Health, beauty and lifestyle with Denise McNamara

I have lost at least four in-earbuds since I got used to the wireless varieties, rendering all set useless. I did try to buy single earbuds for the dearest brands to continue using them, but to no avail. So, when I was asked to road test the Shokz OpenFit 2 True Wireless Earbuds and spotted that they don’t fit in the ear but rather securely around it, I jumped.

I wear headphones every day, sometimes twice a day, while out walking – can’t bear to walk without them. Other than easily losing one of the buds, they also get quite icky from wax.

I can report that these babies remove both these issues while addressing a third – being too good at noise cancelling.

I thought they couldn’t be as good as the in-earbuds because they are over the ear rather than inside but the sound is rich and crisp because of this Shokz DualBoost Technology which uses two independent drivers.

While at the same time, you are aware of your surroundings unlike when listening to a good blast of music on the noise cancelling ones.

If you get a call, the two microphones in each ear means you have excellent sound quality, even if walking on a windy day or by loud traffic.

When you do have to cut whatever you’re listening to while stopping to chat to somebody, the buttons on the earpiece are easy to press on and off rather than trying to find your phone or taking the earbud out – and possibly dropping on the ground. You use the button to skip tracks, turn up and down volume and to take a call or send to voicemail.

On my JBL earbuds, I am always pressing the touch buttons by mistake, so I prefer that I have to physically touch these to activate.

The open-ear structure is very light and fits very comfortably over each ear lobe – these can be worn in bed if you sleep on your side, something which I have become increasingly dependent on if sleeping in the same room with snorers or noisy sleepers. They have 11 hours of battery life with a single charge and a quick 10-minute charge delivers two hours of airtime. And for all technophobes like me, they are incredibly simple to set up – even without looking up instructions. Hurray.

Currently available from Harvey Norman Galway for €189.

Pictured: Shokz OpenFit 2 Earbuds: Buds which pack a beat without falling out.