Do you have the same musical taste as your wife? I have a bone conduction headset that I use for cycling. Podcasts and ebooks sound fine, and some music is acceptable (a lot of classical, some pop and folk). Anything with bass just sounds like garbage though - don't bother with any hard rock, hip hop, or anything else with bass.
I tried out hers to see if I liked them, and am not sure which make/model it is. I'll ask her when I get a chance. I do remember her saying they cost about $125 so not cheap, but probably not high end either
Get a good pair that actually does bone conduction and isn't just a shitty speaker blasting next to your ear.
It will never be as good as open ear headphones, some frequencies just don't translate well via conduction, but they're good enough for podcasts, TV and movies. They're great for music if you're exercising or need to be aware of your surroundings, but if you care about sound quality, they are not something you'd want to use to listen to music in a quiet room, for example.
They are not great for listening to music in high fidelity. The are great for spoken word, and fine for music if you're not super concerned about quality; I liken it to listening to music from the speaker on a small portable FM radio.
I think of bone conducting headphones as the most realistic foundation for augmented reality on the market. Hearing things without plugging your ears up, weighing you down or taking you out of your surroundings is underrated and underutilized. To match the weight of an Oculus Quest 3 on my head, I'd have to wear seventeen pairs of Shockz OpenMove. Compare the dread of a video ad over your eyes to the dread of an audio ad in your ears.
We really should have a broader conversation about the practical applications of this stuff.
I deeply disagree here. Bone conduction headphones sound significantly worse then the Ray-Bans. You can hate Meta but its untrue that its the same audio experience.