REVIEW – This review needs to begin with an apology to Oladance. When I first saw their OWS Pro earphones, I thought they were bone conduction technology—something I’ve never liked. I could not have been more wrong. The OWS Pro earphones are something you need to hear to appreciate. Nothing else works or sounds like them.
What is it?
OWS stands for Open Wearable Stereo. The OWS Pro earphones (headphones, earbuds—what the heck are they?) are speakers that sit right outside the ear attached to a round stem that wraps around and behind the ear.
The OWS Pros open design allows the listener always to be aware of their surroundings while listening to music, podcasts, phone calls, whatever.
Five colorways are offered: Misty Black, Porcelain White, Luminous Titanium, Vivid Green, or Pearly Haze Pink (who thinks of these color names?). The Vivid Green is striking and my favorite color. However, Oladance sent the black model for review. A color-matching case magnetically holds the OWS Pros in place. The case has 4 lights on the front that indicate remaining battery life.
The curved design helps hold the OWS Pros securely in place during vigorous movement. The build is silicone molded over memory titanium wire. Only softer silicone touches the skin, so wearing them is more comfortable over longer periods of time.
An IPX4 rating means that the OWS Pros are sweat-proof and can withstand being rained on, so they are good for exercising or just walking the dog.
Both the left and right earphones contain a composite diaphragm with an accent on human vocals via a dynamic EQ algorithm (Oladance’s term). Also included is a virtual bass enhancement algorithm for a more prominent bass sound. Each left/right phone has a built-in amplifier.
One unusual feature is what Oladance calls “Hearing Protection Mode”. This monitors sound energy every 100 milliseconds and is designed to help prevent the audio volume from exceeding levels that nerves in the ear can withstand. Oladance states that this can help reduce hearing damage, but not prevent it.
Battery life on the OWS Pro earphones is an impressive 16 hours. Since the battery sits outside and behind the ear, it can be much larger than any in-ear model. The case can charge the Pros three times over for a total of 58 hours of playtime. There is also fast charging which can provide 6 hours of playtime with only 15 minutes of charging.
Then there’s Zen/Focus Mode. There is no way of achieving noise canceling with open-air earphones. However, Oladance has done the next best thing. Somehow they’ve managed to cancel some lower frequencies like background AC humming and such. It’s not dramatic, but it is noticeable—in a good way.
Specs
- Dimensions: Earphone: 2.45 x 1.77 x .88 in.
- Dimensions: Charging case: 3.46 x 2.9 x 1.15 in.
- Weight: Single earphone: .5 oz.
- Weight: Charging case: 2.5 oz.
- Charging time: Earphone: 2H , Charging case: 3H
- Battery life: Single earphone: 16 hours
- Battery life: Charging Case: 58 hours
- Bluetooth: 5.3
- Waterproof rating: IPX4
Design and features
First off, how does the Oladance OWS Pro sound? That’s hard to quantify because no earphones sound like them The closest comparison I can think of is the open-backed wireless Grado GW100 headphones. They sound like you are listening to nearby speakers with an open, spacious quality around you. Billie Eillish’s “Bad Guy” has a fun bass line that really shines on the OWS Pros. With earphones, the bass can become headache-inducing, but not with these.
The construction of the OWS Pro earphones is solid. They have just the right amount of flexibility due to the memory wire surrounded by silicone mentioned earlier. They are quite comfortable for hours of wearing.
The Pros have elongated buttons embedded in the top part that sit just on the ear. This button is easy to feel and press without becoming distracted. The buttons can be programmed (called Gesture) to perform different functions based on one, two, or three clicks. For instance, I have them set to Play/pause with a single click and next/previous with two clicks. Three clicks bring up voice assistants. One issue I have is that it’s not as smooth as it could be clicking the button more than once. It makes me wish that the buttons were haptic touch similar to the Apple AirPods Pro earphones.
The buttons feature volume control by simply sliding a finger along the button. It works quite well and quickly becomes second nature, which is exactly how it should be.
As comfortable as the OWS Pros are, they do work better if you don’t wear eyeglasses. I’ve read that many users aren’t bothered by this, but since the Pros share the space behind my ear with my glasses, it’s less than ideal for my tastes.
Oladance offers an app with the OWS Pro earphones. The app controls everything, from customizing the button clicks to the built-in 8-band equalizer.
The EQ section has three preset settings as well as a Customize—which I prefer using. I’m not a fan of most EQ presets—Oladance included. For some reason, changes made to the EQ are not live. The EQ only changes once the Save button is pressed. I would much prefer to hear the changes as I’m making them. Otherwise, it’s hit-and-miss.
Going back to the sound, the OWS Pro earphones are great for music listening. As I said before, it sounds like speakers are in front of you rather than audio in your head. Oladance’s digital magic combined with my personal EQ makes my music sound much better than it should be using just “earphones”.
What I like
- Music sounds great
- Comfortable
- Easy to manage with the app
What I’d change
- EQ should be live with adjustments
- Comfort compromised a bit with eye-glasses
- A bit expensive
Final thoughts
The Oladance OWS Pro earphones were a pleasant surprise. I was shocked at how good—and spacious—they sound. Again, I apologize to Oladance for underestimating them. Will they replace my AirPods Pro earphones as my go-to device? Probably not, but they sure come close. If I’m darting out of the house and see the OWS Pros first, I will grab them rather than stop and look for my Apple earphones. That’s a first for me.
Price: $229.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Oladance.
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Would appreciate your thoughts about using during phone calls. Can the buttons also be programmed for Answer / Ignore? What is the voice quality like and do callers hear everything around you?