I’ve been an enthusiastic headphone user for many years now. I have owned a number of excellent headphones and in-ear monitors including the Etymotic ER4P, Shure SE535, Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10, Sennheiser SR598, Sony WH1000XM2 - the list goes on. Needless to say that I know what sort of sound profile I like.
I’ve used portable equipment for most of my listening needs for many years now. My first serious Walkman was the excellent Walkman 2 - cassette based and with enough volume to make you have some permanent problems with your hearing. After many other cassette models passed through my hands, I progressed to CD Walkmans - owning a few of the higher-end models like the D-350, D-555 and even their very first, the D-50. I also owned a few models from other brands such as Technics and Panasonic. Later I also embraced Mini Disc - owning a few different models - again including Sony’s first portable unit, the MZ-1. Pretty much all of these devices had a couple of things in common - excellent sound quality and very powerful amplification.
One thing that all the equipment I’ve owned in the past have in common is the basic use of things like standard ‘speaker’ drivers in the headphones and the use of an external device for the playback of my music. The Nank Runner Diver 2 Pro (herein referred to as the Diver 2 Pro) does away with all the legacy components and uses its own built-in memory for the storage of music and bone conduction technology for reproducing the sound. Although it should be noted that these are still basically conventional bluetooth headphones when it comes to music playback from your phone, the ability to store some of your music on the device itself is genuinely useful when you want to use these Diver 2 Pro’s for activities such as swimming and the like - no water resistant phone needed. I’ve not had the opportunity to try out these headphones whilst swimming but judging by the quality of the build I don’t think it would be a problem.
Whilst the Diver 2 Pro is very much a rubberised plastic construction it does appear to be very well made. Coming with an IP69 rating for water and dust resistance, its primary claim to fame is that the headphones are suitable for far more activities than most other bluetooth headphones. The water resistant finish even applies to the pogo-style charging pins and the three control buttons - there doesn’t appear to be an ingress point for liquid on these headphones.. One other application that you can use for these innovative headphones is that you can wear them in bed without worrying about damaging them should you fall asleep with them on. The buttons have a nice positive action to them and are easy to find when you’re wearing them.
I haven’t had the chance to really check out things like battery life - I see no reason why they shouldn’t last for as long as the manufacturers claim and, thanks to the magnetic POGO pin arrangement for both power and data transfer, they are really easy to change up.
It’s only fair to mention that these are definitely not offering super high fidelity when it comes to sound quality. Bone conduction definitely has its uses but I wouldn’t use the Diver 2 Pro’s for intense listening sessions - they’re just not up to the quality of conventional headphones when it comes to music reproduction. With this all said and done, their sound quality is perfectly acceptable when listening at lower volume levels and they work really well when it comes to using them for talking books and the like.
Bass is somewhat limited and lacking in resolution - but still sometimes a little surprising when you consider the way these are meant to work. Using the supplied ‘Sound Quality Enhancers’ do offer a significant increase in bass response but I can’t help thinking that these do somewhat defeat the purpose of these headphones - being something that you can simply put on your head, press play and still hear everything that’s going on around you. Fiddling about with these ‘Sound Quality Enhancers’ do make a change to the overall sound character but definitely at the expense of overall convenience. This is really something that you have to try out for yourself to see if you prefer the changes in sound quality when using these ‘enhancers’. One thing that really does take some getting used to is the vibration that you feel when music is playing - it’s slightly disconcerting when you initially experience it but is something that you get used to.
Mids and treble response is also quite laid back - this actually helps in producing an overall inoffensive sound character which in turn lets you listen for longer periods of time without too much fatigue. This, combined with the overall design of the headphones, does allow for a comfortable listening experience and is one of the few headphones out there which can still be worn when not in use without impeding your hearing in any way. One application that these headphones can be put to would be doing housework whilst listening out for a delivery driver for example.
There’s no getting around the fact that these sort of headphones are designed for a specific purpose - offering decent water and shock resistance, complete situational awareness due to the fact that your ears aren’t blocked up and you can hear everything around you and they’re reasonably unobtrusive to wear when out and about. If you feel that the benefits of this type of headphone outweigh the downsides regarding overall sound quality when it comes to music listening, then they may well be an ideal solution for you. With this in mind I would give them a cautious recommendation.
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