PRODUCT
BOSE SOUNDSPORT FREE
MARKS OUT OF 10
FIT: 9 / SOUND: 10 / EASE OF USE: 8
These completely wireless, sweat and water-resistant earbuds deliver exceptional, crisp sound quality and to-fault in-ear comfort. Five hours of juice is more than enough for most runs, and the solid plastic carry case doubles as a charger to give you an extra 10 hours of power. The ‘Find My Buds’ feature, meanwhile, will be music to forgetful runners’ ears.
£179.95, bose.co.uk
PRODUCT
Jaybird Run
MARKS OUT OF 10
FIT: 9 / SOUND: 9 / EASE OF USE: 7
These ooze premium style and the sound is phenomenal. For sonic snobs, the headphones are even highly customisable in the accompanying app. With over a dozen accessories—from buds to ear hooks—getting a comfy, secure fit isn’t a problem.
The battery lasts four hours, and the battery charger carries another four hours. Unfortunately, intermittent connection issues mar an otherwise great product.
£169.99, jaybirdsport.com/en-gb
PRODUCT
SNUGS WIRELESS
MARKS OUT OF 10
FIT: 10 / SOUND: 7 / EASE OF USE: 8
Put simply, you won’t need a better fitting pair of headphones. That’s because before you can buy a pair, an audiologist measures the inside of your ear (either visit a Snugs store or pay for them to come to you) so that the ear tips can be custom made—to your design preference—and delivered within a few days. The resulting tailor-made silicon buds take a bit of getting used to but, once you’re acclimatised, the fit is faultless.
£199.95 (includes fitting appointment), selfridges.com/gb
PRODUCT
BTS PRO VOICE
MARKS OUT OF 10
FIT: 8 / SOUND: 9 / EASE OF USE: 9
Combining the immersive sound quality of traditional, over-the-head headphones with the on-the-run practicality of earphones, the BTS Pro Voice sits on your ears with ultra-comfy memory foam cushions—with the thin band sitting behind your neck. The Bluetooth connection stays strong up to 30 metres, and it’s easy to control your music and adjust the volume on the headphone unit itself.
£139.99, 66audio.com
PRODUCT
SOL REPUBLIC RELAY SPORT WIRELESS
MARKS OUT OF 10
FIT: 8 / SOUND: 8 / EASE OF USE: 8
It’s rare to get change out of £100 for a decent pair of sport-specific headphones, but these offer an impressive amount of bang for your hard-earned buck. The rubber tips— which come in a range of sizes—are secured in place by Sol Republic’s rubber ‘FreeFlex wheel’ and, once the tips are in place, the sound is much better than the price tag suggests (importantly for pavement-pounding runners, the bass is suitably heavy).
£79.99, solrepublic.co.uk
PRODUCT
MIIEGO AL3+ FREEDOM
MARKS OUT OF 10
FIT: 7 / SOUND: 8 / EASE OF USE: 8
With excellent Bluetooth functionality, at a fraction of the cost of many headphone brands, Miiego’s AL3+ Freedom is a high-quality, lower cost option for runners seeking a simple pair of wireless headphones. Answering calls is one click of a button away, and sound quality is far better than the low price suggests. The only slight issue we had was with the one-size-fits-all design which, well, didn’t fit us all.
£79.99, miiego.com/en
