What Are The Best Workout Headphones For The Gym?

 If you go the gym regularly, chances are you’ve broken a fair few pair of headphones. So what are the best headphones for the gym? 

If you go the gym regularly, chances are you’ve broken a fair few pair of headphones.

I’ve killed multiple pairs in my time, either by drowning them in sweat until they gave up and died or by ripping one of the wires out of the actual earphone during an ill-fated rep.

There are many ways to ruin a good pair of headphones in the gym, which is why you SHOULDN’T wear good headphones to the gym. This lesson sounds simple enough, but it took me an AGE to actually learn it.

I broke my first pair of Bose headphones at the gym, an accident that nearly reduced me to tears – they cost me over £200. Next was a pair of Apple EarBuds, which I wasn’t too fussed about, as, generally speaking, they’re pretty rubbish.

Nowadays, I have a pair of headphones for the gym and a pair of headphones for everything else (basically, when I’m not sweating and/or moving heavy objects).

My go-to headphones for travel, walking, commuting and everything else in between is a set of Bose QC35’s. I’m no audiophile, but these headphones are fantastic. They blew me away when I tested them, so I went out and bought a pair.

For the gym, however, I wanted something a lot cheaper, so in the event they broke, highly likely given my track record, I wouldn’t mind too much. Basically, I wanted something under £30/$50.

If you want to be super frugal, though, you should definitely check out my article on the best earbuds you can buy for under a tenner. These headphones aren’t going to win any competitions for overall sound quality and performance, but for the gym they will more than suffice.

All the earbuds on this list cost less than a tenner – with the exception of one, which retails for the princely sum of £12 –, feature call-handling abilities, and, in some cases, are actually really rather good.

They had to have decent sound and they also had to be wireless because, as some of you will know, wires are the devil when you’re deadlifting or squatting.

I tried simple, in-ear-only earbuds, which were very good at the start of a workout, but once the sweat was following they lost traction and, nine times out of ten, fell out. This was no good.

I concluded that I needed a wireless pair of headphones with some kind of strap, so in the event one fell out, it would simply lay across the back of my neck.

Turns out I was right; this, in my opinion, is the best possible design for a pair of gym-only headphones. You get all the benefits of a wireless pair of headphones, just with the added safety of a wire that links them and stops them dropping to the floor when one falls out.

TaoTronics Bluetooth Earphones are the best I have found for £20. They look decent enough, fit really well in my ear, and are available in a range of colours, if that’s something you’re interested in.

To be honest, prior to buying a pair of these I had zero expectations. I just wanted to block out the deafening sound of Kiss FM at my local gym; I wasn’t looking for Bose QC35 levels of performance.

The TaoTronics Bluetooth Earphones don’t offer anywhere close to Bose -levels of sound. How could they? They cost £20! But what they do is offer a simple, cost-effective solution for anyone that doesn’t want to ruin a decent pair of headphones in the gym.

And for £20, you do get quite a lot of bang for your book. I mean, just check out these cool features:

Built-in magnets let you attach the two headphones together when not using, and wear like a necklace around your neck, a convenient way to carry around when you don't need them
Comfortable in-ear design, snug and secure, make sure the headset stay put and your music stays smooth when you are running, cycling, exercising and doing other activities
CVC Noise Cancellation 6.0 technology reduces outside noises, enable clearer microphone sound when talking to your family or friends; you get high quality, hands-free phone conversation even on the street or inside shopping mall
Latest Bluetooth 4.1 technology; easy and fast pairing with smartphones, tablets and other Bluetooth enabled music devices; aptX codec provides pure, CD-like high quality sound for compatible devices.
Works with all smartphone, tablets and other Bluetooth music player. Up to 5 hours of continuous talking / music time and up to 175 hours of standby with a single charge, so you have less time charging and more time doing. Pls. note: Customers should know they need to use a 5V adapter which means the charging output shall be 5V to enable the headphones' normal operation.
As I said, these are not going to compete with a £100 to £300 pair of headphones. They won’t even come close.

But if you’re looking for a decent pair of headphones for the gym that can take a serious licking and still manage to pump out decent sound, you cannot go wrong with a pair of these bad boys.

This is likely why over 5000 people like me have given them a 4.5/5 review on Amazon.

Again, these headphones are all about value for money. They won’t compete with your Bose headphones, but because they’re so cheap, it doesn’t matter if you mangle them in the gym, drench them in sweat, or break them while lifting weights.