The best headphones for the gym, picked on fit first.

Gym headphones have a tougher job than most reviews give them credit for. A brisk 20 minutes on the treadmill proves next to nothing. The real tests are the burpee that flips a bud onto the rubber floor, the sweat that sits in the case overnight, the bench pad rubbing your ear on every rep and the squat that shifts the fit a hair each time you come up.

So I picked these on fit first, sweat resistance second and sound third. I've been an audio engineer since 1978 and my working ears spend their days in studios and on tour buses, a long way from the squat rack, and I don't test gear in a lab, so the measurements and sweaty field reports here come from RTINGS and SoundGuys. Prices are what Amazon showed on October 29.

What to look for in workout headphones

Start with the IP rating, the little code that says how well a pair keeps out water and dust. IPX4 means splashes from any direction, which covers sweat but not a rinse under the tap. IPX5 handles a low-pressure spray, so you can wash off the post-workout funk, and a 7 or 8 in that second spot means the buds are rated to survive a dunking. For the gym I'd treat IPX4 as the floor, and plenty of the best pairs, the Powerbeats Pro 2 included, sit right on it.

Then match the fit to what you actually do. Running, HIIT and anything with jumping in it wants ear hooks or wingtips. Lifting and steady cardio are kinder, and regular buds usually ride them out fine. Swimming is a whole other ballgame that I'll get to in the FAQ, and there's no such thing as the best workout headphone until you know what the workout is.

Battery matters less than you'd think. Most sessions run 45 minutes to an hour and change, and the picks here where I could pin down a figure run 7 to 12 hours a charge, which is days of workouts before the buds need the case.

Controls deserve a look too. Your hands are sweaty or full of dumbbell, and touch panels get flaky when your fingers are slick, so physical buttons and voice assistants are a lot more forgiving mid-set.

Spare tips count for more than people think. Gym earbuds should come with a few sizes of silicone tip (the Powerbeats Pro 2 ships with five), and foam tips grip well but drink up sweat and wear out fast, while silicone just wipes clean.

And don't skip transparency mode if you run outside or train in a packed gym. Hearing a car, a cyclist or the guy asking if you're done with the rack matters. Indoors it's a nice-to-have, on the road I'd call it a must.

Earbuds, over-ears or bone conduction

Workout headphones come in three basic shapes, and each one has its own job.

True wireless earbuds are what most people bring along. They're small, there's no cable and they live in a side pocket of the gym bag, and they cover lifting, indoor cardio and easy runs. For anything high-impact, look for wingtips like the Powerbeats Fit or ear hooks like the Powerbeats Pro 2, as plain AirPods-style buds will bail on you during burpees, jump rope or sprints.

Over-ear headphones are a rare sight in the gym, but they've got their fans. They sound better and the battery goes longer, and some lifters swear by the way they shut out gym chatter and stay planted through a heavy set, though they run hot and bulky. I left them out, it's a pretty small niche. SoundGuys likes the Beats 360, a $349 over-ear that came out in September with IPX4, if you want one built for workouts, and my list of headphones under $100 has a couple of cheap closed-backs.

Bone-conduction headphones sit on your cheekbones just in front of your ears and send sound through vibration instead of down the canal. Your ears stay wide open, which is just what you want jogging along a road, and the sound takes a real hit for it. Shokz owns this corner and its best one is below. If you like the open-ear idea but want something smaller, my guide to open-ear and clip-on earbuds covers clip-ons like the Shokz OpenDots 2 and Soundcore AeroClip 2, which both carry IP57.

My six picks for the gym

How to choose

Find the line that sounds like your workout.

Questions people ask about gym headphones

Can I use regular AirPods at the gym?

You can, but they weren't built for it. The AirPods 5 have no tips and nothing that hooks onto your ear, so they sit loose in the bowl of your ear, though Apple does rate them IP57, so sweat itself won't hurt them. For the treadmill or the rowing machine that's fine. For box jumps I'd want a hook or a wing, and within Apple's lineup the IP57 AirPods Pro 3 are the safer bet.

How do I keep workout earbuds from getting smelly?

Three habits do most of the work. Wipe the buds and tips down with a soft cloth after every session, the sweat gunk on the tips is what makes them stink. Let them dry out before they go back in the case overnight, as damp buds in a closed case are a recipe for funk. And swap the silicone tips once they start looking grubby, since tips that have soaked up months of sweat don't come back.

What's the difference between IPX4 and IP68?

IPX4 means splash-resistant, fine for sweat but not made for a dunking or a long soak. IP68 means the buds are fully dust-tight and rated to survive time underwater, to a depth and time the maker spells out. For most gym use IPX4 is the minimum and IP68 is overkill, but if you rinse your buds or train outside in all weather, the JBL's IP68 is a real perk.

Do I need noise cancelling at the gym?

It depends on the gym. ANC knocks down the hum of the treadmills, the clank of the cable stack and the air handling, and it can bury the house playlist if that's not your thing. The trade-off is that you hear less of what's going on around you, like someone asking if you're using the bench. I'd want it on a switch, on for the heavy sets and transparency mode for a busy floor, and I explain the difference between the two kinds of quiet in my piece on ANC versus passive isolation.

Should I get wingtips or ear hooks?

Wingtips, like the ones on the Powerbeats Fit, are smaller and quicker to pop in, and they brace against the ridges inside your ear. Ear hooks, like on the Powerbeats Pro 2, the JBL and the JLab, wrap over the top of your ear and hang on better through high-impact stuff, but they're bulkier and fiddlier to get on. My rule of thumb is hooks if your workout has burpees, sprints or jump rope in it, and wingtips for everything else.

How loud is too loud during a workout?

The WHO puts the safe limit for adults at about 80 decibels for 40 hours a week, and the safe time shrinks fast as the volume climbs, down to about 4 hours a week at 90. A quick check I like is whether you can hear someone talking to you from about three feet away, and if you can't, turn it down. iPhones can warn you when your weekly headphone exposure runs high, and noise cancelling helps a lot, as you won't be cranking it to drown out the gym.

What about headphones for swimming?

Regular workout earbuds won't cut it in the pool. Bluetooth doesn't travel through water, and IPX4 buds aren't built to go under. Swimmers usually go for bone-conduction headphones with a music player built in, like the Shokz OpenSwim or FINIS's Duo, where you load songs onto the headset over a cable before you get wet. That's its own little category, and I haven't covered it here.

My bottom line

For most gym-goers the Powerbeats Pro 2 is the easy call, as those hooks hang on through just about anything. If hooks rub you the wrong way, the Powerbeats Fit tucks in with wingtips, and road runners should look at the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 for the open ears alone. Whatever you buy, match it to your workout, with hooks for the jumping stuff, wings or plain buds for steady work and bone conduction out on the road. And give the tips a wipe before they go back in the case.