Best Running Headphones and Earbuds for 2023

While the Beats Fit Pro technically aren't AirPods, they're built on the same tech platform as the AirPods Pro (yes, Apple owns Beats). Unlike Beats' earlier and less expensive Studio Buds and new-for-2023 Studio Buds Plus, the Beats Fit Pro include Apple's H1 chip and have most of the AirPods Pro's features, including active noise canceling, spatial audio and Adaptive EQ. I'd venture to call them the sports AirPods you've always wanted.

1More makes a couple of open sports earbuds with ear hooks. The Fit S50 buds are the flagship ($120) and feature a little better sound than the Fit SE S30, have a more premium design and are fully waterproof (IPX7 rating). But I like the fit a little better on the step down S30, which is IPX5 splash-proof (can sustain a spray of water) and costs half the price, making it a better value.

The case is bulky and feels a little cheap (the lid is flimsy) but the buds themselves seem sturdily built and the ear hooks are nice and flexible. They have 14.2mm drivers that output decent but not great sound (there's a bit of distortion at higher volumes), which is par for the course for these types of open buds that sit on top of your ears and fire sound into them. They're also good but not great for voice calling. A companion app for iOS and Android allows your tweak the sound with an equalizer and you can update the buds' firmware. The buds are available in black or white and offer up to 10 hours of battery life at moderate volume levels.

Shokz, the company formerly known as AfterShokz, has long been the leader in bone-conduction headphones. Models like the OpenRun Pro, which deliver sound to your ear through your cheekbones, are popular with runners and bikers who like to leave their ears open for safety reasons. However, Shokz's new OpenFit model, the company's first true-wireless earbuds, don't use bone-conduction technology. They have an open design that fire sound into your ears using custom speaker drivers, which Shokz dubs "air conduction" technology.

I was impressed by how lightweight (8.3 grams) and comfortable they are -- they have one of the best ear-hook designs I've tried (Shokz calls it a Dolphin Arc ear hook). It's soft and offers just the right amount of flexibility to conform to the shape of your ear, with "dual-layered liquid silicone that provides a pliable fit," according to Shokz. The earbuds also sound quite good for open earbuds, though not quite as good as Cleer's Arc 2 Open Ear Sport earbuds ($190) that also have an ear-hook design.

Shokz's OpenMove bone-conduction headphones list for $80. The OpenMove headphones have some small design upgrades over their predecessors. I found them comfortable to wear, and while the sound isn't great, it's relatively good for a bone-conduction headphone. Again, keep your sound quality expectations in check or you'll be disappointed. They're very good for listening to podcasts, audiobooks and news broadcasts while you run -- I tend to listen to XM radio while running. 

This model charges via USB-C and includes a simple carrying pouch. Battery life is rated at up to six hours.

After releasing the RunFree Lite neckband-style open sports buds last year, Soundpeats has come up with a new, upgraded version with a more flexible and comfortable design and better sound. Like its predecessor, the buds sit just outside your ears and fire sound into them from small speakers with 16.2mm drivers. The sound quality still isn't the greatest, but this new model does offer better clarity with slightly better bass definition. They're just fine for casual listening.

They're nice and lightweight, and they fit my head securely -- the headphones' design definitely feels more premium (by that I mean less cheap). Equipped with Bluetooth 5.3, they're IPX4 splash-proof and are rated for up to 14 hours of battery life at moderate volume levels. Expect to get less than that, though, because you'll likely play these at high volume levels, especially outdoors where you'll encounter more ambient noise. They also work decently for making voice calls, but don't expect business-class performance. 

Equipped with six microphones instead of four, slightly improved adaptive noise canceling and wind-reduction technology along with a higher durability rating, the Elite 8 Active look, feel and perform like a modestly upgraded version of the Elite 7 Pro and Elite 7 Active. Jabra is billing them as the "world's toughest earbuds," and based on our tests (they survived several drops without a scratch), that may very well be true.

JBL has upgraded its ear-hook style sport earbuds for 2023. Available in black or white, the Endurance Peak 3 buds offer better battery life (up to 10 hours with four extra charges in their case) improved voice-calling performance and an IP68 rating that makes them fully water- and dust-proof. They also have an Ambient Aware transparency mode and Talk Thru mode that can automatically lower your music's volume level and open up the buds to the outside world. That means you can have conversation with someone without removing the buds from your ears.

