I run every day and listen to music or podcasts on almost all my runs, but I very rarely use over-ear or on-ear headphones for this. For the most part I prefer open earbuds that clip on or hook over my ear, which have smaller, sweatproof designs.
However, the new Beats 360 over-ear headphones are touted as great for workouts thanks to their swappable pads and sweat-resistant build, so I was curious to see how they actually felt on a 10-mile long run.
I was pleasantly surprised at their performance. There are drawbacks to the bulkier design, which does get hotter and sweatier than earbuds, but if you prefer to use over-ear cans for everything then I’d say the Beats 360 are the best running headphones you can get.
The Beats 360 were comfortable and secure throughout the run
Over-ear headphones are bigger and heavier than the buds I normally use and I worried the Beats 360 would either be loose and slide around during the run, or have such a tight fit to avoid this that they became uncomfortable after a few miles.
I needn’t have worried. The fit on the Beats 360 is spot on and they stayed securely in place throughout my run without ever putting undue pressure on my ears.
Even when running downhill (which can make headphones bounce around), they didn’t budge, and they never actually felt too heavy or bulky.
I will give one caveat on comfort though, which when wearing traditional glasses or sunglasses I do get a bit of pressure where the arms are pushed in by the headphones. On the run I used Ombraz Teton glasses that have a cord rather than arms, and didn’t get this pressure.
My ears did get hot, and the cushions take some time to dry afterwards
No matter how well-designed over-ear headphones are, they’re going to make your ears hotter and sweatier during workouts than smaller earbuds, and the pads on the Beats 360 were damp with sweat by the end of my 10-miler.
It was a pretty cool day and I didn’t find that this was uncomfortable during the run, but it took the performance knit cushions around five hours to fully dry afterwards.
Having a couple of sets of the swappable cushion kits are a must if you plan to use the headphones for workouts. It’s very quick and easy to take the cushions off and mix up the look and feel of the headphones.
That said, the fabric covering the driver also felt a little sweaty after my run, and though it dried quickly, I’m a little concerned about how long-term workout use might affect the headphones, which are only IPX4-rated.
This means they are water and sweat resistant and usually I’ve found that this is a high enough rating for workouts and runs with earbuds, but the extra sweat produced by wearing over-ear headphones might be more of a stretch.
The sound quality is great, and the transparency mode keeps you aware
The benefit of the Beats 360 compared with in-ear and open-ear buds is the great sound quality and active noise cancellation you get from the design, which is even more apparent outside of workouts.
During my run I used them in their transparency mode to stay aware of my surroundings — I was mostly on traffic-free paths in a forest, but had a couple of short stints on roads.
If you turn the volume down and use transparency I do think you get enough awareness, though not as much as with open headphones of course.
Then you can lock in and use ANC when it’s safe to do so, like when training in the gym or traveling.
One thing I did notice with the Beats 360 is that they don’t filter out the sound of the wind well when I was running outdoors with the transparency mode on, so they can sound a little gusty when you hit a headwind.
The best over-ear cans I’ve run with, but I’m still going back to earbuds
I was impressed by the Beats 360 and if you love over-ear headphones, these are the best for running I’ve tried. I’d happily use them regularly, but I still do prefer the fit and feel of smaller buds myself, especially those with an open design.
The Apple AirPods 5 and Shokz OpenDots 2 are my favorite running headphones at the moment and they offer more awareness and a less sweaty fit. If you don't need the open design, then the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 are a strong pick for workouts and runs thanks to their earhook.
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