The perfect wi-fi exercise headphones for 2024

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

Learn our full evaluation of the Beats Match Professional

The Beats Match Professional got here out on the head of the pack because of their comfy, safe design, good sound high quality and transparency mode, amongst different issues. As my colleague Billy Steele detailed in his evaluation of the Match Professional, the buds’ wingtip design units them aside from different Beats earbuds and makes them notably good for working and different exercises. The buds are pretty small and light-weight, 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 whenever you’re shifting round loads 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. Nevertheless, adjusting their place on the fly can result in considered one of my few gripes with the buds: unintended presses of the onboard controls. There have been numerous occasions 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 strong and notably nice for exercising because of its punchy bass and general balanced profile. Spatial audio help is nice to have, and whereas Adaptive EQ means you possibly can’t regulate the EQ your self like you possibly can 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 count on many individuals will admire; these earbuds are a real unbox-and-go choice. ANC can also be sturdy and transparency mode will turn out to be useful for individuals who usually run, cycle or in any other case train outdoors. It was probably 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 shocked 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 looks 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 commonplace $200 worth isn’t too cost-prohibitive, and so they can usually be discovered on sale for much less.

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

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

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

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

The Elite 8 Lively has an ideal sound profile out of the field however you possibly can regulate the EQ throughout the companion cellular 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 related with sturdy bass, however Energize emphasizes highs a bit extra). The Elite 8 Lively undoubtedly 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 Lively help adaptive noise cancelation, and so they 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 working outdoors in a metropolis or an space with plenty of site 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 Lively will get eight hours on a cost with ANC turned on, and a further 24 hours when using their charging case. You possibly can stand up to 56 hours of complete use for those who’re not utilizing ANC, which is outstanding. The case additionally helps wi-fi charging, a function that the Beats Match Professional’s lacks, and it additionally feels extra substantial.

Finally, you possibly can’t go incorrect with both the Beats Match Professional or the Jabra Elite 8 Lively. 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. Nevertheless, for those who’re an athlete who likes to mess around with sound profiles or need among the most sturdy wi-fi earbuds out there as we speak, the Jabra Elite 8 Lively are those to get.

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

The Jabra Elite 4 Lively supply the very best worth for the cash of any choose on our listing. For $120, you get an IP57-rated design, strong sound high quality with adjustable EQ, good ANC, the identical HearThrough transparency mode that the Elite 8 Lively have, app connectivity and a complete of 28 hours of battery life. These had been among 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 performed.

Just like the Elite 8 Lively, the Elite 4 Lively is tremendous comfy and Jabra has actually gotten the onboard controls proper on this sequence of buds. The buttons should not really easy to press that you simply by chance set off them everytime you regulate the match, and so they present satisfying suggestions whenever you truly do deliberately press them. Sound high quality and ANC are spectacular, and I principally by no means needed to fear about working out of battery.

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

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

When you have lower than $50 to spend, the $30 JLab Go Air Sport are an ideal choice. I didn’t have excessive expectations going into testing these buds, however I used to be rapidly impressed by their consolation and sound high quality. Numerous 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 here are fairly versatile and have a soft-touch end, which provides to their consolation (I attempted a number 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 for those who’re new to it, but it surely’s a surefire strategy to get slightly further stability throughout excessive depth exercises.

Sound high quality is fairly good on these buds as properly, though not practically as balanced as that of the Jabra Elite 8 Lively or the Beats Match Professional. I additionally admire that you would be able to cycle via 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 principally testing buds with some sort of app connectivity.

You possibly can count on 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 an alternative (it’s the yr 2024, in any case). The case can also be on the cumbersome facet; you possibly can nonetheless throw it right into a backpack or purse simply, but it surely’s not as svelte as instances you’ll see on dearer buds.

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

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

The buds themselves virtually 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 working, 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; possibly don’t put on the OpenFit to hearken to head-banging loss of life steel (for those who can’t management your self).

Sound high quality is strong contemplating the design, and the OpenFit will get fairly loud as properly. These buds have Shokz’s Direct Pitch know-how, 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 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 very best sound high quality and general quantity out of all the open-ear units I attempted, however for those who crank the amount as much as the max (or shut), the particular person subsequent to you’ll undoubtedly hear what you’re listening to. General, these are an ideal choice for anybody who doesn’t discover in-ear buds notably comfy, or those that simply favor to have extra consciousness of their environment whereas figuring out.