Best headphones for cycling 2024 — stay entertained safely on the bike, whether you're riding indoors or outdoors (2024)

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Bone-conduction headphones have become a hot commodity in the cycling and wider sports market over the last couple of years. In case you haven't ever worn bone-conduction headphones: it's the buds that sit in front of your ears that conduct sound to the inner ear through vibrations. TheSuunto Wing Bone Conduction Headphones are the Finnish company's first attempt at entering the market.

The Wing comes in what has become a standard look for bone-conduction headphones: two buds that sit just in front of your ears, joined together by a band that loops over your ears and behind your head. The main material in shaping the Wing is titanium alloy, which is then layered with soft silicone so it's soft against your skin.The battery life promised on these is 'more than eight hours', which tester Suvi found to beaccurate,and in practice the carry-case extends the battery life to more than 20 hours.

If you're looking for a good quality, well-designed headset that allows you to hear your surroundings while cycling, the Suunto Wing is an excellent choice. It is pricey, but you do get features such as the head-movement controls, the integrated LED lights, and the charging dock, which really set these headphones apart and go a long way to justifying the higher price tag.

Read our review of the Suunto Wing bone conduction headphones

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If you like listening to music on your bike then it's a good idea to use an open-ear design so that you can hear other stuff that's going on around you. There are plenty of options, and bone-conduction headphones are a big part of the market, but these OneOdio OpenRock S headphones, which use a more standard audio driver, are better in many respects and easy to recommend.

OneOdio claims a run-time of 60 hours from one charge of the case, and 19 hours just from the internal batteries in the earphones themselves. If you run out of juice, five minutes in the case will give you an hour of play. Tester Dave was impressed with the battery life and he said, "I charged them at the start of the review process and weeks later I'm still on that first charge".

These are fairly large earphones but they're also very comfortable. There's a bit of adjustability in the loop that goes round your ear to allow you to get a snug fit. Theyare also IPX5 rated for waterproofing which means they should be fine in light rain.

Read our review of the OneOdio OpenRock S Open-Ear Air Conduction Sport Earbuds

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The JLab Epic Air Sport ANC True Wireless Airbuds are comfortable, have an excellent sound quality and a seemingly endless battery life.JLabquotes 15+ hours of playing time without charging from the case, with charging from the case giving you another 55 hours. Using ANC will reduce that time a bit, butJLabstill quotes 50 hours, or 70 hours with the ANC turned off. Tester Iwein said,"to be honest, I don't know exactly what the actual battery life of these earbuds is – and that's because it's so long that I've not yet found the limits".

These JLab earbuds come in a charging case with an integrated USB cable. Size-wise, it's about half the size of a glasses case, which makes it easy to fit in your jersey pocket.They are also rated IP66, which means they're protected against dust ingress and jets of water.

Fit and comfort is good too. Iwein said, "these are the best I've used – and I was happy to wear them all-day long. The ear hooks are firm enough to hold the earbuds securely in place, but they have enough give so that they stay comfortable".

Read our review of the JLab Epic Air Sport ANC True Wireless Earbuds

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The Sony Linkbuds S are an excellent pair of earbuds for cycling or everyday use, with a huge amount of adjustability, impressive sound, and one of the best transparency modes for cycling. Sony has designed them to be always wearable and they are marketed at the very thing I feel is most important in a set of earbuds for when you're riding: having the ability to hear what's around you.

Tester George says, "their ambient noise functionality is up there with the top performers I have used, on a par with theApple Airpods ProandBeats Fit Pro", which also feature in this buyers guide down below.

The impressive sound comes partly from the snug and secure fit that means you don't get much sound leakage. This also means they stay in your ear really well on the bike – even on rough terrain.Battery life is dependent on how you're using the earbuds, but for continuous playback with ambient noise they last a claimed six hours, and nine hours with ambient noise turned off. The case itself provides an additional 20 hours of charging before needing to be plugged in.

Read our review of the Sony Linkbuds S

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The Oladance Open Ear Headphones are an excellent way to listen to music while you're riding, delivering incredibly clear sound while you barely notice you're wearing them. Oladance has approaches open-ear headphones differentlyand created something similar to an open-back headphone. This is effectively a small speaker that sits just in front your ear.Crucially, though, this is achieved without your ears being blocked from the outside world.

Tester Josh writes: "How do these work in the real world? In one word – excellently. The second I put these on, I knew they were very different to bone conductionheadphones, with the clarity of musicI was listening to immediately impressive."

"The headphones are extremely comfortable, and with a weight of just 12.5g per phone, you almost forget you're wearing them. I was also impressed with how easily they sat around my helmets and glasses, and they paired with everyhelmet andglasses combo I tried", he adds. The battery life is also very good. Oladance claims a life of up to 16 hours, and in the real world this translated tobetween 12-15 hours.

