Best workout and running earbuds of 2023

Choosing the right pair of earbuds for your workout routine can be a very different process than finding a pair for casual, everyday listening. The best fitness buds need to endure strenuous exercise, whether you’re attending a quick gym girlfriend session or drenched in sweat from a 25-mile marathon.

Battery life is very important and most people prefer a lively sound that can motivate them in the middle of a workout and keep things moving. What you need to do is make sure they stay in your ears during exercise without any adjustments.

If you’re looking for the usual go-anywhere buds, these may not be for you. Instead, check out our recommended best earbuds guide for them.

Noise canceling: yes / Battery life: 6 hours / Water and sweat resistance: IPX4/ guarantee: 1 year / Control: physical button, voice

The best running and gym earbuds you can buy today are the Beats Fit Pro earbuds. Apple now sells even more colors, including bright yellow, pink, and blue. The Powerbeats Pro have been our go-to recommendation for exercise buds for years — they’re still great if you need earhook stability — but the Fit Pro is much smaller. , easy to take anywhere and includes active noise cancellation. If you want to hear your surroundings, switch to transparent mode and pipe in ambient sounds. As for sound, the Fit Pro offers plenty of kick and punch in the bass, but nowhere near the bloated boom of the old Beats headphones.

Instead of wraparound ear hooks, Beats Fit Pro earbuds have permanently attached, flexible wings that hook onto your ears and stay firmly in place during even the most intense fitness regimes. Ask anyone you know who owns them. These things really don’t budge. And for controls, Beats critically uses tactile button presses instead of capacitive tapping his gestures.

The Fit Pro is rated IPX4 for waterproof and sweat resistance. It’s not the best of our fitness earbud picks, but it’s standard in the category. This should be enough to motivate you for the day’s races and workouts. With bonus Apple ecosystem features such as spatial audio (with head tracking) and audio sharing, Beats Fit Pro offers a lot of features and value for the price.

Read the Beats Fit Pro review.

Anker Soundcore Sport X10

Noise canceling: no / Battery life: 8 hours / Water and sweat resistance: IPX7/ guarantee: 1 year / Control: physical button

If you’re looking for a satisfying set of workout earbuds for under $100, as is often the case, Anker’s Soundcore brand is the way to go. The Soundcore Sport X10 has flexible, rotatable wraparound ear hooks that stay in place from start to finish. Its flexibility makes it even more comfortable than Beats’ Powerbeats Pro. With bass-focused sound tuning and his IPX7 water resistance rating, it basically holds up to rain and sweaty gym sessions.

The Sport X10s lasts up to 8 hours on a single charge, and its slim charging case takes up very little space in your gym bag. You can choose from 22 different his EQ settings in Soundcore’s app, and the earbuds have a transmissive mode that pipes in external sounds as needed. At just $79.99 (which usually sells for less), the Sport X10 packs a lot of value.

Noise canceling: no / Battery life: 9 hours/ Water and sweat resistance: IP54/ guarantee: 1 year / Control: tap gesture

If you are a fitness enthusiast again For audiophiles, Sennheiser sport earbuds may be the ideal choice. It features integrated fins for a secure fit without compromising sound. While technically not noise-cancelling, Sennheiser has taken a unique approach, including both closed and open-style ear tips in the box. The former provides natural noise isolation, while the latter makes it easier to hear your surroundings and eliminates the sound of your own breathing and footsteps. The Smart Control app also has toggles that optimize her EQ depending on the style of tip she’s wearing.

With an IP54 rating against dust and water and up to 9 hours of continuous playback, sports earbuds should be up to the task of handling any workout routine or race. Their sound profile provides plenty of bass kicks without unwanted muddyness. These earbuds don’t have a lot of frills, but they give you the space you need to exercise.

