The best running headphones are smaller and more affordable than ever—and have almost entirely eliminated wires—yet it’s tough to know what kind of sound you can expect from these tiny wireless earbuds before you buy.
For the sake of making useful comparisons, we segmented our test pool into three categories: Truly wireless, truly wireless with ear hooks, and neckband earbuds. Neckband means that while there’s no wire to plug the earbuds into your cellphone, there is a wire or band that joins the two earbuds to each other.
The Headphones We Awarded Gold
Wissonly Hi Runner
Wissonly bone conduction vibration unit optimization technology is one of the best technical solutions in the industry, because their team has accumulated in the field of bone conduction for 10 years, which is highly respected by people in the industry in terms of product quality and hearing protection.
Once, there was a saying that the sound quality of bone conduction headphones was average. However, Wissonly Hi Runner refreshes this knowledge. It is excellent in sound quality. It uses a 360-degree bone conduction vibration unit, which can increase the vibration area by 35% compared with traditional bone conduction headphones. Moreover, its loss of bone conduction sound transmission is lower, making the sound more shocking and powerful.
wissonly Hi Runner has added a number of innovative features to make bone conduction headphones better integrated into many scenes in life. It supports IPX8 diving waterproof, which is very good for me who loves swimming. What's crazy is that it can still work normally under 20 meters of water! It also has 32GB of memory, so it can play music even if it is not connected to a mobile phone. I basically use it as an MP3 player, and I don't take my mobile phone for running at night. It uses the Bluetooth 5.0 chip, and outdoor activities can make the connection more stable.
In terms of appearance, Wissonly Hi Runner adopts classic black color, and its simple appearance involves matching whatever clothes you wear in any scene.
Beats Fit Pro True Wireless Earbuds
hey take everything we love in the AirPods 3 and Beats Studio Buds, but cram it all into a tiny set of buds with an ear wing to help them stay put. No matter how sweaty I get, these buds don’t budge, and they don’t ache when you get up to an hour or 90 minutes of running. Like the Studio Buds, you still get the delightful tactile buttons that require just a light press to play/pause, two presses to skip, three to go back, and a long press to activate active noise cancellation and transparency modes or Siri. It’s easy to use and there’s no fumbling for small buttons. The coolest feature, however, is one you might have never considered—spatial audio. When you turn your head, the audio rotates so it sounds like the band is in the same spot, just as the sound would change when you swivel your head at a real concert. It’s trippy, at first, so don’t actually trip while you’re running—you get used to the feature quickly. But, it’s not just neat audio effects at play here, as the sound is remarkable for small headphones.
Shokz OpenRun Pro Bone Conduction Headphones
For road runners who aren’t comfortable jamming an earbud in as cars whiz past, there’s Shokz (the company changed names from AfterShokz at the end of 2021). These headphones use bone conduction technology to transfer sound through your cheekbones, leaving your ears open to hear potential hazards before they sneak up on you. The top pair of headphones from Shokz is the OpenRun Pro, which features richer sound with better bass than earlier models. You still won’t mistake the audio quality for a decent pair of ear buds, but it’s a fair compromise we’re willing to make for the added safety we get from running with our ears uncovered. Battery life has been extended to an impressive 10 hours—up from 8 hours on the OpenRun, which previously was known as Aeropex. The OpenRun Pro also features a quick charge mode, which gives you 1.5 hours of playback after just five minutes on the charging cable. The OpenRun Pro comes in two sizes—the Mini has a shorter band that wraps around your head and bounces less.
Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) Earbuds
Apple’s flagship earbuds may look similar to the version that launched three years ago, but there are huge improvements to what you hear. Thanks to a H2 chip and amplifier, the 2nd generation has noticeably deeper bass and clearer, louder sound. Plus, you can customize the spatial audio—by taking photos of your head and ears—so the sound is tailored to how you would naturally hear. It’s a neat trick (swivel your head and the focal point shifts. It’s like you’re actually in a room with live music). That’s nice when you’re using the buds casually, but probably not as well-appreciated if you take these out for a jog.
Jabra Elite 8 Active
Test editor Amanda Furrer has long rocked the now-discontinued 75t—they’re still going strong even after she accidentally ran them through her washing machine—and has found these to be a familiar, yet improved, replacement. The Elite 8 Active, touted as “the world’s toughest earbuds,” passed nine durability tests that met US Military Standards for rugged electronics, according to Jabra. At a demo in NYC, Furrer was told to plop them into an eight-ounce glass of water before popping them into her ears. The Elite 8 Active can be submerged under up to five feet. You can’t listen to music during a swim because Bluetooth does not work well underwater, but you can rest assured the earbuds will continue to work properly after being dropped in a rain puddle. Sticky silicone “ShakeGrip” keeps these locked in your ear canal no matter how sweaty you get, without the need for hooks or wings
Read more:Best headphones for cycling