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Below is a list of previously-tested headphones that are still available. To read more about our current picks, check out the guides: Workout Headphones and Running Headphones
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Model NameOur Thoughts
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Adidas FWD-02 SportAdidas gets a few things very right with this pair of true wireless earbuds. The earbud shape is one of the most comfortable we’ve ever tried, and the inclusion of five pairs of wings and four pairs of tips ensures a secure fit on a wide variety of ear shapes. The charge case is small and lightweight, and should fit easily into the key pocket of running shorts. However, the FWD-02 Sport also gets a lot wrong. The open mesh fabric lid on the case seems to be designed to allow airflow, but it won’t protect your earbuds from dust. (You shouldn’t put your earbuds away when they’re wet from sweat.) We also worry how well that fabric would hold up over time. The controls lack the ability to adjust volume or call up your phone’s digital assistant, and they do not work consistently—we often paused tracks when we meant to skip them. And the sound is a boomy mess with harsh, sizzling highs that aren’t fixable using the app-based EQ adjustments.
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Adidas RPT-02 SolThis on-ear headphone pair looks cool, and its solar charging is a neat idea. But in our testing it proved to be less practical than we’d hoped. The headphones are heavy, and the mesh earcups pressed uncomfortably into our ears, leaving them marked up like one’s thighs might be after sitting in a wicker seat while wearing shorts. On top of that, unfortunately, the bass was boomy and formless, as though someone had put a subwoofer under a blanket.
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Adidas Z.N.E. 01 ANCThough this pair sounds quite good, the ANC isn’t very effective, the tap controls are prone to miscommunication, and the stem/sound tube lengths don’t allow for the earbud to seat deeply in the ear canal, so many folks may find it impossible to get a secure fit.
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Apple AirPodsThese earbuds aren’t rated as sweat resistant—and because Apple’s warranty doesn’t apply to water or sweat damage, if the AirPods short out, you’re out of luck.
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Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation)Although the IPX4 rating of the AirPods Pro means they’re protected from some mild sweat damage, these earbuds aren’t our first choice for regular gym use. The vented design on the 1st-gen model allows in external noise, and the noise cancellation on both models can’t reduce the sound of weights clanking or the lyrics of the pop music piped onto the gym floor. Both versions of the AirPods Pro earbuds stay in place during moderate movement, but people who do very high-impact workouts (such as burpee tuck jumps) may find that the earbuds can slip out of place. Additionally, the controls are fiddly and can be tricky to activate while you’re on the move.
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Attitud EarSportThis pair places drivers above the ear, aimed down, to avoid blocking the ear canals. The Ear Sport pair offers more bass response than bone-conduction headphones, but the overall sound quality is coarse. The build quality felt flimsy for the original $140 price tag, and one tester said that the headband didn’t really stay in place until he was sweaty.
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Aukey EP-T32This pair is our former budget pick that’s been discontinued. We heard from readers who were discouraged by Aukey’s inability to fulfill its promised warranty, using excuses or ignoring what appears to us to be valid warranty claims. We reached out to Aukey for comment and got no response. It’s for this reason that we don’t foresee ourselves recommending any headphones from this brand in the future, and we recommend you steer clear as well.
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Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 SportWe like the fit, the durable IP57 dust- and water-resistance rating, and the easy-to-use controls on this pair. In our tests, the sound quality was somewhat over-boosted in the bass and highs, so cymbal and snare hits could become fatiguing for sensitive listeners, and the bass could seem louder than usual. The hear-through feature produced results that sounded sibilant and distractingly unnatural, so it wasn’t something we’d leave on for situational awareness; for brief conversations, though, it’s fine. Your voice may sound a bit tinny to callers, and the mic picks up sounds around you, so you probably won’t want to take calls on the gym floor or in a crowded outdoor space (not that you’d ever do that anyway). Overall, the flaws aren’t massive, and we would likely include the Beoplay E8 Sport pair in the Other good workout headphones section if not for its high price tag–– for $350 we expect better performance. Additionally, if you lose a Beoplay E8 Sport earbud, the stakes are higher, as a replacement will set you back $125 per earbud.
