Bone Conduction · The rankings
Best bone conduction headphones under $100: four neckbands with a rating you can read
Cheap bone conduction is a minefield of unnamed brands. These four have a maker's website, a published IP rating and a list price under $100 when we checked. That's the whole bar, and few clear it.
By Mike M.Updated Spec-checked, not worn by us
#adReader-supported: we may earn a commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never decides a ranking. How we rank · Disclosure
Quick picks
The rankings at a glance
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Creative Outlier Free Pro IPX8, 10 hours, 8 GB of onboard MP3 storage and Bluetooth 5.3 multipoint for well under $100. The budget bone conduction set that can also swim. | Best overall under $100Bone conduction (neckband) | 8.3 /10 | Check price · Amazon |
| 2 | Mojawa Run Plus IP68, 29.6 g, 32 GB of storage and a 5-minute quick charge in the under-$100 band. A swim-capable neckband that undercuts Shokz on paper. | Best with storageBone conduction (neckband) | 8.2 /10 | Check price · Amazon |
| 3 | Shokz OpenMove The cheapest way into Shokz: IP55, 29 g, 6 hours, USB-C. You give up quick charge and two generations of driver, but the neckband fit is the same idea. | Best-known brandBone conduction (neckband) | 7.4 /10 | Check price · Amazon |
| 4 | Raycon Bone Conduction Headphones IP68 and a claimed 13 hours, the longest single-charge figure of the budget neckbands. Raycon publishes little else, so buy it for battery and waterproofing, not for detail. | Longest claimed batteryBone conduction (neckband) | 7.9 /10 | Check price · Amazon |
#ad · Prices are set by Amazon and change often, so we don't print them. Scores are ours, built from published specs and cited independent reviews, not our own wear tests. Photos are illustrative stock. Tap a row for the full write-up.
The bar for this list
Three conditions. A maker's own website with a product page. An IP rating on that page. A list price under $100 on that page when we read it on September 21, 2026. That removed the bulk of what an Amazon search returns for “bone conduction headphones”: pairs with a brand name that will be different next year and a “waterproof” claim that never mentions a rating. Prices aren't printed here because Amazon changes them; the button shows the current one.
Four cleared it. The Shokz OpenMove is on the list because it's a Shokz under $100 at list, not because it's the best spec: its 6-hour battery and lack of quick charge are the worst here.
The table
| Evidence | Creative Outlier Free Pro | Mojawa Run Plus | Shokz OpenMove | Raycon Bone Conduction Headphones |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water & sweat rating | IPX8 (Creative: run, cycle and even swim) | IP68 (fully submersible) | IP55 | IP68 |
| Weight | 31.5 g / 1.11 oz | 29.6 g | 29 g | — |
| Battery | Up to 10 hours per charge | 8 hours; standby up to 10 days | 6 hours listening | Up to 13 hours |
| Quick charge | — | 5 min = 90 min | None | — |
| Charging | Magnetic charging cable | Magnetic induction, 1 hour to full | USB-C, 2 hours to full | — |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.2 | 5.1 | — |
| Multipoint | Yes | Yes | Yes | — |
| Storage | 8 GB built-in memory | 32 GB built-in | — | — |
| Score | 8.3/10 | 8.2/10 | 7.4/10 | 7.9/10 |
What $100 doesn't buy
- Bass. These are all older-generation transducers. Shokz's DualPitch air driver, which gives the OpenRun Pro 2 its low end, doesn't appear on anything under $100.
- USB-C on three of the four. Creative and Mojawa use magnetic cables; only the OpenMove is USB-C.
- A wind rating for calls. Nobody here publishes one.
- Detail. Raycon's page gives an IP rating and a battery figure and little else. We list it because those two figures are the ones that matter most, and we score its unknowns as unknowns.
In detail
The picks, in full
Rank 1
Stock photoBest overall under $100
Creative Outlier Free Pro
IPX8, 10 hours, 8 GB of onboard MP3 storage and Bluetooth 5.3 multipoint for well under $100. The budget bone conduction set that can also swim.
