Verdict
The Suunto Sonic is a more agreeable set of Suunto os conduction headphones that loses some of the Suunto Wing ’s smartness , but offer good exposed - auricle sound at a cheaper price .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Suunto Sonic is the mutation watch marque ’s 2nd pair of open - capitulum headphones build for the out-of-doors .
After launching theSuunto Wingin 2023 , the transonic emerge with a slimmed down design and cost , with some of the Wing ’s features clipped as Suunto promises a bassier speech sound and less sound leakage .
That monetary value drop from the Wing makes the Sonic one of the more low-priced Suunto earpiece , but it also means it ’s up against some pretty stiff open - ear contest .
Availability
The Suunto Sonic were announced in January 2024 with a launching price of £ 129 / $ 149 , which makes them cheaper than the Suunto Wing ( £ 169 / $ 199 ) . That more attractive price place it up against other sport assailable - ear headphones like theShokz OpenRun(£129.95 / $ 129.95 ) , though it ’s more expensive in the US .
There ’s an sheer flood of bone conductivity headphones right now , and many are less expensive than the Sonic . The the like of theHaylou Purfree BC01 , which sits below £ 100 / $ 100 and offer a solid performance for physical exertion use . There are a host of open - ear , airwave conduction headphones like the Soundpeats RunFree , which is less than £ 50 / $ 50 and provide great sound for the damage .
Design
Like Suunto ’s Wing headphones , the Sonic stick to the bone conductivity earpiece see with a neckband form made from a mixture of titanium alloy and silicone , the latter intended to make the earphone comfortable to jade for long periods .
It comes in disastrous or a more fun yellow-bellied colour and has lost a little weightiness at the arms where Suunto has opted to leave out the LED lights it included on its first pair of headphones .
That drops the Sonic down to 31 grand , so it ’s only slimly lightsome than the Wing ( 33 g ) and is n’t as Christ Within as the similarly price Shokz OpenRun ( 27 g ) or the cheaper Haylou PureFree BC01 ( 28 g ) . I ’ve used them for two - hour plus runs , 45 - minute long gymnasium and indoor workouts and wear out them while wreak at a desk and they ’ve been comfortable to wear and have n’t stimulate any kind of discomfort .
There are strong-arm buttons , which definitely feel Shokz - inspired in terms of the layout with a mass rock ‘n’ roll musician below the right branch and a larger multifunction button on the exterior of the odd arm . The multifunction push set aside you to play and interruption audio , skip tracks and do and reject calls .
Dual mike make the cut here too , letting you take calls where it uses a interference invalidate algorithm to battle Laputan conditions up to 15 km / h. Both set of buttons are nicely positioned to utilize on the move and the multifunction is a full size of it , especially when using the multiple rap command to skip through tracks .
In damage of durability , the Sonic has been downgraded to anIP55 rating , which means it has some protection against pee and dust , though unlike the Wing is n’t a pair you may wash out under a tap . It ’s about handling light rain and sweat and I ’ve used them during a couple of downpours and they came through those treacherous conditions without issue .
Another thing Suunto has ditched is the useful portable battery charger it let in with the Wing . Of all of the things that did n’t make it to the Sonic , this feels like the one most miss as you ’re have to rely on a proprietary charge cable’s length to power it up . Suunto also includes a bag to put in your earphone in when and there ’s some added earplugs to offer some improved sound isolation , which will of course of instruction eat into its open - auricle certification .
Features
There ’s Bluetooth 5.2 to tie in to your headphone and other twist . I ’ve paired them successfully with an iPhone , Android phone , a connected indoor oarsman and a Garmin vigil so they ’ve been hunky-dory on the connectivity front .
There is a dual connection mode you’re able to enable in the companion app to get you couple to two Bluetooth machine at the same time .
stamp battery numbers quote for the Sonic remain mostly in line with the Wing . It ’s up to 10 hours off a single charge and that ’s found on take heed at 60 % of the volume . It takes less than an minute to fully reload and you ’ve got a fast burster mode that consecrate you 3 hours of stamp battery for just a 10 - mo flush .
found on my testing I get hold that an time of day ’s listening at around or above 60 % volume was typically 10 % , which supply up to Suunto ’s promised numbers . consume that quick bang mode is a utilitarian feature to have to make up for the fact that you do miss out on that portable charger that come in with the Wing .
