The best wireless workout headphones for 2024

Connectivity: Wi-fi | Model: In-ear with wingtip | Assistant help: Google Assistant, Siri

Read our full review of the Beats Fit Pro

The Beats Fit Pro got here out on the head of the pack because of their snug, 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 lightweight, 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 while you’re transferring round so much be it throughout a morning jog or whereas taking a HIIT class. The buds are additionally IPX4 rated — not the very best quantity of safety I encountered, however sufficient to maintain the buds working properly even throughout my sweatiest periods.

Because it had been, the Beats Match Professional stayed put throughout each single exercise. Nonetheless, adjusting their place on the fly can result in one among my few gripes with the buds: unintended presses of the onboard controls. There have been various instances once 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 stable and notably nice for exercising because of its punchy bass and total balanced profile. Spatial audio help is nice to have, and whereas Adaptive EQ means you’ll be able to’t modify the EQ your self like you’ll be able to 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 admire; these earbuds are a real unbox-and-go choice. ANC can be sturdy and transparency mode will come in 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 properly with iPhones because of 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 concerning the setup course of as a result of, properly, 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 offers an additional 21 hours of charging on prime of the buds’ promised six hours of life, the construct high quality seems like an actual step down in comparison with the buds themselves. Other than that and the contact controls, although, the Beats Match Professional supply a whole package deal for athletes, one which can be utilized all day along with coaching periods. Plus, their normal $200 worth isn’t too cost-prohibitive, they usually can usually be discovered on sale for much less.

Connectivity: Wi-fi | Model: In-ear | Assistant help: Siri, Google Assistant

The Jabra Elite 8 Active nearly bested the Beats Match Professional, however in the end the latter received because of their wingtip design and extra natural-sounding transparency mode. However apart from these two issues, the Elite 8 Energetic are simply nearly as good, if not higher, than the Match Professional.

Initially, the Elite 8 Energetic has one of many highest sturdiness rankings of any earbuds we examined. Rated IP68, it’s protected towards all types of mud and particles and it’ll survive being submerged in water at excessive strain. Jabra additionally subjected the Elite 8 Energetic to military-grade testing, defending them from extreme humidity, excessive temperature, rain and altitude. That is extra safety than most want, however it is going to doubtless give some folks peace of thoughts to know that these buds can take a beating (and, most vital, they’ve basically sweatproof).

That further safety doesn’t make the Elite 8 Energetic cumbersome or unattractive as one would possibly assume. These buds are a number of the most snug I attempted, with a light-weight design and a safe match. The soft-touch end on the buds and their charging case provides a degree of luxurious that the majority othersI examined didn’t have, too. There are onboard controls as properly, they usually’re not as straightforward to by accident press as these on the Beats Match Professional.

The Elite 8 Energetic has an excellent sound profile out of the field however you’ll be able to modify the EQ throughout the companion cell app. The app has six preconfigured settings to select from too, and I discovered myself utilizing Bass Enhance and Energize most of all whereas exercising (they’re fairly comparable with sturdy bass, however Energize emphasizes highs a bit extra). The Elite 8 Energetic positively has a bonus over the Beats Match Professional for anybody who prefers to customise EQ, or needs to have totally different sound profiles relying on what they’re doing. On prime of that, these buds help spatial sound with Dolby Audio.

The Elite 8 Energetic help adaptive noise cancelation, they usually do job of analyzing your surroundings and blocking out interferences. “HearThrough” is Jabra’s model of transparency mode, and it’s the setting to make use of when operating exterior in a metropolis or an space with a number of visitors. Sound isn’t drowned out by wind on this mode both since HearThrough is designed to neutralize wind noise whereas additionally letting you keep conscious of your environment. I ran in some notably windy climate whereas testing these out, and I had constantly good listening experiences each with HearThrough and ANC activated.

As for battery life, the Elite 8 Energetic will get eight hours on a cost with ANC turned on, and an extra 24 hours when using their charging case. You may stand up to 56 hours of complete use in case you’re not utilizing ANC, which is outstanding. The case additionally helps wi-fi charging, a characteristic that the Beats Match Professional’s lacks, and it additionally feels extra substantial.

In the end, you’ll be able to’t go unsuitable with both the Beats Match Professional or the Jabra Elite 8 Energetic. However Jabra’s buds supply a bit extra customization and sturdiness than the Beats Match Professional, and never everybody will want the latter’s bonus options. Nonetheless, in case you’re an athlete who likes to mess around with sound profiles or need a number of the most sturdy wi-fi earbuds obtainable at the moment, the Jabra Elite 8 Energetic are those to get.