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Beats Powerbeats 3These earbuds have a tricky fit that drastically affects the sound quality and prompts lots of reports of shorting out. When they do fit properly, they offer a fun, bass-heavy sound, but half of our panel couldn’t get them to seal effectively.
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Beats Powerbeats ProThe Powerbeats Pro fits well and sounds great, but isn’t IP-certified, so we’d recommend that anyone who sweats profusely or runs in the rain frequently should stick with one of our picks. The Powerbeats Pro comes with a one-year warranty, but Beats isn’t specific about sweat-damage coverage, so we’d exercise caution.
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Beats Studio BudsThese earbuds have a diminutive size that will help them fit most ears well, but because they lack wings or hooks, people with small ear canals may find that they feel less stable. Although the IPX4 water-resistance rating means the Studio Buds can travel with you to the gym, they might not stay put for dynamic workouts.The control buttons are well designed—they are generally easy to find by feel and to press without painfully mashing the earbuds into your ear canal—but they lack volume control. Unlike other Beats headphones, the Studio Buds work with Android one-touch pairing in addition to pairing to Apple mobile devices with ease, and they support the voice assistants for both mobile operating systems—but that also means that they don’t support “always listening” Siri.
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Cleer ArcThe Arc is essentially a pair of small speakers that rest on top of your ears, a design that allows unencumbered situational awareness but is not ideal for a gym environment where you want to block out the noise. Also, the hinged earbud design squeezes the upper ear, which can become uncomfortable after 20 minutes or so. And the microphones sounded distant and muffled over phone calls in our tests.
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Cleer Roam SportAlthough the stabilizing wings on this pair are pliable and comfortable, the shape of the earbuds is such that several testers (who use medium and large tips) were unable to get the earbuds deep enough into their ears to achieve a seal, which negatively impacted both the active noise cancellation and the sound quality. Even when used with third-party tips that fit our ears properly, the Roam Sport’s noise cancellation wasn’t exceptional. If the earbuds happen to fit you, the hear-through mode is surprisingly natural, and the sound quality is decent.
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Google Pixel Buds Pro
The main reason to get the Pixel Buds Pro set is a desire to stay in the Google device ecosystem. Though the earbuds are IPX4 water resistant, and the case is IPX2 rated, the design of this pair may not be secure enough, especially for ears on either end of the size spectrum. Although the outer part of each earbud looks small, the part that actually sits inside the ear is on the wider side, so even medium-sized ears may feel a sense of fullness when wearing these. That said, if you don’t do high-impact workouts or don’t have problems with earbuds staying put in general, the Pixel Buds Pro is a good, though somewhat pricey, pair of earbuds. The battery life of seven hours (with ANC on) is decent, and the ANC is useful, if not the absolute best among the headphones we’ve tested. Overall, the Pixel Buds Pro is a solid pair of earbuds, but nothing about it is superlative.
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Jabra Elite 4 ActiveWe love the fit, the high water and dust resistance, and the controls of this pair, but its device connectivity is fussy, its microphone sounds muffled on calls, and its active noise cancellation is middling. If call quality and noise cancellation aren’t a priority for you, these earbuds are a good buy for around $80. For the original price of $120, however, we want a seamless experience.
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Jabra’s Elite 7 Pro and Elite 7 Active Both pairs have a standard wingless/hookless earbud design that is comfortable for a range of ear shapes. However, people with very small ear canals, those who jog, or those who do high-impact moves may find the Elite 7 style doesn’t feel as secure. We like the IP57 water-resistance rating, eight-hour battery life, and an additional 30 hours in the charging case. With a little EQ adjustment, the sound is great. However, the noise cancellation is less than we’d hoped to get from earbuds at this price
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Jaybird Vista 2We like the fit, size, single-bud capabilities, and impressive moisture and dust rating of IP68 (the case is IP54-rated). When they work properly, the Vista 2 earbuds are wonderful. However, we had two separate sets fail during our testing process. Although the third pair worked great, other people continue to experience issues at a frequency that makes us reluctant to recommend these.
