The Best Running Headphones of 2024

JBL’s Vibe Beam ($45) endured a multiyear test as our tester’s all-around, everyday headphones. Especially at the price, they performed extremely well. Battery life, sound quality, portability, and durability — they once survived a long wash cycle — were all highlights. 

The first satisfactory point is the case construction. The tensioning lid closure snapped shut tight and left very little seam. The hinge was smooth and consistent, and the weight inspired confidence — especially for such a small case. During testing, the earbuds could feel like just another everyday carry item. The case wasn’t substantially bigger than most modern car key fobs, so packing it was often a no-brainer. 

The JBLs paired with no issue, and our tester immediately liked the sound quality and overall comfort. 

With no retaining hook or other fiddly bits, sizing the ear tips was the only factor in a simplistic fit. The buds never struggled to pair or hold a connection during testing on trails, busy streets, or travel. The speakers also stayed consistent over the entire testing period. They resisted damage from the washing machine episode, random loose pocket carry, cleanings, and numerous drops. 

But despite surviving it all, those last two stressors indicate the main reasons the JBL Vibe Beam didn’t test as a perfect earbud for runners. Our tester’s fit was never tight enough to retain without adjustment during intense or jostling activity. Especially on longer runs, our runner reported a lot of “Secret Service” syndrome — compulsively touching the earpiece, in this case, to re-secure it. 

On one sweaty road bike ride, an earbud actually squelched free from our tester’s ear without warning. He found it with a touch of grime on it and cleaned it with a squirt of water. Q-tip cleanings were relatively frequent no matter what — repeatedly twisting the tips into ear canals caused them to pick up any and all waxy bits. 

Overall, the JBL Vibe Beam scanned as an inexpensive earbud with great battery life and all-around solid performance. A casual runner with a wide range of earbud needs could do much worse. 

With a modest price point, huge claims, and five-star reviews all over the internet, the JLab Epic Air Sport ($100) was begging for a test. We wanted to see what the hype was about, so we put it through the ringer.  

Our tester found a confidence-inspiring fit, satisfying volume, easy-to-touch controls, and reliable voice calling. The earbuds felt totally comfortable on runs up to 2 hours long and never induced stress about function. 

Our test revealed fit and volume worked together in the JLabs to create overall utility. For our tester, it’s important to minimize distractions because it’s easy to overthink on a run. The JLabs strongly provided this effect. During testing, the fit never became an issue, and the sound — while not the highest quality — capably drowned out everything outside our tester’s skull, including city traffic. 

This produced easy confidence on runs across distances and locations. We defy most everyday athletes to find a better experience at the price. But the Epic Air Sport did suffer from some shortfalls. 

While our tester didn’t find quality concerns with the JLabs, a performance gulf still exists between them and leaders like Beats by Dre. The speakers were loud, but thumpy bass and tweety treble washed out at the higher end of the volume scale. That was true right out of the case, and we are curious how they will perform long-term. 

Also, even though they boast three ANC levels (on, off, and “be aware”) that are easy to toggle between, testing didn’t indicate much difference between them. Testing on a footbridge under one of the busiest urban expressways in Austin, Texas showed the shortcomings. No matter which setting our tester selected, he could only perceive his sonic surroundings if he consciously tried to. 

Next, the case form factor is significant. Though roughly common for headphones with ear hooks, it’s fairly heavy. The only way the carry would be negligible is with a hydration pack or vest — some long-run accessory that afforded extra pocket space. 

Finally, the integrated charging cable did not sell us. Sure, these are convenient — until they die, get crushed or cut, damaged in a drop, etc. We also noted the choice to use a USB out, which seemed questionable as the world approaches a USB-C standard. 

Despite some flaws, our tester loved how easy it was to pump tunes and get lost in the secure-fitting JLab Epic Air Sport. At a low price point and high utility, it’s an earbud for the running masses — even if it overlooks some details.

H2O plunges deep into the waterproof headphone game with the H2O Audio Tri 2 Pro ($199), a bone conduction set that can survive “unlimited” submersion down to 12 feet. At IPX8, nobody on the market sells a headset that’s tougher against water. 

This capability helps the “tri” (as in triathlete) branding hit right on target. We tested the Tri Pro 2 through a summer of moderate-distance swim training, sauna recovery sessions, and cold plunge immersions. We found that not only was the sound quality good enough to hear the subdued sounds of NPR’s best and brightest, but the headphones were tough enough to withstand extremely high and low temperatures on a daily basis. 

Right out of the box, we liked the neckband’s springy feel, seams that looked plenty tight, and the simplistic three-button control. The Tri 2 Pro also withstood some punishment in the long run, springing back into shape after our tester jammed it into tight-packed carry-ons and stuffed it in backpacks under piles of other gear. 

