No matter what sort of train you’re into, in the event you’re figuring out, you’ll desire a pair of wi-fi exercise headphones. They permit you to be free and untethered throughout a critical weight-lifting session, a 5K run, an hour on the skate park and in every single place in between the place you’re shifting and sweating a ton. There are dozens of nice wireless headphones and wireless earbud choices on the market, however for train particularly, there are extra elements to think about earlier than selecting one up like water resistance, battery life and general consolation.
At Engadget, we’ve examined a bunch of fitness-ready headphones and earbuds to give you our high picks, plus some recommendation to think about earlier than you choose up a pair. All of our high picks beneath will work out and in of the gymnasium, so you possibly can spend money on only one pair and make these your each day driver. For those who’re primarily a runner, take a look at our listing of best headphones for running.
Finest exercise headphones for 2025
Connectivity: Wi-fi | Fashion: In-ear with wingtip | Assistant assist: Google Assistant, Siri
Learn our full Beats Fit Pro review
The Beats Fit Pro got here out on the head of the pack due to their comfy, safe design, good sound high quality and transparency mode, amongst different issues. As my colleague Billy Steele detailed in his review of the Fit Pro, the buds’ wingtip design units them aside from different Beats earbuds and makes them notably good for operating and different exercises. The buds are pretty small and light-weight, and the wingtip on every is versatile sufficient to hug your ear properly with out placing an excessive amount of strain on it. This helps them really feel safer if you’re shifting round rather a lot be it throughout a morning jog or whereas taking a HIIT class. The buds are additionally IPX4 rated — not the best quantity of safety I encountered, however sufficient to maintain the buds working nicely even throughout my sweatiest periods.
Because it had been, the Beats Match Professional stayed put throughout each single exercise. Nevertheless, adjusting their place on the fly can result in considered one of my few gripes with the buds: unintended presses of the onboard controls. There have been a lot of instances after I went to regulate a bud and I ended up pausing my music within the course of as a result of the buttons are really easy to set off.
Sound high quality is strong and notably nice for exercising due to its punchy bass and general balanced profile. Spatial audio assist is nice to have, and whereas Adaptive EQ means you possibly can’t regulate the EQ your self like you possibly can with different buds, it does make for constantly good audio high quality. It’s additionally one much less factor to play with out of the field, which I anticipate many individuals will respect; these earbuds are a real unbox-and-go possibility. ANC can also be sturdy and transparency mode will turn out to be useful for many who usually run, cycle or in any other case train exterior. It was essentially the most natural-sounding transparency mode of any earbuds I attempted, and it’s straightforward to activate or off both with onboard controls or from the management panel in your iOS or Android smartphone.
Talking of, the Beats Match Professional work notably nicely with iPhones due to their built-in H1 chip, however Android customers can obtain their companion app to entry issues like fast pairing, management customizations and a battery standing indicator. I didn’t get into element in regards to the setup course of as a result of, nicely, there isn’t a lot of 1. However I’ll say that, upon unboxing, I used to be stunned how low-cost the charging case feels. Whereas it supplies an additional 21 hours of charging on high of the buds’ promised six hours of life, the construct high quality looks like an actual step down in comparison with the buds themselves. Except for that and the contact controls, although, the Beats Match Professional provide an entire bundle for athletes, one which can be utilized all day along with coaching periods. Plus, their customary $200 value isn’t too cost-prohibitive, they usually can usually be discovered on sale for much less.
- Comfy IPX4 design
- Nice sound high quality with Adaptive EQ
- Efficient ANC and helpful transparency mode
- Multipoint connectivity
- Strong battery life
- Onboard controls are straightforward to by chance press
- Charging case feels low-cost
JLab
Connectivity: Wi-fi | Fashion: In-ear with hook | Assistant assist: None
When you’ve got lower than $50 to spend, the $30 JLab Go Air Sport+ are a fantastic possibility. These are the most recent model of our earlier choose right here, the Go Air Sport. After I examined these, I didn’t have excessive expectations going into testing these buds, however I used to be rapidly impressed by their consolation and sound high quality. Numerous headphones designed for exercises have this hook that wraps across the high of your ear, and it does assist the Go Air Sport keep securely connected to your head.
