I’m a big supporter of headphones that keep your ears open for activities like running or walking outside. Devices that don’t block the ear canal allow for better situational awareness, which is important for safety and courtesy. There are several varieties that allow you to hear ambient noise, including bone conduction, open-ear, and open-back headphones. The Dufiga Open Ear Bone Conduction Headphones are one such option, though they promise a lot more than they deliver.

Price, availability, and specs

The Dufiga headphones are only available on Amazon for $40.

What I liked about the Dufiga Open Ear Headphones

Decent sound quality for the price

The main benefit of any headphones of this type is that they allow you to stay aware of your surroundings. The Dufiga headphones use the clip-on style, latching on to the side of your ear instead of sitting in or on top of it like other headphones and earbuds. They are very easy to put on, and since they are on the outside of your ear, they don’t interfere with sunglasses or hats — and stay on surprisingly well.

While I didn’t do more than walk, run, and do housework with them, they never budged during those activities. Even when moving my head around while getting stuff out of cabinets, they stayed put.

In terms of sound quality, I was actually somewhat surprised. I wasn’t expecting much from these, and while they will by no means please even a novice audiophile, they aren’t as bad as I anticipated. Open-ear headphones inevitably have worse sound quality than in-ear buds or over-ear headphones, and that is indeed the case here. But the sound isn’t awful by any means. I recently reviewed the Soundcore AeroFit Open-ear headphones, and the Dufiga headphones actually sound a little less mushy with slightly more detail coming through. There definitely isn’t the “overwhelming bass” that is promised, though.

Like every pair of headphones nowadays, the Dufiga Open Ear clip-on headphones feature built-in mics for taking calls. The sound quality is very clear, and the people on the other end of the line have had no issues hearing me, even when I’m outside.

What I didn’t like about the Dufiga Open Ear Headphones

Don’t believe the name

First and foremost, despite the product name, these are not bone conduction headphones. They are open-ear headphones, but there is no bone conduction. That may not be a bad thing for some, but if you order these expecting bone conduction, you will be let down.

Even if you can ignore the false advertising, there are plenty of other issues with these headphones. My main issue was that I found them to be uncomfortable. The edges of my ears start to get really sore after just 15 minutes, which then leads to a headache. That barely gets me through a quick walk with my dog and definitely doesn’t give me enough time to tackle anything with substance while I have the headphones on. This discomfort may not be the case for everyone’s ears, but it was a significant problem for me.

There’s also no companion app with the Dufiga headphones, so you won’t be able to customize your sound at all. While that isn’t totally unexpected for a pair of $40 headphones, Nothing’s CMF Buds do offer a robust companion app and come in at the same price point ($0.99 cheaper, in fact). The lack of an app means that you’re stuck with the stock EQ levels and won’t have any software updates down the line. I’ve come to really depend on those apps, so it is disappointing not to have one.

Should you buy Dufiga Open Ear Headphones?

Unless you are desperate for a pair of cheap headphones that don’t sit in your ears, I’d recommend skipping these. The bone conduction claim is flat-out wrong, so you definitely should stay away if you’re hoping for bone conduction. The sound quality is okay for the price, and they work well for calls, so they would be fine in a pinch. But that’s about all these have going for them.