. You can also transfer music to the headphones if you don’t have your phone or another device that plays music nearby.
It has 8GB of storage space, which is enough for about 1,500 songs, and it can play WAV, FLAC, MP3, APE, and WMA files. You can just drag and drop your music to the headphones, so you’ll need to use the USB cable that comes with the headphones. Because the magnetic cable and port are so fragile, it’s best to transfer music on a flat surface because it’s easy to knock the cable out of place. When I moved some podcasts and music from my MacBook to my iPhone, it didn’t move that music over quickly.
Comfort and Fit
It’s no secret that I have a big head, so when I suddenly lean in to hug someone, it can be scary for them. But Naenka must have thought about people like me when they made the Runner Pro’s measurements, because they fit perfectly and were very comfortable even when worn for long periods of time. Over time, I realized that I liked the Runner Pros better than earbuds.
This is because, no matter how well-fitted or comfortable a pair of buds is, you will get tired of having them in your ears. I never had that feeling with the Naenka. Since they don’t go in your ears and just rest comfortably on top of them, I forgot they were there until I got a call. I also thought about them when I went to take off my sweatshirt, but other than that, they’re so light and comfortable that you can forget about them.
Naenka Runner Pro: Sound quality
Since the Naenka Runner Pro is a bone conduction headphone, the way it sounds needs to be thought about. Don’t get the wrong idea. What we mean is that the design of the headphones is quite different from what you’re used to, and that needs to be taken into account.
If you’ve never used bone conduction headphones or don’t know much about them, you should know a few things first. Bone conduction headphones are made so that the sound they make doesn’t go through any holes. This type of headphones has a cavity that is completely closed off. On top of that, this headphone can make sound because it uses vibration technology.
It can also get an ingress protection rating of IPX8 because it is completely sealed. It can’t even be compared to headphones or earphones in the same price range in terms of how well they sound. In fact, it’s a good thing for the Naenka Runner Pro. We think this is because of its 16mm driver.
Most earphones and earbuds have sound drivers that are between 8mm and 15mm in diameter, while most headphones have sound drivers that are between 20mm and 50mm in diameter. Bone conduction headphones seem to be in the middle when you think about this.
Battery and Bluetooth
The Runner Pro comes with a 230 mAh battery that can play music and be used for 6 hours (240 hours in standby mode). Using the magnetically attached USB Type-A charging cable that came with them, it took about an hour and a half to fully charge them. You can also use this cable to upload your music.
The second one is great if you know someone who will run for six hours straight, but I don’t. So, especially if you’re willing to skip the Bluetooth connection, you should be able to use them for a whole day.
The Runner Pro is quick and easy to set up, and it uses Bluetooth 5.0. I never had any trouble connecting or signal drops. I left my phone in the bathroom, walked down the hall and out the front door while still being connected. So that’s not bad, but again, I don’t really need to connect them to my phone because the 8GB of built-in storage already has hours of my music on it.
Pricing and availability
The Naenka Runner Pro costs $119.99 and is great for people who like to be active outside but also want to know what’s going on around them. We have never thought about listening to music while swimming, but you can do that with the Runner Pro. For the price, that’s a great option to have if you want to be a triathlete you can buy this product directly from Naenka’s website.
The Runner Chic, which costs $57.89, is also made by Naenka. It is resistant to water and dust to an IPX6 level, which is fine for most people. A rating of IPX6 means that the device can withstand strong water jets from a 12.5mm nozzle at any distance for at least 3 minutes. In simple terms, you can use them in a hurricane and they will still work. However, they are not meant to be submerged.
Final Words
The Naenka Runner Pro are cheaper alternatives to the Aftershokz Trainerz. They have good sound, long battery life, and a music player built in so you can leave your phone at home.
FAQs
What are bone conduction headphones?
Bone conduction headphones, which are sometimes called “bonephones,” send sound waves through the skull bones instead of the ear canal.
Can bone conduction damage hearing?
Even though bone-conduction headphones are safer and better made than traditional headphones in some ways, they can still hurt your hearing if you listen to loud music or sounds.
