There are a few key features to look for when shopping for the best headphones. Ideally, you want water-resistant earphones that don’t get sweaty. It’s also nice to have a pair that come with different-sized ear tips or ear hooks so that they won’t fall out of your ears mid-exercise, but it’s not a necessity—especially if you stick to strength training or walking. 

What To Consider When Buying Workout Headphones

A number of factors go into choosing workout headphones or earbuds which match your day-to-day needs while providing audio accompaniment for your physical activities.

Water And Sweat Resistance

If you plan to be in or around water or expect to sweat while wearing the headphones or earbuds you choose, sweat and water resistance is essential. Otherwise, even a little bit of moisture could damage your equipment. Standard headphones aren’t built to withstand the beating that workout headphones can take, so their warranties likely won’t cover moisture damage. It’s best to look at workout headphones that have an official Ingress Protection (IP) rating—and the higher the last number is (for example, the 8 in IPX8), the better.

Comfort

The overall comfort of the earbuds is also important for people who work out for extended periods of time. You’ll want to ensure a secure fit so you can move freely without the earbuds moving around or falling out of your ears.The best workout earbuds are the ones that stay on and out of your way.

Fit

A perfect fit is essential for enjoying an experience with your earbuds. Fit also matters to keep headphones or earbuds in place while you move around. Most earbuds come with multiple ear tips, so you can choose the tips which provide the best fit. 

Noise Cancellation 

Many earbuds and headphones use active noise cancellation to remove the ambient noise wherever you are. This allows you to focus entirely on the audio you’re listening to and create an immersive listening experience. A great feature for those busy days at the gym when you want to drown out the noise without damaging your hearing. However active noise cancellation does use more battery life when used. 

Audio Technology

Sound quality should be solid and not distracting. Ideally, you’d have both great fit and great sound, but when in doubt, comfort comes first.

Battery Life

Wireless earbuds rely on internal batteries to function. When evaluating earbuds, you want to know the average battery life using just the earbuds, and how much overall listening time you get when the earbuds can fully recharge within their case. Also the time earbuds last with active noise cancellation enabled.

Beats Fit Pro

The great noise-cancelling wireless sport earbuds

Battery life: 7 hours (ANC off), up to 30 hours with ANC off and with charging case

Water resistance: IPX4 rating

Noise cancelling: Yes

The Fit Pro pair sounds great, with slightly boosted bass. These earbuds offer physical buttons that control track skip, phone calls, and volume on Apple devices, plus some button customization and one-touch pairing on Android devices – if you download the Beats app. Either of the Fit Pro’s earbuds can work independently. 

The Fit Pro set offers easy pairing and connection swapping to iCloud-connected Apple devices, as well as touch-free “Hey Siri” functionality. The sealed design and active noise cancellation can block out gym noise, while the hear-through mode allows for occasional situational awareness or conversations between workout sets. The microphones provide wind and background-noise reduction, so you can take a quick call even while jogging.

These earbuds have stabilising wings to help keep them in place, and that benefits exercisers, producing a secure fit that won’t have the buds falling out when running or performing floor exercises.

JLab Audio Go Air Sport

Best Cheap Earbuds 

Battery life: 8 hours, up to 32 with the charging case

Water resistance: IP55

Noise cancelling: No

If you want a pair of wireless earbuds that cover the essentials without the high price tag, consider the JLab Go Air Sport set.Rather than using wings to secure the earbuds in the ear, this true wireless pair has flexible hooks that slip securely over the top of each ear, which is often more comfortable for folks with very small or sensitive ear canals.

The sound quality is surprisingly decent for the price. The touch controls are easy to remember and not too sensitive. This pair has a sealed design but lacks active noise cancellation and a hear-through mode. However, either earbud can work independently, so you can choose to leave one ear open if you need situational awareness.

Jaybird Vista Earbuds

Solid all-rounder earbuds

Battery life: 8 hours, up to 24 hours with charging case

Water resistance: IP68 rating

Noise cancelling: Yes

Jaybird’s update to the Vista retains the long battery life and The build quality has dramatically improved, with more comfortable ear fins and a textured button that’s softer and easier to push.  For steady paced jogs, fast runs, and home HIIT workouts, these buds simply don’t budge.

The added app can also find your buds when you lose them or switch from noise-cancelling mode to let in ambient sound. Good level of clarity for calls. Includes various options when you toggle with the EQ levels.

Sennheiser Sport True Wireless

Excellent sounding wireless sports earbuds

Battery life: 9 hours, up to 27 hours with the charging case

Water resistance: IP54 rated

Noise cancelling: Transparent, No ANC

The Sport True Wireless earbuds aren’t noise-cancelling but they do have an awareness mode that allows ambient sound to leak into the buds so you can hear what’s going on around you for safety reasons. Featuring clean and well-balanced sound with punchy bass. 

They are mid-range sports earbuds that pack a punch when it comes to pure sound quality. With durable aesthetics, long battery life, personalised fit, and versatile sound, they stand out as a smart pick for those looking for sport earbuds.

