Wireless earbuds are smaller and cheaper than ever, yet it’s tough to know what you’ll get from these tiny devices before you buy. To help you make the right choice, our editors tested 35 pairs for at least two weeks of running, cross-training, and commuting. These 20 models passed our tests, but some rose above the rest. Here’s what we looked for in excellent wireless earbuds for runners.
Three Types of Buds
For the sake of making useful comparisons, we segmented our test pool into three categories: truly wireless; truly wireless with a hook over the ear; and wire-connected, which means there’s a wire or band connecting the two earbuds to each other. We also added a fourth category of cheap earbuds—under $50. Here’s what to expect from each type.
Jaybird Vista
These compact buds are more durable than ever
Jaybird’s new set of buds has two extra hours of run time over the popular Run XT. The Vista lasts six hours on a single charge, long enough to get you to the finish line of your next 26.2. They’ve also beefed up the durability, completely sealing the buds from moisture and dust—go ahead, try to kill these with sweat; we haven’t been able to. Jaybird also built its own Bluetooth chip, improving the connection with your phone. They’ve stuttered a little in the most challenging environments in NYC, but stay interruption-free far more regularly than the earlier Run XT. Bonus: They’re smaller than all but AirPods and have a pocketable case that stays closed in your gym bag.
Jabra Elite Active 65t
A small package with high-end sound that stays put
Jabra’s Elite Active 65t is everything you want in truly wireless sport earbuds. Both of our testers found a secure fit with the three included sizes of silicone inserts, and Special Products Editor Kit Fox, a regular AirPods user, said the Jabra’s had the best sound quality of any wireless headphones he’d tried. The earbuds also topped BestProducts.com’s list of quality workout headphones. The bass isn’t as impressive as offerings from Bose and Sennheiser, but the buds still thump when you’ve established a tight seal and deliver a balanced sound across hip-hop, rock, folk (Fox’s second-favorite) and podcasts (his favorite). The lightweight buds didn’t move once our runs began, and the buds’ hear-through mode brings in ambient sound when necessary. However, the ambient sound quality still isn’t great when they’re sealed properly in your ears. Test Editor Dan Roe said he went down an insert size, losing some of the in-ear sound quality to gain ambient noise for outdoor running. The 5-hour battery life is enough for most runs, and the small charging case packs an additional 10 hours. Sound investment: Jabra’s warranty covers the earbuds for two years of dust and sweat damage.
Master & Dynamic MW07 Go
Great fit and sound in a small package
These truly wireless buds are among the smallest and lightest we’ve tried. Slotted silicone ear fins compliment the ear tips to keep the buds in your ears (being lightweight also helps). After trying a few different sizes of ear tips and fins, our tester arrived at a fit that needed adjustment once a mile or so—better than we can say for many truly wireless buds. The volume and pause/play buttons on the buds are convenient, but are easily pressed by accident while perfecting the fit. Also, the case has a cloth cover that feels cheap. Those minor gripes aside, we enjoyed these buds during testing: The claimed 10-hour battery life seems to check out (we ran for a week between charges) and the sound quality is above average—not Bose quality, but balanced and powerful.
NuForce Optima Be Free6
Reliable but won’t stay put without being jammed in ears
These truly wireless earbuds have all of the features you’d expect from competitors that cost $50 more: six hours of battery life (plus another 18 in the charging case), a Bluetooth 5.0 connection, and an IPX5 water resistance rating. But despite the four sizes of ear tips, our tester couldn’t find a comfortable fit that worked on the run. Making the buds fit snugly enough to stay put formed a seal that created a thud at every footstrike. The sound quality is average; usually, buds that seal in your ears sound full and bassy, but these sounded a bit hollow by comparison. The Be Free6 didn’t fit our tester well, but might work for different ear shapes—at $80, it’s decent value for the money.
RHA TrueConnect
Secure fit and clear sound
The most impressive thing about the TrueConnect is its long-lasting battery life. RHA says the buds last 5 hours and promise another 20 from the charging case. Over the course of our month-long testing, we used them on several runs, at home, walking around town, and even on a few 2-hour airplane rides, and we’ve yet to reach for the charging cable. The buds come with silicone and foam ear tips in sizes small, medium, and large. We found a very secure fit with the foam tips, unlike the silicone ones, which had a tendency to fall out. Unfortunately, the foam didn’t provide as much ambient road noise on our outdoor runs. Syncing the TrueConnect to our phone wasn’t always instantaneous; once connected, the audio never faltered, even when we were a couple rooms away from our phone. There was a thumping sound with each step when we walked but that largely disappeared when we picked up the pace. Aside from that, the sound was clear as we listened to a wide variety of genres, podcasts, and on phone calls (and people on the other end of the line had no issues hearing us).
Why you should trust us
Not only do I hold a bachelor’s degree in both music performance and audio production from Ithaca College, but I also have tested more than a thousand pairs of headphones while working for Wirecutter.
In addition to reviewing gear for AV magazines, I’ve been in and out of top recording studios for over a decade: first as a radio producer and on-air talent, then as a professional voice actor. My articles have been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, the Los Angeles Times, and Time, and on Good Morning America, the BBC World Service, and NBC Nightly News.
Then there’s our panel of experts, including: Brent Butterworth, a Wirecutter AV writer with decades of experience; John Higgins, a session musician, sound editor, and occasional Wirecutter writer with a music master’s degree from the University of Southern California; and Geoff Morrison, AV editor at large for Wirecutter and writer for CNET, Forbes, and Sound & Vision, who has over a decade and a half of AV reviewing experience.
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