Bluetooth Headphones (over ear) Recommendations

I’m using the Beats Solo 3 with the W1 chip for indoor training and commuting. Great battery life and the connection never drops. The sound profile is “good enough” for the bass heavy listening I do during workouts and for podcasts while on the train.

I don’t use headphones while outside for safety reasons.

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I would concur with @ttoc6 in regards to the Sony’s. I have tried a lot of different pairs and the AKG that Costco also sold lasted as long as the Sony’s but weren’t as comfortable and seemed to sit on top of the ears instead of covering them. For buds I found a pair of Beats sports ones on sale and they have lasted a couple of years so far and are going strong with no damage from sweat yet.

A way of protecting them that I tried was putting the thin plastic zip lock bags over the pads on each ear. Sound was just as good and protected the earphone pads from the sweat. A bit of electrical tape held them in place quite well. Not a pretty fix but does the job.

My off brand no name amazon £20 over ear ones are great for sound quality (also takes out some of the trainer noise) but get way too sweaty. So when I upgrade I will definitely look to in ear options.

I use Aftershokz Air for running and road rides and they are brilliant. If you use earplugs when not on the road the sound quality improves. Pretty impervious to sweat and don’t make it any worse on account of very little skin contact area.

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Inexpensive Bluetooth headphones good for indoor workouts… I like the Aukey Latitude EP-B40
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZSQQTD/
I’ve been using mine in the gym and on the trainer for almost a year now, quite happy with them. They’re not the style you like, but for the price ($28) they might be worth a try anyway.

I use Jaybird earbuds with the wifi’s, I find this style cooler as you don’t have the over head band making your head feel hot (might just be me but I find that really annoying).

Still looking for a sweatproof, overear, noise cancelling, bluetooth headphone.

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Over-ear/Noise Canceling:

  • Sennheiser HD 4.5 (Best alternative to top of the line bose)
    Fried after a month of sweating. I was careful care to air out and wipe down.

  • Audio-Technica ATH-ANC9 (recommended by Shame Miller, GPLama)
    Sound bleed issues, headwind fan creates low wind noise that make it incompatible (for me).

Buds:

  • Jaybird Freedoms (Jonathan recommended, I and a training buddy couldn’t keep them in the ear; new version may have fixed that)

  • Jaybird X-series
    Winner so far, BUT cannot wear them over ear because sweat gets in the dongle.
    — Jaybird’s customer service is not a user-friendly, but they eventaully warrantied/replaced two sets of fried earbuds before I figured out I had to wear them under ear (now resting on my neck, ugh).

Note Ray, the DC Rainmaker, switched off SkullCandy Methods back to Beats at one point.

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I consider myself a bit of an audiophile (or enthusiast, sounds much better :smiley: ), so I wear a pair of Shure earphones that sound spectacular (and are spectacularly expensive, too)

But I must say that maybe as important as the earphones themselves is finding the right tips.

There are many options, both in format and materials (I like the memory foam ones). Getting a good seal makes a huge difference in sound quality and is especially important on the trainer, as you don’t have to crank up the volume and potentially damage your hearing.

I use the Treks Titanium for mountain biking, but don’t love them indoors. I just bought Samsung Level On wireless headphones (pretty cheap on ebay) and I love them. I wear a headband on the trainer so the over the ear style is not a sweat issue.

The noise cancellation is amazing because I don’t hear the trainer or bike at all. This was a huge benefit I never expected.

I was looking for a replacement for my Sony SH-80 and just bought this Pioneer Premium Performance Wireless Sports Earphones SE-IM6BT: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CM9H4Y6

Sweat proof and, best of all, no latency with watching video because of the aptX encoding. Also, has a clip so you can secure it on your collar, unlike most ear buds, so it won’t move around lopsided as you train.

Me too! I’ve had battery issues. However, Beats are good about replacement. Most of the time.

I had a pair of SE535s with custom tips from a company that sadly no longer offers the tips and the left monitor is completely dead with no obvious way to get it fixed alas :sob:. They were awesome.

Apologies for not meeting the OP’s criteria with this answer (asked for over-ear) but other people have asked about AirPods falling out and sweat resistance so: I bought a set 18 months ago and one of them has finally given up the ghost. I sweated onto them a ton and they’ve never fallen out except when knocked by helmet straps (I know, I know, only off-road, only when I think it’s safe). Wore them year round in typical English winter downpours and doing a marathon on the Great Wall of China in sweltering heat and humidity. I suspect the pod itself might be alright and the case might not be charging it due my dropping it a bunch of times :rofl:

For this type of questions I always take a look at Wirecutter recommendations. It is a review site which makes money from referral links to Amazon. That means they will recommend things from Amazon without favoring specific brands. Usually they have picks for various budgets. They update these articles periodically but it can take time when new models are released.

Here are their recommendations for wireless workout headphones:

Wired headphones:

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not bluetooth and maybe breaking the bank, but I am loving indoor workouts with my in ear bose noise cancelling buds. Mutes the fan noise, creates a nice headspace “zone” and music sounds fantastic.

I’ve got the bone conduction headphones that I use some in the gym or running, they’re good when you want to be able to hear a little better. I wouldn’t want them on a bike or trainer though for several reasons.

Riding indoors I decided to go the cheap amazon bluetooth route. For what they cost me I won’t be bothered when the sweat finally kills them. The sound is perfectly acceptable. I do sweat in them and they don’t smell so good after a couple of months. But I’d buy them again, I don’t tolerate things in my ear for very long and end up with outer ear infections.

Oh noes! Was it sweat? Shure claims they are sweat proof, and I chose to believe them haha. I have the SE846s, got them at an amazing price and I really hope they don’t die on me.

I’ve been using the Jaybird X3 at least 5x week for almost exactly 1 year.

They’ve survived my daily lunch-time gym workout, hours on the trainer, traveling to Asia 1x a quarter, etc.

They’re absolutely fantastic at blocking out sound when you need them to – e.g. when you’re seated next to the wing on a 15-hour flight, when you’re trying to fall asleep and your downstairs neighbors are fighting, when you want to listen to the TR podcast on the trainer. or when the gym is playing really horrible EDM loudly.

The mobile app is really nice too. It took me a little bit but I’ve created a sound setting that really pulls stuff out of the mix that other headphones can’t.

They’re also currently on sale for ~ $60 at BestBuy and a few other retailers – there’s now an X4.

Jaybird customer service is horrible. Thankfully I only had to deal with them once – my issue, not a bad product.

I have these as well after the recommendations on the podcast, but I wouldn’t recommend them myself tbh. They work ok’ish most of the time on the indoor trainer, but are horrible for running or biking outdoors. The sound keeps cutting out and I’m not the only one, judging by the amount of complaints on their forums.
They suggest not wearing them in ‘sport’ mode (so not over the ear) and it should be as close as possibile to the phone. But even when I try that, it still drops out + the cord is dangling around in my neck and rips the earpiece out…
And like you said, their customer support is horrendous…

No more Jaybird for me…

Still looking for a good alternative though…

I use AirPods for non-sweaty walking the dog or general use. Wired Sennheisers or OTE for “must sound perfect” music. On the trainer I dig the Anker SoundBuds Slim, and to boot they were only $17 for sweatproof buds.

Yep, I’m looking to replace them with Bose Soundsport Free once they arbitrarily drop in price a little, but until then I truly can’t complain about the el-cheapo Ankers. I also have my eye on trying out some bone conduction when outdoor becomes workable again.

Just purchased these today. Newest version they offer.

I’m coming from 3 pairs of Bose SoundSport. The Bose sound is fantastic, but neither set can hold a charge anymore.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07JVM262R