Gone are the days of bulky music players and headphones that tether you to a device. Instead, you're more likely to have a pair of buds that are no bigger than earplugs. But finding the right pair that fits comfortably and performs well can be tough, especially given that the top models can cost a couple hundred dollars.
Our test team loves running with musicso much so that we even conducted a test on whether a song's beat can influence your running pace. We run with music every day and have collectively run hundreds of miles using each of the earbuds reviewed here. We've evaluated these top-performing models on key categories like fit, sound, quality, and battery life.
7 GREAT BUDS
1 SHOKZ OPENRUN PRO MINI
PRICE: $180 BATTERY: 8 hours
For road runners who aren't comfortable jamming an earbud in as cars whiz past, these use bone conduction to transfer sound through your cheekbones, leaving your ears open. The compromise for safety is fidelity-you won't mistake these for a decent pair of earbuds-but music is clear enough even on loud streets. Podcasts can get overpowered in cities. The OpenRun Pro comes in two sizes-the Mini has a shorter band that wraps around your head and bounces less.
2 BEATS FIT PRO
PRICE: $200 BATTERY: 6 hours (buds), 24 hours (with case)
Want a tiny pair of buds with outstanding sound quality that you can drench with sweat but also use for travel and casual listening? That's the Beats Fit Pro. No matter how sweaty I get, these buds don't budge, and they don't ache even when I get up to an hour or 90 minutes of running. The body has delightful tactile buttons that require just a light press to play/pause, two presses to skip. The coolest feature, however, is spatial audio-when you turn your head, the audio rotates so it sounds like the band stays in the same spot, like they would at a real concert.
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