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JBL Endurance Peak 3 If you prefer earbuds that hook over the ear, this pair offers great performance and a few nice bonus features. We like the adjustable side-tone for phone calls, the nimble EQ in the app that enabled us to adjust the sound to our liking, and the IP68 dust and water resistance. However, the charging case is quite large (similar in size to a bar of soap), and the Peak 3’s touch controls require you to choose between volume, hear-through mode activation, and track controls––you can’t have all three. The Peak 3 would be worthy of a nod, but the similarly designed Tribit MoveBuds H1 costs less, has a longer battery life, and includes a full suite of controls. However, if you want something very similar to the JBL Reflect Aero TWS in a hook-over-the-ear form, the Peak 3 is an option.
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JBL Reflect Mini NCThis pair offers a lot of excellent features in common with our top pick, the JBL Reflect Aero TWS set, including a diminutive earbud and case size, solid (IP57) sweat resistance, decent noise isolation, a hear-through awareness mode, and EQ adjustability. Similarly, folks with the smallest and largest ear sizes who struggle to keep true wireless earbuds in place may benefit from the Reflect Mini NC design’s stabilizing wings. However, the touch-based controls are limited and were occasionally temperamental in our tests—even thick hair that isn’t pulled back may interfere with the accuracy of the tap response. Although this pair isolated well in our tests, the active noise reduction was minimal at best. Overall, these earbuds are solid, but we like the Reflect Aero TWS set better.
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JLab Epic Air Sport ANCThis pair felt comfortable to wear overall, and we like the case’s built-in USB cable. The active noise cancellation was mild, but it took the edge off low hums like that of an air conditioner. In our tests, we found the sound quality on the primary EQ setting to be bass-heavy but not terribly so; on bass-intense songs, we could still hear male vocals clearly enough. The app has EQ that can balance out the lows if you spend the time to make adjustments. The claimed 11 to 15 hours of battery life is quite impressive. The only real issue we had was with the touch-based controls, which we found rather finicky—for example, when we meant to adjust the volume, we instead paused the music. In the middle of a workout, this type of thing could be frustrating. But if you don’t plan on using the controls frequently, this pair is otherwise a decent option.
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JLab JBuds Air SportThis pair is a decent affordable true wireless alternative for the gym. The over-ear hooks keep the earbuds secure, the six-hour battery life is good, and the set’s IP66 rating and two-year warranty are impressive. But the semi-flexible hooks can rub larger ears and aren’t quite as comfortable for longer wearing sessions, while the touch-based controls can be a bit fiddly, especially when you’re in motion. In our tests, the sound options were at best super boomy with sibilant highs.
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JLab Open SportThe JLab Open Sport design sits outside the ear canal, similar to the Bose Sport Open pair, which we like as an option for unobstructed hearing in our running earbuds guide. The speakers detach from the hooks and can be threaded onto the arms of glasses, which is an interesting idea. Unfortunately, in our tests the controls were finicky, and the sound was all upper mids and coarse highs. If you listen only to podcasts, books, and voice coaching when you’re working out, these headphones might be worth a try, but if music is your main motivator, this set won’t give you the bass and guitar you might be accustomed to.
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Klipsch T5 II True Wireless Sport Klipsch T5 II True Wireless Sport and Klipsch T5 II True Wireless Sport McLaren Edition: These two pairs are largely the same, so we decided to discuss them together. The earbud fit is comfortable and easy to customize, thanks to the inclusion of six pairs of silicone tips and one pair of foam tips along with three sizes of wings. The tips are proprietary and snap into place, but unfortunately the wings slip out of position rather easily—every time we took our test pair out of our ears, the wings would slide loose—so we are concerned that those pieces could easily fall off and get lost. The charging case features a design we haven’t seen before: It’s water resistant on the outside and has a vented inner lid that holds moisture-absorbing beads. Klipsch says this design will prevent your sweaty earbuds from getting gross if you put them away wet. (It also means that the case sounds like an egg shaker in your bag or pocket—not a dealbreaker, but some folks may find that irritating.) With both sets of earbuds, the sound quality was quite good in our tests, offering clear highs that avoided sibilance and sizzling cymbal sounds, as well as enough bass to produce some oomph without overwhelming. The large control buttons were easy to use and didn’t hurt to depress. We found the microphone quality over calls to be quite good, too. However, we didn’t care for the hear-through mode, which sounded distractingly unnatural and emphasized high frequencies as though we were holding tin cans around our ears. We also discovered that you must power these earbuds down manually: After we placed both pairs into their respective cases and sealed the lid on each, they both remained connected to our phone. This point is worth remembering if you want to preserve their battery life. Overall, both earbud pairs were quite good, but due to their numerous nuisance-level flaws, we couldn’t quite justify their asking prices.