Soundcore Sport X10

Affordable sports earbuds with ear hooks

Battery life: 8 hours, up to 32 hours with the charging case

Water resistance: IPX7-rated

ANC: Yes

The new Soundcore Sport X10 have an interesting design with rotating swivelling ear hooks that flip up when you’re using them and flip down when you want to set them in their charging case, which has a smaller footprint than a lot of buds with ear hooks. If you have small ears, the ear clip spins around the base. This both makes the case more compact and allows the bud to sit closer to your head. 

They also have active noise cancelling, which is effective. The sound is rich and layered, if a little bass-heavy. The accompanying Soundcore app is startlingly extensive. Not only can you turn on noise cancellation or ambient listening, but you can also pick between 20 EQ presets, pump up the bass, customise controls yourself, or do breathing exercises in warm-up or relaxation mode. 

Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro

The best Samsung headphones for working out

Battery life: 8 hours, up to 29 hours with charging case

Water resistant: IPX7 rated

ANC: Yes

Sound alone makes the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro worth the investment, giving you a high quality audio experience and compelling 3D sound with precise head tracking. Samsung’s ANC blocks out close to 90% of ambient noise. With a new design and smaller size, which make them a better fit for more ears. 

These buds operate well across all Bluetooth-enabled devices, Galaxy smartphone owners get to enjoy cool features like Easy Pairing and compatibility with Samsung’s Scalable Codec. 

Beats Powerbeats Pro

The best workout headphones for iOS users

Battery life : 9 hours; 24 hours with charging case

Water resistant: Yes, IPX4 rated

ANC: No

The Beats Powerbeats Pro include secure ear-hook design, energetic sound and the signature B logo that doubles as a multifunctional button. If you’re going to be doing a lot of jumping around, whether it be on boxes or doing burpees, these wireless headphones from Beats are ideal. The wing tips keep them locked in place, and even if they come loose, they won’t totally fall out of your ear. With the combination of incorporating all the features that make it great while delivering richer sound quality and better battery life is ultimately an all around win. 

Shokz OpenRun Pro

Best for Outdoor Workouts

Battery life: Up to 10 hours 

Water resistance: IP55 rating

Noise cancellation: For hands-free calls only

These aren’t your average earbuds or over-ear headphones, but a combination of both. The Shokz open-ear style headphones don’t cover your ears at all: The headband wraps around the back of the head while the headphones sit in front of the ear, resting on the cheekbone. The OpenRun Pro is the best bone-conduction headphones you can get right now. Bone conduction wireless headphones don’t go on your ears — they actually deliver sound to your ear through your cheekbones. The big benefit of this technology as a safety feature for running is that, thanks to its open design, you can hear what’s going on around you, traffic noise for example. 

They’re comfortable and fantastic for all outdoor workouts. You’re able to wear them running or hiking, while biking, skateboarding, or roller-skating under a helmet, and still hear everything around you. However, they don’t have a charging case, and a 10-hour battery life before recharging is significantly shorter than most other earbuds. 

Jabra Elite 7 Active

Best Overall 

Battery life: 8 hours, up to 30 hours with the charging case 

Water resistance: IP57  rating

Noise cancellation: Yes, active 

What sets these Jabra Elite 7 Active earbuds apart is their very intentional design for active lifestyles. They’re small and light. The Elite 7 Active have a new, soft silicone rubber ear tip that holds the buds securely in your ears. Whether you’re running, biking or bouncing around, these earbuds will stay firmly in your ears. 

That same secure fit enhances the active noise cancellation (ANC), which uses six microphones and has wind protection—useful if your workout activities are outdoors. The ANC turns on and off with the tap of a finger. And if you want to hear the ambient noise around you, Jabra’s adjustable HearThrough transparency mode can let that noise in as needed. In addition, you can customise the ANC using the Jabra Sound+ mobile app. The Sound+ app lets you customise the level of hear-through, meaning you can choose to let in more ambient noise if you’re running outside or washing dishes, or less if you’re in a gym. You can customise the hearing profile for listening to podcasts versus hip hop. 

Bose Sport Earbuds

Secure-fitting Bose sport earbuds

Battery life: 5 hours, 10 extra hours with charging case

Water resistance : IPX4 rating

Noise cancellation: Yes, active 

The Bose Sports Earbuds are among the lightest earbuds around, and make a great companion for the active lifestyle—whether running, cycling or working up a sweat indoors. Silicone wing tips help these sweat and water resistance. These earbuds stay in place regardless of your movements. They produce clear and crisp audio, with a volume-optimised active equaliser to optimise sound on-the-fly. Beam-forming microphones hone in on your voice during calls, and help mitigate the effects of wind.

Touch controls on the surface let you handle calls, music playback and volume, without needing your phone. And they work with both Apple Siri and Google Assistant for hands-free controls. You can pair these wireless earbuds with up to seven Bluetooth-compatible devices, including any smartphone or smartwatch.

Final Words

So, there you have the top ten different workout earbuds that you are able to buy on the market right now, for different uses as well. It is important to not just buy a pair of earbuds just because they are popular or look good but try and take into consideration what you are going to be using them for and what things or features will be most important to you.