The NANK Runner Diver 2 is a timely and worthy update to the waterproof bone conduction headphones offering from the company formerly known as Naenka.
They’ve shaved 3g of weight off, doubled the onboard music storage and updated the file transfer capability, and improved its waterproofing.
Even if the updates aren’t quite revolutionary (the form factor is pretty similar to the Runner Diver), they do affect the user experience in a positive way. Let me take you through each of these improvements in my vlog review on my Youtube channel, or scroll down for a written summary.
Weight
The NANK Runner Diver 2 is 32 grams, versus 35 grams for the Runner Diver. Now, 3 grams doesn’t seem like a lot but when you have only two pieces of cartilage on the side of your head bearing the weight, 3 grams is a perceivable difference.
They’ve shaved most of that weight off from the sound driver and storage on the sides of the headphone, making for a sleeker feel around the ears.
This hasn’t affected battery life: the Runner Diver 2 matches the Runner Diver with a 10-hour play time at 60% volume, and a zero-to-100% charge of its 180 mAh battery within 90 minutes through magnetic fast charging.
Waterproofing
Both the Runner Diver 2 and its previous version were rated IP68 waterproof, but the Runner Diver 2 takes it up a notch by no longer needing to plug the microphone hole with a silicone stopper. This makes for a more integrated experience where you don’t have to worry about losing that small strip of silicone (which came included in the Runner Diver set) or it accidentally coming loose while swimming.
Both Runner Diver versions still charge with the same cable which is also used for the Runner Pro (and is also available as a standalone order on the Naenka website, in case you misplace yours). The charging/data transfer ports are magnetic on the exterior of the headphone, so there are no open holes for water to get into.
Onboard Music Storage and Data Transfer
The Runner Diver was the first waterproof bone conduction headphone on the market to offer onboard music storage, and the Runner Diver 2 continues that legacy with a few improvements.
The Runner Diver 2 doubles the amount of storage available to 32 GB, which is more than enough for quite a few albums — I think you’ll run out of power long before you play all the MP3s you’ve loaded.
Speaking of loading files through the data transfer cable, one of the main complaints with the previous Runner Diver was the difficulty of mounting the disk or having the computer recognize the flash storage. I was able to get around this a few months ago by turning the Runner Diver on and then connecting it to my laptop, but it’s been hit-or-miss. With the Runner Diver 2, mounting the storage was plug-and-play with no more fiddling required.
The Runner Diver 2 also now allows you to shuffle the songs by clicking the power/center button four times. You can return to sequential playback by clicking the button four times again.
Price
The Runner Diver 2 retails on the Naenka website for $149.99, which is already a discounted rate — but you can also get an additional 15% off by using my code NOELLE
