Technology
Two ways to deliver audio without blocking your ears, and the honest trade-offs behind each.
A bone conduction driver turns audio into vibration that passes through the cheekbone and reaches the inner ear directly. Because nothing blocks the ear canal, ambient sound arrives alongside your music.
On a road, at a crossing or on a shared path, blocked ears are a genuine risk. Open-ear audio keeps horns, cars, bikes and voices in the mix while you listen — which is why runners, riders and commuters are the people who benefit most.
Open-ear frames carry their weight on the cheekbone and behind the ear rather than inside it. That is why we publish the numbers: 25.5 g for the M2 and 18.2 g for the Q1, both on nickel-titanium bands that return to shape after being twisted or packed.
There is no single best answer — there is a best fit for where you listen and what you need to hear.
| Property | Bone conduction | Air conduction | Traditional in-ear |
|---|---|---|---|
| How audio arrives | A transducer vibrates through the cheekbone | Small drivers aimed at the ear from outside it | Sealed inside the ear canal |
| Awareness | Surroundings stay fully audible | Surroundings stay fully audible | Isolated from surroundings |
| Leakage at normal volume | Low | Moderate — the driver fires into open air | Lowest — the canal is sealed |
| Comfort over hours | Nothing enters the ear canal | Nothing enters the ear canal | Can feel blocked or pressurised |
| Best for | Running, cycling, commuting, all-day wear | Walking, gym work, lighter everyday listening | Noisy environments and travel, where isolation is the point |
Water ratings get read optimistically. Here is what ours actually mean.
Resists water projected by a nozzle, which in practice covers sweat during training and rain on a commute. The Q1 and M3 carry IPX5.
Resists higher-pressure water jets. The M2 carries IPX6, so it stands up to heavier rain and a rinse under the tap.
No KORAVIS model is designed for immersion, swimming or underwater use. Rinse-and-wipe is fine; the pool is not.
An open-ear headphone leaves your ear canal completely unobstructed. Nothing is inserted and nothing seals the ear, so ambient sound reaches you normally while audio is delivered from outside the canal.
No. Air conduction uses small speakers aimed at the ear from outside it. Bone conduction uses a vibrating transducer that sends vibration through the cheekbone, which is why it tends to leak less sound at the same volume.
Runners, cyclists and commuters share space with traffic, other people and moving equipment. Keeping the ear canal open means horns, cars, voices and warnings stay audible while you listen.
IPX5 resists water jets and covers sweat and light rain. IPX6 resists stronger water jets. Neither rating covers immersion or swimming, so none of our models is a swimming headphone.
It is a different trade-off rather than a worse one. You give up the isolation of a sealed in-ear fit and get awareness, no in-ear pressure and the ability to hear your surroundings. In noisy places, the supplied earplugs let the driver cut through.
Every model is listed on our Amazon storefront with the live price, availability and customer reviews.