OpenRock S2 Ultimate Review: Your perfect workout buddy

OpenRock is likely a name that most people aren’t familiar with in the audio space, given that the brand has only been around since about 2021. However, in that short span of time, OpenRock has established itself as an audio brand that’s passionate about sports and fitness. It wants to deliver earbuds that you can take with you during any activity, providing a secure fit without really compromising on sound quality. That’s where the OpenRock S2 comes in. This is the brand’s newest pair of true wireless sport earbuds. I’ve been testing them for close to two weeks now. I was curious to see how well these would stay in my ears. I was also eager to see how good they would sound compared to my Pixel Buds Pro 2.

In short, I was both surprised and intrigued. Surprised because I’ve never used OpenRock products before, and intrigued because the OpenRock S2 is an open-back pair of earbuds. Meaning, they were designed to provide a more open sound profile that allows more sound in than you’re probably used to. I’m used to earbuds that deliver a significant seal with both noise isolation and perhaps even active noise cancellation.

The OpenRock S2 were made to let sound seep in just enough for you to be aware of your surroundings. Meanwhile, they still deliver sound quality that you’ll be happy with. At $98.99, the OpenRock S2 earbuds won’t break the bank, and they just might become your new favorite wireless earbuds. Additionally, OpenRock is offering them for $74.99 as an introductory early bird price. You can also get an additional 5% off if you use the code AndroidHeadlines15. That will bring the price down to $71.25 during the presale period, which ends on June 30. That being said, are they worth your money? Even at their very reasonable price point? Let’s dive deeper into this review and find out.

Specs

OpenRock S2 Ultimate Review: Hardware and Design

My first impression of the OpenRock S2 when pulling them out of the packaging was that they were a well-made pair of true wireless earbuds. They feature a design that includes an ear hook to secure them around your ears. This is intended to help them stay put no matter the activity. After putting these in my ears, it was immediately noticeable that OpenRock was keen on delivering a pair of earbuds that felt comfortable to wear.

The material used for the OpenRock S2 is quite soft-feeling and pleasing to the touch. So, I knew right away I wasn’t going to have issues with how these felt against my skin. The earbuds themselves include a physical button on the bottom part of the earbud hook. You’ll find one of these on each earbud.

As someone who grew up in the 80s and 90s, my fondness for analog buttons as opposed to touch-sensitive buttons is alive and well. With that said, I really appreciate OpenRock’s decision to chuck the touch buttons out the window and provide a button that you can actually feel and press. The button is small, but you get used to it rather quickly. Pressing it was never an issue for me. The main part of the earbud that houses the mics and speakers is connected by a thin and pliable (yet sturdy) piece of liquid silicone material. This helps secure the earbuds around the back of your ear.

Build quality

These don’t look or feel cheaply made, which I was happy to see, and the charging case they come in looks and feels just as nice. The charging case is small enough to fit in your pants pockets and short pockets for easy portability. In fact, I didn’t have any issues tossing them in one of the pockets on any of my pairs of running shorts, which in many instances can be quite small.

The case also has a neat speckled design. At first glance, it just looks black. However, small flecks of gold actually pepper the matte black color of the case. There’s a USB-C port on the right side of the charging case. You can use this when both the earbuds and the case need to be charged up. Overall, the OpenRock S2 looks and feels solid. Based on my past 10 to 12 days of use, I have plenty of confidence in this product.

Another really key detail about these earbuds is the weight. These are extremely lightweight earbuds. Weighing just 7 grams, they’re the lightest earbuds that OpenRock has ever produced. Plus, with them being so lightweight, you won’t have to worry about them falling out of place or becoming uncomfortable after long periods of wear. What I think is interesting is that OpenRock designed the S2 earbuds to have an even 50/50 weight distribution across your ear.

This way, the front and back sections of each earbud weigh about 3.5 grams each. It’s a rather clever design that ensures one part of the earbud doesn’t feel heavier than the other. This also really helps to ensure that the earbuds stay put. They’re sweat-resistant as well, so sweat all you like while wearing these. OpenRock offers these in two colors, which are Obsidian Black and Moonlight White.

OpenRock S2 Ultimate Review: Battery Life and Charging

No matter how comfortable a pair of true wireless earbuds are, no matter how good they sound, if the battery life is terrible, you’re less likely to use them. This has been the case for me with several pairs of earbuds in the past. They end up having good sound and a comfortable fit. However, they died very fast, and so I’d just go back to a different pair that lasted longer.

I’m glad I can say I didn’t really have this issue with the OpenRock S2. In fact, I tried to kill these things as quickly as I could. They just would not stop playing my music. Even while fidgeting with the different controls and listening to them for an extended period of time. They were able to last me almost an entire work day before needing a recharge.