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LifeBeam Vi Sense and Vi ReactThe Vi sets are part fitness tracker, part subscription-based virtual running coach, part headphones. Both earbud designs had issues in our tests. The collar design slipped around on some of our testers’ necks, and the stems on the earbuds bent at an angle that made the remote bump into our testers’ faces when they were in full-gallop mode.
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Monster DNA FitThe eyeglass-sized case is large and unwieldy. When we tried to download the app, the Monster site said it was unavailable. The noise cancellation was barely effective. When music played, the bass was so formless and blurry, it was difficult to tell when individual notes actually hit. But we did appreciate the inclusion of 22 pairs of ear tips.
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Mu6 Ring
This pair is designed to be an alternative to bone-conduction technology for folks who don’t like headphones or earbuds that cover their ears. It’s a good idea, but it’s poorly executed. The fit is uncomfortably tight even on small heads, so the design won’t work on people with low ponytails, thick and curly hair, or larger hat sizes. Additionally, in our tests the sound lacked any bass response, with only overtones present.
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MW08 Sport - Master & DynamicThese are less workout-specific earbuds and more luxury earbuds that you can use for workouts. Their IPX5 rating is sufficient for handling any sweat or water you encounter. These earbuds felt secure enough for us to use them at the gym, but we wish they had stabilizing wings to keep them in place for high-impact activities—especially outdoors, where the stakes of losing an errant $350 earbud are higher. We cover the MW08 Sport pair’s merits as a set of day-to-day earbuds in our guide to Bluetooth earbuds.
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Nothing Ear (Stick)If you prefer earbuds that don’t completely block your ear canal, or you’re looking for a more device-agnostic version of the Apple AirPods, the Nothing Ear (Stick) is a more affordable option. Like the AirPods, the Ear (Stick) rests in (without sealing) your ear, has a stem hanging down, and uses squeeze-based controls. Unlike the AirPods, the Ear (Stick) has full controls (including volume), IP54 dust and water resistance, and an app that allows you to adjust the EQ––but it lacks Apple niceties like always-listening Siri, “Find My” tracking, and spatial audio capabilities. As with all unsealed earbuds, the Ear (Stick) lacks bass response out of the box. This can be somewhat addressed by using the app-based EQ to set the bass to maximum, but bass lovers may still feel that music with electronic basslines lacks oomph. Because the earbuds can handle some sweat and the design allows you to hear your surroundings, these are a possible option for runners, but the fit isn’t incredibly secure. If you have a bouncy stride, you may be at risk of losing one. Unsealed earbuds also can be risky for your hearing health if you need to increase the volume to obscure sounds around you. The charging case is cylindrical, about the length of a lighter but thicker. It looks cool, but whether it’s easier to carry than other designs is a matter of opinion.
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Oladance OWS 1Although we like the full suite of controls you get here, this pair is lacking in bass, has a large case, and also has a very strong chemical smell.
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Oladance OWS 2The case for this pair is so large it looks like it could hold eyeglasses. The sound is very midrange-forward, and the bass is lacking. What really surprised us was the strong Pine Sol–like odor coming off the rubber. If you’re sensitive to smells, this pair is a pass.
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OneOdio Open Rock ProWe like the unique case, which opens like a hinged plastic Easter egg, and the fact that this pair has the full suite of controls. However, the ear hook’s inflexible design is less comfortable than others we tested, and the sound, while not overly objectionable, isn’t anything spectacular.
