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Know More about Shokz Ultra-Soft Silicone.
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The Evolution of Shokz Ultra-Soft SiliconeTM (from 1.0 to 2.0)
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Shore Hardness Scale? What’s That?
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Know More about Shokz Design Comfort
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Secure and comfortable fit
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Dolphin Arc Design for Ear-Hook Products
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Conclusion
Know More about Shokz Ultra-Soft Silicone.
Shokz's quest for ultimate comfort
Unlike traditional headphones, open-ear earbuds don’t obstruct the ear canal. This allows you to stay aware of your surroundings while enjoying your music, and it also allows for better airflow and reduced moisture buildup. These unique benefits keep you open to the world and offer an incredibly comfortable listening experience.
For decades, Shokz has been a pioneer in the open-ear headphones industry, relentlessly focused on enhancing sound quality without sacrificing comfort. In fact, comfort lies at the heart of every innovation that Shokz pursues, because we don’t want your listening session to ever be interrupted due to discomfort. Whenever our users provide feedback, we listen closely – to the good and the bad. And we always find a solution to even the most insignificant problems.
With our open-ear earbuds, Shokz wanted to craft a design that was more than just ergonomic; we wanted its soft silicone exterior to also provide an extremely comfortable wearing experience, especially for prolonged periods of time. When the first prototypes were ready to be tested, the earbuds were meant to be so comfortable that, at a certain point, users would forget they were even wearing them.
At least, that was our hope.
In reality, the feedback from our focus groups indicated that, after wearing their earbuds for quite a long time, users experienced some friction at the point of contact between the ear hooks and their ears. It was disheartening to hear, but instead of feeling discouraged, we saw it as an opportunity to improve our earbuds and make them even more comfortable.
To do this, Shokz engineers conducted extensive research, developed even more prototypes that were rigorously tested, and continuously refined the best one until, eventually, this exceptionally soft material was ready to be deployed to our first ever commercially available open-ear earbuds. Working like a cushion between the ear and the earbud, this silicone – known as Ultra-Soft Silicone™ – acts to reduce discomfort by minimizing pressure and friction.
This innovation represents a very big step forward in our quest for ultimate comfort.
The Evolution of Shokz Ultra-Soft Silicone™ (from 1.0 to 2.0)
It took our team years of continuous research and iteration, but we finally found a highly soft and flexible material for our open-ear earbuds. In 2023, the OpenFit became the first model to use Ultra-Soft Silicone™, which, according to user feedback, contributed to the overall wearing comfort and success of the earbuds.
However, we didn’t stop there.
Our engineers pushed the limits even further and developed Ultra-Soft Silicone™ 2.0, a material that’s almost as soft as a marshmallow or gummy bear, with a Shore 00 hardness of 16±3. It’s also safe, non-toxic, and sustainable, just like regular silicone.
Among its many upgrades, the all-new OpenFit 2 will feature an Ultra-Soft Silicone™ 2.0 exterior, ensuring users a fit that’s much more snug and much more comfortable to wear, especially for longer periods of time.
Shore Hardness Scale? What’s That?
The Shore Hardness Scale is an internationally recognized method used to measure the hardness of industrial materials, primarily rubber and plastics. The hardness measurement is determined by the depth of an indentation in a given material after force is applied using a durometer gauge (imagine a tire pressure gauge with a spring-loaded needle jutting out from the end of it). The scale ranges from 0 to 100, with 0 being the softest possible material and 100 being the hardest.
The three most common categories of Shore Hardness scales are Shore D, Shore A, and Shore 00:
- Shore D: measures the hardest materials, like hard rubbers and plastics. A golf ball is 50 Shore D while a construction worker’s hard hat is 80 Shore D.
- Shore A: measures materials of medium hardness, from soft mold rubbers to semi-rigid plastics. A rubber band is 20 Shore A while tire tread is 60 Shore A.
- Shore 00: measures the softest materials, like extremely soft rubber and gels. Marshmallows and gummy bears are 10 Shore 00 while a gel shoe insole is 30 Shore 00.
The Shokz Ultra Soft Silicone™ 2.0 is an entirely new material that can be evaluated using either the Shore 00 or the Shore A scale. It recorded a rating of 16±3 Shore 00 and -20 Shore A, not far off from that of a marshmallow.
Know More about Shokz Design Comfort
Open-Ear Design
A signature feature of Shokz headphones is their open-ear design, which provides both physical and psychological benefits for users.
For starters, because they rest outside the ear, they’re able to deliver long-lasting comfort and keep the ear canal dry and irritation-free, even during extended wear or intense activities. The design also eliminates the kind of uncomfortable jostling that often occurs with in-ear headphones, making it an ideal choice for sports or long workout sessions.
In addition to these physical advantages, the open design fosters a sense of connection to the outside world, helping users feel less isolated while allowing them to stay aware of their surroundings.
Finally, by not blocking out ambient sound, Shokz headphones enable users to remain alert to any changes in their immediate vicinity, like traffic or passersby, ensuring a safer and more secure listening experience.
Secure and comfortable fit
To achieve the level of stability and comfort that users expect from their Shokz products, each model undergoes a thorough technical design process.
It starts with our extensive knowledge of the human ear. Using 3D scanning technology, we’ve developed an exclusive database of over 1,000 ear shapes. This comprehensive sample size has allowed us to accurately simulate different ear structures throughout product development.
Once the initial prototypes are developed, they move to our wearability research team, which conducts over 10 rounds of testing with a diverse group of participants to ensure that the samples are broad and representative.
Dolphin Arc Design for Ear-Hook Products
Our research revealed the two most critical factors that influence ear-hook design: ear height and width. After multiple rounds of wearability testing, we finalized a configuration that had a carefully calibrated height-to-width ratio, but was also flexible enough to be universally compatible with various ear shapes. Its curve resembles the back of a dolphin, inspiring the name Dolphin Arc ear-hook.
The three main benefits of this design are adaptability, comfort, and stability:
- Adaptability: it can conform to a wide range of ear shapes.
- Comfort: it’s soft and lightweight for long-term ease of use.
- Stability: its moderate clamping force ensures that it’ll stay in place, even during vigorous activity.
While the OpenFit and OpenFit 2 both utilize the Dolphin Arc, the latter features an upgraded design inspired by the perfect proportions of the golden spiral. This optimizes weight distribution to create a more secure fit, whether you’re working out in the gym or lounging at home.
Conclusion
Shokz is committed to providing the most comfortable open-ear listening experience to its users, and each of our products are rigorously tested with this goal in mind. OpenFit 2 is no exception. With its Ultra-Soft Silicone™ 2.0 exterior and a new Dolphin Arc design inspired by the golden spiral, these earbuds are softer, more flexible, and more ergonomic than ever before.
To find out how you can experience ultimate comfort with the all-new OpenFit 2, please visit Shokz.
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