You may not be familiar with Oladance, but in the world of open-ear earbuds and headphones, it’s a top-notch brand. It’s latest product — the Oladance OWS Sports — takes the company’s reputation for excellent sound quality and comfort and adds two features that athletes will appreciate: IPX8 waterproofing and an integrated, silicone-wrapped titanium wire neckband.
The OWS Sports cost $180, and come in four colors named for chemicals produced by the body during physical exercise: Endorphin Silver, Hormone Yellow, Epinephrine Gray, and Dopamine Pink. You can buy them through oladance.com or Amazon.
To date, all of Oladance’s OWS (Open Wearable Stereo) earbuds, including the class-leading OWS Pro, have been designed like traditional wireless earbuds — separate devices for each ear that are stored in a charging case when not in use. Without any kind of physical connection between the earbuds, removing them meant carrying that case or sticking them in your pocket. None have offered more than IPX4 protection from water, which is OK for some sweat or rain, but not much else.
The OWS Sports change this formula considerably. They can withstand full water immersion and the neckband ensures that if they come off your ears, they won’t get very far. They come with a very large and sturdy zippered case, but it’s purely for protection and travel. Charging is accomplished via the included USB-A magnetic cable. Oladance says you’ll get about 15 hours per charge, and a full recharge can be done in two hours.
They use Bluetooth 5.1 with support for Bluetooth Multipoint — great for connecting two devices simultaneously — and they’re also compatible with Qualcomm’s aptX codec for higher-quality audio on compatible Android phones (iPhones don’t use aptX).
Physical buttons are integrated into each side of the headset and give you control over power, playback, volume, and voice assistant access.
Oladance’s amplifier and driver technology is claimed to offer “crystal-clear, 360-degree home theater quality sound,” with very little sound leakage so those around you won’t be aware of your yacht rock addiction. The company says you’ll get clear calls too, thanks to microphones with built-in wind noise reduction.
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