Gear Review: Nuroum OpenEar Pro 2 for Remote Workers
Nuroum reached out after I wrote about the Shokz OpenComm, wondering if I'd give their OpenEar Pro 2 a similar honest look. Here's what I found.
TL;DR
The Nuroum OpenEar Pro 2 is an open-ear headset built with remote workers in mind. I like it for a few reasons:
it’s almost weightless — I’d forget I had it on
the open-ear design keeps me tuned into my surroundings during calls
the mic mute button is genuinely handy — a small feature that makes a real difference day to day
A couple of things to know going in: the on/off button took some getting used to, and depending on what you already use, you may notice some differences in fit, profile, and how your voice comes through on the other end.
The Background
I’ve spent years cycling through different setups for work calls — Plantronics headsets, wired earbuds, an external mic paired with bookshelf speakers, and lately a couple of open-ear Bluetooth options, including the Shokz OpenComm I wrote about a while back. So when Nuroum got in touch about their OpenEar Pro 2, I was happy to give it a fair shake and see how it fit into my routine.
What is the Nuroum OpenEar Pro 2?
It’s an open-ear Bluetooth headset that rests just outside your ear canal rather than sealing it off or pressing against your skull. The idea is the same as other open-ear designs I’ve used: you stay aware of what’s happening around you — footsteps, a knock at the door, the dog barking — while still hearing your call clearly. It comes with a flexible boom mic that swings down toward your mouth when you’re talking and tucks out of the way when you’re not, plus a small carrying case that’s actually worth using.
How do I use the Nuroum OpenEar Pro 2?
I paired it with my MacBook for my usual run of video calls. Setup was painless — on within a couple of seconds and ready to go. It can stay connected to two devices at once, which is handy if you bounce between a laptop and a phone throughout the day, and it comes with a small USB dongle if you’d rather just plug it in and have your computer treat it like a wired device.
Charging is straightforward with a standard USB-C cable. I never came close to running it down during a normal workday, even with several hours of calls.
One small thing that took adjusting: the on/off button. On the Shokz, it’s a simple upward press, easy to find and operate with one finger without looking. On the Nuroum, it requires pressing forward instead, which I found trickier to do single-handedly. It’s a minor thing, but it’s the kind of detail you notice every single time you put a headset on or take it off.
How does it feel to wear it?
This is mostly good news. It’s genuinely light. The band is flexible and the ear hooks rotate a bit, so it was easy to find a fit that worked for me.
That said, after wearing it for a long stretch, I noticed a touch more fatigue than I get from the Shokz, which has a slimmer profile and sits a little lighter over the ears. To be fair, going over the top of your ears at all takes some adjustment regardless of brand — it’s just a different sensation than what most of us are used to, and your mileage may vary depending on how your ears are shaped.
Controls are also positioned differently between the two — Shokz puts everything on the right side, while Nuroum’s are on the left. Probably not a dealbreaker for most people, but if you’ve got a dominant hand or ear you favor on calls, it’s worth knowing before you commit to a layout.
Like other open-ear designs, you stay present in the room. I could hear Amy come up the stairs and my rabbit hopping around the room, all while still following the conversation on my call.
How’s the sound quality?
On a Teams call with colleagues, I asked how I sounded while wearing the Nuroum, and the feedback was that it sounded fine — no complaints, nothing distracting. Out of curiosity, I switched to my Shokz OpenComm mid-call, without touching any settings in Teams, and the same colleagues immediately said I sounded “louder and clearer.”
To be fair, “fine” is still fine — for most calls, nobody on the other end is going to flag the Nuroum as a problem. But if you’re someone who’s particular about how you come across on calls, it’s worth a quick test with a colleague before you commit to using something for important calls, since voice quality is hard to self-assess in the moment.
Where the two were much closer was background noise. I tested both in noisy environments, and the noise cancellation held up comparably well on each — neither one let the chaos around me bleed through to the person I was talking to.
One area where the Nuroum has a real edge: playing music. Neither of these is designed with music as the priority, but since the Nuroum is actually directing sound into your ear canal rather than transmitting it through bone, it has a noticeably fuller, more natural sound for music than the Shokz does. If you’re someone who’ll occasionally use this for a podcast or a playlist between calls, that’s a point in its favor.
A rundown of my likes and dislikes
The mute button on the mic itself is one of my favorite details on the Nuroum. It’s a small thing, but being able to physically mute right at the source — without fumbling for an app — is genuinely useful. I’ll note that my Shokz OpenComm is the first-generation model and doesn’t have this, though I understand the newer OpenComm 2 has since added it, so it’s less of a differentiator than it might have been a year ago.
The mic boom itself also extends much farther on the Nuroum than on the Shokz — here’s a photo of the two side by side so you can see the difference, because it’s pretty noticeable in person.
The carrying case is a small thing, but a nice one. It seems a nice feature for traveling, when all of those accessories can get tangled in your bag pretty easily.
Overall, what stands out to me:
how light and comfortable it is for long stretches, with a small adjustment period for the over-ear fit
staying connected to my surroundings during calls
that mic mute button — small, but one of those features that’s hard to go back from once you have it
You can read more about the Nuroum OpenEar Pro 2 at nuroum.com. At press time, the Nuroum OpenEar Pro 2 costs $130 on Amazon with a coupon, and Shokz OpenComm 2 costs $160 on Amazon.