The Sport+ maintains that design. The hooks are fairly versatile and have a soft-touch end, which provides to their consolation. Admittedly, this design will take some getting used to in the event you’re new to it, nevertheless it’s a surefire method to get somewhat additional stability throughout excessive depth exercises.
Sound high quality is fairly good on these buds as nicely, though not practically as balanced as that of our high choose. I additionally respect you can cycle by means of three completely different EQ modes — Signature, Balanced and Bass Increase — utilizing the buds’ onboard controls. There’s no app to fuss with, and that was a pleasant change of tempo after principally testing buds with some sort of app connectivity.
You’ll be able to anticipate over 9 hours of playtime on the Go Air Sport+, plus one other 26 hours of battery life with its charging case. JLab additionally fastened a serious pain-point in regards to the earlier variations right here: as a substitute of the outdated, built-in USB-A cable for charging, it is now a extra trendy USB-C cable. Nonetheless, the case is on the cumbersome facet; you possibly can nonetheless throw it right into a backpack or purse simply, nevertheless it’s not as svelte as circumstances you’ll see on dearer buds.
- Inexpensive
- Spectacular sound high quality for the value
- IP55-rated design
- Good battery life
- Giant case
- Hook design received’t be for everybody
SHOKZ
Connectivity: Wi-fi | Fashion: Open-ear | Assistant assist: None
The Shokz OpenFit 2 are the most recent iteration of those open-ear headphones, with our earlier high choose right here being the unique OpenFit. Earbuds with open designs like this permit for extra situational consciousness, with the aim being to let noise in fairly than block it out. In my expertise, the OpenFits do a fantastic job of this with out skimping on sound high quality or consolation.
The buds themselves virtually float over your ear cavern and Shokz’s soft-finish “dolphin arc” hook is versatile sufficient to securely wrap across the high of your ear with out placing an excessive amount of strain on it. There’s a bud-like portion on the different finish of the hook that acts as counterbalance, leading to a dependable match that by no means faltered throughout all types of actions together with operating, power coaching and indoor biking. Granted, none of these workouts contain shaking your head an excessive amount of; possibly don’t put on the OpenFit to take heed to head-banging demise metallic (in the event you can’t management your self).
Sound high quality is strong contemplating the design, and the OpenFit will get fairly loud as nicely. These buds have Shokz’s Direct Pitch expertise, which makes use of reverse sound waves to optimize the gap and angle to your ear canal. The corporate claims this helps cut back sound leakage. In my testing, I discovered that true to a sure extent. The OpenFit had the most effective sound high quality and general quantity out of the entire open-ear units I attempted, however in the event you crank the quantity as much as the max (or shut), the particular person subsequent to you’ll positively hear what you’re listening to. Total, these are a fantastic possibility for anybody who doesn’t discover in-ear buds notably comfy, or those that simply favor to have extra consciousness of their environment whereas figuring out.
- Comfy open-ear design
- Design permits for extra situational consciousness
- Good sound high quality and quantity
- No ANC
- Not as safe when in comparison with in-ear or hook-toting buds
H2O Audio
Connectivity: Wi-fi | Fashion: Over-ear | Assistant assist: None
Some favor to put on over-ear headphones all day, daily, and if that sounds such as you, there’s likelihood you already use your daily-driver headphones on the gymnasium. However in the event you’re noticing elevated wear-and-tear on these cans attributable to sweat or prolonged intervals of use, you might need to contemplate a pair of over-ear headphones particularly for figuring out.
