BEST GYM HEADPHONES 2023
Want some musical motivation for your workouts? These are the best gym headphones to buy in 2023
The right music can really help you push through a tough workout. But what if the tunes your gym pumps out for everyone to “enjoy” don’t quite hit the spot? The answer is simple: grab a pair of the best gym headphones and enjoy your own personal playlist, or your choice of radio station or podcast.
Not all headphones are ideal for a gym environment, though, or for extended exercise sessions. Here’s our guide to the best gym headphones, to suit whatever your favourite style of workout and budget is, along with all the key questions you need to asking when buying a pair.
The first question is what you’re going to be doing in the gym – whether you’re going to be moving around a lot, and how sweaty you expect to get. If you’ve fully embraced the HIIT hype, for example, you’ll want lightweight headphones that can shrug off sweat and won’t fall out when you jump around. If you’re more into slow weights workouts, your muscles might be screaming but you won’t necessarily be moving or sweating very much, so you can go for heavier on-ear headphones, should you so desire.
What type of headphones do I want?
Wireless headphones give you more freedom to move about without worrying about getting snagged or tangled, but they’re generally more expensive than wired models – and you have to remember to top up the battery from time to time.
As for design, over-ear or on-ear headphones usually have better sound quality than in-ear, but can quickly come to feel hot and heavy during an intense workout, not to mention an increased risk of slipping or falling off mid-workout. In-ear headphones also give you the choice of an ear-plug or a more open design. The former is great for getting in the zone and shutting out the outside world – but that won’t make you popular if someone’s shouting at you for hogging the squat rack and you don’t hear them.
What else should I look out for?
Ideally, look for headphones that are waterproof, or at least water-resistant – you want to be sure they’ll survive your sweatiest gym sessions intact. Headphones’ water-resistance is reflected by their IP rating. An IP rating of IPX4 or above certifies them equipped to resist splashes from any direction – we’d recommend at least this level of protection.
If you opt for in-ear headphones, check that they come with a good selection of different-sized buds to make sure you get a good fit. Finally, and crucially, if you go wireless, check the battery life before you buy, and whether the headphones have a quick-charge function. The latter can be a godsend if you only discover that you’re out of juice as you’re about to leave for the gym: some headphones can eke out an hour of use from just 10-15 minutes of charging.
You may also want to consider headphones with active noise cancellation, which is often referred to as ANC. These use in-built microphones to analyse external sound and then play the exact inverse of that sound alongside your music to help drown out unwanted noise. A list of our favourite active noise-cancelling headphones can be found here, but you’ll want to avoid the over-ear options as they offer no water resistance whatsoever.
How we test gym headphones
The best and most effective method of testing gym headphones is to wear each pair during a sweaty gym session. When engaged in this vigorous activity, we’ll make note of how stable the headphones are in or on our ears, whether sweat is impacting the fit and crucially, how sound is reproduced. We’ll also take into consideration any accessories, like replaceable eartips or ear cushions that can be washed after a session.
Alongside these exercise-specific considerations, we’ll also assess mainstream headphones features such as noise-cancellation, which can be especially important in a noisy gym, touch controls and EQ customisation functionality. Most important of all, we’ll be turning our ears to each headphones’ sound reproduction across a range of genres to get to grips with their audio quality.
The best gym headphones to buy in 2023
Wissonly Hi Runner
Wissonly bone conduction brand insists on technological innovation, its bone vibration technology is relatively leading. The team has 10 years of technical accumulation in the field of bone conduction. So they have mastered the core technology of the field, which is very important for the quality of the product. Wissonly has exclusive sound leakage reduction technology and bone vibration technology, which are all applied to Hi Runner bone conduction headphones . They can effectively reduce the problem of sound leakage by 90%. The latest bone vibration technology improves the overall sound quality performance of the headphones to make sound more spatious sense, and the sound quality characteristics are more prominent. The overall body of Hi Runner is made of memory titanium that can self-adjust the contact area. So the headphones give people a good wearing experience and more users are taken into account. As the core component of the product, the headphones chip plays a key role in the experience of the product. Wissonly Hi Runner are equipped with a Bluetooth 5.0 chip for a more stable connection. They also have 32G of built-in memory which is very important to me. I use the headphones completely as an MP3. They can store 5000 songs, which is crazy!
Tribit FlyBuds 3
Given the all-round quality you’re getting, the FlyBuds 3 would represent good value at twice their price, so to be able to pick them up for £40 is a real steal. The in-ear buds come with an array of tips and wings so it’s easy to get the size you need. Once set up, they have a very secure fit, so you can use them for bouncy HIIT workouts without fearing they’ll shake loose.
The sound quality is also exceptional given the price, matching the standard of most sets we’ve tried in the £100-£150 bracket, and the battery life is good, too, at five hours on the buds, plus another 95 hours in the case. The case holds so much charge you can even plug in your phone or other electrical essentials to get some juice in a pinch. As a final bonus, the FlyBuds 3 have an IPX7 rating, which means they’re waterproof and can handle any amount of sweat during a workout.
Groov-E SportBuds
In the past, paying less than £50 for true wireless earbuds was a gamble that rarely paid off, but now there are several quality budget sets available, with the Groov-E SportBuds and Tribit FlyBuds 3 being a couple of our favourites. The Groov-e headphones get the nod as the better option for the gym purely because of the ear hook design, which ensures a reliable fit during frenetic HIIT workouts in particular.
The battery life is not great at four hours, but that will be long enough for almost all gym sessions, and the carry case will charge them six times before it itself needs to be plugged in. The sound quality is also unexpectedly impressive for budget true wireless buds and the match of many sets nearer the £100 mark.
Adidas Sport RPT-01
The tight fit of these headphones means they are one of the few on-ear options that are truly suitable for the gym, something backed up by the removable and washable knitted ear cushions and headband. While you’ll probably find that they won’t stay put during frenetic HIIT workouts, they’re great for strength sessions. They’re not fully waterproof, but the IPX4 rating ensures they stand up to sweat and splashes.
The big advantage of opting for on-ear headphones is that they can pack in more battery life than buds – the RPT-01 cans offer a massive 40 hours of playback on a single charge. The sound quality is also a little better than you’ll typically find on in-ear gym headphones, but we were less keen on the fiddly control knob, which was trickier to use than a simple set of buttons or a touch interface.
Apple AirPods Pro
The active noise cancellation (ANC) on the Apple AirPods Pro is extraordinary given their tiny size, so if you’re sick of the hubbub and canned music of your local gym you can use the buds to tune it all out. And if you’re not sick of that hubbub, or just want a little more awareness of your surroundings, you can switch to the AirPods Pro’s transparency mode, which filters in external noise with your music.
The sound quality of the AirPods Pro is excellent, aided by the in-ear fit, which also makes the buds a little more secure in the ear than the standard AirPods. The battery life is also great considering the ANC features, with the headphones lasting 4.5 hours on a charge (you can get five hours if you turn the ANC off), and five minutes will yield an hour of playback if you’re caught short.