They stayed on my ears very securely during runs and I thought they sounded quite good, though they do have a bit of bass push (i.e. they have powerful bass). Just be aware that if you don't get a tight seal, sound quality will be significantly worse. Also, like other earbuds with ear-hook designs, the case is on the beefy side. That said, the buds do seem durable and if you get a good fit, they're an excellent and less pricey alternative to the Beats Powerbeats Pro. I also thought the touch controls worked well; I was easily able to toggle through the sound modes.

Cleer's original Arc earbuds were solid sport earbuds that featured decent sound for open-style buds that sit on top of your ears and fire sound into them. This new-for-2023 model steps up the sound quality and offers additional refinements and feature upgrades, including a new "enhanced" charging case with UV sterilization and multipoint Bluetooth connectivity (Bluetooth 5.3), all of which makes for a significantly improved product.

Cleer says the Arc 2 Sport buds feature "greater flexibility for improved comfort," and I did find them more comfortable to wear than the original Arcs. That said, not everyone loves this style of open earbuds, which lets sound in so you can hear ambient sound around you for safety purposes.

With a new six-axis motion sensor, you can actually control the buds with head gestures -- you answer calls by nodding and skip tracks forward by turning your head to the right and skip a track back by turning your head left. Thankfully, those motion controls can be turned off if you don't want to use them. 

These are among the first buds to support Qualcomm's aptX Lossless format, if you're one of the few to have an Android device that supports that audio codec (plenty of Android phones support aptX Adaptive). Since these aren't high-end noise-isolating earbuds, you probably won't be able to tell the difference in sound quality -- I couldn't -- but all that aside, these do sound very good for open-style earbuds. They lack a bit of oomph to their bass but they're punchy enough, offer good clarity and didn't distort at higher volumes. They also played sufficiently loud. 

They have an IPX5 water- and sweat-resistance rating, which means they can withstand a sustained spray of water, and battery life is very good at up to 8 hours on a single charge, plus there's a little more than three additional charges in the slim but still somewhat bulky charging case. It's big compared with an AirPods charging case but svelte compared with other cases that house this style of earbuds.

These offer respectable performance for voice calls, but callers did say they heard a certain amount of white noise when I spoke to them from the noisy streets of New York -- that whooshing sound is the by-product of the earbuds' noise-reduction efforts. 

As long as you can get a good, secure fit, the lightweight AirPods Pro (2nd generation) make excellent earbuds for running and feature a top-notch transparency mode that allows you to hear the outside world (they now come with extra small ear tips for those with very small ears but Apple still doesn't have XL tips for those with larger ears).

Sony released its new entry-level CH-720N noise-canceling headphones in 2023. They're quite good, but if you can't afford them (they list for $150), the company's new budget on-ear CH-520 headphones are an intriguing option for only around $50.

They lack noise canceling and are pretty no-frills, but they feature good sound for their price, are lightweight and pretty comfortable for on-ear headphones, and also have excellent battery life (they're rated for up to 50 hours at moderate volume levels). Additionally, they have multipoint Bluetooth pairing, so you can pair them with two devices simultaneously, such as a smartphone and computer, and switch audio. Voice-calling performance is decent, though not up to the level of what you get with the CH-720N. 

Note that there's no wired option -- this is a wireless Bluetooth-only headphone. The CH-520 offers overall balanced sound with decent clarity. The bass has some punch to it but doesn't pack a wallop, and you're not going to get quite as wide a soundstage as you get from Sony's more expensive over-ear headphones. But these definitely sound better than Sony's previous entry-level on-ear headphones and sound better than I thought they would. I tried the white color but they also come in blue and black.

With so many new wireless earbuds and headphones being released on what seems likely a weekly basis, it's not easy for companies to differentiate their products in the marketplace. Skullcandy hopes its new voice-driven platform, Skull-iQ Smart Feature Technology, will do just that. Similar to the Apple AirPods' "Hey Siri" feature, Skullcandy's version allows you to say "Hey, Skullcandy" to issue hands-free voice commands without touching a button. Skull-iQ debuts on the sports-oriented Push Active and the $100 Grind Fuel, which will be firmware updatable via the Skullcandy App.

With their ear-hook design, they're essentially a more affordable version of the Beats Powerbeats Pro, and they fit my ears slightly better than the Powerbeats Pro. I'm not usually a fan of ear-hook style buds, but this is one of the better ones. 