If you ’re using them to make calls in impractical conditions , I ’d say they do a good job . Suunto has design them to keep that call tone percipient and strong in Laputan conditions , though not quite as strong as the up to 30 km / atomic number 1 farting the Wing are build to make do with .
If you ’re project to make call out on the trails and do n’t desire to grab your phone , the Sonic does n’t waver in term of clarity and big businessman . It ’s just not run to excel in all noisier surround compare to true wireless earphones .
Sound Quality
While we ’re seeing an influx of overt - ear , air conductivity headphone , Suunto has opt to stick with bone conduction . It broadly speaking extend a stronger open - ear experience compare to air conductivity , so for headphones that place a big accent on keeping you in tune with your surroundings , that makes sense .
Suunto does n’t divulge many detail about the bone conductivity engineering science it ’s using other than it ’s using a Modern transducer to have speech sound , and is designed to enhance bass execution and decoct randomness escape .
Having already tested the Suunto Wing and found the sound performance good but not quite up there with the best open - ear earpiece , I was desire for more from the Sonic .
The app is where you ’ll come up the two sound musical mode at your disposal . There ’s a Normal model to befit most hearing scenarios or Outdoor style , which boosts volume to battle noisier surroundings .
In Normal mood , it vocalise like a typical pearl conductivity earpiece , and by that I mean it ’s jolly balanced , offers good but not particular clarity , but sounds a little subdued in home with bass more woolly than gratifyingly punchy .
This is probable the musical mode you ’re fit to require to use when you ’re inwardly and heed to podcasts , audiobooks , handle song and plow with less bass part - punishing sound .
heed to tracks like SBTRKT ’s Wildfire and Underworld ’s Born Slippy are well examples where sound musical mode does n’t quite match the sound . Though tracks like The Avalanches ’ Since I Left You and Tracy Chapman ’s Talkin ’ Bout a Revolution and those more relaxed lead are serious matches .
It does have the slight os conduction vibe rumble at top volumes , though the open - ear strait experience is pretty good on the whole .
The Outdoor musical mode amps up the intensity and is the mode to expend outside because the Normal style lacks the might and overall volume to perform outside in most scenarios . As far as bolster thing in the bass section , I threw the Wing back on and there does feel like there ’s maybe a gentle upping on that front and as a result offer a touch warmer sounding feel overall .
I think if your preference is more up - pace , bass - heavy sound , you ’ll appreciate the visibility of the Sonic compare to the Wing , but the Wing certainly did n’t all falter with bassier tracks . While I do n’t call up Suunto has reduce the disturbance leakage , there does seem to be a small difference in the escape against the Wing , I do n’t think it ’s enough to alter the experience of citizenry hearing your sounds in quiet environments however .
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Should you buy it?
The Suunto Sonic looks corking , feels great to wear and provide solid open - pinna speech sound for a more agreeable Mary Leontyne Price than the Suunto Wing .
While the Suunto Sonic offers good all - round sound , they are n’t as polished as some rival bone conductivity headphones .
Final Thoughts
While the Suunto Wing felt high-priced and did n’t match the performance of cheaper open - capitulum headphones , the Suunto Sonic does a much better job of it . It feels like Suunto has played with the sound profile and while it ’s lost some of the Wing ’s extra , it ’s slightly pared back the design and glower the price to make it a better option .
It ’s still not necessarily the best open - auricle headphones when equate against the like of the Shokz OpenRun and the Haylou PurFree BC01 , but this is much good from Suunto .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every headphones we review exhaustively over an lengthened period of metre . We use diligence received tests to compare feature film properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , assume money to look back a product .
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FAQs
you may get 10 hours stamp battery from a single charge .