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Philips Go A4216 Wireless Sports HeadphonesWhat makes this affordable over-ear pair both intriguing and divisive are its cooling earpads. The gel inside the earpads makes your ears feel cold. It’s a dry cold, almost “minty” like the effect of Tiger Balm. If you tend to overheat during workouts, this might be a welcome sensation, perhaps if you use it in combination with other temperature-control measures. Or it might just feel weird, especially since the earcups don’t have a ton of airflow—while the pads will feel cold, your inner ears will still feel hot. What we can say for certain is that the sound quality in our tests was very good for the price, and the buttons were easy to use. For workouts lasting an hour or less, the headband was comfortable enough; over longer durations, however, the rubber band across the underside of the headband started to dig in annoyingly. The microphones sounded as if we were under a blanket during calls.
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Raycon The Fitness Earbuds
These notably small earbuds fit securely and have the most adorably tiny charging case we’ve ever seen. However, their touch controls can be tricky, as the surface area is minuscule, and you must tap with a fairly slow, regular cadence—which is not easy to accomplish when you’re on the move. We wish this pair had personally adjustable EQ options, since in our tests the bass boost was broad and overwhelming, and the mids were recessed. Male vocals got lost no matter what preset we chose. The hear-through mode sounded dull, which is passable for quick conversations but not useful if you need longer-term situational awareness.
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Sennheiser CX SportAlthough the earbuds themselves are small and comfortable, their remote and their Bluetooth transmitter are massive—make any large movement, and they clang into your face. The cable is also long and prone to snagging. A sibilant, piercing treble sound profile doesn’t help matters.
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Skullcandy Grind Fuel
This set has a bunch of nifty features, such as the voice-assistant system that doesn't require an internet connection to function (though you need to leave the Skullcandy app open). It also offers voice-activated Spotify and the ability to use the earbud button as a remote to take a picture with your phone’s camera. Unfortunately, the voice-activation system can be fussy in windy conditions, and although the fit is comfortable, these earbuds are not as stable in the ear as our top picks are.
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Skullcandy Push ActiveThis set features the same voice-assistant system as the Grind Fuel does, but we were less enthusiastic about the fit of this pair. The earbuds are large, and the hook doesn’t arch over the ear as on most earbuds; instead, it seems to sit like a backward C. Our test panelists with smaller ears found the fit odd but passible. However, anyone who has larger ears or ears that stick out may find that these simply don’t fit.
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Skullcandy Sesh EvoThe Sesh Evo earbuds offer a fun, bass-forward sound, a comfortable fit, water resistance (with an IP55 rating), easy-to-use controls, Tile integration, and USB-C charging. Though the battery life, at five hours per charge, is an improvement on the three hours for the original Sesh pair, it’s still a middle-of-the-road length of time for true wireless earbuds. Fortunately, you get 19 hours from the included charging case, which is small enough to fit in a pocket.
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Soul Electronics S-FitWe love the fit of the S-Fit—the earbuds themselves are small, and the rubbery stabilizer wings grip the ears and feel especially secure. The IP67 rating is a great insurance policy against sweat and dirt, too. However, the S-Fit set lacks volume and track-reverse controls. This wouldn’t be a dealbreaker on its own, but unfortunately the sound is also lacking—in our tests, it was dull and muffled in a way that made us turn up the volume to hear better, but instead of clarity and detail we just got more boomy, blurry bass. Plus, the hear-though feature had a small but perceptible delay, which seemed odd to us during conversations. Unfortunately, these flaws overshadow a fantastic earbud design.
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Soundcore by Anker Spirit Dot 2Overall, these earbuds are okay. Included wings in three sizes help to keep the Spirit Dot 2 set in your ears securely. In our tests, the bass muffled male voices somewhat, and the mildly coarse higher-frequency range caused cymbals to have a shushing quality. Though the touch-based controls weren’t as prone to misfire as others we tried, we missed having volume controls and track-reverse options. Additionally, the thin material of the ear tips can crinkle up in your ear and cause them to get stuck when you pull the earbuds out, as one of our panelists found. None of these flaws are dealbreakers, but with so many great options for us to choose from, these earbuds missed out on being a pick.
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Soundcore by Anker Spirit X2Overall, the fit and the water resistance are the best things about the Spirit X2 pair. The earbuds look a little weird, but winglets combined with a hook-over-the-ear design keep them securely in place. However, the controls aren’t intuitive and take a little getting used to. In our tests, the sound had a hissing quality that made cymbals sound tinny and added a tape-hiss noise to everything, and the bass was a bit blobby, too. If you need affordable true wireless earbuds with extra stability and aren’t too picky about sound, this pair is a decent option—but not a challenger to our top picks.