OpenRock says these last for up to 8 hours on a single charge, and I found that to be pretty accurate. I wasn’t getting quite 8 hours, but it was only 5-10 minutes under, so I’m just going to round up. I would expect that most people will have the same type of experience and have no problem listening to these for close to 8 hours non-stop. At that point, you’d need to slip these back into the charging case.

Charging time

What’s neat is that these will provide an hour of listening time after only 5 minutes of charging.

As for total charge time, you’re looking at about 90 minutes or so, and these should be back to 100%. Obviously, things will take considerably longer if the charging case is also depleted to 0% battery life. Expect a charge time of a few hours in this case. That’s not too bad, though. It feels pretty standard to me in comparison to most other pairs of true wireless earbuds I’ve used.

My only gripe with the charging is that the case doesn’t support wireless charging. And that means you lose a little bit of convenience. It’s not the end of the world, however, and I wouldn’t say it would be a deterrent with regard to me buying these. Overall, I’m happy with the battery life and the charge times, and I think most other people will be too.

OpenRock S2 Ultimate Review: Comfort and Fit

Outside of the battery life, I’d say the comfort and the fit of a pair of true wireless earbuds is the next most important factor. You want them to be comfortable enough to wear that you can wear them all day without issues. Or, at the very least, wear them for more than 2 hours before discomfort starts to set in. I can proudly say that the comfort level of the OpenRock S2 is up there for one very specific reason.

Their open-back design. Because these are meant to be open-back, the part of the earbud that usually goes in your ear canal sits just on the edge of it with the OpenRock S2. Almost like it’s entirely outside the ear canal. The benefit of this is that you don’t have something jammed in there. Which is where a lot of the earbud discomfort can come from on other pairs. The inside of your ear canal starts to feel sore, and you end up taking the earbuds out.

That isn’t going to happen with the OpenRock S2 because these were designed in such a way that the part of the earbud that plays the music feels more like it’s hovering at the edge of your ear canal.

A secure fit that ensures the earbuds stay put

They are pretty secure while being worn, and I’ve certainly tried to get them to slip off my ears. They didn’t really budge.

This made the earbuds ideal for any activities where I was moving about a lot. I took them on a few runs and even tried OpenRock’s suggestion of shaking my head vigorously for a few seconds to see if they would loosen up, and they stayed put. This was ideal for me because I sometimes where earbuds while I eat so I can watch videos on my phone. The problem with many earbuds I’ve used is that while secure in most situations, the chewing during eating often causes the earbuds to loosen enough to fall out.

This, of course, did not happen with the OpenRock S2, and I’m quite glad because this has been a pain point of mine for a lot of different earbuds.

Ultra-lightweight, so you can focus on your workouts and your music

With regard to the comfort and fit, my favorite part of this aspect of the earbuds was how lightweight they are. With these weighing just 7 grams, I didn’t experience any fatigue from having these in all day. I think that makes the OpenRock S2 even more of a desirable pair of earbuds for sports and fitness enthusiasts.

The reason I think the lightweight build is so important is that it allows you to focus on what matters with a pair of earbuds. Your music. Also, in this case, your workouts or outdoor activities, since these were designed for sports and fitness enthusiasts who need something that will be secure in their ears while they engage in their activities.

Think about it. If you have a pair of earbuds that feel a little heavy, you’ll inevitably focus on that even if only partially. With the OpenRock S2, the ultra-lightweight build lets the entire concept of the weight just melt away. And what you’re left with is the ability to focus on and enjoy the sound, comfort, and features these earbuds offer.

OpenRock S2 Ultimate Review: Features

When it comes to earbuds, the OpenRock S2 come with what feels like a pretty standard set of features that you’ll find on most true wireless earbuds. This includes things like the ability to skip tracks, pause and play your music, and answer or end phone calls. You can also adjust the volume using the earbuds, as well as mute or unmute the microphone. All of that is nice, and I’d expect it to be available regardless of the earbud price point.

First, I want to focus on one feature that you don’t see often. Using the earbuds as a remote shutter for your phone’s camera. With the physical buttons on the earbuds, you can activate your phone’s camera to snap a photo hands-free. This would mostly be useful when you’ve set up a tripod with your phone or put it up against something so it stands up or leans at an angle where you can be in the picture. This way, you can still be in the picture while also taking it.

This is a feature I actually feel is pretty cool. Both because it’s not that common, and it can be quite useful. I also want to stress that your camera app needs to be open for this function to work. Otherwise, it just adjusts the volume. Once the camera app is open, however, the feature works great. Just four quick taps on the button on either ear, and the photo is taken just a second or so later. It’s really pretty effortless.