In that case, contemplate the H2O Audio Ript Ultra. Whereas these wi-fi headphones don’t have a selected IP ranking (they’re not designed for the pool, to be clear), they do declare to be “100% sweatproof” thanks partially to their detachable and washable earcups. They survived a few of my hardest runs and strength-training periods with out difficulty, and the earcups are fairly straightforward to take away if you need to give them a wipe-down. There’s additionally a second pair of earcups included within the field so you possibly can swap them in when the originals finally surrender the ghost.
Sound high quality is respectable, nevertheless it needs to be higher on a pair of $250 headphones. The Ript Extremely has customized 45mm drivers and lively noise cancellation as much as 30 dB. Whereas the general sound high quality isn’t higher than our high choose, it’s greater than sufficient to get your blood pumping throughout a exercise. However extra importantly, you’ll doubtless get higher sound high quality on a pair of Bose or Beats headphones on the similar value vary; you’re actually paying for the improved sturdiness with the Ript Extremely. In the end, if you would like a pair of headphones for the gymnasium that may deal with sweat and (doubtlessly) last more than different cans in the identical value vary, the Ript Extremely is an effective selection.
- Sweatproof
- Removeable, washable earcups
- Second pair of earcups included within the field
- Comfy match
- Costly
- Sound high quality could possibly be higher
Others wi-fi exercise headphones we examined
Apple AirPods Professional
The Apple AirPods Pro have an IP54 ranking, which protects them from temporary encounters with mud and splashes. Whereas that’s extra mud safety than many different earbuds we examined, it’s the identical stage of water resistance that the majority exercise-specific rivals have. We typically just like the AirPods Professional, however the Beats Match Professional provide lots of the similar options and conveniences (specifically good transparency mode and the H1 chip), with a design that’s extra acceptable for figuring out.
Beats Powerbeats Professional
The Powerbeats Pro are various to the Beats Match Professional in the event you’re a stickler for a hook design. Nevertheless, they price $50 greater than the Match Professional (though they usually hover round $180) and don’t provide any vital upgrades or extra options other than their design. They’re additionally fairly outdated at this level (launched in 2019) and it seems Beats is placing extra effort into upgrading and updating its newer fashions fairly than this mannequin.
Anker Soundcore AeroFit Professional
The Soundcore AeroFit Pro is Anker’s model of the Shokz OpenFit, however I discovered it to be much less safe and never as comfy because the latter. The precise earbuds on the AeroFit Professional are noticeably bulkier than these on the OpenFit, which induced them to shift and transfer rather more after I was carrying them throughout train. They by no means fell off my ears utterly, however I spent extra time adjusting them than I did having fun with them.
JBL Endurance Peak 3
Essentially the most noteworthy factor in regards to the Endurance Peak 3 is that they’ve the identical IP68-rating that the (now discontinued) Jabra Elite 8 Lively do, however they solely price $100. However, whilst you get the identical safety right here, you’ll should sacrifice in different areas. The Endurance Peak 3 didn’t blow me away when it got here to sound high quality or consolation (the hook is extra inflexible than these on my favourite buds of the same type) and their charging case is huge in comparison with most rivals.
What to search for in exercise headphones
Design
Earlier than diving in, it’s value mentioning that this information focuses on wireless earbuds. When you may put on over-ear or on-ear headphones throughout a exercise, a lot of the best headphones out there now wouldn’t have the identical stage of sturdiness. Water and mud resistance, notably the previous, is essential for any audio gear you intend on sweating with or taking outdoor, and that’s extra prevalent within the wi-fi earbuds world.
Most earbuds have considered one of three designs: in-ear, in-ear with hook or open-ear. The primary two are the preferred. In-ears are arguably the most typical, whereas these with hooks promise higher safety and match since they’ve an appendage that curls across the high of your ear. Open-ear designs don’t stick into your ear canal, however fairly sit simply exterior of it. This makes it simpler to listen to the world round you whereas additionally listening to audio, and could possibly be extra comfy for many who don’t just like the intrusiveness of in-ear buds.
