Aftershokz Trekz Air tested: These headphones leave your ears free
23.5.2019
Translation: machine translated
The Aftershokz Trekz Air are unusual headphones. They transmit sound through your bones and still allow you to hear your surroundings. Find out what they're good for and how they sound in our test.
Normally, headphones are all about filtering out the surroundings as much as possible or at least blocking them out acoustically. With the Aftershokz Trekz Air, the opposite is the case. They leave your ears free so that you can listen to music and your surroundings at the same time.
Aftershokz calls the technology of its headphones Bone Conduction - the Trekz Air are the most expensive of three models. That's why the headphones don't sit on the ear, but on the cheekbone in front of it. With the help of vibrations, they transmit the sound - in simple terms - via your skull bones into your ear.
Headphones that let you hear more
There are plenty of occasions when you want to isolate yourself from your surroundings with headphones. But there are also times when you still want to be able to hear something despite headphones: for example, when jogging, on a bike - although there are conflicts with a bike helmet and a true wireless model is the better solution - or when driving. And even in your own four walls, you don't want to miss the parcel carrier ringing or the baby waking up.
The Trekz Air also have small speakers. So the sound doesn't just come through your bones, but also through the air into your ear canal. However, they are so quiet that people standing next to you won't hear the sound.
In terms of sound, the Trekz Air lag behind many other headphones. Basically, it's no problem to understand everything, but the surroundings are always mixed in. Turning up the volume only helps to a certain extent, as the sound gets worse the louder the headphones get. But overall, the sound lacks everything: there is no bass, the mids and highs are not concise. The overall sound is flat.
Aftershokz includes the Trekz Air earplugs for manual "noise cancelling". This allows you to acoustically block out your surroundings. However, the sound then becomes very reverberant, as if you were standing in a cave. The sound is then only transmitted through your bones and even sounds slightly better than with your ears open.
With their microphone, the Trekz Air are also suitable for hands-free calls. However, the environment should be reasonably quiet, as they do not filter noise. Example: In city traffic, the car is quiet enough to make a phone call. On the motorway, you have to have a very quiet car to be understandable for the person you are talking to.
Sports headphones with limitations
The Trekz Air connect to your smartphone or computer via Bluetooth without any problems. Even the first pairing does not pose a hurdle during use. The headphones do not have a large battery, but according to the manufacturer, they should last for six hours. For me, it was even between seven and eight hours. This means you can get through the working day without having to recharge the Trekz Air, at least at the beginning.
If you wear glasses and are worried that the Trekz Air might come into conflict with your glasses with their temples over your ears, I can reassure you. They harmonised perfectly for me. Nothing pinched, wasn't uncomfortable in any other way or sat worse. Of course, this is all the more true if you don't wear glasses. You hardly feel the 30 gram headphones.
The Trekz Air are designed for sports, among other things, but are not ideal for all sports. For example, they fit perfectly when jogging and stay in place even when you're doing laps with a spring in your step. However, the earpiece between the two earphones protrudes slightly from the back of the head. This means that conflicts are inevitable during some exercises in the gym or on the workout mat. But that's no reason not to make an effort when exercising. The Trekz Air are IP55-certified. This means they are not suitable for swimming, but sweat and a little rain won't cause them any problems.
Impressive technology for a lot of money
The Aftershokz Trekz Air are packed with technology that is very impressive when you first try them out. In practice, however, they are headphones for special purposes. They are very helpful at certain times, but definitely the wrong headphones if you want to isolate yourself from your surroundings or expect good sound. If good sound is an important criterion for you, I can only advise against the Trekz Air.
The Trekz Air are also comparatively expensive. The manufacturer's recommended retail price is 170 euros. You can get better-sounding in-ear headphones for significantly less and you only have to spend a little more for over-ear models with active noise cancelling. If the bone conduction concept appeals to you, the slightly older Trekz Titanium are an affordable alternative without you really having to sacrifice anything.
Header image: Aftershokz Trekz Air
When I was but a young student, I'd sit in my friend's living room with all my classmates and play on his SuperNES. Since then I've had the opportunity to test out all the newest technology for you. I've done reviews at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, and have now arrived at Galaxus.de.
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