The Push Active True earbuds are equipped with Bluetooth 5.2, are IP55 splashproof, have built-in Tile Finding Technology and are rated for up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge at moderate volume levels. 

Take one look at the new design of the third-gen AirPods ($179), and the first thing you'll probably think is: "Those look like the AirPods Pro without ear tips." You wouldn't be wrong. While they're more fraternal than identical twins, the AirPods 3 are shaped like the AirPods Pro, with the same shorter stems and same pinch controls as those of the Pro. Aside from the design change, which should fit most ears better than the AirPods 2nd Generation (though not very small ears), the biggest change is to the sound quality: It's much improved. Also, battery life is better, and the AirPods 3 are officially water-resistant.

Since they're open earbuds, they let some sound in, so they're not as good as the AirPods Pro 2 for both listening and making calls in noisy environments. But they do a nice job reducing background noise during calls and picking up your voice clearly.

Sony's Float Run is a unique take on "off-ear" headphones, which is another way to describe open earbuds that sit away from your ears. I can't say these have the greatest sound -- the bass is underwhelming -- but they fit my head securely and comfortably. They're designed for folks who don't like to have earbuds jammed into their ears, and runners who want to hear the outside world for safety reasons. 

As their name implies, these oversize IPX4 splash-proof buds "float" above your ears and fire sound in their direction. They're lightweight, weighing in at 33 grams, and deliver up to 10 hours of battery life at moderate volume levels. They have a decent microphone for voice calls and the physical controls are easy to access on the left ear hook, which sits behind your ear. I wouldn't use these for critical listening, but they are well-designed for runners (a carrying pouch is included). I'd like to see them cost a little less, but hopefully, we'll see some discounts in the future.

The one downside to bone-conduction headphones is that they just don't sound great for music and tend to fall short most noticeably in the bass department. Oraimo's Open Ear Headphones look like a bone-conduction model but instead have speakers built into them that fire sound into your ears. And that sound is better than what you get with bone-conduction headphones (it's bigger with better bass performance). I wouldn't say they sound quite as good as decent noise-isolating earbuds, but the sound is quite respectable and has a nice open quality to it because these are after all "open" headphones.

The Oraimo are more expensive than some similarly styled open-ear headphones you can find on Amazon. But these did seem durable and also are good for making calls, with solid background noise reduction. This style of headphone isn't for everyone (some may find them slightly uncomfortable after longer listening sessions), but they do stay on your ears securely and allow you to hear the outside world for safety reasons. Battery life is rated at 16 hours at moderate volume levels and they're splashproof.

The LinkBuds are, in a sense, Sony's answer to Apple's standard AirPods. While they don't sound as good as Sony's flagship WF-1000XM5 noise-isolating earbuds, they offer a discreet, innovative design and a more secure fit than the AirPods, as well as good sound and very good voice-calling performance.

Like the third-gen AirPods, their open design allows you to hear the outside world -- that's what the ring is all about. That makes them a good choice for folks who want to hear what's going around them for safety reasons or just don't like having ear tips jammed in their ears. They also have a few distinguishing extra features, including Speak to Chat and Wide Area Tap. Instead of tapping on a bud, you can tap on your face, just in front of your ear, to control playback.

They're IPX4 splash-proof and thanks to their fins -- Sony calls them Arc Supporters -- they lock in your ears securely and work well for running and other sporting activities.

The Soundcore Sport X10 have an interesting design with rotating swiveling ear hooks that flip up when you're using them and flip down when you want to set them in their charging case, which has a smaller footprint than a lot of buds with ear hooks. 

As long as you get a tight seal, they sound good, with powerful, punchy bass and good detail. They also have active noise canceling, which is effective though not as good as Sony's or Bose's noise canceling. They're also fully waterproof with an IPX7 rating, which means they can be fully submerged in up to 3 feet of water for 30 minutes. Battery life is rated at up to 8 hours with an additional three charges in the charging case.

The Sport True Wireless earbuds are essentially Sennheiser's CX True Wireless earbuds with sport fins (for a more secure fit) and better durability. They have an IP54 rating that makes them splash-proof and dust-resistant. The CX True Wireless (IPX4) don't offer dust resistance.

These aren't noise-cancelling earbuds but they do have an awareness mode that allows ambient sound to leak into the buds so you can hear what's going on around you for safety reasons. They use Bluetooth 5.2 and have support for the AAC and AptX audio codecs. Battery life is rated at up to 9 hours at moderate volume levels with an additional two charges in the charging case (there's no wireless charging).

