Best Headphones for Cycling in 2023

Tech Specs

• Battery Life: approx 5 hours
• IP rating: IPX7
• ANC: No
• Ambient Mode: No
• Carrying Case: Yes, 16 hours

The earbuds have a very stealthy look and feel to them. They don’t protrude outwards and seem to fit snugly inside your ear canal (thanks to the soft silicone ear tips and stability fins). So despite lacking bulky ear hooks or “ergonomic” wingtips, these earbuds will definitely stay in place while you’re out cycling.

The earbuds have an IPX7 rating, which basically makes them waterproof, and you can dip them in water if you need to — although I don’t recommend it.

Unfortunately, you won’t be riding for long because this cheap boi can only run for a maximum of five hours on a single charge, so don’t forget to pop them back in the case (for a quick recharge session) while you’re taking a break from all the cycling.

Since these headphones don’t offer powerful drivers, your listening experience will be somewhat dull. You might be able to listen to some podcasts or light music on the road, but don’t expect rich mids and highs.

Tech Specs

• Battery Life: 9 hours
• IP rating: IP68
• ANC: No
• Ambient Mode: No
• Carrying Case: Yes, with 36 hours of battery life

First off, these have an over-the-ear design with ergonomic ear hooks. Although while wearing headphones such as these, you might get a comfortable and stable fit, the main compartment (which houses the battery and circuits) sits right on top of your ears. As a result, glass wearers will have a lot of trouble fitting these on.

Luckily it’s all smooth sailing from here on out since these buds are designed with exceptional quality and waterproof enclosures (IP68). The earbuds will be able to resist splashes and even complete submersion. Therefore, you won’t have to worry about jumping headfirst into a puddle or swimming pool).

In terms of controls, the earbuds have physical buttons. Unfortunately, these are not mirrored since the functions for volume control and skipping tracks are delegated to both earbuds. Consequently, you can’t run solo and expect to rely on a single earbud while cycling.

Obviously, at that price point, you can’t expect groundbreaking audio. It has good sound quality, with a lot of sound clarity in the mids and highs. Unfortunately, the bass is acting a little weird since it’s trying too hard.

Tech Specs

• Battery Life: 9 hours
• IP rating: IPX4
• ANC: No
• Ambient Mode: No
• Carrying Case: Yes, a total of 24 hours

Combined with the charging case you get around 24 hours of playback time, with the earbuds sporting a battery large enough to deliver 9 hours continuously. Therefore, you can wear these earbuds throughout an entire cycling session — without ever taking them off.

Long Battery life isn’t just what’s impressive here; the earbuds themselves have a very ergonomic design with flexible ear hooks that go over your ears.

Unfortunately, the IPX4 rating for the earbuds is not enough. Although it will make do for most indoor activities, you can’t rely on a splash-resistant rating when riding a bicycle through harsh weather and terrain.

Regarding the audio quality, these Bluetooth headphones/earbuds offer somewhat balanced sound where you can hear clean audio despite having trouble maintaining the highs.

The microphone’s recording quality is decent and will filter out annoying background noises, although I cannot guarantee it will block out most wind noise.

Tech Specs

• Battery Life: 4-6 hours
• IP rating: IPX4
• ANC: No
• Ambient Mode: No
• Carrying Case: Yes

These neckband headphones aren’t the most ideal for cyclists, but they are the best neckband style alternative. The battery and IP rating aren’t what I have in mind, but the sound quality and comfort are totally worth considering.

For starters, this is Bose, so you can expect the audio to sound good, and luckily it does. There’s clear sound from the bass to the highs, everything is neutral and crisp, but unfortunately, the sound is weak and lacks much-needed bass. Noise isolation is surprisingly good since you will be able to block out most ambient noises, but the absence of ANC and transparency mode is disappointing.

The microphone recording quality is acceptable since anybody on the other end will hear your voice clearly as long as there’s not a lot of booming background noise.

Tech Specs

• Battery Life: 5 hours
• IP rating: IPX4
• ANC: No
• Ambient Mode: No
• Carrying Case: 10 hours

Let me tell you: these Bose wireless ear headphones absolutely knock it out of the park when it comes to the build quality. The earbuds and the charging case look and feel amazing and is an absolute treat to have on your ear canals.

These earbuds provide a comfortable and stable fit thanks to the proprietary StayHear+ wingtips, which secures themselves into your outer ear with the gel tips and stability fins. You can keep wearing these comfortably while you’re adventuring out in the saddle.

However, these earbuds are not that sleek-looking. They poke out (quite a lot) from your ears and could get in the way of a bicycle helmet.

Sound quality-wise these are good quality headphones/earbuds, it’s got some of the most well-balanced sound profiles ever found in TWS earbuds, and everything from the bass to the mids and highs is crisp, clear, and accurate. Noise isolation is very weak, but let’s give Bose the benefit of the doubt because, as cyclists, we need to be aware of environmental noise anyway.

The dual microphone array on the right earbud is also impressive as it does a respectable job of cutting out wind noise during phone calls — it could be better though.

Also, unfortunately, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that these earbuds provide great Bluetooth connectivity since many users have had issues with the left earbud cutting out along with video lag when streaming videos on a smartphone.

