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My All-Time Favorite Headphones for the Outdoors Are 11% Off now

If I’m walking or working out outside, the Shokz OpenFit wireless headphones are the ones I turn to and you can save $20 on a pair at Amazon.

For anyone who walks, runs, cycles or does just about anything outside on a regular basis, I always give the same piece of advice: Ditch those noise-canceling headphones. Don’t get me wrong. I have a pair of big over-the-ear headphones that have spectacular noise cancellation and I love them. But when I’m outside — especially if I’m close to fast-moving cars and heavy traffic — I need to be able to hear the world around me and not just my music or whatever podcast I’m bingeing at the moment. In those cases, I want something like the OpenFit true wireless headphones from Shokz.

I love a good pair of headphones but I don’t love spending a ton of money on them. My threshold is about $100, which is why when all of my cycling friends started raving about bone-conduction headphones a few years back, I was more than a little hesitant because I would probably only use them when working out. However, now is a great time to get in on this innovative headphone technology.

The Shokz OpenFit headphones are currently marked down to $160 at Amazon, which is a discount of $20. These headphones are designed to be used in places where bone conduction may not be enough and, as a result, I’m rarely seen without mine on. You can grab these headphones at a great price in black and beige.

A week after I picked these up, I was nearly sideswiped by a pickup truck and the only thing that saved me was hearing it come up behind me. There’s a reason these are recommended on our list of the best running headphones you can buy.

If you’re looking for outdoor-friendly workout headphones, my first recommendation is always Shokz, formerly known as Aftershokz. Bone-conduction headphones sit just outside your ear, resting on the bone. Music vibrates through a set of pads into your skull and you hear those sounds as if they’re coming from a speaker a few feet away.

You can hear everything you’re listening to on your phone without interrupting the sounds coming from the rest of the world around you. For cyclists and runners — really anyone who does anything outside — this is a game-changing experience. It’s more accurate and pleasing than traditional headphones with «passthrough mode» and you sacrifice very little in audio quality.

Impulse Buys Under $25 That Make Surprisingly Great Gifts

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My favorite bone-conduction headphones — and I’ve tried them all — are the OpenRun Pro headphones from Shokz. They’re waterproof (which means they’re easy to clean when I’m all sweaty), the battery lasts me about 7 hours on a charge (perfect for those 70-mile riding days), and they’re comfortable enough that I can wear them all day and not feel them pressing on me. They charge magnetically with a proprietary charger but Shokz includes two cables in the box in case you lose things, as I do.

If these headphones are a little rich for your blood, no worries. Shokz also has cheaper OpenRun and OpenMove bone-conduction headphones with up to 6 hours of battery life and IP55 dust and water resistance. Whether you’re physically active outdoors or you just like exploring new things, I highly recommend giving these headphones a try.

The Shokz OpenMove make a great gift for an outdoor runner

The Shokz make a great gift, either for yourself or the outdoor runner in your life. Not only are they the best of their kind but giving these to a runner may also give you some peace of mind to know they’re a little safer when they’re out running alongside busy streets or other high-traffic areas.

If you’re looking for other gift ideas, check out our roundup of the best Father’s Day gifts or the best gifts for grads. For more discounted tech, check out our running list of the best headphone deals.

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Apple’s New Smart Home Display Delayed Until Fall Over Siri Issues

It has been nearly a year and a half since the company announced the AI-powered product.

Your home could get smarter with Apple’s Siri, but it will have to wait a few more months. Bloomberg reported the iPad-shaped AI home hub won’t be ready until September, several months after the company was hoping to launch it this spring. Apple engineers first need to complete work on a new and improved Siri assistant for the home device, code-named J490, according to Bloomberg.

Apple was hoping to release J490 this month, along with a slew of other new devices, including the iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5new Pro models, and iPad Air M4. Apple first teased the smart home display in November 2024.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant that uses voice recognition and AI to fulfill a variety of tasks and commands, along with intriguing uses. You might use Siri to find your iPhone — «Hey Siri, where are you?» — or to hear the weather forecast — «Siri, what will the weather be today?» Siri is available on iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. It was launched in 2011 as a feature of the iPhone 4S.

As CNET reported last month, Apple engineers have struggled to push the upgraded Siri assistant out the door. It isn’t fast enough, gets confused by complex commands and doesn’t interact well with other Apple AI models. The company is also wrestling with how much personal data to access to inform the AI, and the new Siri is not yet able to complete in-app tasks, such as finding a photo and posting it to socials, all with one command.

It has been nearly two years since Apple announced that it would give Siri a major upgrade. In the meantime, competitors like Alexa Plus and Gemini for Home have entered the marketplace.

Tech tester Jon Rettinger, whose YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers, says the repeated delays in upgrading Siri can «erode» confidence in Apple’s ability to keep up in the AI race.

«Apple as a whole is still one of the strongest companies on the planet. But their AI play is clearly the weakest link in an otherwise very strong chain,» Rettinger told CNET.

Rettinger said he has had issues getting Siri to complete basic commands, such as setting two alarms at the same time, and that it’s a bit of «a mess» right now.

«Having said that, the iPhone has such massive market penetration that I’m not sure it will actually matter in the end. Which is kind of wild when you think about it,» Rettinger said.

Facial recognition for residents

The hardware for the forthcoming smart home display has already been finished. It resembles an iPad and can be either attached to a wall or rest on a half-domed-shaped base, the Bloomberg report said.

The device will be equipped with facial recognition, so when residents walk up to it, they will be shown personalized data such as music preferences, news headlines, appointments, reminders, tasks and so on.

The screen interface will include a bunch of circular app icons, similar to the display on an Apple Watch. The Bloomberg report said the smart home display will be the first of several home devices by Apple. Future products include a tabletop robotic limb with a 9-inch screen, a smart security camera and a Face ID-enabled smart doorbell.

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