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Soundcore by Anker Sport X10The noise cancellation, ambient awareness, and fit are quite nice on this pair. However, you will likely want to do some serious tinkering in the app to adjust the sound, which is super bass-forward with sizzly high frequencies out of the box. We also don’t know why there isn’t an option to call up your digital assistant. Overall these had a lot of potential but are missing a few key elements.
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Soundcore by Anker Sport X10
The noise cancellation, ambient awareness, and fit are quite nice on this pair, but you’d likely want to do some serious tinkering in the app to adjust the sound, which in our tests was super bass-forward with sizzly high frequencies out of the box. We also don’t know why there isn’t an option to call up your digital assistant. Overall, these headphones had a lot of potential but are missing a few key elements.
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Under Armour True Wireless StreakThe Streak lands in the middle of the pack. For everything we like about this pair, there’s another aspect we don’t like. We love the triangle-shaped cutout on the stabilizing wings, which ensures that you put the wing on the earbuds correctly. But the earbuds themselves are thicker and wider than we prefer, and the material on the wings is a little stiff, which in our tests made the Streak pair a less comfortable fit than other, more ergonomically designed earbuds we’ve tried. We liked the hear-through capabilities, but we found that the Bionic Hearing speech-optimized setting sounded too bizarre for actual use in a conversation. The sound quality was good but not great: Bass guitar sounded veiled, and the set produced a high-frequency spike that wasn’t quite natural. And although the touch controls were less tricky overall than on many other pairs we tested, we found ourselves getting startled and annoyed when the last media we had accessed on our phone would start playing as we were just putting the earbuds in our ears.
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Underwater Audio Swimbuds SyrynThis is a former pick that’s still good, but we like the Waterproof Mighty Vibe better. The package includes waterproof headphones, a waterproof MP3 player, and fit-enhancement gel for around $60. You can choose among three bundles, each with a different earbud style included. We tested both the less-expensive Flip earbuds and the more-customizable Sport earbuds and were equally happy with the two. If you typically find that most traditional earbuds fit fine once you choose the right size tip, the Flip set is likely your best bet. If you have smaller ear canals, you may want to try the Color earbuds, which each have a support arm that may assist in gripping your outer ear and taking some pressure off the ear canal. People with larger ear canals—as well as those who find it a struggle to get a good seal with most earbuds—are likely to favor the Sport design, which comes with a wide variety of tips and shields to prevent water from entering your ear canal (and ruining the sound). Finding the proper tip size to get an airtight seal may take a few tries, and Underwater Audio includes a gel called FitGoo to assist in that process, but we found that once we had the correct size we no longer needed any goo. The Syryn MP3 player is lightweight and unobtrusive, with simple controls that are easy to use. The downside is that the Syryn does not play DRM-protected MP4 or AAC files or music from any streaming service (like the Mighty Vibe can). So if you don’t actually own the track, you won’t be able to play it.
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Zygo Solo This is a swim-headphone system that uses radio frequencies rather than Bluetooth to enable you to hear audio underwater. Basically, it’s like listening to FM while you swim, but the radio station is your mobile device. The transmitter doubles as a walkie-talkie, too, so your coach or trainer can give you instructions while you are in motion. It’s a cool concept, especially for serious competitive swimmers, swim teams, or synchronized swimmers. (In fact, Zygo sells bundled sets that can work together for around $1,000.) The headset itself uses bone conduction, which can result in less-than-stellar sound quality in comparison with traditional earbuds, especially if it doesn’t fit snugly or if you don’t use earplugs to keep competing sounds from reaching your ears. You don’t get any controls on the headset to adjust what you’re listening to. Plus, you have to leave both your mobile device and the transmitter poolside, which, depending on how much you trust the folks at your swim club, might make you feel uncomfortable. And it’s not cheap: The system costs $300. All of those caveats were enough for us to avoid naming the Zygo Solo as a pick here, but people who swim extensively daily or competitively may want to give it a try.
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