New running headphones

A post about headphones? Honestly it’s not that boring (well it is a bit..)

I try to go running regularly (see my running page) and while not great at it, I enjoy it and it keeps me kind of fit. While out running, I listen to lots of podcasts, so never have gone for some expensive deep bass set of headphones. I also steer away from noise cancelling headphones as I like to be aware of traffic and anything else which might make me come a cropper while out huffing and puffing my way around busy streets. Mostly I need something that stays put in my ears and isn’t too uncomfortable, and doesn’t mind me sweating buckets. I also don’t want to spend ££££ on them so I’ve spent a while looking for a good, fairly cheap pair after my trusty Anker Spirit Pro’s gave up the ghost (well in the right ear anyway).

After spending far too much time looking online at different headphones with the requirements of:

• Not too expensive (under £50)
• Comfortable for running
• Sweat proof
• Ok sound for podcasts

And some stuff I wasn’t too bothered about:

• Mic for answering calls
• Fidgety on-headphone controls

I plumped for some Aukey EP-T32’s – a fairly budget pair of over-ear headphones (I got them on offer for £20 which was way less than I was prepared to pay for a pair. I think the usual price is around £30).

First impression with what’s in the box – it’s a big charging unit/case you get! It’s also a tiny usb charging cable you get, so had to dig in my box of cables to get one that fitted and had a decent length so the charging case wasn’t dangling from the plug. So what are they like though in use?

After 2 runs, I can definitely say they are the most comfy in-ear headphones I’ve ever used. I could run for hours with them. They knock socks off my old Spirit Pros, which got quite uncomfortable after an hour or so out running. The over ear hooks are perfect – comfy and not too tight, but not too loose that you think they’re going to fall off. The buds don’t sit too far into the ear, which may account for the comfort, and with that they aren’t the best for noise isolation, but as I’ve said out running I find that a plus point given busy traffic, obstacles etc. Build quality seems really good too, and the headphones sit nicely in the charging case, which has got a nice solid feel to it.

Sound-wise I don’t think the bass has as much oomph as the Spirit Pros, but it’s perfectly good and hardly tinny. Music-wise, playing a bit of “Bridge of Sighs” on my first 5k was perfectly pleasant, and I’d say they’re clearer and have a really crisp top-end range which I often find lacking in in-ear models. For podcasts, listening to “Cranked and Ranked” too was crystal clear. Overall really impressed with them (esp. given their price).

So far I’ve done 3 runs (at 30 mins each) and had no issues after 2-hours on charge. The blurb on the website states that they’ll do 7 hours from a single charge (with 35 hours available from the charging case) so need to test this out and get my arse out running more…

Overall then – amazingly surprised that for £20 I got a pair of headphones with a clean, crisp sound and are so comfortable running. So far, no real downsides. See, you got to the end of it – a review of headphones wasn’t that bad…

Quick update: In the first week of owning these, I managed to leave them in my tracksuit top after a parkrun, and put said top into the washing machine. Full one hour 40′ wash with spin cycle! Thought they were toast, but after leaving them out to dry on the window sill for 2 days I tried them and……they’re fine! Good as new….but smell of Persil non bio.