Preset modes let you enjoy several different genres

In addition to this feature, the OpenRock app you’ll use in conjunction with this app has several things you can fine-tune. For instance, there are three different preset modes you can flip through based on what you’re listening to. There’s the Boom Mode, which seems like it’s for high-intensity music and activities, such as intense workouts.

There’s also the rock mode, which I found to be the one I used the most, as it felt more versatile based on the wide range of activities I might use the earbuds for. Then there’s the relax mode, which is great for more casual or calm activities like yoga, stretching, and walks, just to name a few examples. There’s also a max volume limiter that you can toggle on. While I didn’t mess with this really much at all, it does work. It’s something to keep in mind if you’re concerned about hearing damage from louder volumes.

Gesture controls for the most important functions

The app also lets you change the function of the gestures, or you can leave them as is. By default, 1 press will be for playing or pausing tracks, or answering and hanging up phone calls. A double press will skip a track or reject an incoming call, and a triple press will go to the previous track. Four presses are for the camera shutter, and this can’t be changed. You can also change what the long press does on each earbud. I set mine to volume up when I hold down the button on the right earbud, and volume up for the left earbud.

This way, I can adjust the volume in either direction. You also get some toggles for spatial sound, sound balance, and hi-res mode. However, it’s important to note that you can’t have spatial sound and hi-res mode enabled at the same time. The hi-res mode also reduces battery life a bit, and it disables the multi-point connection that they’re capable of. This is all well and good if you don’t need to connect to more than one device. Also, the hi-res mode is basically for when you’re listening to music in the LDAC codec, which these earbuds support. If you’re listening in other codecs, like MP4, then you’re better off with spatial enabled instead. All in all, there’s a good feature set here for most users. And with physical buttons, all of the functions are pretty simple to engage.

OpenRock S2 Ultimate Review: Sound Quality

While I think comfort and fit, as well as battery life, are the two most important factors in a pair of true wireless earbuds, the sound quality is important as well. Plus, when you think about it, these are just the order in which I prioritize what’s most important. You might feel differently from me. With that said, the sound quality on the OpenRock S2 is quite good. I was pleasantly surprised and over the course of my time using the OpenRock S2, found the sound quality to be enjoyable to the point that I was really getting into my music any time these were in my ears.

They deliver a more punchy bass than I was expecting, and they seemed to perform well no matter what kinds of music I was listening to. I find that these shine through with genres like EDM and other potentially bass-heavy music genres like hip-hop or funk. In fact, a lot of EDM was pumped through these earbuds, specifically the Group Therapy sessions from Above and Beyond, which are a few hours long each, so this gave me a good way to test all of the important factors of the earbuds, including the sound, over an extended period of time.

Don’t neglect the spatial sound feature

What I found interesting and enjoyable was the way that my music would sound a little more like a live performance if I enabled spatial sound, because of this open design. It’s not a spot-on representation of that, but it mimicked it in a way that you don’t usually get from earbuds that aren’t open-back. It sort of made me feel like I was at one of these Above and Beyond shows. Which I’ve never gone to, so it was a nice little treat. Again, if the music you’re listening to has a significant amount of bass, you should love these. OpenRock is using what’s called BassDirect technology to enhance the bass without leaking sound. So, what you’re left with is a rich sound that can be booming at the right times.

Should You Buy the OpenRock S2 earbuds?

We’ve come to the million-dollar question: Should you buy the OpenRock S2 earbuds? Are they worth the money at a price point of $98.99? I think, in short, I’d say yes, they’re worth the money. People who love that freedom of open-back sound and who want something sporty that will stay secure during their most intense workouts definitely need to check these out. Not just for the affordability, but also because of their secure and comfortable fit as well as their signature sound. They’re also perfect for anyone who wants an ultra-lightweight earbud.

The OpenRock S2 are a well-made pair of earbuds with a good fit and a fresh design that I hadn’t tried before, so I was eager to test them and came out of the experience feeling pleased with the product. Although the $100 price point is already a good price, OpenRock is offering an introductory price during its presale period that brings the cost to $74.99. The price comes down further, to $71.25, if you use the code AndroidHeadlines15 at checkout. Keep in mind, this price is only available between June 20 and June 30.

Buy the OpenRock S2 if:

• You want a more open sound profile for your music
• You’re looking for something under $100
• You’re looking for an ultra-lightweight pair of earbuds with good battery life

The post OpenRock S2 Ultimate Review: Your perfect workout buddy appeared first on Android Headlines.

​