The promise of bone conduction headphones has always been attractive. And the way they work is actually pretty impressive. They tick a number of boxes: no need to choose between listening to music and the environment, no ear fatigue after hours of listening, and no distractions from those around you. Even the best bone conduction headphones aren’t without compromises, though, and some lack the great features found in the Suunto Sonics.
Between the durable, lightweight, titanium-reinforced headband and the rugged rubber exterior, the Suunto Sonics look like they’re focused on staying in place all day long. Plus, they’re subtle enough that you might forget you’re wearing them at first. Despite some flaws and questionable specs, they’re definitely one of the best bone conduction headphones I’ve ever laid my hands on.
Suunto Sonic
The Suunto Sonic bone conduction headset is a premium, affordable treadmill that features up to 10 hours of battery life, a titanium alloy-reinforced neckband, a non-slip outer layer that can stay in place all day, and an IP55 rating.
- Stays in place very well.
- Excellent bone conduction sound quality
- Comfortable enough to wear for up to 10 hours of battery life
- I’ve seen better IP ratings on much cheaper headphones.
- There is no significant jump in sound quality when moving from SBC to aptX Adaptive.
Price and availability
Excellent build at an excellent price.
The Suunto Sonic is available on Amazon and Suunto’s website , and will set you back $149 whether you buy it in sleek black or vibrant lime green. While that still puts it under Suunto’s most expensive bone conduction headset, the $200 Suunto Wing , it’s still closer to the top of the price range than the bottom of the range.
What are the good features of the Suunto Sonic headset?
Strong and lightweight construction
While most earbuds and headphones on the market focus on blocking out as much outside noise as possible, many situations require open listening that most transparency modes don’t deliver. While working out alone at a public gym can benefit from active noise cancellation, it’s wise to stay alert for traffic while riding your bike or jogging.
If you want to listen to music for a marathon—literally—the 10-hour battery life is more than enough to get you through 26 miles, whether you’re running or walking. The ultra-light frame and soft grip made it easy to carry around all day without any discomfort. Even with poor running technique, I couldn’t knock the Suunto Sonics out of place, or even move my head.
Typically, between the fast, jerky movements and the tighter-than-ideal fit, the vast majority of bone conduction headphones I’ve tried haven’t been able to stay in place completely and the sound quality has been poor as a result. I’m happy to say that the Suunto Sonics avoided this annoyance during running and kettlebell workouts, though there was a bit of a lack of contact around both ears.
The Sonics’ sleek look is matched by their simple controls. In all, there are just three buttons on the entire headset: a volume up button just behind the right earcup, which also doubles as a power button; a volume down button just behind it; and a multi-function button for everything else on the left node.
Oddly enough, the multifunction button has more controls by default than I could find in the app, manual, or on Suunto’s website, but nothing unexpected. Single press to play/pause, long press to launch Assistant, double and triple press to skip forward and back, respectively; no surprises here.
Anyone like me who doesn’t like apps that are essential to their listening devices can breathe a sigh of relief because the Suunto app is more focused on tracking exercise with their smartwatch. Aside from the app sending audio feedback to the headset about your run, it’s only necessary to switch between quiet and noisy environment modes and easily set up multi-touch via Bluetooth.
No Bluetooth headphone review would be complete without mentioning the sound quality, and while I would say the Suunto Sonics are absolutely fantastic in this regard, it’s more accurate to say they’re just great. for bone conduction.
There’s no doubt that this observation is true; this product category has always been about making it easier to not get run over by cars while listening to music, not about a superior Hi-Fi experience. However, while I’m usually a fan of higher bitrate Bluetooth codecs, manually switching between SBC and aptX Adaptive codecs wasn’t almost Just as important as it is with traditional earphones.
What’s bad about Suunto Sonics?
Some features were cut down, and others were unnecessary.
Between the simplified controls, excellent build quality, and decent sound quality, it’s a little hard to find anything to dislike about the Suunto Sonics, but I did find at least a few things I wasn’t happy with. The $150 price tag might seem in line with the titanium metal on the neckband, for example, but the price seems hard to justify when the IP rating is average for this class, and the sound quality doesn’t get much of a boost from the better-than-basic Bluetooth codec.
While there’s no shortage of bone conduction headphones for swimming, if water resistance is your biggest concern, it’s not uncommon for regular bone conduction headphones to have an IP rating as good or better than the Suunto Sonics for less than half the price.
The IP55 rating isn’t bad compared to standard earbuds, but it’s not an impressive feat in this product category, especially when they’re priced this high. It’s especially disappointing considering the Sonics ship with a magnetic pogo-pin port, which is what you’d expect from something with better water resistance, along with a USB cable that you’ll hopefully never lose.
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Should you buy them?
Not amazing, but not disappointing either.
While the Suunto Sonics aren’t perfect, and they’re heading towards a price point that demands just that, they’re still a very capable product. That said, the sound quality is as good as you’d expect, and the fit and finish are better than many other bone conduction headphones I’ve had my hands on.
The pros are huge, while the cons are all fairly minor, making it a strong contender as long as you don’t need a pair for swimming.
Suunto Sonic
The Suunto Sonic bone conduction headset is a premium, affordable treadmill that features up to 10 hours of battery life, a titanium alloy-reinforced neckband, a non-slip outer layer that can stay in place all day, and an IP55 rating.
