Exercise headphones for earbud-haters?
January 10, 2025 2:51 PM   Subscribe

I'm trying to find a decent pair of headphones to use while taking walks or doing exercises. I don't like earbuds, but over-ear headphones tend to leave me too sweaty to be comfortable. Any recommendations?

Here's what I've tried so far:
  • Over ear headphones (specifically Bose QC35s) - these feel nice but retain too much heat and sweat to be comfortable for anything but the shortest walks.
  • Earbuds (pack-in earbuds from my Pixel 3 and some wireless Soundcore ones) - these either have trouble staying in place or the in-ear part feels weird and makes it so that my internal sounds (breathing, pulse) are more audible while muting the external sounds a lot, which I don't like on top of not really liking having anything in my ear in general.
  • Bone-conducting headphones - tried a cheapish pair and while I feel like these would be the solution, they don't work well. Music loses a lot of the bass, and if the environment is noisy, it overwhelms the audio from them no matter how loud I have them.
Tried searching for on-ear headphones but most of what I found look like they have too-large cups for what I'd be wanting. They don't need to be wireless, but I'd prefer bluetooth connectivity as it'd be nice to not have to deal with a headphone adapter on my phone.
posted by Aleyn to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (14 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
There are headphones that loop around your ear and have an earbud-sized speaker assembly that doesn't have to actually go as much into your ear as an earbud. They sometimes touch the inside of your ear a bit, but don't have to exert any pressure to stay in place and don't try to form a seal which (at least for this earbud hater) makes them much more tolerable. They also tend to stay in place better as you bounce around, and don't have the same weird effect on internal noises, since they're not forming a seal. The main downside is that they tend not to work well with glasses, since both want to occupy the same space on top of your ear. None of the specific ones I've used seem to exist any more, so I can't recommend a specific product, but something along these lines in term of shape/design.
posted by duien at 2:59 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]


I love these.
posted by dobbs at 3:25 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]


My wife loves her shokz openfit headphones for exercise. But I don't -- because, like you, I find music to be useless without good bass. They sound much better than bone-conduction for sure, but they're not playing in the same league as earbuds or real headphones. There is a similar Bose product called ultra open earbuds that I haven't tried, but which I imagine are similar. JVC also has a couple of options whose quality I can't vouch for.

What I do know is this: a driver the size of earbuds / nearphones / openfits / etc. simply can't produce bass like we want. It's a matter of physics. In-ear earbuds work because of the seal; they use your entire ear as a vibrating chamber and therefore fake the physics a little. If bass is a requirement, and you don't want on- or over-ear headphones, in-ears are your only option. I made my peace with this and got some JBL peak endurance 3s this year. They're the best in-ears I've ever used for exercise, but they're still not great. I find myself fiddling with them to keep a good seal pretty regularly. But bass is so important to me that I'm just putting up with it.

If you can afford it, there are companies that will take a mold of your ear canal and make a set of custom in-ear adapters made specifically for you. Singers love them. I'm not sure how popular they are among athletes. There are also foam tips that will fit most brands of in-ears. It's the memory foam like you'll find in cheap earplugs, and they do stay in pretty well. They don't sound as good though, in my experience, again because of the way earbuds use that thin silicone tip and its seal to create a resonant chamber in your ear canal. There are no good answers here that I've found, unfortunately.
posted by dbx at 3:48 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]


I used these Sony on ear clip headphones for years. I'm sure these aren't sold anymore, they're ancient. But the style still exists, I just don't have any brand recommendations. The clip style meant they stayed in place on my ears when when I was moving around, and the on-ear style allowed for air flow. Something like this might meet your needs.
posted by phunniemee at 3:51 PM on January 10


Since you said they don’t absolutely need to be wireless, I’ll throw the Koss SportaPro out there. They’re my walking headphones and I like them. I can hear external sounds but my music sounds decent too. They do make a wireless version, but I’ve seen too many mixed reviews about connectivity to take the leap and try it.
posted by kite at 4:23 PM on January 10


I have the Bose open earbuds that dbx linked and I love them. I’m a distance runner and I struggled to find something that worked for me running outdoors, year round, for several hours. I hated the sound quality and battery life of the shokz, AirPod pros often fell out. I had a pair of Oladance earphones that I liked but didn’t love. Then I got the Bose ultra open. They are so small and lightweight, sound quality is really good, you don’t have to worry about them falling out at all, even if you’re taking a shirt off. I have drenched them with both sweat and rain and even dropped one in a cup of coffee once and they’re fine. And they have buttons, which makes things a lot easier with gloves or hats in the winter than some of the ones that you just tap. Battery life is excellent. I believe they are the perfect running headphones. They are not cheap but I think they are fully worth the price.
posted by August Fury at 4:34 PM on January 10


I make over-ear headphones less sweaty by covering them with absorbent fabric.
posted by metasarah at 4:34 PM on January 10


Shokz are absolutely lovely.

Those "cheap bone-conducting ones" probably weren't really bone-conducting, which is why they don't work. (There's a lot of ones out there that are the aim-the-sound-a-certain-direction type that CLAIM to be bone-conducting.)
posted by stormyteal at 5:03 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]


Yeah so a "cheapish pair" of bone conduction headphones is gonna be, sound, and act...cheap. Honestly, if you can swing it, get a set of Shokz; I can't speak to their brand-new second gen ones, but I use the original Open Runs for both walking and cycling, and they're pretty great. The only time their sound gets drowned out is when I'm walking next to a super busy road/highway and listening to a podcast; if I'm listening to music, I can always hear it pretty well. They definitely don't lose bass response (and you can always use something like the PowerAmp Equalizer app, if you're on Android, to customize your sound to your liking).

I really didn't think they'd be worth it, but they're really, really good. The only irritant for me is that they use a proprietary magnetic charger, but that's minor given how much I like them overall.
posted by pdb at 5:12 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]


I just want to add my own perspective on shokz open runs. They absolutely do lose bass response compared with good headphones or earbuds. It's just that some people don't mind as much as others. I have a pair and I only use them for podcasts. For my taste, they're not adequate for listening to music, especially when there's ambient sound, but aforementioned wife liked hers just fine before she got the openfits. So if you can try them out first, absolutely give them a listen! But I don't recommend buying without trying first.
posted by dbx at 5:25 PM on January 10


Another vote for the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds. I got them as a gift this year. I wear glasses and regular earbuds will not stay in my ears. I love them, sound is good, the buttons are nifty and they stay put and out of the way of the stems of my glasses.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:51 AM on January 11


I love my Shokz.

The sound isn't as good as with earbuds or closed-ear, but I need to hear the engine of the car that's about to run me over, so it's a worthwhile trade-off.
posted by Klipspringer at 7:04 AM on January 11


Have you tried the retro style over-the-ear headphones? The cups are smaller. For example: JLab Headphones
posted by extramundane at 8:59 AM on January 11


I've tried a variety of BT headphones over the years due to my XXL noggin. :) I've broken a couple over-the-ear headphones because they just don't open big enough. :) (Here's looking at you, Wyze...)

My current solution is the Koss KSC75 (ear clip style wired headphone) connected to a BT receiver module, such as the generic YH8S. There are brands like Scoche and Mee Audio that makes similar receivers if you want better support. Though FiiO may be your best "hi-fi" bet.
posted by kschang at 9:04 AM on January 11


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