The Oladance OWS Pro? Or Shokz’s OpenFit?
We think you’re choosing between simple and smart.
Design & build quality
In terms of design and build, there’s just one major aspect where the Shokz OpenFit totally OWNS the Oladance. And that’s the IP rating. IP54 on the Shokz compared to only IPX4 on the Oladance Pro. So if you like it rough , then the Shokz might be a better choice here. Now, the IPX4 ain’t all bad. It just means there’s no certified dust resistance. For liquid resistance, these are on par!
Ok, there are a few similarities between both of these earbuds. Both have a large charging case! But between the two, the Shokz is going to shock you the least. It still passes the pocketability test. The Oladance is the size of my wallet. But this time the case of the Oladance can charge your buds as opposed to its predecessors. Let’s talk battery life. Oladance claims 16 hours on the buds and 58 hours with the case. We tested this in our DHRME battery test and got 16.5 hours on the buds. So that checks out. Shokz with a smaller case and buds packs less of a punch. 7 hours on the buds and 28 with the case. And we got exactly 7 hours in our testing too! Thankfully no Shokz here. But we’re talking about half of what the Oladance can do. And good news, if you don’t want to lug around that massive charging case you can turn off the Oladance Pro buds and turn them back on using a power button on each bud. You cannot do this on the OpenFit. You need to have the case with you at all times. Oh and two last things about the charging case. One; there is no wireless charging on either, just good old Type C charging. And two; we like the colorblind friendly battery indicator on the Oladance, whereas the Shokz is a single colored LED.
On the topic of colors. You get to choose from 5 different colors on the Oladance as opposed to just 2 on the Shokz. And might we add – these colors be funky as f…
⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯🛒 Links For Latest Prices⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯
🎧 Buy the Oladance OWS Pro: https://www.oladanceshop.com/products…
🎧 Buy the Shokz OpenFit: https://geni.us/Shokz-OpenFit
⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯
Controls
When it comes to controlling either of these buds, they ain’t exactly touching us the right way. The Oladance Pro has a pressure sensitive touch button and a touch surface. The swipe for volume is fantastic. But that’s where the pros of this Pro end. The press gesture is pretty hit or miss. We also had a situation where the right button died even though the swiping continued to work. Putting it back in the case and taking it back out didn’t work. And we had to reset that single bud by turning it off using the button on the bud and turning it back on.
On the Shokz, controls are limited. You can’t do play-pause, track control, voice assistant and volume control all at once. You have to make choices and compromises. Basically you’re left with only double tap and tap-and-hold gestures on both ears. But on the Oladance app, you can customise what the different presses can do. Oh and for both the Shokz and Oladance – the volume doesn’t change until music is playing.
For controls customizability we’d choose the Oladance but for ease of use and reliability, the Shokz.
Comfort and fit
On the Shokz, controls are limited. You can’t do play-pause, track control, voice assistant and volume control all at once.
But do the Oladance OWS Pro go dancing ahead in terms of comfort and fit? Even though these might look bulky in the video – trust us, the comfort and fit is ON point! ‘Liquid silicone molding’? ‘Ceramic coating’? No clue what those terms mean since none of us is a material science guru, but we are comfort-o-philes and we can verify that these are super comfortable and very lightweight! Also with glasses. But the Shokz OpenFit are the LIGHTEST of the open-ear ear hook style buds we’ve ever tested. These are also comfortable with glasses! The Oladance weighs 27g whereas the Shokz weighs 16 grams. And if we had to pick one for comfort, it would be the Shokz for the lighter weight and thinner ear hooks.
Extras
You know extra features are a little bit of an afterthought when we do reviews because they aren’t really make or break items, but in this case – there’s a lot to talk about. Remember simple or smart?
On the Oladance, there’s a lot of smarts! You get a ‘focus mode’ which is kind of an attempt at noise cancelling with open-ear buds.
The buds generate a sort of white anti-noise and it actually lowers background noise. Incredible for a pair of open ears to be able to do this. The only other buds we’ve come across claiming this were the Galaxy Buds Live from Samsung. But that “ANC” setting did absolutely nothing for us. Now the issue we had with ‘focus mode’ was that it wouldn’t consistently stay on and would shut off randomly and turn back on. Feels like a software thing but we’re not sure. We can definitely appreciate the innovation and novelty here, so here’s hoping Oladance fixes this and other earbud manufacturers can build on what Oladance has started here.
