I’m looking for some new ear buds for running and other purposes, but finding anything suited for a mediocre active lifestyle seems hard.
Now I have a pair of Sennheiser sport true wireless. What works is the audio quality and reliable charging. What doesn’t work is the very clunky charging case, and any trace of rain will adjust the volume, change the song or pause the track. A stable 3/5 product. Wearing a hood just amplifies the problem as a tiny amount of moisture will interfere.
I’m not trusting Sennheiser for a new pair right now as their Momentum True Wireless 3 buds had a faulty charging tech. Both me and my partner had to send them in and receive new ones. Bad for us, bad for the environment.
Any recommendations for a pair with a nice balanced sound quality, good case, and reliable controls in all conditions?
I wear Sony Linkbuds while running or cycling. They have a hole in the middle which means they have basically no sound isolation at all, making them very safe to use if you’re running on the road or footpath where motor vehicles or cyclists might come up behind you. The open design also allows you to hear your breathing properly and it you won’t get that annoying heartbeat/pulse effect where the sound ducks in and out like you do with closed in-ear earphones. They don’t go into your ear canal, but rather sit outside like the classic Apple earphones or Galaxy Buds Live. They have an IPX4 rating which means:
Water splashing against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effect, utilizing either:
a) an oscillating fixture, or b) A spray nozzle with no shield. Test a) is conducted for 10 minutes. b) is conducted (without shield) for 5 minutes minimum.
They also have a feature called wide area tap, which (when enabled) extends the touch controls out along your cheek bones. Instead of tapping the earphones themselves, you can tap on your face instead to control them. I find this extremely useful while running or cycling, because it requires far less precision and works reliably in any weather conditions without dislodging the earphones.
I don’t use them for serious listening too often, so I haven’t paid great attention to the audio quality, but to me they sound fairly balanced for consumer earphones with a nice level of detail and a slightly wider soundstage because of the open design. The battery life for both the earphones and the case is also good. The only major problem with them is the fit - you will need to experiment with the wings to find a combination that fits your ear shape and some people have reported that they just won’t stay in their ears. The wings can also make them uncomfortable after longer periods (several hours) though I rarely wear them for over an hour at a time so this doesn’t bother me too much.
Overall I’d say they’re much more a competitor to bone conduction headphones than typical earphones. They have a significantly smaller profile than bone conduction models and better sound, plus they don’t look as cringe. Here are a couple of runners reviewing them if you’re interested. I bought mine refurbished from the official Sony eBay store for a significant discount, so it might be worth checking for that too.