Spec sheetSpec-checked · not worn by us
| Fit system | Bone conduction (neckband). Ear canal stays open: you hear the room and traffic. |
|---|---|
| Water & sweat rating | IPX8 (Creative: run, cycle and even swim) |
| Weight | 31.5 g / 1.11 oz |
| Battery | Up to 10 hours per charge |
| Charging | Magnetic charging cable |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 |
| Multipoint | Yes |
| Storage | 8 GB built-in memory |
| Extras | Silicone and titanium memory alloy frame; plug-in microphone for underwater use |
How the 8.3 score breaks down
- Fit security (25%)
- 9
- Sweat & water resistance (20%)
- 10
- Awareness (open canal) (15%)
- 10
- Sound & leakage (15%)
- 4
- Calls & wind (10%)
- 6
- Battery & charging (10%)
- 8
- Value (5%)
- 10
What the spec sheet supports
- IPX8 at a budget price: the cheapest set here you can take in the pool
- 10 hours beats the Shokz OpenMove by four
- 8 GB MP3 player for swimming or phone-free runs
Where it falls short
- Heavier than the Shokz OpenRun models at 31.5 g
- No dust rating (the X in IPX8 means dust wasn't tested)
- Magnetic charging cable rather than USB-C
Skip this if…
…you want the best sound at this price; bone conduction bass is thin across the board and the sealed JLab Go Sport+ sounds fuller for less.
#ad · Price set by Amazon · Disclosure for the link to Creative Outlier Free Pro
Rank 2
Stock photoBest with storage
Mojawa Run Plus
IP68, 29.6 g, 32 GB of storage and a 5-minute quick charge in the under-$100 band. A swim-capable neckband that undercuts Shokz on paper.
Spec sheetSpec-checked · not worn by us
| Fit system | Bone conduction (neckband). Ear canal stays open: you hear the room and traffic. |
|---|---|
| Water & sweat rating | IP68 (fully submersible) |
| Weight | 29.6 g |
| Battery | 8 hours; standby up to 10 days |
| Quick charge | 5 min = 90 min |
| Charging | Magnetic induction, 1 hour to full |
| Bluetooth | 5.2 |
| Multipoint | Yes |
| Storage | 32 GB built-in |
| Extras | Full titanium construction |
How the 8.2 score breaks down
- Fit security (25%)
- 9
- Sweat & water resistance (20%)
- 10
- Awareness (open canal) (15%)
- 10
- Sound & leakage (15%)
- 4
- Calls & wind (10%)
- 6
- Battery & charging (10%)
- 8
- Value (5%)
- 9
What the spec sheet supports
- IP68 and 32 GB at a price the Shokz OpenSwim Pro doesn't approach
- Lighter than the Creative and close to the Shokz OpenRun
- Quick charge, which the Shokz OpenMove lacks
Where it falls short
- 8 hours is two short of the Creative Outlier Free Pro
- Magnetic charging cable
- Fewer independent reviews than Shokz; we cite only Mojawa's own specs
Skip this if…
…you want the brand with the deepest review record and the widest accessory support; Shokz has both.
#ad · Price set by Amazon · Disclosure for the link to Mojawa Run Plus
Rank 3
Stock photoBest-known brand
Shokz OpenMove
The cheapest way into Shokz: IP55, 29 g, 6 hours, USB-C. You give up quick charge and two generations of driver, but the neckband fit is the same idea.
Spec sheetSpec-checked · not worn by us
| Fit system | Bone conduction (neckband). Ear canal stays open: you hear the room and traffic. |
|---|---|
| Water & sweat rating | IP55 |
| Weight | 29 g |
| Battery | 6 hours listening |
| Quick charge | None |
| Charging | USB-C, 2 hours to full |
| Bluetooth | 5.1 |
| Multipoint | Yes |
| Microphones | Dual noise-canceling |
| Controls | Physical buttons |
| Driver / tech | 7th-gen bone conduction (PremiumPitch 2.0) |
| Launched | September 2020 |
How the 7.4 score breaks down
- Fit security (25%)
- 9
- Sweat & water resistance (20%)
- 8
- Awareness (open canal) (15%)
- 10
- Sound & leakage (15%)
- 4
- Calls & wind (10%)
- 6
- Battery & charging (10%)
- 4
- Value (5%)
- 8
What the spec sheet supports
- Under $100 at Shokz's own list price, so the cheapest entry to the brand
- IP55 covers sweat and rain
- USB-C charging, no proprietary cable
Where it falls short
- 6 hours of battery and no quick charge
- Older 7th-gen driver: the thinnest sound of the Shokz neckbands
- Heavier than the OpenRun models despite the lower price
Skip this if…
…you run long or forget to charge: six hours with no quick charge is the deal-breaker. The Creative Outlier Free Pro costs less and lasts longer.
