NANK, formerly known as Naenka, briefly launched the perfect helmet for swimming, preferably on Paper. The NANK Runner Diver2 relies on bone conduction to reproduce your favorite tracks and, as expected, the two bones are linked, thus limiting the risk of failure.
In addition, the vibrations are a little and a better for the transmission of sound underwater than the use of traditional speakers. However, I am aware that some other brands have used, they would have created swimming headphones, only to discover that the Technology they rely on for data transfer, Bluetooth, does not work underwater.
What did NANK do differently? If you want to connect via Bluetooth to an audio source, then the Runner Diver2 is available via local storage where you can add a whole range of tracks (32 GB). It is a very simple solution that works without problems. If you are not familiar with this art of headphones, you know that bone conduction technology is exactly what it sounds like.
There is a vibrating conductor on each side that pushes the vibrations through the jaw bones directly into the inner ear. In this way, the ear can remain open to environmental awareness and a device like the NANK Runner Diver2 can also be a great way for people with hearing impairments to listen to music. But how well does the NANK Runner Diver2 compare to its competitors? Let’s find out.
Build quality and design
As I mentioned in the intro, the NANK Runner Diver2 follows a similar design to other sports-oriented headphones and relies on a flexible band to connect the two drivers together. And the entire device is covered with a rubbery material that is soft to the touch, a very useful property considering that it is much more in contact with the skin than your usual TWS Headphones.
There are two main parts on each side of the NANK Runner Diver2, one is the part that approaches the ear opening that encapsulates the vibrating driver, the other is on the back of the ear and usually contains the physical controls and the internal battery. This is a very similar approach to Haylou PurFree BC01 and Lite, but it is worth noting the extra-elongated “fin sheets”. Do you have an objective that you want to achieve beyond pure aesthetics?
I’m pretty sure at least one of them is holding a microphone, but this is a design choice because the manufacturer wanted to recreate the appearance of a seahorse. On the right side, in the area where your ear is located on the back, you will find all the physical controls. There are the volume up and down buttons, while in the center is the multifunction flavor. As expected, a simple click on the volume buttons increases or decreases the volume of the audio, but a long press switches to the next or previous track.
Long press the M button to turn the bone conduction headset on or off, click it once to play or pause a song, and then click it three times to switch to MP3 mode (and back to Bluetooth). It is also possible to answer a call with a single click on the button and reject the call by double-clicking. Another notable mode that the developers have added to the NANK Runner Diver2 is shuffle, which can be activated with four clicks on the M button. If you also get bored when diesel songs are played side by side, you can add something Random.
It’s not really the best system and maybe a flavor dedicated to local storage would have been better. Also in the controls area we see the four magnetic pins attached to the charging cable. I remain a fan of USB-C as long as it is properly implemented, because I have seen cases where it could cause water damage (as with the PURFREE Lite). Moreover, it can be obtained, except that NANK has locked not to pursue it (landfill waste goes Ahoy!). Now the question is how well insulated is the NANK Runner Diver2 and how close is it to being waterproof?
The manufacturer indicates that a three-layer sealant has been used and that the headphones are classified 1p68. This means that you should actually survive immersion in the water and that swimming should not damage you or break in. Before going any further, I must mention the accessories. Inside the package you will find the adjustable silicone straps to make sure that the headphones absolutely cannot fall off when swimming. And then I also saw three pairs of what NANK calls “Sound Quality Enhancer”.
