Honorary mention
Photo: Adrienne
We try almost every new exercise bud that appears. These are some of the things we like too and don’t win the space above.
The Jabra Elite 8 Active 2 costs $180: In 2024, Jabra announced that this generation of elite active series will be the last one I hate because these series are the best. They are comfortable, safe, sound great, with a pleasant matte texture and a clever case. These will be outdated within two years. I cried.
Jlab Epic Sport ANC 3 priced at $100: Here is an upgraded version of the Go Air Sport above, with a hybrid dual driver for better sound, higher IP rating, better battery life and active noise noise. You need a fully sealed fit to make the ANC work, and these don’t; I can still hear people in the gym when I lift weights. Still, these headphones satisfy their promises in other ways and do feel very safe.
The H2O Audio Tri 2 Pro Multi-Sport costs $200: These are the first iterations of the brand’s waterproof headphones, with better fit, better buttons and a better silicone finish. I like the charging case too! However, they are more expensive than the Shokz and use a proprietary charger instead of USB-C, which is annoying.
Anker Soundcore Aerofit 2 costs $100: I love the price, the beautiful colors and the sound is great. However, they are a little bigger than some of our other draft picks and are less secure in fit.
jlab jbuds mini priced at $40: If I spend my own money, I would buy a pair of JLAB workout buds and finish it. Last year, I appreciated these adorable little buds, which are also our best guide to wireless earbuds.
$129 for Suunto Sonic: If you want to try neckband-style headphones like the shokz above, but for cheap, Sawh also likes these lightweight headphones and has a balanced sound profile.
Shokz OpenRun Pro costs $160: These headphones still work well and are smaller than the new version. There is another Mini Edition ($130) My favorite neck straps are almost a few inches short because I am Smol.
$70 Speck Gemtones Sport: These are cheap and suitable. These buttons are a little too sensitive and the sound is obviously more vague than most of our other options, but they are not Bad.
Discords about dishonest
There is nothing more annoying than doing exercises during a while of the day, stepping out the door and realizing that you can’t listen to your funny podcast. These are what I hate.
Photo: Amazon
Raycon Bone Conducting Headphones cost $85: I don’t know these sound good because they press directly on the top of my ear canal, where they buzz, where my eardrums instead of my bones. This is unbearable.
Anker Soundcore C40i costs $100: These make all my worst imaginations about the open buds. They fell before I ran a block along my street. I kept them in my pocket and didn’t wear them any more for the rest of the run.
Oladance Sport, priced at $180: These have high IPX scores and sounds well. However, the neck straps are too big for me so they keep falling off and the buttons are hard to use and unpleasant.
1 More Fit opens for $130: Don’t buy these. They sound ok, but the buttons are so sensitive that I can’t take more than five minutes without the song skipping or turning off the music.
The price of Suunto Wing is $200: These look really nice and come with a bunch of thoughtful accessories like a suitcase and a charging holder. But they sound too subtle.
The Suunto Aqua sells for $115: I hope Suunto improves its software experience. The lifeguards at the pool actually yelled at me because they tried to make these jobs work. For this reason alone, I had to continue using the Shokz headphones above.
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