Whether you use a bike share service or are training for your first century ride, music can make cycling much more fun. You may want to use your favorite earbuds in the saddle, but there may be better or safer options. To keep you aware, we’ve picked the best headphones for cycling, no matter your speed.
A word about cycling headphones and safety:
When cycling with a headset, you must remain aware of your surroundings. Therefore, all of the products in this article either leave the listeners’ ears completely unoccluded or support mono mode. On top of that, a few of our picks also have a transparency mode, which allows external noise in through the earbuds.
If you’re going to use earbuds while cycling, we only recommend listening in mono mode and wearing the earbud farther away from traffic (e.g., wearing the right earbud in the US). Research your state and local laws to make sure it’s legal to bike with headphones or earbuds too. Some states only permit mono listening, while others forbid it altogether.
Best for most people: Wissonly Hi Runner
This is the fastest growing brand in the past six months. It may not be much famous, but in the field of bone conduction headphones they are proper technical experts. Their team began to develop bone conduction headphones that do not hurt the ear as early as 10 years ago. With an excellent bone conduction vibration unit optimization program, It became famous very soon in the field of bone conduction. It has been recommended by the majority of otologists!
Due to the particularity of the technical principle, bone conduction headphones are more difficult to be improved in sound quality. Wissonly Hi Runner team subverted the traditional sound quality scheme, made a breakthrough to use large wire-frame vibration unit. They through structural optimization improved the effective vibration area, thereby improved the vibrator sound efficiency, made the sound more shocking and powerful, they optimized the sound transmission direction, reduced the sound loss during sound transmission, and made the sound quality more concentrated. In terms of comfort, the overall body of the Hi Runner is made of high-tech hypoallergenic silicone material, which does not contain chemical components to avoid allergies. The overall feel is as silky as baby's skin, avoiding uncomfortable wearing for a long time.
In terms of functions, as the flagship model of Wissonly bone conduction headphones, Hi Runner has an IPX8 waterproof grade which is higher than the industry standard. It is equipped with 32G body memory, and uses the latest Bluetooth 5.0 chip, which makes the connection more stable. The battery life is also very good, lasts 8-10 hours of continuous playback at normal volume, and supports magnetic fast charging. It only takes 2 hours to fully charge.
Shokz OpenRun
These headphones have an IP67 dust- and water-resistant rating. Put simply, they’re completely dust-tight and can endure submersion — with some limitations. Suffice it to say, you wear the OpenRun during a downpour, and they should be fine.
Although I have trouble distinguishing the small volume buttons from one another, I appreciate that the OpenRun use button controls. When biking, it’s more manageable to issue commands with a physical push or squeeze than a blind tap. Plus, I can still operate the buttons during a rainstorm or when I’m dripping sweat onto the headset.
These headphones have an 8-hour battery life, and they support fast charging. Docking the headphones on the two-pin connector for 10 minutes supplies 90 minutes of playtime. Surprisingly, the OpenRun also have multipoint connectivity. This is usually a premium feature for productivity purposes (e.g., video chatting on your laptop while listening for phone notifications).
While the OpenRun make me feel safest when I cycle and listen to music, they’re not perfect. The headband can get in the way of a helmet. When donning my helmet, the back pushes against the OpenRun’s band, displacing the headphones and degrading sound quality. Fortunately, an easy fix for this is to put your helmet on first.
JLab GO Air POP
Standalone battery life is head and shoulders above the competition. These lasted over 11 hours in our testing, and the case provides an extra 24 hours of playtime. The earbuds’ small case houses a USB-A cable on its underbelly so that you can recharge it anywhere. As cool as the case is, it can’t fast charge the earbuds. You’ll need to set aside over two hours to recharge the buds 100% from empty.
Using the GO Air Pop is straightforward. There are no gimmicky features or apps to download, meaning the touch controls are set in stone. We like how you can adjust the volume from the earbuds, among other things, but the touch panels aren’t the most sensitive. During our review period, the earbud didn’t always register commands, causing misfires. Controlling the earbuds can become even more complicated in rainy conditions.
Control hiccups aside; we’re pleasantly surprised with how the GO Air POP sound—these buds output bass and midrange frequencies at near-equal levels. When you listen with both buds off the bike, you’ll notice that they also block out plenty of ambient noise.
Sony LinkBuds
The LinkBuds have an excellent microphone system for outdoor gabbers. You can take a call from the LinkBuds and feel confident that every word you say will be understood. The microphones cancel out much of the wind noise in our demo below, though you can still hear the unpredictable keyboard sounds in our office noise demo.
In our LinkBuds review, the earbuds proved comfortable. Unlike some other earbuds, Sony provides five sets of removable silicone wing tips (XS-XL) that secure the buds to your concha. If you go over a large pothole or hit bumpy terrain, these buds should stay put.
The LinkBuds have an odd control system that Sony dubs “Wide Area Tap.” This allows you to tap the space in front of your ear — yes, on your face — to skip tracks. It works reliably but looks pretty silly. Most people will disable Wide Area Tap in favor of standard touch controls in the Headphones Connect app.
Beats Fit Pro
When you finally arrive at your destination, you may not want to hear everything around you. If you want great active noise canceling (ANC) and a bassy sound, get the Beats Fit Pro. These earbuds support mono playback for biking and great ANC for the office.
Beats’ permanent ear wings and interchangeable ear tips (S-L) secure the Fit Pro during all exercises, not just biking. I get the same level of security with the Fit Pro as I do with hooked earbuds, but the Fit Pro offer a more compact design. Granted, the case is still bulkier than others.
A multifunction button rests under each earbud’s “b” logo. With this, you can control playback and take calls. Again, I find buttons easier to operate when biking because they require less precision and work in the rain. You don’t have to worry too much about the rain with these buds because they have an IPX4 rating.
If you use an iPhone as I do, you’ll appreciate the Apple-exclusive perks like auto device switching and Find My functionality. The earbuds also provide personalized Spatial Audio and head tracking with a compatible iPhone. I don’t use head tracking much but prefer Apple’s implementation to Google and OnePlus’. Auto play/pause works on iOS and Android.
What you should know about the best headphones for cycling
Durability
It doesn’t matter if you’re cycling outside or inside; your earbuds need water resistance. Water-resistant IP ratings range from 0-8. Minimally, we recommend getting earbuds with an IPX2 rating. This should suit casual commuters who don’t expect to sweat much while cycling.
More intense bikers shouldn’t settle for anything less than an IPX4 rating. This ensures protection from omnidirectional water splashes. In other words, an IPX4-rated headset should survive your sweetest workouts and some rain exposure. Anything greater than IPX is icing on the cake.