The technologies behind sports headphones have improved drastically over the last few years. Bone conduction has been the reigning champion for many years, but open-ear air conduction earphones are rapidly dethroning it. Oladance recently released the new OWS Sports, but did it create a new standard for the competition to beat? I tested this newcomer to find out.
Verdict
The Oladance OWS Sports is an excellent product. It provides the best that open-ear earphones can offer, including very good sound quality, a sturdy but comfortable fit, up to 15 hours of battery life, fast charging, and excellent IPX8 water resistance. The price is slightly higher than some competing products, but it’s worth the extra dollars.
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Oladance OWS Sports Open-Ear Headphone, 15 Hours Open Wearable Stereo Bluetooth Earphones IPX8... | Check on Amazon |
Pros:
Cons:
Technology and Features
Like other Oladance products, the OWS Sports features an open-ear design with air-conduction speakers rather than bone conduction technology. This ensures excellent environmental awareness, which makes it perfect for sports like running and cycling.
It offers Bluetooth Multipoint connectivity, so you can have it connected with two paired devices simultaneously. As with other Multipoint-compatible Oladance products, the earphones switch seamlessly between devices. For example, when you’re listening to music from your laptop but receive a call on your phone, the headphones will automatically switch to your phone.
It is also highly water-resistant, with a rating of IPX8. This means you can submerge the OWS Sports in up to 2 meters of water for up to 30 minutes. Though it’s not intended for swimming, no amount of rain will damage your headphones.
Design, Build Quality, and Comfort
Unlike other Oladance earphones, the OWS Sports’ design more closely resembles that of bone conduction headphones. The two earbuds have a thin wire between them to add support. The build quality is exceptional—it feels like a high-quality device from the moment you take it out of the box.
It’s also one of the most comfortable sports headphones I’ve ever used. Oladance designed the OWS Sports using its MultiPoint Stress Distribution technology, ensuring a comfortable fit and perfect balance with minimal pressure over your ears. The material is also skin-friendly, and the headphones weigh only 26 grams, so they are very lightweight.
The OWS Sports is 1.6g lighter than the OWS Pro—a difference that might seem minimal but is actually noticeable. Coupled with its secure-fitting band, the headphone offers enhanced stability and comfort.
Despite their comfort, I had no problem keeping them steady during my runs or weight training routines. They never felt like they would slip off or fall. In fact, they are so comfortable that I managed to wear them all day without any discomfort or skin irritation.
They are also very comfortable to wear with glasses, though I found them slightly less comfortable with my sunglasses since they have a thicker frame. It’s still not a dealbreaker, though, since they are still more comfortable than most of the alternatives.
It’s also worth mentioning that people who get vertigo or dizziness from bone conduction headphones won’t have those problems with these because the OWS Sports don’t use bone conduction.
Sound Quality
Of course, we can’t talk about earphones without discussing their sound quality. However, we have to keep in mind that no open-ear earphones will ever be able to compete with high-quality audiophile headphones. Since their entire purpose is environmental awareness, your sound will never be as clear and isolated.
However, the OWS Sports’ sound quality is exceptional and definitely an improvement over bone conduction headphones. It has two Qualcomm chips, oversized 23x10mm drivers, and a cinema-equivalent amplifier chip to ensure high-quality sound. The drivers aim directly at your ear canals to ensure optimal sound transmission and minimize sound leakage.
It works particularly well with podcasts, but the OWS Sports also offers 360o sound and powerful virtual bass to do your music justice. Its dual noise reduction technologies ensure that the sound is pure when it reaches your ears. It also has excellent wind noise reduction features.
The sound quality on phone calls is also excellent. On all the calls I made during the day, both sides could hear each other clearly with almost zero lag.
None of this should be surprising since Oladance was pioneered by some of the former Bose research and development team members. They entered the market with exceptional knowledge and understanding of the technologies that affect sound quality and how it can be improved.
As far as open-ear earphones go, the OWS Sports offers some of the best sound quality I’ve ever heard.
Controls
The controls on the OWS Sports are brilliant but might not be ideal for everyone. While most of the competitors use touch controls, Oladance opted for physical buttons.
There are separate buttons for power, volume, and access to your phone’s digital assistant. I found them sturdy and easy to use. However, many users prefer touch controls since it can be difficult to use buttons with precision while you’re running or cycling.
Battery Life and Charging
One of the OWS Sports’ most impressive features is its battery life. It is rated at 15 hours of continuous playtime (depending on the volume and use case, of course), and I found that to be quite accurate. They easily last me all day. It also offers a standby time of up to three years on a full charge, which is impressive, if not very useful.
The headphones come with a magnetic charging cable that clips into position, similar to how many MacBook chargers work. It supports fast charging, and you can get up to five hours of playback time by charging it for just 15 minutes! That’s impressive by all standards. A full charge will take less than two hours, so you can quickly get back to listening again.
Price and Value for Money
The Oladance OWS Sports is one of Oladance’s more expensive headphones. It costs quite a bit more than the OWS 1 and OWS 2, but it’s still slightly cheaper than the OWS Pro.
But it compares favorably with other earphones in its class, costing more or less the same as the Shokz OpenFit and OpenRun Pro. However, since the OWS Sports offers better battery life, is more comfortable, and has better sound quality than most of its competitors, it is more than worth the price.
Use Cases
In my opinion, the Oladance OWS Sports is the perfect companion for runners, cyclists, or people who need near-perfect environmental awareness and comfort while they listen to music or podcasts. It’s not for swimmers, though, since the OWS Sports still relies on Bluetooth connectivity to play music and has no built-in MP3 player.
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Oladance OWS Sports Open-Ear Headphone, 15 Hours Open Wearable Stereo Bluetooth Earphones IPX8... | Check on Amazon |
If you’re struggling to choose between bone conduction and open-ear headphones, the Oladance OWS Sports is definitely the one I would recommend because of its excellent sound quality, exceptional comfort, and long battery life.
Before you go…
To really understand what makes the Oladance OWS Sports such a good option, I recommend that you read this post about the differences between bone conduction and open-ear earphones.
Open Ear Vs. Bone Conduction Headphones
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