Water resistance and mud safety
Even when a pair of headphones for figuring out aren’t marketed particularly as train headphones, a sturdy, water resistant design will, by default, make them appropriate for train. To keep away from repetition, right here’s a fast primer on sturdiness, or ingression safety (IP) rankings. The primary digit you’ll see after the “IP” refers to safety from mud and different potential intrusions, measured on a scale from 1 to six. The second refers to water resistance and even waterproofing, in the most effective circumstances. The rankings for water resistance are ranked on a scale of 1 to 9; greater numbers imply extra safety, whereas the letter “X” means the system is just not rated for cover in that regard.
All the earbuds we examined for this information have a minimum of an IPX4 ranking, which implies there’s no mud safety, however the buds can face up to splashes from any path and are sweat resistant, however in all probability should not be submerged. For an in depth breakdown of all of the attainable permutations, take a look at this information revealed by a provider referred to as The Enclosure Firm.
Lively noise cancellation and transparency mode
Lively noise cancellation (ANC) is changing into customary on wi-fi earbuds, a minimum of these above a sure value level. For those who’re in search of a pair of buds that may be your exercise companion and serve you exterior of the gymnasium, too, noise cancelation is an effective characteristic to have. It makes the buds extra versatile, permitting you to dam out the boring roar of your house or workplace so you possibly can focus, or provide you with some solitude throughout a busy commute.
However an earbud’s skill to dam out the world goes hand-in-hand with its skill to open issues again up must you want it. Many ANC earbuds additionally assist some type of “transparency mode,” or numerous ranges of noise discount. That is essential for running headphones as a result of exercising outdoor, alongside busy streets, will be harmful. You in all probability don’t need to be completely oblivious to what’s happening round you if you’re operating exterior; adjusting noise cancelation ranges to extend your consciousness will assist with that. Stronger noise cancelation is perhaps extra interesting to these doing extra indoor coaching in the event that they need to block out the boring roar of a gymnasium or the man exaggeratingly lifting weights subsequent to you.
Battery life
All the Bluetooth earbuds we examined have a battery lifetime of six to eight hours. Normally, that’s what you possibly can anticipate from this house, with a couple of outliers that may rise up to fifteen hours of life on a cost. Even the low finish of the spectrum needs to be ok for many athletes and gymnasium junkies, nevertheless it’ll be useful to maintain the buds’ charging case on you in the event you assume you’ll get near utilizing up all their juice throughout a single session.
You’ll get a median of 20 to twenty-eight additional hours of battery out of most charging circumstances and the entire earbuds we examined had holders that offered a minimum of an additional 15 hours. It will dictate how usually you really should cost the system — as in bodily join the case with earbuds inside to a charging cable, or set it on a wireless charger to energy up.
How we take a look at exercise headphones
In testing wi-fi exercise headphones, I put on them throughout each little bit of train I do — be it an informal stroll across the block, a brisk morning run or a difficult weight-lifting session. I’m in search of consolation arguably most of all, since you ought to by no means be fussing along with your earbuds when you need to be specializing in figuring out. In the identical vein, I’m cognizant of in the event that they get free throughout quick actions or slippery after I’m sweating. I additionally use the earbuds when not exercising to take calls and take heed to music all through the day. Many individuals will need only one pair of earbuds that they’ll use whereas exercising and simply doing on a regular basis issues, so I consider every pair on their skill to be comfy and supply listening expertise in a number of completely different actions.
Whereas I’m additionally evaluating sound high quality, I’m admittedly not an audio knowledgeable. My colleague Billy Steele holds that title at Engadget, and also you’ll discover rather more detailed details about audio high quality for a few of our high picks in his evaluations and shopping for guides. With these headphones for figuring out, nevertheless, I’ll make be aware of associated points in the event that they stood out (i.e. if a pair of earbuds had noticeably sturdy bass out of the field, weak highs, and many others). A lot of the wi-fi exercise headphones we examined work with companion apps which have adjustable EQ settings, so that you’ll have the ability to tweak sound profiles to your liking normally.
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