Tech Specs

• Battery Life: 8 hours
• IP rating: IP67
• ANC: No
• Ambient Mode: Sort of
• Carrying Case: No

These bone conduction headphones feature an open-ear design where the speakers sit in front of your ear’s tragus and “spit out hot fire” into your inner ears without blocking your ear canal; hence, with these, you won’t ever have to worry about earwax buildup or infections.

Like every other bone conduction headphone out there, the Haylou PurFree features a neckband design with a slim and flexible neckband. These bone conduction headphones are comfortable, but you might have trouble finding a secure fit. The speakers are enclosed in a watertight IP67-rated housing, so there are no worries about getting them wet.

Unfortunately, battery life is only 8 hours, and without a charging case, you are pretty much done until you can recharge it via the included charger (charges in 1.5 hours). Also, these have a unique charging interface with dedicated charging cables.

Despite having an average microphone with some noise reduction technologies, the sound quality on these bone conduction headphones is not that great. So if you are prioritizing sound over anything else, these are the wrong pair of headphones to side with.

Tech Specs

• Battery Life: 5.5 hours
• IP rating: IP57
• ANC: Yes
• Ambient Mode: Yes
• Carrying Case: 24 hours

There are no two ways about it, the Jabra Elite Active 75t wireless Bluetooth earbuds are not cheap, so if you’re spending almost $200 on a pair of Bluetooth cycling headphones, you might as well go for one that you can use for business and pleasure.

And thankfully, these earbuds are worth it. They come in an attractive charging case (charges via USB-C), and the earbuds are very hardy (and shower-friendly) thanks to their IP57 rating and scratchproof grip coating.

The entire case charges in just a couple of hours and provides a total battery life of 24 hours (with ANC). Also, you can fast charge the earbuds (along with the case) for 15 minutes and use these for another hour. (If you’re in a rush.)

These are quality headphones in terms of sound output, the bass is powerful (especially when you boost it up via the support software), and the mids come out organically. However, the highs can be a little weak, but if you’re someone who prefers listening to BFG division while breezing down a hill (instead of listening to classical music like any sane person), you won’t notice it.

The recording quality on these earbuds is also very impressive, with the use of a four-microphone array, this bad boy can cut out most background noise and make life easier when responding to phone calls.

Tech Specs

• Battery Life: 6 hours
• IP rating: IP66
• ANC: No
• Ambient Mode: Yes
• Carrying Case: 40 hours in total

Thankfully, you can tell that the folks over at JLabs understand the situation of runners and cyclists, and that’s why they’ve designed a pair of ergonomic Bluetooth earbuds with these specific features.

Speaking of which, the earbuds come with an integrated ear hook and comfortable ear tips guaranteed to keep these wireless headphones on your ears while you’re moving; hence, you won’t have to worry about the earbuds falling out while you’re going down a slope or running up that hill.

In the famous words of Lil John, the sound quality is “Okay.” So as long as you are cycling through a quiet stretch of road, you’ll be able to enjoy your music or laugh along to your podcasts. It’s not the best-sounding headphones for cycling, and you can probably do better if you’re prioritizing sound over anything else.

The microphone has a decent noise reduction system that eliminates most wind noise while you’re talking. However, it is not perfect by any means, and your listener will have trouble understanding you when the outside world is going nuts.

Tech Specs

• Battery Life: 6 hours
• IP rating: IPX7
• ANC: No
• Ambient Mode: No
• Carrying Case: 24 hours

On other aspects, the build quality is pretty solid, and with an IPX7 rating, you won’t have to worry about wearing these during rough weather conditions. However, the controls are a teensy bit spotty since the left earbud takes control of the skipping tracks function while the right earbud handles the volume control.

Another slightly disappointing aspect is the battery life. The 4-6 hours of continuous playback time is far from what I would consider “amazing battery life.” The Bluetooth connection on these earbuds is very stable, and JBL has done a decent job setting up a dual-point connection.

Finally, another thing I would not consider: the claims to deliver “great sound quality” because the bass and highs are all over the place. (Mids are okay though, and one of its saving graces.)

Tech Specs

• Battery Life: 8 hours
• IP rating: IP57
• ANC: No
• Ambient Mode: No
• Carrying Case: yes, for 30 hours

The Jabra Elite 7 Active in-ear headphones have a very straightforward design. They look like regular TWS earbuds but manage to grab onto your inner ear without the help of gimmicky ear hooks or wing tips.

The Earbuds and charging case are much slimmer than the Active 75t’s (almost 16% according to Jabra) but manage to make room for a more efficient battery. The charging interface is USB Type-C, but the case can also charge wirelessly and fully recharges in less than a couple of hours.

The active noise cancellation definitely scrapes off a lot of ambient noise, and it’s handy if you’re sitting in traffic or working in a busy office.

The Ambient mode is another worthwhile addition, and it’s perfect for cyclists and runners who want to let in some external noise and be more aware of their surroundings.

The sound profile is decent, with somewhat powerful bass and a little underpowered mids. Thankfully it’s nothing too major, and you won’t notice the differences while cycling.