#ad · Price set by Amazon · Disclosure for the link to Shokz OpenMove
Rank 4
Stock photoLongest claimed battery
Raycon Bone Conduction Headphones
IP68 and a claimed 13 hours, the longest single-charge figure of the budget neckbands. Raycon publishes little else, so buy it for battery and waterproofing, not for detail.
Spec sheetSpec-checked · not worn by us
| Fit system | Bone conduction (neckband). Ear canal stays open: you hear the room and traffic. |
|---|---|
| Water & sweat rating | IP68 |
| Battery | Up to 13 hours |
| Extras | Open-ear bone conduction; Raycon publishes no weight or Bluetooth version on the product page |
How the 7.9 score breaks down
- Fit security (25%)
- 8
- Sweat & water resistance (20%)
- 10
- Awareness (open canal) (15%)
- 10
- Sound & leakage (15%)
- 4
- Calls & wind (10%)
- 5
- Battery & charging (10%)
- 9
- Value (5%)
- 7
What the spec sheet supports
- 13 hours beats every other neckband under $100 on paper
- IP68 covers sweat, rain and submersion
Where it falls short
- Raycon publishes no weight, Bluetooth version or mic spec on its product page
- No onboard storage, unlike the Creative and Mojawa at similar money
Skip this if…
…you want to know exactly what you're buying; the Creative Outlier Free Pro publishes a full spec sheet and costs less.
#ad · Price set by Amazon · Disclosure for the link to Raycon Bone Conduction Headphones
Buyer's guide: spending under $100 on bone conduction
Get the rating you'll use
All four are at least IP55. The Creative (IPX8), Mojawa (IP68) and Raycon (IP68) are pool-rated; the OpenMove is sweat-and-rain. If you'll never swim, the rating difference matters less than the battery difference.
Battery per charge
Raycon claims 13, Creative 10, Mojawa 8, Shokz 6. Only Mojawa publishes a quick charge (5 minutes for 90 minutes). The OpenMove's 6 hours with no quick charge is the reason it's third, not first.
When to spend more
The step up is the Shokz OpenRun Air 2 (IP67, 10 hours, USB-C, Bluetooth 6.0, 26.4 g) or the OpenRun Pro 2 for sound. Both are on the main list. The difference is mostly sound quality, weight and a real brand support network.
How we scored this
Pairs we claim to have worn: none we haven't
Plenty of sites say they ran a hundred miles in every pair on the list. We don't say that, and we say so on every page. What we do instead: classify the retention system (hook, clip, wing, neckband), record the maker's published IP rating, weight, battery, charging, mic and control type from its own product page, cross-reference at least one independent published review where one exists, and score every pick on a public rubric. Every figure links to where it came from.
Scores are editorial judgments from that documented research, not lab results. Commissions never set a score or decide a pick. The rubric and its weights are published.
Corrections & updates
- First edition.
Questions
Frequently asked
Are cheap bone conduction headphones worth it?
Is the Shokz OpenMove the best budget Shokz?
Which cheap bone conduction headphones can you swim with?
Keep reading
Related on Openear Club
Receipts
Sources
- Creative — Outlier Free Pro product page, specifications (checked 2026-09-21)
- Mojawa — Run Plus product page, specifications (checked 2026-09-21)
- Shokz — official product comparison table (checked 2026-09-21)
- Shokz — OpenMove product page (checked 2026-09-21)
- Raycon — Bone Conduction Headphones product page (checked 2026-09-21)
We haven't worn every pair on this site and we don't pretend to. Specs come from the maker's own product pages (linked on every product), independent findings are attributed to whoever published them, and Amazon prices change often, so we don't print them. Where a figure isn't published, we say so. Read the full method.