Wireless headphones are the future and no amount of continuing grumbles about the lack of headphone jacks on new phones will change that. Thankfully, we’ve made our peace with that. Ridding yourself of ear-to-pocket wires is undoubtedly convenient when exercising, especially since many of us will want our phone in front of us so we can follow a workout video. Wireless workout headphones also make it easier to maintain a secure fit since wires tend to flap around and pull the earbud out of your ear.
The best workout headphones prioritise fit, often coming with a range of interchangeable wings and tips so you don’t have to continually adjust a loose bud – irritating at the best of times, but especially hard to do when holding dumbbells.
That means you’re likely to achieve a secure fit with any of our top picks, while enjoying extras like passive and active noise cancellation, as well as great sound. All of the below will also stand up to sweaty sessions and many offer waterproofing beyond that standard.
Other Types Of Workout Headphones
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If you’re wedded to the treadmill, or want to use the headphones in the gym and for outdoor runs, you may be better served by our selection of the best running headphones, which puts even more emphasis on fit and features that allow you to be aware of your surroundings.
If you’re hoping to wear buds in the pool you need a pair that are waterproof to the point that they can handle submersion for a sustained period and have built-in storage for music, since Bluetooth doesn’t work as well in water. Our best swimming headphones round-up lays out your options.
The Best Workout Headphones
The Vista 2 buds tick all the boxes you need from sports headphones, and then go above and beyond that by adding some useful extras as well. When it comes to the essentials, the fit is secure and comfortable enough to let you wear the Vista 2 buds all day long as well as in the gym, and the battery life of eight hours is impressive given the small design. The sound quality is also terrific and you can easily fine-tune it to your preferences with the adjustable EQ settings in the app.
The bonuses include active noise cancellation and an awareness mode (though both hit battery life), terrific waterproofing with an IP68 rating and the best case in the business – the Vista’s case is super-compact and IP54 rated itself. You can also locate the headphones and the case through the Jaybird app if you’ve absent-mindedly set them down somewhere in the gym and can’t remember where, which is something you’ll never think about until it becomes your absolute favourite feature one day.
Read more about why we rate these as the one of the best workout headphones in our Jaybird Vista 2 review
These get the fundamentals right, with a 15-hour battery life (plus another 55 hours in the case), an ear hook for a secure fit and solid sound quality. And you get all that for £99.99 at most – the price is often reduced. Extra features are hit and miss: the active noise cancellation (ANC) is a disappointment, blocking only a small amount of sound, but the adjustable Be Aware mode is excellent, letting just enough ambient noise in so you can hear what’s going on around you without ruining your music. The poor ANC is a minor quibble given the other positives you’re getting from these headphones, most notably that excellent battery life.
Read more about our experience with the best value workout headphones in our JLab Epic Air Sport ANC review
This is a silly price for headphones as good as the JLab Go Air Pop, which offer similar features to headphones that cost five times as much. The sound quality is solid, the battery life excellent and the fit is good too, though the lack of wings or an ear hook may mean they’re not the best pick for those who regularly engage in energetic HIIT workouts with lots of jumping.
One feature we particularly like about the Go Air Pop and other JLab headphones is that the charging cable is built in to the case so you don’t lose it. Unless you lose the case, of course, but then you have bigger problems since you can’t charge the buds at all without the case.
Find out more about these best budget workout headphones in our JLab Go Air Pop review
Once the preserve of the most expensive headphones, active noise cancellation (ANC) is almost a standard feature these days. The Elite 4 Active buds offer ANC as well as Jabra’s HearThrough awareness mode so you can block out or filter in the sound around you as appropriate.
ANC is just one of the many reasons it’s worth considering the Elite 4 Active buds. They’re certainly a contender for the best-value sports headphones available if their fit works for you – they have no wings or ear hooks, but we still found they stayed in place securely during a variety of indoor and outdoor workouts.
The sound quality is good, and so is the battery life at seven hours on the buds and another 21 in the case. You can adjust the EQ in the partner app, and because they don’t have wings or a hook the Elite 4 Active headphones are comfortable to wear for long stretches when not exercising as well.
Find out what else earns this pair a place on our best workout headphones list in our Jabra Elite 4 Active review
The QC Earbuds II are Bose’s top-of-the-range in-ear lifestyle headphones, offering best-in-class ANC and terrific sound quality as you’d expect, and the stability bands the buds come with offer a secure enough fit for sports use as well. Three sizes of bands and tips come with the headphones, and you can buy a set of XS and XL tips/bands from Bose if your ear holes don’t match that size range.
As a result the QC Earbuds II are fantastic headphones for both general life and the gym. The fit is comfortable for many hours of use even when using the large stability band for extra security during workouts. The headphones also have an awareness mode and last six hours on a charge even with the ANC enabled.
Before you spend that kind of money, we’re sure you’ll want to know more, so read our in-depth Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II review
Sennheiser’s sportiest truly wireless buds offer the fantastic sound quality you expect from the brand: the Focus EQ mode offers clear and natural sound, and the Aware mode powers up the bass.
Unlike Sennheiser’s other truly wireless headphones, the Sport True Wireless have wings to create a secure fit for exercise. We found that these were effective, overcoming the chunky size of the buds. The battery life is up there with the best at nine hours, with another 18 in the case.
