Meet the tester
Suunto Wing headphones: first impressions
The Suunto Wing is the first pair of bone-conduction headphones (bonephones) from a brand better known for smart watches, and they’ve made a strong debut into their new market.
• List price: $199 (US) / £169 (UK)
• Weight (+ with power bank): 33g / 1.2oz (40g / 1.4oz)
• Colors: Black / Lava Red
• Water protection: IP67 – dustproof, sweat and waterproof (power bank IP55 – dust and water resistant)
• Battery life: 10 hours music only (+20hrs with power bank, 8 hours with motion control activated, 4 hours with lights activated)
• Quick charge time: 10 minutes for 3 hours
• Full charge time: 1 hour (power bank 1.5 hour)
• Charger type: USB-C cable and power bank
• Dual device connection: Yes
• Compatibility: Gym, commutes, chores, walking and running outdoors
Firstly, the Wing is fully waterproof and dustproof (IP67), an excellent feature that puts them above industry leaders the $180 / £160 Shokz OpenRun Pro for outdoor use. Playback time at 10 hours (at 60% volume and without extras like motion control and LED lights) and quick-charge time is the same, but for only $19 / £9 more you also get a power bank giving you 20 hours of further playback time – thank you, Suunto!
And there’s more for your money – you also get red LED lights on each side with a choice of off, on, flashing and SOS modes for higher visibility on night runs.
Downsides? The band is ever so slightly bigger, so people with smaller heads may find the earpieces aren’t as snug and therefore not always loud enough – press them to your head and you feel like you’re being deafened, so the problem’s not a lack of volume, just fit. The music quality is very good but not as good as on Shokz’ top model, and the volume and On/Off buttons are flush, making them harder to locate – especially with gloves on.
I'm still not sure motion control is useful when doing outdoor sports, as turning your head to cross a road, talk to a friend or look at a view can play havoc with playback. We can see how it might be useful when holding weights in the gym though, and it can be toggled on or off.
Suunto Wing headphones: on the trails
Oh Suunto, you have raised the bar! We’ve been trotting round our usual trails and road runs wearing these, plus doing household chores (podcasts get us through the washing up) and we are really impressed. For outdoor use, fully waterproof is perfect, so we fully salute that IP67 rating and wish our Shokz Openrun Pros were the same (although they haven’t faltered yet after a year of all-season use and frequent post-run showers).
The power bank included with the headphones makes them excellent value for money if you don’t already own a portable charger. While not entirely necessary if you’re wearing other high viz items, the LED side-lights are a nice safety touch for night runs, especially as listening on-the-go can distract you, even with open-ear headphones. The flash setting should be faster, though, as the current slow flash leaves you with too much time unprotected by light.
We keep trying, but we still can’t get the hang of motion control on any bonephones while out running; simply turning our head to cross the road sent our podcast off the rails. It’s so much easier just to press the buttons, or it would be if they weren’t flush to the housing – raise them a bit, please, Suunto so we can feel them mid-run and with gloves on.
The music sound quality is very good, but still nothing surpasses the OpenRun Pros we’re afraid. We’re pretty sure this is a fit issue rather than a loudness issue, but the Wings are quieter all round – for music, podcasts and calls – because they aren’t as snug a fit on our smallish head. If you press them against your head they’re plenty loud enough. This may be a non-issue for many runners, but it’s worth bearing in mind and trying a few pairs for size.