The bone conduction action created a massaging thrum against the temples our tester found pleasing and facilitated easy awareness of surrounding hubbub. The sound above the water surface wasn’t as clear as some of the other headphones on our list, but under the water with the included earplugs in delivered the audio loud and clear, especially during swim training. 

We also liked that we could leave our watches or phones behind by loading a playlist into the headphones themselves (the process took a bit of a learning curve, however). The Tri Pro charged quickly, and the integrated charging case is a nice touch. The case is the only way to charge it, however, so you’ll have to take extra care not to lose it. 

Overall, avid swimmers or snorkelers might very well love the Tri 2 Pro. We could see functionality for competition, too, where keen wherewithal in the pack can make or break a race, and fiddling with another device is out of the question.

There’s no other way for us to lead this review: this earbud’s tester has never listened to a better pair of headphones than these. But that doesn’t mean we’ll give the Beats Fit Pro ($200) a full five stars. 

Beats Fit Pro checked our boxes in basically every functional category and knocked our tester out in sound quality and user experience. We have not experienced a stronger inclusion of active noise canceling and ambient sound modes in one set of buds. The satisfying, tactile button-click switch function made a lot of sense for anyone, especially runners with limited bandwidth for touch pressure or other nuance. 

Setup was easy, and despite needing a quick charge before we could use them, they were user-friendly. Our tester stopped caring about that minor inconvenience when he cued up the noise. 

On a satisfyingly high-tech note, the Beats prompt ear canal mapping when pairing them with an iPhone. It’s hard to tell whether it does anything, but it was fun, easy to do, and felt like a concierge service. (You can also bypass it if you’re suspicious of psyops by Apple bioengineers, or just don’t care.)

Bass was, in a word, rowdy. Our personal set of $250 MSRP JBL over-ear Bluetooth headphones fail to make nasty rap tracks or crunchy garage bangers hit any better. We also appreciated what Beats and others call “spatial audio” — a loadout of tech that uses accelerometers and gyroscopes to predict the movement of your head and make you feel like you’re “inside” the sound, rather than receiving it from a certain direction. 

These headphones also locked into our ears extremely well during runs. The rubber tails that hold pressure against the curvy, swoopy part of your inner earlobe (which is called a concha ridge, it turns out) provide just enough tension to keep the earbuds secure without causing discomfort.

We wish we were sold on the battery life and, most of all, the case quality. Six hours will not keep every distance fiend out there jamming. And while the case is barely bigger than a Tic-Tac box and slipped into a pocket of basically any size, testing damaged our confidence that the lid would survive many shenanigans. We’ve felt tighter hinges on Lego sets — which is a shame because we liked its form factor and loved the strong magnetic snap the Beats Fit Pro made when we placed them back in the charging wells. 

If you’re a short- or middle-distance runner who wants a reliable pair of headphones that sound not only great but also delicious, have strong ANC and ambient sound function, and stay put, then it looks like it’s Dre day for you, friend. 

Our tester was happily surprised by the Skullcandy Push Active ($80), which initially seemed pedestrian but later won him over with a combo of intuitive controls, easy fit, and a brutal icky thump. 

The Skullcandies seemed builder-grade in some ways, with basic shapes in the design and a loud color array. But across weather conditions and longer outings, our tester found that they refused to budge from his ear canals, brought the noise when he wanted them to, and listened to his voice commands effectively. 

The Push Active became a go-to for general running. Our tester might not reach for it in super wet weather or other compromising conditions, but for general after-work burns or sunny days, he eventually craved its strong, easy function. 

We found the fit was especially easy. Once our tester had the right size tips, the U-shaped ear hooks pivoted easily over the ears in a single rotation. Instead of contorting the wrist to move a tapered hook into position, all it took was to jam an earbud in and twist backward. A gentle twist farther backward added tension — and worked as a sound amplifier. 

Push Active headphones are not technically ANC. They have a “stay-aware” mode, but our tester found he wanted to avoid it. Wind noise was more distracting than helpful, so pure, noisy, ear-melting fun became the leading utility.

Help came from the Skullcandy IQ app, with a custom equalizer that probably wouldn’t do much for a sound engineer but did plenty for our tester. The sliders (controlling five pitch levels from “low” to “high”) didn’t offer the most nuanced control, but they helped tune music quickly and satisfyingly. Want more bass? Just crank “low.” It was that simple, and our tester liked it. 

The voice control was another user-friendly touch. After linking the earbuds to the app, carrying the instructions in a pocket on one first run was enough to smooth the learning curve. The commands were straightforward and useful, so by the end of an hour or so, our tester had it down. 

A final concern included Bluetooth connectivity, which tended to drop for a fraction of a second once or twice per run, no matter the location. (No other tested headphones showed this issue.) But in all, the Skullcandy Push Active scored highly for straight-ahead practicality. Emphatic sound, easy controls, and a tight fit — athletes at our pay grade can do much worse at the price point.