One of the most frustrating aspects of open-ear earbuds is their ineffectiveness in noisy urban environments. While audiophiles might argue that their design is intended to let ambient sounds through, the reality is that if you favor open-ear buds for specific situations, you often need another pair to cope with the cacophony of a bustling subway ride or the vibrant tunes of a mariachi band playing in your train car.

This is why I was intrigued when Shokz announced at CES 2026 that their latest $249.95 OpenFit Pro earbuds would offer “noise cancellation.”

To be precise, these earbuds feature noise reduction rather than true noise cancellation, which requires a sealed ear canal. The OpenFit Pro incorporates a triple-microphone setup, enhanced speaker design, and an adaptive algorithm to mitigate unwanted sounds. Two microphones capture the surrounding noise, while a third near the ear canal monitors what you actually hear.

Initially, I was skeptical about Shokz’s claims, given my experience with their previous open-ear models (distinct from their bone conduction headphones). While excellent for maintaining situational awareness in quieter settings, they fall short on noisy commutes, where music can be hard to hear even at full volume, and podcasts or audiobooks are nearly impossible to enjoy.

To my surprise, the new technology in these earbuds is quite effective. The improvement is particularly noticeable when you max out the noise reduction settings in the Shokz app.

Of course, genuine Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) is superior. Listening to audiobooks amid a live mariachi performance is still challenging (and even ANC headphones have their limits with such sound levels). However, during less chaotic commutes, I found listening to music and audiobooks more feasible. These earbuds excel in moderately noisy environments, like a cafe, rather than extremely loud settings like bars.

At home, I was surprised at how well the buds masked the ambient hum of my air purifier and fridge. Of course, it’s no match for the TV if you’ve got a show going on in the background, but that’s not really the point. This is more or less the kind of earbud that lets you focus on your content, but still hear when your spouse yell-asks from another room if you’ve seen their keys.

In another plus, bass quality — another weakness for open-ear buds — has improved as well. This iteration of the OpenFit Pro now supports a range up to 40kHz and reduces distortion below 100Hz. There’s also Dolby Atmos support with head tracking, but that felt sort of gimmicky when I turned it on. Nice if that’s something you like, but not all that necessary with open-ear buds.

The main issues I’ve had in the past few weeks of testing are, once again, fit and design. The hooks still feel bulky behind the ear, especially when I wear them with glasses. Oftentimes, I don’t feel they sit on my ears as securely as I’d like. The case is also large, though I do appreciate the extra 50 hours of charge it provides. (The buds last 12 hours on their own; that drops to six with noise reduction.)

This is admittedly a niche kind of earbud. It’s the rare person who would be able to fully replace their AirPods Pro (or any other pair of ANC-enabled buds) with these. However, as someone who likes to keep my wits about me when walking, commuting, or puttering around the house, they’re much more useful than previous iterations of the device.