There are no ANC or awareness modes with the headphones, however, and while Sennheiser includes two kinds of ear tips – one to block more external noise and one that lets in more external sounds – we found that swapping between them didn’t make much difference.
Read more about these great-sounding workout headphones in our Sennheiser Sport True Wireless review
The Tribit Flybuds 3 are another top option for bargain-hunters, and they have a more secure fit than the JLab Go Air Pop because of the three sizes of wings included in the box. The sound quality matches that of headphones that cost twice as much, and while the battery life on the buds is only OK, at five hours, the case adds a whopping 95 hours and you can use it as a portable power bank for other electricals as well.
Read more about these bargain workout headphones in our Tribit Flybuds 3 review
The star feature of the Powerbeats Pro is their battery life – the buds last for nine hours before they need to go back in their case for a recharge. We value the brilliant fit just as highly, though. The ear hook design means there’s no chance of the bud being dislodged during workouts, whether you’re running, doing burpees or head-banging to your gym playlist. The sound quality also impresses and while the RRP seems eye-wateringly high, the Powerbeats Pro are a couple of years old so you can often find a retailer offering them at a discount, especially during sales periods like Black Friday.
Beats also has the Fit Pro headphones in its range, which offer ANC and have a smaller in-ear design that uses a wing to keep the buds in place during workouts. However, we found this hook uncomfortable in our testing and still rate the Powerbeats Pro as the best Beats option for your workouts.
Discover how outrageously quick they are to charge in our Beats Powerbeat Pro review
The knitted ear cushions and inner headband on these headphones are removable and washable, so you can wear them in the gym confident that you can clean the sweat off afterwards. The tight fit of the headset can become slightly uncomfortable if worn for long stretches at your desk, but it’s ideal to keep the RPT-01 cans in place during a workout. That said, while they’ll stay put for strength training you may well find in-ear buds are more secure for plyometric exercises and treadmill workouts. The 40 hours of battery and excellent sound you get as a result of the bigger on-ear design is a major positive compared with in-ear options.
The AirPods Pro 2 sound fantastic and offer exceptional active noise cancellation given how small they are. The battery life has been improved compared with the original AirPods Pro too: the buds last six hours on a charge even when using ANC, and you can now change the volume by swiping on the stem of the headphones.
Although some people report the fit of the in-ear buds during workouts can be too loose, if you don’t experience this problem there’s much to recommend the AirPods Pro 2 as top-notch all-round headphones you can also use in the gym. They don’t come cheap, however, and there is better value out there, especially in Jabra’s range of in-ear buds.
Read more in our Apple AirPods Pro 2 review
Once known as AfterShokz, Shokz is the dominant force in the bone-conduction headphones market, and the OpenRun are the best buds in its range. These headphones have a lightweight open design that allows you to remain aware of your surroundings while still enjoying your audio, which is delivered via your cheekbones.
The sound quality you get from this process is not as good as with in-ear buds, but it’s still enjoyable to listen to music and audiobooks and on the sound front the OpenRun are better than cheaper sets of bone conduction buds. The battery life is good at eight hours, and you get 90 minutes of playback from a 10-minute charge; this quick charge feature differentiates the OpenRun from the Shokz Aeropex, which otherwise have the same design.
There are two sizes of the OpenRun headphones, and the Mini version has a 0.83in (21mm) shorter band. This means it sticks out less from the back of your head, which is handy when doing exercises where you lie with your head on the floor or a bench. We prefer the snugger fit of the Mini in general, and they are identical to the standard OpenRun headphones for features and battery life.
Find out why we think this cheaper pair are better workout headphones than the OpenRun Pro in our Shokz OpenRun review
As with Shokz’s bone conduction buds, the OpenRock Pro headphones have an open design, with a speaker resting near your ear canal so you can listen to music and podcasts without blocking your ears. However, this design provides far better sound quality than Shokz’s range, with more powerful bass in particular.
The OpenRock Pro buds have a slightly awkward fit at times, especially if you’re wearing glasses, but they stayed in place during all my workouts. The sound is dynamic enough to use for outdoor training sessions as well. The battery life is an outstanding feature, with the buds lasting 19 hours and the case adding another 27 hours.
Read more about our experience with our OneOdio OpenRock Pro review
These bone-conducting MP3 headphones don’t have Bluetooth, but they do have 4GB of storage for your music and podcasts, and they’re IP68-rated, meaning they are waterproof enough to withstand two hours of submersion in water up to two metres deep. The bone-conduction technology also works wonders in the pool thanks to the special swim EQ setting which is required to reduce the bass because of how well sound travels under the surface. It takes a moment or two to get the headphones positioned with goggles and a swimming cap, but once they’re in place, there are no better buds for swimmers looking to reduce the boredom of logging laps in the pool.
Find out more about our experience with these headphones in the pool in our Shokz OpenSwim review
Nick Harris-Fry is a journalist who has been covering health and fitness since 2015. Nick is an avid runner, covering 70-110km a week, which gives him ample opportunity to test a wide range of running shoes and running gear. He is also the chief tester for fitness trackers and running watches, treadmills and exercise bikes, and workout headphones.
