OneOdio’s air conduction specialist, OpenRock, teased their new open ear earphones at CES 2024 early this year. In the past few years, OneOdio has received a lot of praise for its value-for-money lineup of audio devices.
The OpenRock X is the successor to its best-selling OpenRock Pro open-ear headphones. It promises to deliver theatre-like immersive audio with awareness at USD 179.
Here’s a quick rundown of the specs of the OpenRock X. It sports the updated BassDirect technology, their self-developed algorithm for improved clarity in audio playback called LISO 2.0, and an AI-enhanced 4-mic system for improved call quality. These open-ear headphones are rated for the SBC and AAC codecs only.
The OpenRock X uses 14.2mm Dynamic drivers for powerful sound and sport IPX5 level waterproofing, ideal for athletes & runners. The flagship open earbuds support Bluetooth 5.3 and multi-device connectivity and come in a hefty USB-C case. The case extends the battery life from 16 to up to 48 hours.
What comes in the box
I like the new box design. It’s quite big given the size of the case and accessories. Here’s a quick look at the box.
The OpenRock X open earbuds come with the following items:
- A pair of OpenRock X earbuds,
- A carrying case,
- A carabiner,
- A USB-C to USB-A braided coloured cable, and
- Product manuals to get you started and some standard cautionary stuff.
Design
The Case
The carrying case resembles a power bank and features a USB-C port on its side. The case boasts a tank-like build with a metal frame and chamfered edges, ensuring durability, premium feel & looks.
While not pocket-friendly, some users may find the size inconvenient; however, the earbuds’ comfort and long battery life make them ideal for all-day wear without constantly needing the case.
Moreover, pairing the OpenRock X earbuds is seamless so you can easily move from gym to office mode. There’s a carabiner hook that allows you to attach it to a bag zipper bag, making the portable charger look-a-like carrying case travel-friendly.
There’s also a satisfying push-to-pull mechanism that makes a pleasing click sound which is very tactile and super fidgety.
We got the black color for review and it is prone to fingerprints. It certainly looks and feels like a premium product in the aesthetics department.
The case is not the most pocket-friendly case out there but given the carabiner that comes in the box and the 16 hours of battery life on a single charge, feel free to forget the case a few times on your runs and office days.
The Buds
Moving on to the earbuds. The build quality of the OpenRock X earbuds is actually good. They feel premium in hand and super lightweight. They inherit OpenRock’s proven over-the-ear hook design that has been seen in its predecessors like the OpenRock S and OpenRock Pro.
This is complemented by the bi-axial joint for increased ear hook comfort that doubles as a potentially attractive accent. The new design offers plenty of situation awareness and breathability even when you wear them for long hours.
There’s a small LED indicator with a physical button on the bottom. There are two microphones on each earbud with a built-in noise-canceling feature for enhanced call quality (We’ve talked more about this in the call quality section).
I’ve always loved physical buttons on earphones as they are more tactile, robust, and easier to use as compared to touch capacitive buttons which might go off on their own whenever they come in contact with any moisture or sweat. The earbuds have been rated for IPX5, making them suitable for gym and daily runs.
User Experience & comfort
Ease of Use & Setup
Pairing OpenRock X earbuds is super easy. The buds enter pairing mode as you take them out of the box. You can pair them with up to 2 devices at once. Bluetooth 5.3 for multi-point connections works seamlessly with devices like Mac, Android smartphones & tablets. We tested it with a MacBook Pro, and a Galaxy S23 Ultra. It even prioritizes calls automatically.
The bi-axial joint as it sounds, moves two sides. You can adjust it according to your ear size and preference. So, wearing it for long hours is super comfortable even if you have a different tragus (small pointed part of the external ear) and ear shapes.
On my first day of testing, I was wearing this for over 4 hours and without actually listening to anything. It was just comfortable. Unlike, regular earbuds, my ears did not feel numb or tired at all. The open-ear concept outshines the in-ear earphones here. They are so comfortable and you can still hear everything around you naturally.
App Support
The last device we reviewed from OpenRock did not have a dedicated app and we liked that bit.
This is because when devices get app support with customizable sound presets, the device’s overall experience somewhat deteriorates when you connect it to a non-app device like a PC or Mac.
In the past, we’ve seen some botched-up examples of very good-looking & functional sound accessory apps ruining the sound EQ presents when connected to a device with no app support like a PC or Mac.
OpenRock did something smart here by implementing the EQ presents customizable functionality right into the earbuds.
In simple terms, the EQ presets get saved on the earbuds themselves instead of relying on the app. So, no matter which device you connect to, you will experience the same sound experience across your iPhone, iPad, Android phone, PC, or Mac.
