I’m a big user of the best open ear headphones and best bone-conduction headphones (my daily drivers being the Shokz OpenFit 2+) as they allow me to run and listen to music or podcasts while staying aware of my surroundings.
Sound quality has advanced tremendously: whether I’m listening to a podcast on a long, slow run to while the time away, a pounding house DJ set for a 30-minute lunchtime blowout, or soundtracks from my favorite fantasy games for a woodland trail ruck (try it, it feels like you’re on an adventure) audio quality is stellar on modern open headphones, all while leaving your ears free.
However, even the best open-ear buds have a flaw. During marathon training, when I’m flagging during really long runs, I sometimes need a change of stimulus to keep my brain occupied, or to prevent myself thinking about my legs becoming leaden. I call my wife, or my parents, and have a quick chat to pep me up. But inevitably, as I run, the conversation ends with some variation of „it’s windy, I can’t hear you“.
Normally it’s on the other person’s end. Calls are often great on open headphones now in optimal conditions, but despite promises of beam-forming microphones and reduced wind resistance, I still get the same outcome: the other person yelling down the phone, or saying „where are you? It sounds like you’re in a wind tunnel!“
That was why, while watching the Meta Connect 2025 event during which Mark Zuckerberg took to the stage to show off an array of smart glasses, my ears pricked up when he said the words „wind tunnel“.
Specifically, he was referring to the Oakley Meta Vanguard sports glasses, a visor-style pair of running glasses outfitted with Meta’s AI assistant capabilities, a nine-hour battery life and 3K camera functionality. It’s packing Strava and Garmin integrations, allowing you to hear your metrics from either service by just demanding „stats“. Your metrics are also displayed in an overlay once the video has been processed.
All very impressive, and one of the few demonstrations that didn’t go awry at this year’s Meta presentation. Zuckerberg was joined by famous DJ and running fanatic Diplo as he left the auditorium to join a pack of lycra-clad, fist-bumping, high-fiving Diplo Run Club members, all wearing Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses. The presentation ended on a carefully engineered high as Zuck, Diplo and followers jogged away to the thumping beat of Be Right There.
I can certainly see how cool the camera and stats functionalities might be for marathons, hikes and skiing, despite the fact I’m loathe to offer Meta any more of my data. However, it’s the speakers in the frames that got my attention. Said to offer the most powerful sound Meta glasses have produced yet, six decibels louder than their previous Oakley offerings, Zuck was positive about its noise reduction functionalities, offering a slightly out-of-touch anecdote about taking a call on his jet ski.
„The open ear speakers are the most powerful that we’ve shipped yet,“ said Zuckerberg. „They’re great for running on a noisy road, biking in 30-mile-an-hour winds… I actually took a call on a jet ski a few weeks ago, it was great, I could hear the other person fine over the engine.
„Our advanced noise reduction means you can basically stand in a wind tunnel and you’d still come in clear to the person on the other side.”
This is intriguing. Given my previous experience with open-ear headphones, I find the mention of improved noise reduction and call clarity working with jet skis and wind tunnels something I would very much like to test. However, I do note Zuckerberg mentioned that he could hear the other person fine over the jet ski, and not the other way around – but his next comment on the wind tunnel was on microphone quality, rather than speakers.
I would like to hope Meta’s quality of sound is comparable to open-ear headphones from Shokz and Bose when it comes to listening to music – because if so, Meta might be tempting me to invest in its new high-tech visor, allowing me to make and receive crystal-clear, windless calls during runs, whether I’m letting my wife know what time I’m home, or I need an encouraging voice to bring me out of the 16-mile black hole.
As a regular user of the best Garmin watches too, the integration overlaying stats on my videos would be the icing on the cake.
