Open Ears and the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds in Review

I tested the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds and I'm Keeping Them. They sound great and allow listening at safe levels while being aware of what other people say. These make a great case for Open Ears and that's the topic of this article where I have inserted my review of the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds and I provide examples of how the industry has been exploring alternative designs that avoid in-ear occlusion, from loose-fit earbud shapes to the recent air conduction craze.

The result of an intense research effort to achieve the most effective approach for an open ear design, Bose just introduced the all-new Ultra Open Earbuds, a completely new form-factor. Described as "a breakthrough audio wearable" the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are designed to let users hear the world while still enjoying music. The approach is to use air conduction to feed audio to the inside of the ear, while resting on the lower ear. OpenAudio delivers the air conduction, while signal processing adds Bose Immersive Audio to enhance the experience.

Oladance, the brand that surprised us in 2023 with its Oladance Wearable Stereo (OWS) technology in a true wireless format (Oladance OWS Pro) is back with a new announcement that now looks more like a familiar bone conduction headband, but its actually not bone conduction. Leveraging the same air conduction OWS technology, this new model from the company is an open ear alternative to bone conduction for sports, providing a natural and safe awareness of the environment with even more comfort.