The Best Sports Earphones

Fairly often we get asked about the best headphones for something specific and it’s usually a sport. We all enjoy our sports and I’m sure you’ve used headphones or earphones in the past for running or whatever sport you take part in. But you’ve seen the problem with a rubbish quality pair right?

Best Sports Earphones Features

Normally we review the best over ear headphones but when it comes to sport earphones… that doesn’t really apply. You can certainly try to use over ear headphones for sports but if it’s a vigorous sport you might well have comfort issues. So instead we’re going to look at some in ear headphones and earphones.

If you don’t want to read or ‘how to find the best sports earphones’ guide then you can always hit the Amazon button (above or below) to go straight over and see our #1 suggested sports earphones. Best price, best quality and loads of great reviews.

But what should you actually be looking for in the best sports earphones? Well there’s a few things I tend to go for.

You want something that’s going to last, so decent quality is the way to go. Something water resistance doesn’t hurt either (considering rain and/or sweat). You can get ‘shock proof’ earphones but this is rarely much of an issue in our experience. A smaller part people rarely consider here is the quality of the cable which attaches to your phone or MP3 player. If your headphones stay in one piece that’s great, but if they have a cheap wire which breaks or becomes loose then it doesn’t do you any good.

You can use Bluetooth earphones if your music player supports it. This means you have no wire at all to worry about (although that usually comes with a higher price tag and battery issues) or just look for something with a reinforced cable or something similar. The point where it connects with the headphones itself is generally the most important part where damage frequently occurs with poor quality earphones.

Comfort. This is a big deal. Normally I turn down a lot of headphones for our best headphones list if there’s problems with comfort because I think it’s a pretty big deal. Well with sports, I know I’m right. If your headphones are not comfortable they’ll drive you mad and you’ll end up not using them (making them a waste of money).

If you think a pair of uncomfortable headphones were enough of an annoyance then try them while running for example and see how you find it there. It’s not a good idea. So instead we look for earbuds or around neck in ear headphones. These generally do a better job of staying in one place and not falling out of your ears or becoming painful. You want something tight fighting that isn’t going to bounce around and you want it made of (or coated in) something which isn’t going to irritate the back of your neck.

Next up you need something present in any good  earphones. Good sound quality. No matter if you want something running earphones or the best headphones for your iPod this is a pretty high standard. You need something which sounds good and loud enough, in this case, so you’ll be able to hear your music clearly while running for example.

After that there’s a few additional things you can get which we consider ‘icing on the cake’ for sports earphones. Things like a good design or a guarantee from the manufacturer.  Some earphones come with a carrying case, multiple ear tip replacements or interchangeable caps so you can change the color for example. But one of the best sports earphones features we’ve found is a small feature which just makes things so much easier. The ability to change volume from the wire rather than having to reach into your pocket every time – it’s a surprisingly big bonus.

Get the Best Sports Earphones

So armed with knowledge you can go into your local store or shop around online. Our usual rules stand of course – it’s worth spending an extra few bucks to get a proper quality pair rather than constantly replacing them. And in ear sports earphones are a lot cheaper than over ear headphones, it’s a few bucks for something that could last you years.

Now the #1 best sports earphone we’d suggest is the Sennheriser PMX 680. You might notice this review is only marked at 3 stars, but that’s because generally we look at over ear headphones so we couldn’t consider it quite on par with that. But if you’re looking for a great pair of sports earphones these win hands down. They’re usually pretty expensive but when I last checked they were on a great deal (with hundreds of great reviews) and they have everything we’d look for in the best sports earphones.