How Do Bone Conduction Headphones Work and How About Their Side Effects?

Bone conduction headphones are becoming more and more popular. While running and riding, you can see people wearing a new type of music-listening device around their auricle, which is bone conduction headphones. You may be wondering, shouldn’t the earphones be plugged into the ears, or shouldn’t they cover the ears? Why can I hear the sound when I just hang it nearby my ear? Why are bone conduction headphones so amazing? How do they work?

How do bone conduction headphones work?

Before understanding how do bone conduction headphones work, we need to review our middle school physics to understand the three mediums for sound transmit: air, solids, and liquids. Air conduction is what we know most about, such as ordinary conversation is the case that sound transmit through air. When your place ear to the railway, and when a train comes in the distance, you can hear the sound, which is the case of sound transmission by solid. When we dive, we can hear the sound of the engine of a ship in the distance, which is the case of sound transmission by liquid.

Bone conduction headphones are a device that transmits sound through solid (bone) conduction. It transmits sound by vibrating your skull. This is unlike the air conduction of traditional wired and wireless headphones. Bone conduction headphones do not transmit sound through the eardrum, so even if the volume is slightly louder, it will not easily damage the eardrum.

We can compare the sound transmission paths of bone conduction and air conduction

Bone conduction pathways: sound waves, skull, bone labyrinth, inner ear lymph, spiral organ, auditory nerve, auditory center of the cerebral cortex

Air conduction pathways: sound waves, auricle, external auditory canal, periosteum, ossicles, vestibular window, internal and external lymph, spiral organ, auditory nerve, cerebral cortex auditory center

We can see that bone conduction has a shorter sound transmission path than air conduction, and that it takes a shortcut. And this shortcut helps bone conduction headphones not to be stuffed into the ear or wrapped around the ear. So the headphones will not cover the ear canals and have no damage to the eardrums, and the damage to the auditory nerve is relatively low.

What are the side effects of bone conduction headphones?

Many people think that bone conduction headphones have side effects. Some people think that they are harmful to the body because they vibrates the bones to hear the sound which will affect the brain. However, this statement is not accurate. The side effects of bone conduction are very low. The following will clarify the rumors about the side effects of bone conduction one by one.

Side Effects of Bone Conduction Headphones 1: Hearing Damage? rumor!

Bone conduction headphones are the most hearing-protective of all headphones. Because the way of bone conduction transmits sound does not need to pass through the eardrum, which can avoid damage to the eardrum. And its vibration waves are very gentle, and the impact on the cochlea is relatively small.

Side effects of bone conduction headphones 2: damage the brain? rumor!

Some people think that the electromagnetic waves of bone conduction headphones will cause damage to the brain nerves. Of course, any electronic product has problems with electromagnetic waves, and strong electromagnetic waves will indeed cause damage to the brain nerves. However, the electromagnetic waves of bone conduction headphones are extremely weak and have the same strength as the electromagnetic waves existing in nature. So it will not cause damage to human brain nerves and hearing nerves.

Side effects of bone conduction earphones 3: Pain after wearing for a long time? Inaccurate!

It is indeed uncomfortable to wear bone conduction headphones for a long time. Long-term wearing here means that the sound unit is attached to the temple and worn for more than 3–4 hours. Usually, there will be no problem wearing it for less than 2 hours. Because even traditional over-ear headphones can be uncomfortable to wear for hours on end.

In addition, some people mentioned that wearing bone conduction headphones for a long time, caused pain in the temples. This situation has a lot to do with the individual’s physique — it is the individual’s physique that causes trigeminal neuralgia.

Therefore, we can know that the side effects of bone conduction headphones are very low. It is a very healthy headphone.

In addition to being very healthy, bone conduction headphones have many advantages, such as safety, comfort, high waterproof level, etc. These advantages also make them popular among young people.So how to choose the right headphone? I think there are three key points to consider: sound quality, sound leakage reduction and comfort.Next, I will recommend some excellent headphones to you.

1.Wissonly Hi Runner bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

Wissonly bone conduction headphones insist on technology priority. The team is composed of senior experts in bone conduction technology, they have more than 10 years of technical accumulation in the field of bone conduction. This makes Hi Runner known as “the healthiest Bluetooth headphones” by many professionals.

In order to solve the problem of distortion of the sound quality of bone conduction headphones, Wissonly adopts the new generation of bone conduction technology, and use the world’s best acoustic laboratory to customize an exclusive sound quality output scheme for the unique bone conduction sound transmission method. After 3,051 hours of tens of thousands of adjustments, 21 audiologists bring users the best sound in the field of bone conduction headphones.

In terms of wearing, Wissonly Hi runner has been ergonomically designed to fit the ear to ensure that it does not fall off during exercise. Most importantly, it fits the ear while ensuring that there is no pressure and weight load, which makes it more comfortable to wear.

In terms of product parameters, Wissonly Hi Runner is even more impeccable. It has a Bluetooth 5.0 chip, which connects stably and will not drop. It has a 32G built-in storage that can store 5000 songs. Its battery life is also good, and at 50% volume, you can play music for up to 10 hours.

2. Philips A8606 bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

A8606 headphones are made of titanium alloy skeleton, wrapped with skin-friendly silicone material, which can not only keep the shape stable, but also cause no pressure on ears. The body fits auricle tightly, so it is easy to wear and can be used for a long time. This headphones adopts IPX5 waterproof design, so there will be no problem in drenching and sweating. The disadvantage is that the sound quality needs to be improved, and the sound leakage is also serious.

3.AfterShokz OPENRUN PRO bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

Openrun PRO also pays great attention to comfort in wearing, and its body is made of skin-friendly silicone which makes it more comfortable, and it can be better enjoyed. In order to reduce the weight, titanium alloy is selected in its connection material, which is not easy to bend and deform, ensuring the service life. The bone conduction headphones are also equipped with Qualcomm QCC3024 chip and Bluetooth 5.0, and have stable connection and no disconnection in daily use.

4.Earsopen peace tw-1 bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

Peace tw-1 is different from the traditional bone conduction headphones, and it adopts a unique ear clip form, which has certain firmness. However, the wearing process is a bit complicated, and it is impossible to finish wearing with one hand. IP67 waterproof level can easily cope with rainy days, but it is not suitable for swimming. The Bluetooth version of 5.0 keeps the connection stable during music transmission.

5.Haylou PurFree bone conduction headphones

Reason for recommendation:

Good experience, its weight is very light, weighing only 28g, and its open ear design is very safe and hygienic, which can protect the health of the ear canal . The silica gel material of its body is very comfortable, and it can be bent at will. The frame of aviation grade memory titanium wire will not be deformed, and make its service life very long.

Its IP67 waterproof grade, except when you sweat during exercise, you are not afraid of damage when you rush with water. And the charging interface adopts water-proof magnetic charging, so there’s no need to worry about water coming into the charging interface. It should be noted that it can’t be used in swimming.

There will be a little sound leakage, which may be one of its shortcomings.

Each of the above products has its own characteristics. You can choose according to your own needs. Wissonly and Aftershokz are my favorite brands. Their technology is relatively mature and the overall performance of their products is relatively good. Between the two brands, Wissonly will be more cost-effective.