Featuring clean and well-balanced sound with punchy bass, they sound very similar to the CX True Wireless and CX Plus True Wireless.

Over the years, JBL has put out some decent true-wireless earbuds, but nothing that really got me too excited. That's finally changed with the arrival of the Samsung-owned brand's new Live Pro 2 and Live Free 2 buds. Both sets of buds -- the Live Pro 2 have stems while the Live Free 2 have a pill-shaped design -- offer a comfortable fit along with strong noise canceling, very good sound quality and voice-calling performance, plus a robust set of features, including multipoint Bluetooth pairing, an IPX5 splash-proof rating and wireless charging.

The Live Pro 2 and Live Free 2 are equipped with the same 11mm drivers, six microphones, oval tubes and oval silicon tips. Aside from the design, the biggest difference between the two buds is battery life; the stemless Live Free 2 is rated for up to 7 hours, while the Live Pro 2 is rated for 10 hours. The Live Pro 2 is available in four color options.

The Bose Frames are one of those products you have to try in order to fully appreciate -- or dismiss. The concept is that you're getting a decent pair of sunglasses with a pair of headphones that don't actually go in your ears. Rather, integrated micro speakers in each arm direct a beam of sound to your ears. That design could be appealing to people who don't like having headphones in or on their ears and also offers a degree of safety for runners and bikers who want their ears open to the world.

Bose has updated its line of audio sunglasses with three new models, including the Tempo sports model, which offers better sound and battery life than the more traditional-looking Tenor and Soprano. The Tempo has better specs all around, with USB-C charging and larger 22mm drivers. It also delivers up to 8 hours of battery life.

Their sound is definitely improved from the original Frames. Bose says the Tempo plays "deeper and louder -- loud enough for cycling at 25 mph -- while [you're] still able to hear traffic and your training partners." They're sweat-, weather-, scratch- and shatter-resistant, according to Bose, and fit under most protective helmets. (I had no problem using them with a couple of bike helmets.) They also work really well for making calls, thanks to a new dual-microphone system. Optional lenses are available for $39 and you can order prescription lenses through Lensabl.

The Beats Powerbeats Pro earbuds have been on the market for a few years but remain popular and are now available in several color options. Their jumbo charging case is a notable drawback, but they offer many of the same features as Apple's AirPods 2 (they're equipped with Apple's H1 chip) and have better sound so long as you get a tight seal (they should fit most -- but not all -- ears well). There's no active noise canceling, but battery life is strong at up to 9 hours and they're IPX4 splash-proof.  

Note that the Powerbeats Pro are frequently on sale, so you should only buy them if they're substantially discounted.

What makes these Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS buds special is that they sound surprisingly good for open earbuds -- they're pretty close to what you get from Apple's AirPods 3 for sound. On top of that, they support Sony's LDAC audio codec for devices that offer it. Not too many cheap open earbuds have good sound, but these Soundpeats have good bass response and clarity. They're also good for making calls and have a low-latency gaming mode. Battery life is rated at 5 hours at moderate volume levels, and these are IPX4 splash-proof.

I liked Shure's original Aonic 215 true-wireless earbuds, but they were buggy and Shure pulled them off the market. From a design standpoint, the second-generation earbuds are essentially identical, but not all the performance kinks have been smoothed out. 

Weirdly, they're kind of the audiophile equivalent of the Beats Powerbeats Pro. They have a hook that wraps around the top of your ear, and they stayed in my ears very securely (even more securely than the Powerbeats Pro earbuds). And like that Beats model, they have a jumbo charging case. Even though it's technically bigger than the Powerbeats Pro's case, it doesn't feel bigger, perhaps because it's slightly thinner.

What's interesting about them is that the Bluetooth module is detachable. (I liked the physical control button they have instead of touch controls.) As the name implies, the Aonic 215 True Wireless Noise-Isolating Earphones incorporate Shure's SE215 buds, the $99 model in its line of earbuds that have detachable cables. But the modules, which can be bought separately for $189, are designed to drive any Shure earbuds that have a detachable cable, including the $1,000 SE846.

Headset performance has improved (they're now stereo rather than mono for calls) and they now have an IPX4 splash-proof water-resistance rating. They have clean, well-balanced sound with nicely defined bass -- but they just don't have a ton of bass.