Read our review of the Oladance Open Ear Headphones

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The Jabra Elite 7 Pro is a good set of earbuds that sits well in the ear, provides impressive sound quality, and offer a great battery life. Jabra claims eight hours of battery life, which is broadly what George found when using them. The case then gives enough charging for up to 30 hours of earbud use.

The sound quality offers clarity throughout the range. Tester George said, "I used these to listen to a lot of music (off the bike) and spoken word (on it), and found no noticeable limitations in sound quality on either".

he Elite 7s feature a HearThrough mode and noise cancelling.On the bike the HearThrough lets you sense enough of what's happening around you to feel safe whilst riding, andyou can also use just a single bud if you prefer. The IP57 dust/waterproofing is also impressive (it can handle actual immersion).

Read our review of the Jabra Elite 7 Pro earbuds

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The Oladance OWS Sports open-ear bone-conduction headphones have a pair of 23x10mm drivers that provide a crisp, clear, high-quality sound – with an impressive bass – while still allowing you to hear your surroundings.Throw in a great battery life, low weight and a first-ratebuild quality and you've got a pair of phones with very few down sides.

The OWS Sports is the latest model in Oladance's range of open-ear headphones. The design features a single band that goes around the back of your neck, linking the headphones at either end. Tester Josh recommends putting your helmet on first and then putting the phones on over the top of the helmet straps to reduce the chance of the straps getting tangled.

The battery life is excellent. Josh managed 15 hours of use after a single charge, so unless you're an endurance rider you're extremelyunlikely to run out of battery life during normal day-to-day use. They also come with anIPX8 rating meaningthey can survive submersion in water.

Read our review of the Oladance OWS Sports headphone

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The Shokz OpenRun Pro headphones use bone conduction to leave your ears entirely unblocked, making them ideal for cycling asyou can still hear your surroundings.

These are simple and work really well, and they're extremely unobtrusive as you ride, staying put thanks to the grippy, rubbery covering. They last a good long time too – over nine hours easily.

At 28g they're very light and the low-slung shaping works well with helmet straps and glasses. Tester Steve said, "I had no issues while wearing both, and never had the titanium neck band interfere with collars either". Positively, perhaps related to the headband, the OpenRun Pros seem unaffected by yawning or other jaw movements, like other bond-conduction headphones can be.

Read our review of the Shokz OpenRun Pro headphones

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The Beats Fit Pro are great wireless, noise-cancelling earbuds that offer some of the best bits of the Airpods Pro, and some great sports and fitness features, for an attractive price.These perform in a very similar way tothe Airpods Pro,not just in terms of functionality with Apple products, but in how they sound.

Although these don't compare to some of the high-end earbuds, they sound great and are more than adequate for everyday use.That transparency mode is (thankfully) similar to the Airpod Pro's, and works well. As you would expect there is a degree of wind noise as wind rushes past the external microphones, but it isn't overwhelming.

Beats claim a life of six hours per charge for the buds and 18 hours for the case. This is pretty good, and tops the Airpods Pro buds by 1.5 hours. Tester George felt that the Beats Fit Pros beat the Airpods Pro for security – especially during activity – thanks to silicone wing tips, which help anchor these into the ear very well.

Read our review of the Beats Fit Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds

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For those of you with Apple devices, Apple's AirPods Pro are excellent earbuds for use on the bike with effective transparency mode that doesn't suffer too much from wind noise. The AirPods Pro are the first set of Apple headphones with active noise cancellation, which also means they are the first to have the transparency mode that I consider a prerequisite for being safe to use for cycling.

The sound quality of the Airpods Pro is excellentand they have an IPX4 rating for water resistance, meaning they'll stand up to water splashes and sweat. The AirPods Pro incorporate an unusual stalk design, which puts more weight outside the ear than in, but tester George said,"they felt secure and never like they were going to fall out".

The battery life is4.5 hours on a single charge with ANC/Transparency enabled, and 5 hours without,which is pretty good for true wireless headphones, though there are others with more impressive numbers. The Airpods Promore than make up for the battery lifewith the speed of charging – a five-minute charge giving an hour of listening time is particularly good.

Read our review of the Apple AirPods Pro

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The AfterShokz OpenMove bone conduction headphones are extremely light, very comfortable and don't block your ears, leaving ambient sounds unblocked, which feels far safer on the road than plugged-up ears.They are attractively priced too.

The headband – titanium-sprung for a secure yet gentle grip that weighs next to nothing – is non-adjustable and just lies about on the back of your neck. Tester Steve said, "They have no problem wrapping around helmet straps and cycling glasses at the same time – they're well shaped to loop over specs and sit comfortably without touching them. Plus, the loose-feeling fit and gentle pressure of the headband don't actually struggle to stay put at all".

Bone conduction headphones can struggle to reproduce bass but tester Steve found the audio more than acceptable.The battery life of around six hours is also very usable, and they have a charge time of two hours.

Read our review of the Aftershokz OpenMove Wireless Bone Conduction Headphones