Connectivity: Wi-fi | Model: In-ear | Assistant help: Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant

The Jabra Elite 4 Active supply the most effective worth for the cash of any choose on our checklist. For $120, you get an IP57-rated design, stable sound high quality with adjustable EQ, good ANC, the identical HearThrough transparency mode that the Elite 8 Energetic have, app connectivity and a complete of 28 hours of battery life. These had been a number of the best buds for me to “choose up and go” with, whether or not it was for an impromptu stroll across the block, a sweaty HIIT session in my basement or an hour of labor during which I actually wanted to dam out distractions and get issues carried out.

Just like the Elite 8 Energetic, the Elite 4 Energetic is tremendous snug and Jabra has actually gotten the onboard controls proper on this collection of buds. The buttons will not be really easy to press that you simply by accident set off them everytime you modify the match, they usually present satisfying suggestions while you truly do deliberately press them. Sound high quality and ANC are spectacular, and I mainly by no means needed to fear about operating out of battery.

The principle variations between the Elite 4 Energetic and the costlier Elite 8 Energetic are that the latter have the next IP ranking, voice steering, spatial sound help with Dolby Audio, an extended total battery life (56 hours with the charging case) and that satisfying soft-touch end. The IP ranking and prolonged battery life are the 2 important options that might compel some to spend the additional cash on the Elite 8 Energetic as a substitute. Additionally, spatial audio is sweet to have when you have the buds semi-permanently positioned in your ears consistently pumping out tunes, whatever the exercise. In any other case, although, you’re getting a ton of fantastic options with these $120 earbuds.

Connectivity: Wi-fi | Model: In-ear with hook | Assistant help: None

When you have lower than $50 to spend, the $30 JLab Go Air Sport are an excellent choice. I didn’t have excessive expectations going into testing these buds, however I used to be shortly impressed by their consolation and sound high quality. Plenty of headphones designed for exercises have this hook that wraps across the prime of your ear, and it does assist the Go Air Sport keep securely connected to your head. The hooks listed below are fairly versatile and have a soft-touch end, which provides to their consolation (I attempted a couple of equally designed buds with a lot stiffer hooks that had been a ache in additional methods than one.) Admittedly, this design will take some getting used to in case you’re new to it, but it surely’s a surefire technique to get a bit of further stability throughout excessive depth exercises.

Sound high quality is fairly good on these buds as properly, though not almost as balanced as that of the Jabra Elite 8 Energetic or the Beats Match Professional. I additionally admire you can cycle by way of three totally different EQ modes — Signature, Balanced and Bass Enhance — utilizing the buds’ onboard controls. There’s no app to fuss with, and that was a pleasant change of tempo after largely testing buds with some form of app connectivity.

You may anticipate eight hours of playtime on the Go Air Sport, plus one other 24 hours of battery life with its charging case. Whereas the USB-A cable constructed into the underside of the case is useful, I really feel prefer it must be a USB-C connector as a substitute (it’s the yr 2024, in spite of everything). The case can be on the cumbersome facet; you’ll be able to nonetheless throw it right into a backpack or purse simply, but it surely’s not as svelte as instances you’ll see on costlier buds.

Connectivity: Wi-fi | Model: Open-ear | Assistant help: None

I used to be apprehensive about open-ear headphones, particularly throughout exercises. However the Shokz OpenFit pleasantly stunned me from the primary time I put them on. Earbuds with open designs like this permit for extra situational consciousness, with the objective being to let noise in fairly than block it out. The OpenFit buds do an excellent job of this with out skimping on sound high quality or consolation.

The buds themselves nearly float over your ear cavern and Shokz’s soft-finish “dolphin arc” hook is versatile sufficient to securely wrap across the prime 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, energy coaching and indoor biking. Granted, none of these workout routines contain shaking your head up or down or facet to facet an excessive amount of; perhaps don’t put on the OpenFit to hearken to head-banging dying metallic (in case you can’t management your self).

Sound high quality is stable contemplating the design, and the OpenFit will get fairly loud as properly. These buds have Shokz’s Direct Pitch expertise, which makes use of reverse sound waves to optimize the gap and angle from the buds to your ear canal. The corporate claims this helps preserve the sound directed in the direction of your ear and reduces audio leakage. In my testing, I discovered that to be true to a sure extent. The OpenFit had the most effective sound high quality and total quantity out of the entire open-ear gadgets I attempted, however in case you crank the amount as much as the max (or shut), the particular person subsequent to you’ll positively hear what you’re listening to. Total, these are an excellent choice for anybody who doesn’t discover in-ear buds notably snug, or those that simply choose to have extra consciousness of their environment whereas understanding.