by
Olivier Poirier-Leroy
The Shokz OpenSwim Pro is the latest upgrade to the OpenSwim headphones. How does it compare to the original? We put it to the test in the pool.
Listening to music is one of the best ways to get more from your time in the pool.
From the motivational benefits of a great playlist to the reduction in fatigue to targeting a higher stroke rate to helping you swim faster during time trials (Tate et al., 2012), music can help improve your swimming.
But finding a waterproof music player that plays music clearly while swimming without being overly cumbersome was, for a long time, a challenge.
That’s until the Shokz OpenSwim headphones walked out onto the pool deck back in 2019.
Using bone conduction to get around some of the challenges of listening to music in the water, it’s long been my favorite waterproof headphones when swimming.
Welp, recently they launched a Pro version of this insanely popular and great-sounding device. So obviously, I had to get my hands on one to see how it compared to the original.
In this hands-on, in-the-pool review, I’ll detail my experience swimming with the Shokz OpenSwim Pro, why swimmers will love it, how it differs from the “standard” OpenSwim, and more.
Let’s dive in.
The Shokz OpenSwim Pro is a waterproof music player that can be used when swimming laps. The device is rated IP68, which means it can be submerged into up to two meters of water
Using bone conduction, the device plays music through the jawbone, bypassing the need for tangled wires and cumbersome music players.
The thin, lightweight design stays in place, even while swimming at high velocity, and the hydrodynamic design stays out of your way so that you can focus on a killer swim workout and great technique.
Key specs:
Having used the OpenSwim Pro for the past few weeks in the pool, regularly logging an hour per day listening to tunes while swimming, here are the key things to know about how it performs.
Swimmers are always on the hunt for ways to shave time off the clock. While listening to music during training is great, if it comes at a signficaint drag cost, it’s perhaps not so worth it.
The Shokz OpenSwim Pro, ultimately, is a “fast” waterproof MP3 player.
The device is extremely lightweight (it weighs just 27g), but the slim casings on the sides, thin titanium wireframe, and hydrodynamic frame also mean it isn’t going to slow you down whatsoever in the pool.
One of the things I love most about the Shokz OpenSwim Pro is the wireless design.
Unlike other mp3 players designed for swimming, which have wires leading to both ears and can quickly get tangled up alongside the straps from your swim goggles, the OpenSwim Pro is constructed with a lightweight titanium frame that has zero wires.
The over-the-ear frame sits snugly against the head and doesn’t shift and slide while swimming, even at higher velocities.
I’ve repeatedly tested these headphones at full speed in the pool, strapping on a pair of training fins and swim paddles and blazing across the pool at 100% velocity, a large wave tunneling behind me.
No matter how quick I pushed the pace, the frame stayed in place.
Headphones designed for swimming can be finnicky and require a lot of adjustment.
Why?
Because if the earbuds are not perfectly secured and snug inside the ear canal, water will inevitably leak behind them, distorting the sound and requiring constant adjustment.
Not ideal.
The Shokz OpenSwim Pro uses bone conduction to transmit music to the eardrums, which is a fancy way of saying that the device doesn’t use headphones or earbuds and bypasses the issues of using them when swimming.
Because your favorite tunes are transmitted through the jawbone, there is no worrying about stopping to adjust earbuds or headphones, and you get crisp, full sound from the moment you jump in the water until the workout is wrapped up.
The Shokz OpenSwim Pro is the best sounding waterproof music player I’ve ever used.
The sound on your typical waterproof MP3 players is small and tinny, especially once water starts to ingress into the ear canal, creating a muffled and distant sound that is more irritating than motivating.
This little device can put on excellent sound, both in terms of clarity and hitting the highs and lows effectively.
While the Shokz OpenSwim Pro doesn’t have the same KABOOM as premium studio headphones like Beats or Bose over-ear headphones, the Shokz OpenSwim Pro delivers the best quality sound you’ll find in the water.