The app also offers customizable gestures or button presses for the earbuds’ buttons. As mentioned earlier, each earbud has one physical button. You can customize up to four different actions on one button on each earbud i.e. single press, double press, triple press, and long press.
This means you can assign a long press gesture to perform different actions on the left earbud and a different action on the right earbud. From a user standpoint, that is very cool.
Furthermore, you can also configure the sound balance for the left and right earbuds. There’s a spatial sound feature which is basically like enabling ambient sound mode on regular earbuds. It lets in more external sounds. There’s also a Find My Buds feature (not to be confused with Apple’s or Android’s Find My feature). It just rings a high-pitched sound if the buds are in Bluetooth range to help you find them like in a blanket, or messy living room.
I love how the app’s functionality was well thought out and implemented from day one. I’ve seen some of the bigger brands and expensive earphones failing at device-app implementations. Shoutout to OpenRock for this.
Battery life
OpenRock promises a 12-hour battery life on a single charge and up to 48 hours of juice with the carrying case. Our tests revealed that those numbers were fairly accurate. You can also enable the auto sleep feature to extend the battery life of your earbuds. We were able to get almost 16 hours using the auto sleep feature.
Performance
Music, Videos & Podcasts
Let’s talk about the audio quality of the OpenRock X. During my testing period, I watched dozens of videos & played a lot of Red Dead Redemption 2. The videos & movies were of very different kinds including movies with a very wide soundstage, and complex sound designs to see how much I can push the earbuds to their limits.
I’ll start with the bass. The bass is very good even in default Rock mode. It’s a step up from the last
generation of open-ear earbuds by OpenRock. Mids & high are also handled very well but it requires a slight increase in the volume as they can be easily confused with sounds from the surroundings. This could be a honk from a car, people talking, or a tap running tap nearby.
Music genres that are closely related to the rock genre or have some sort of loudness to them sound very well on these earbuds.
If you plan to watch movies or play games or anything that has a lot of dialogue or vocal content, I’d recommend you switch to Boom mode. It’s just better and more immersive while ensuring the surrounding sounds are not muffled or blocked entirely.
In terms of comfort, I was easily able to complete some story missions, catch some bounties & complete side quests in Red Dead Redemption 2 without feeling any discomfort in my ears. The different EQ modes shine very well especially while watching movies & playing games with comprehensive sound designs.
There’s also a Relax EQ mode which is suitable for walking around the office or WFH situations. When you want to listen to stuff like podcasts, YouTube videos, and news and still want to be aware of your surroundings. This is a must-try feature for all podcast lovers. You’re able to listen to all your favorite podcasts or audiobooks without missing out on your oven’s beeping sounds. It’s not suitable for listening to slow music at low volumes, you’ll need to increase the volume levels. But that’s the case of essentially all open earbuds.
The Bluetooth range is fairly long. I was able to grab packages from the door while wearing the OpenRock X earbuds with my phone connected in the bedroom. It is a fairly long distance with thick concrete walls in between. Moreover, I was easily able to catch up on my podcast & take calls while roaming in the office with the phone charging at my desk. There was no delay whatsoever.
Call Quality
Call quality of the OpenRock X was the most interesting period as I took dozens and dozens of calls in different environments.
I tested the call quality of the OpenRock X earbuds under a high-speed fan, in a busy park on a windy day, on a bustling road with lots of traffic noise. My voice was heard clearly on the side with zero instances of any dropped words or muffled sounds. Also, the press-once-to-pick-up-calls experience works seamlessly.
The only situation where we noticed the noise cancellation was somewhat lacking was in super windy or rainy situations when we said some words starting with the letters, S & Z in super windy or rainy situations. That’s the only time we heard some noise in our call quality tests. I’m sure this can be fixed with a software update down the road.
For example, I once took a 40-minute call with FedEx and did not feel the need to remove the earbuds as they were so comfortable and I was able to hear my surroundings as well.
Conclusion
We’ve tested a decent amount of earbuds from various brands. So far the OpenRock X checks all the boxes of a good open-ear earbud. You get great call quality with AI-powered noise cancellation. You get multi-device connection support and a fairly long Bluetooth range with a two-day battery life.
So, should you buy the OpenRock X open-ear headphones?
At $179 USD, it’s a balanced value-for-money option out there while it is certainly one of the best open-ear headphones. I’d say yes, with a premium build, high-quality case, and 16-hour battery life, it delivers the best of both worlds. A theater-like immersive audio experience and spatial awareness complemented with comfortable & premium aesthetics.