Multipoint is on board with the Oladance. And you can also see all the paired devices in the app. Going into pairing mode is also super simple by holding both buttons down. No case required.
And now your earbuds can have more friends than you – with buddy a bud. A fairly useless feature that lets you pair other buds. I guess it’s kinda useful if you lose one bud and find another one. But let’s move on to more useful things. There’s also a bunch of travel cases as well as a button that you can buy separately to control your music and calls on the go. There is however, no wear sensor on board to detect if your music is playing once you take the buds off. In addition to this, there are smaller tweaks like changing the balance of the left and right channel and a hearing protection feature that limits max volume. Smart, right?
And the Shokz OpenFit? Well – Shokzingly lacking here. No wear sensor and no multipoint. And you have to put the buds in the case and hold down both buds to put them into pairing mode. Or as we said – simple.
Phone calls
And as we like to say, microphones need to have popsicles, icicles and testic..
In the noisy conditions we see that the Shokz does the best by suppressing the car noises but still maintaining the clarity of the voice. The Oladance definitely struggles more. If you speak loudly then it does ok but when you speak softly then the voice can get cut out.
Oladance speaks a big game about wind noise reduction in a lot of their marketing. But in windy situations, we wouldn’t really advise either of these buds. But if we had to pick then we’d go for the Oladance in case of a very quick phone call.
But guys – in quiet conditions both do great. So if these are going to be workout headphones only for you then you’ll be fine.
What about the controls de la vakman? Both give you the basics for answer and hangup as well as volume control. Volume on the Shokz will only work if it’s configured in the app for the tap-and-hold gesture. The Oladance claims mute control in the manual by long pressing either button but that didn’t work for us.
Sound Quality
As far as sound quality goes for open ear style buds, the Shokz OpenFit isn’t terrible. But relatively speaking, the Oladance Pro takes the cake in this department from the OpenFit. It hands down has a far richer sound signature for music as well as podcasts. You get a much stronger bass response which is more present than on the OpenFit. In terms of volume it also gets louder. Volume is going to be important if you’re trying to listen to something outdoors and have a lot of ambient noise. The Oladance app also offers a bunch of EQ presets as well as those extra features we talked about earlier.
Although Oladance claims to have anti-noise leakage tech – did it do better than the Shokz? No, no it didn’t. The Shokz had less sound leakage at comparable volume levels.
The Shokz is outgunned for this form factor though – sibilant treble is an issue, for example. But given the nature of these products, it certainly ain’t bad. The app also has customisation in it for EQ and the bass is audible which is more than we could say for the early generation of open-ear buds.
To Buy or not Dubai
So – the money question! Which one Dubai? To start off with – both of these pricey! $180 for the OpenFit and an additional $50 for the Oladance, not including any accessories you might wanna get. Guys – we’re not gonna lie – those bucks are big.
We’ve done a full breakdown of the Shokz OpenFit with 5 other buds here. So we’re not gonna repeat everything. But between these two? The choice is clear, isn’t it?
The Shokz has the four P’s going for it – price, portability, protection against dust and the plightweight. Which let’s be honest are VERY important reasons. But if you’re already splurging around $180, in our view, the Oladance offers you a whole bunch of bells and whistles, but also performs better at core things like sound quality, battery life and volume. If you can handle the bulk, Oladance is our pick!
You’ve been open to getting fit, like a pro. And we’ve been DHRME Namaste!
Thanks so much for these reviews – they are very methodical and helpful!
One question – what would you recommend for listening to audiobooks bed? I would typically have just one earbud in. Are either of these quiet enough (sound leakage) so as not to wake my partner?
If not, are there any others which are? Definitely want to avoid in-ears if possible.
I’m leaning towards the Shokz at the moment, also considering the aerofit pro, but these look like they leak a bit more too.
Thanks!
All of these leak about the same amount. Getting a good angle towards your ear might help with leakage. Good luck!