The Shokz OpenSwim Pro is designed to be “fast” in the water, which means cutting down on extraneous buttons.
The device has three main buttons, including a multifunction button on the outside of the left part of the frame of browsing songs and pausing/playing music that are very easy to use.
Learning how to turn on and navigate the device took me around 25 seconds and I was in business at the pool.
The buttons extrude slightly but are easy enough that I could play around with different volumes and song selections while kicking with a kickboard or bobbing up and down at the end of the lane.
I’ll admit that the drag-and-drop functionality of the OpenSwim Pro is a little bit old school. Made me reminisce on days downloading music and dragging them over to my first-generation iPod.
But once you get past the nostalgia of how to add music, you’ll realize that this thing can hold a metric ton of music.
In fact, one of the big upgrades of the OpenSwim Pro versus the OpenSwim is a much-expanded hard drive, capable of storing up to a whopping 32gb of music, podcasts, and whatever else you want to listen to when crushing your swim workouts.
One of the things I love most about the OpenSwim Pro device—and this goes for all bone-conduction headphones—is that it sounds even better when paired with swimmers’ earplugs (like Mack’s Pillow Soft Silicone Earplugs).
Earplugs for swimming are primarily designed to keep water out to prevent ear infections, but when used with the OpenSwim Pro also reduce ambient pool noise, increase vibration transmission, and isolate the sound, creating a more controlled and optimized listening experience.
Using earplugs with the OpenSwimPro also give a better bass response when you get a good seal with your earplugs, increasing the sound quality of the music player.
Most reviews of the SHOKZ OpenSwim Pro are overwhelmingly positive. One of the few complaints is that the buttons can be a little hard to navigate and configure.
Shokz has an app that can be used to configure the buttons and EQ mode on your device. Instead of cycling through options using the volume or multifunction button until you land on the setting you want, the OpenSwim Pro can be adjusted and configured from your smartphone.
Things like EQ, playback settings (normal, repeat, shuffle), earphone mode (MP3 or Bluetooth) can be adjusted to your liking from the app.
There wasn’t a lot to outright dislike with these headphones. But there were a couple things to nitpick.
Compared to the original OpenSwim’s, which we will examine and compare in more depth shortly—the titanium from on the Pro felt a little more flimsy. They didn’t fit quite as securely when swimming.
Additionally, the buttons on the headset are slimmer in profile, and as a result, are a little harder to find to adjust sound and songs when wearing the unit on your head.
This wasn’t a gamebreaker, you get used to it with time, but I preferred the slightly raised buttons on the original OpenSwim better for quickly changing tracks and cranking up the volume when my main set songs came on (e.g. AC/DC’s “Shoot to Thrill”).
The Shokz OpenSwim Pro is the updated and upgraded version of the Shokz OpenSwim, which was launched in 2019.
The Pro, launched in the summer of 2024, includes the following key differences:
Here is a side-by-side comparison of the two devices:
| Shokz OpenSwim | OpenSwim Pro | |
| Price | $149 | $179 |
| Charge time | 1.5h | 2h |
| Battery Life | 8h | 9h |
| Waterproof rating | IP68 | IP68 |
| Storage | 4GB | 32gb |
| Bluetooth | No | Yes |
The Shokz OpenSwim Pro is the best waterproof music player currently on the market for swimmers.
Having tested the FINIS Duo, various H2O Underwater devices, and yes, the O.G. OpenSwim, the Pro is simply head and shoulders above anything else offered.
The lightweight and hydrodynamic design, the clear, booming sound from the bone conduction, and the increased storage and player functionality allows swimmers to focus on their performance in the water.
Grab a set of the OpenSwim Pro, load it up with some of your favorite club bangers, and level up your swim workouts.
Olivier Poirier-Leroy Olivier Poirier-Leroy is the founder of YourSwimLog.com. He is an author, former national level swimmer, two-time Olympic Trials qualifier, and swim coach.
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