Noise canceling: yes / Battery life: 8 hours / Water and sweat resistance: IP57/ guarantee: 2 years / Control: button, voice

Instead of hooks and fins that don’t fit some ears, Jabra’s Elite 7 Active earbuds use a special coating the company calls ‘ShakeGrip’ to stay sturdy during your workout, no matter how sweaty your ears get. to keep It also features adjustable active noise cancellation, so you can personalize the level of ANC that feels right for you no matter what activity you’re doing. Additionally, Jabra beats Beats and other competitors with a more substantial IP57 certification against dust, water and sweat. Battery life also outperforms some rivals by extending it by up to 8 hours.

They offer the same sound quality as Jabra’s flagship Elite 7 Pro earbuds. The only difference is that the Pro is optimized for voice call performance and everyday use, whereas these stick to the fitness realm. can be customized.

If you’re looking to keep costs down, Jabra’s Elite 4 Active earbuds maintain their IP57 durability rating while omitting features like multipoint, wireless charging, and adjustable noise cancellation. But if you give them up, the price drops to $119, and you can often find the Elite 4 Active for less than $100 during sales.

Noise canceling: no / Battery life: 5.5 hours/ Water and sweat resistance: IPX4/ guarantee: 1 year / Control: Wide area control

The donut-shaped hole in the middle of Sony’s LinkBuds is unbeatable when you need to maintain situational awareness while running or walking outside. The trade-off is that you may need to turn up the volume in loud environments like city streets, but some people prefer it if it means hearing the world around them all the time.

They certainly have a unique style and shape, but thanks to Sony’s unconventional design, the LinkBuds sit securely in my ears. Interchangeable with 5 different sized “fitting supporters” to secure onto the concha and secure your LinkBuds more securely. Offering his IPX4 certification against water and sweat, it can last up to 6 hours on a single charge.

In addition to the open design and excellent voice performance, what I love about the LinkBuds is Sony’s “Wide Area” controls. These let you tap your cheek near the earbuds to skip tracks or activate other controls. You don’t have to touch the actual buds at all. This can give you peace of mind mid-workout when you don’t need to know exactly where you’re tapping.

READ SONY LINKBUDS REVIEWS.

Noise canceling: yes / Battery life: 10 hours / Water and sweat resistance: IP67/ guarantee: 1 year / Control: tap gesture

If you’re the least diligent when it comes to cleaning your earbuds, LG’s Tone Free Fit TF8 earbuds have you covered. According to LG, while the case is closed and the buds are charging, the UV-C light kills “his 99.9% of the eargel’s bacteria.” That’s not the only unique trick these earbuds can do. You can also connect the case to a 3.5mm AUX output (airplane, gym, etc). You can play that audio on your wireless earbuds.

Aside from these great features, the Tone Free Fit TF8 earbuds are one of the most comfortable fitness earbuds I’ve ever worn, and that’s no less with the integrated fins. It includes active noise cancellation, a decent transparent mode, and up to 10 hours of continuous playtime (30 hours total including the charging case).

Noise canceling: no / Battery life: 8 hours / Water and sweat resistance: IPX4/ guarantee: 1 year / Control: Buttons, temple swipe gestures, voice

In some cases, audio glasses like Bose’s Frames lineup can be a smarter choice than traditional earbuds. Keep your ears completely free and protect your eyes from the sun while listening to audio directed at your ears from the temple’s built-in speakers.

Frames Tempo are the sportiest in Bose’s lineup. It won’t look out of place next to Oakley or similar shade pairs. More importantly, it offers the longest battery life (around 8 hours) and the best bass performance of any frame. It still doesn’t quite match the low-end boom earbuds that actually sit in your ear canal, but you get enough bass to keep you moving during outdoor runs and hikes.The hardware is IPX4 water and sweat resistant. , so as long as you avoid the heaviest downpours, you should be fine.

READ BOSE FRAMES TEMPO REVIEWS.

Photo by Chris Welch/The Verge

Update March 17th at 11:45am ET: The Buying Guide has been updated with details on the new format and new Beats Fit Pro color options.