Mojawa Mojo1 wireless bone conduction headphones

The Mojawa Mojo1 wireless bone conduction headphones are a well-priced, high-quality option for listening to music while cycling. The battery life will cover you for most endurance-length rides, and they're fully waterproofed, so you can stay motivated on those grim rainy days too. What's unique is the amount of the bass they can produce for bone conductors – it's impressive, and there's minimal sound leak too.

Bone conduction headphones like these allow you to listen to music but still hear your surroundings – there are no ear buds sealing out ambient noise. They sit just in front of your ears instead of over/in them, with the sound waves travelling via your bones rather than the air. Earplugs that mould to the shape of your ear are included, should you want to block out those ambient sounds after all.

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Tipping the scales at 35g, the Mojo1s are heavier than the 25g Shokz OpenRuns, but still light enough to feel wonderfully comfy. It was only towards the end of longer rides that I noticed the difference between the two – the lighter Shokz stay comfier.

I've also worn the Mojo1 on gravel rides and was impressed by how little the vibrations from the rough stuff bothered them – they give a reassuringly secure fit, and sit low enough to keep away from helmets. I found them secure while running, too.

Controls for the volume and on/off are on the righthand earphone, while everything else is on the left.

As you're pressing buttons you're essentially pushing the headphone into your skin, and it's a little hard to tell if it's registered your press as it's also quite slow to react. I found myself accidentally double-tapping it and cancelling what I was trying to do... you do get used to it, but it could be more responsive.

The big main button is really easy to find in gloves, at least, but the smaller volume one can be really fiddly. I ended up just setting it at the start of a ride and then, when I hit a particularly windy stretch or traffic was heavy, just accepting I was going to miss that part of the song. I can see this being more frustrating if you're listening to podcasts.

Sound performance

Bone conduction headphones typically struggle with bass frequencies, and with creating volumes loud enough to work over high winds or heavy traffic, but these actually only struggle with the latter.

Even set to the highest volume there were many occasions when I couldn't hear the music. Still, they were no worse than the Shokz OpenRuns I tested at the same time. The bass quality, meanwhile, pleasantly surprised me.

Sound leakage is impressively low. You can take private calls with no concerns or listen to your questionable music – yup, I can power through intervals to Nickelback in peace. Whether the world should allow that is another matter, and yes, it's possible it wasn't me that added this sentence.

Sweating it out during intervals is absolutely no problem, and you can even ride in full-on heavy rain, as the impressive IP67 rating means it's waterproof enough to survive 30 minutes in a metre of water. Unlike, and I'm just throwing this out there, Nikelback.

Such good sealing has dictated a magnetic charging port and proprietary cable, though, and you only get one cable included – a little bit of a pain as I for one lose cables more than single socks.

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Wireless connection is via Bluetooth 5.0 (with a claimed range of 10m), and the built-in lithium battery lasts up to 8hrs, which is in line with the competition. It usefully powers off automatically after three minutes if not connected, too. Once dead, the unit takes around 90 minutes to charge up fully.

These are available in black, green and grey, and there's a reflective tab that can be fitted onto the rear of the headband for night use.

Value

At £119 (or thereabouts; they're $159) with a one-year warranty, they're well priced against the competition. Shokz' OpenRun Wireless Bone Conduction Sport Headphones are £129.95, for instance, though they're a little lighter and slightly more comfortable over long periods.

Naenka's Bone Conduction Runner Pro Wireless Waterproof Headphones (£111) are slightly cheaper, meanwhile, but George was not convinced by the sound quality, volume or battery life for cycling use.

Overall

The sound quality of the Mojo1s really impresses, as do the secure fit, excellent weatherproofing and good battery life. While the controls could be more responsive and (again I feel like somebody is putting words in my mouth) they still play Nickelback if you make them, they're still very usable and a strong option for safety-conscious cyclists.

Verdict

Impressive sound, more bass than many bone conductors and a really solid waterproof build